Jimmy Carter: An Example of Christianity?

This past January 10^th, 2025, former President Jimmy Carter was laid to rest in Georgia. Carter was 100 years old and was the longest living president in our nation’s history. Since Carter often claimed to be a Christian, much is being said and written about his supposed faith. As it was when Billy Graham died, many have attempted to decipher whether Carter was a true Christian or not, at least at the end of his life (Graham said many things in his later years that led many to question whether his faith was biblically based). It is not my intent to speak ill of the dead but to examine what Carter believed in order to determine what a true Christian is. In that spirit then, let us look at some important aspects of Carter’s “faith.”

Sovereign Grace: The Glory of God in Salvation by Vox Doulos

28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."

"The Sandlot"

One of my favorite movies(maybe the favorite) is “The Sandlot.” That 1993 movie centers around nine boys whose sole reason for existing is seemingly to spend their summers playing baseball in an abandoned makeshift field from which the movie takes its name. Throughout the movie, we hear the voice of the narrator, one of the boys who is now grown up and telling us the story of his first summer in the sandlot. Smalls, the boy’s last name, tells us how when he first arrived in the neighborhood, he felt somewhat like an outsider who did not seem to be part of the “team.” In time, however, and after much ribbing and “evaluating,” Smalls becomes as much a part of the team as the other boys. He even becomes the star player’s (Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez) protégé.