Posted in billy graham, decisional regeneration, easy believism, my hope america, relationship evangelism

A close look at "My Hope America with Billy Graham", decisional regeneration, and relationship evangelism (Part 2/2)

Posted on by elizabethprata

The other day I wrote about the upcoming movie release by Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). The movie’s release is to coincide with the 95th birthday of the well-known evangelist, on November 7. Up until that time, the internet, churches, and publications will heavily tout this movie, called “My Hope America with Billy Graham.”

Readers of this blog know that there are three spheres under which I write: encouragement, prophecy, and discernment. Under the discernment banner, the other day I examined Billy Graham’s teachings and doctrine, compared it the bible, and showed that given the things Graham teaches and believes, he cannot be of the faith. He fails on one of the primary essentials (Jesus as the exclusive way to heaven, AKA the Gospel) and he fails on many other secondary essential issues. The sum total of the first part was to show that even, or especially, popular men can be and could be one of the prophesied wolves bringing false doctrine. (Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1). Please read that piece for the details and the biblical support.

Though I personally believe that Graham along with a couple of others have done more to damage the faith than to honor it, I’d said that I hadn’t written about Graham but instead have focused on the falsity of others because Graham is no longer active. However, it seems that Graham has produced one final religious/theological/social effort and is using the last vestige of his reputation and means before he dies (his words) to spread it as widely as possible. That effort is the movie of which I’ll speak today. It is called My Hope America.

The movie is an evangelistic effort in which people call friends neighbors, co-workers, and invite them to “meet Jesus” at a party, as Matthew had after his conversion. (Matthew 9).

I agree

There are several premises the video is produced under which I agree. First, their premise that there should be urgency to witness is biblical and appropriate. We need that prompting here in America, especially where wealth dampens urgency and technological distractions sidetrack us from personal relationships within which we share Christ.

The My Hope DVD has been sent to 157 countries already, such as Uruguay, Malawi, etc. It is now being promoted in America. Thus, the My Hope people have identified America as a country in need of missionaries & evangelists. I agree with this also. America has become more and more apostate. It is surely an irony that the nation which once sent more missionaries into the lost nations of the world has become lost herself and needs others to come here. It’s true and the people of this nation need the Gospel as much or more than many other countries on each day that passes.

The Movie’s Claims

In the promotional video, the listener hears pastors tell the BGEA video folks that they “have been praying for a way to mobilize their people into evangelism”, and we’re told that pastors are saying, “we’ve been looking for an opportunity to get our folks involved in personal evangelism and I believe this is it.”

We’re told that pastors are saying the video strategy is “bringing churches together as never before”, that it is going to “heal our land”, and “it is going to put everyone at peace.” We’re told by BGEA folks that “We’ve seen God use this strategy of the My Hope project in Latin America, in Asia, in Africa, Europe…” We see the BGEA folks say that “Each country gets the benefit of people working together towards a common goal in Jesus Christ. And that can change history in a country.”

Those are extraordinary claims and stupendous statements. Aside from being overtly slick and promotional, these claims also seem to be results-oriented. I’ll speak to the results-oriented approach below when I speak of decisional regeneration.

Taking a hard look at the evangelistic efforts of Mr Graham and his methods, let’s focus on two of them associated with this video: Relationship Evangelism and Decisional Regeneration.

1. Relationship Evangelism

Forty-six seconds into the promotional video, the listener hears, “My Hope is Billy Graham’s call to relationship evangelism in America”. There are many scenes of people sitting around a table, or on the floor, or on couches and chairs, watching the various My Hope videos from the BGEA. The listener hears that Matthew was a relationship evangelist, whereupon he met Jesus, was converted, and wanted to share Jesus with as many people as possible and thus hosted a party in his home. (Matthew 9:10-13). The listener is urged to host a party or gathering and invite friends, family, neighbors, co-workers with the goal of sharing Christ as Matthew had.

I completely agree that as Christians we should operate within the spheres into which the Holy Spirit has set us, and witness for Christ using every means and method. Cold sharing, street preaching, friendship sharing, and using our lives of obedience and submission are several ways to share the Gospel with the lost and dying world of our individual spheres. I have no quarrel with that. Hosting a gathering in your home with weak brethren, non-believers, and mature brethren is good. It is proper. It is one way we use the strength of relationships, along with relating the truth of the Gospel to folks on church, in our community, clubs, and family homes.

These different evangelistic methods are variously called servant evangelism, (Galatians 6:10); lifestyle evangelism (Acts 5:13, 20); and friendship evangelism (or relationship evangelism). We should speak personally to friends, neighbors and co-workers. This is the type of evangelism Philip demonstrates in John 1:45-46. The woman at the well went back into town and told her friends. They asked Jesus to stay for two days and He taught them, and many believed.

So is there a problem with the evangelistic approach the BGEA folks are using, hosting “Matthew Parties” with an intent to share Jesus? There could be. As with anything, this ‘strategy’ dwells close to a line of subtlety where it can go off the rails quickly. Note the main DVD synopsis that personal testimonies will be told:

“as they share the common thread that led them to true happiness.”

Happiness?

Scott Boren authored a piece at Christian Leaders called “Does Relationship Evangelism Miss the Point?” He was talking about what have become known as “Matthew Parties.” He used an interesting quote from the book, The Relational Pastor by Andrew Root

However, he is not challenging the reality that the Gospel most easily spreads across relational lines. Nor is he saying that abundant life is not found in Jesus. He’s actually pointing out the fact that if we are going to have loving relationships we need to relate to neighbors, co-workers, family members, and friends in a such a way that we actually encounter them in the relationships instead of using the relationship to get something from them. If we are trying to get them to line up with our beliefs and ideals and are not demonstrating the Gospel. We are peddling it.

The entire piece is good and gives food for thought. When sharing Jesus is not an embedded lifestyle, but a strategy comes along that already has a faddish term associated with it (“Matthew Party”), and the folks we invite know that it is part of a promotional activity, they feel used. And we are using them. It is peddling Jesus rather than simply sharing the Gospel. There is a difference between natural, organic, sincere evangelistic effort, and jumping on an artificially promoted Matthew Party bandwagon.

For another view of relationship evangelism, street Preacher Tony Miano wrote in his piece, ““Friendship Evangelism Is Neither Friendship Nor Evangelism”
“Let make it very clear that Christians are called by the Word of God to be both friendly and relational. “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3)

But Miano goes on to warn of the line that is easily crossed in relationship evangelism, of the danger of backing off in relationship evangelism by not sharing Christ but simply living a perceptible life in front of believers:

“Part of the evidence that “Friendship Evangelism” is not evangelistic is that the practice makes the Christian known but it all-too-often fails to make Christ known.”

So though on the surface, the BGEA strategy of relationship evangelism does have roots in the bible, the  use of it as a strategy and a method can come across as too slick and faddish to the non-believer, they could well wind up feeling used. Secondly it is the Gospel that saves, not the friendship, and third, it leaves room for the Christian to back off in sharing Jesus but yet making the friend feel safely Christian.

Ultimately, what Relationship Evangelism is, is simply discipling.

2. Decisional Regeneration

Decisional regeneration is another thing like Relationship evangelism, which is not completely false but is fraught with subtle dangers which can quickly push one over the edge into false territory. The term means that a person becomes a Christian by deciding to become a Christian. They make a decision that they want Christ to be the Lord of their lives, or they decide to come forward at an evangelistic crusade or church service and decide to become a believer.

The work of salvation is completely in the hands of God. The believer is dead in his trespasses and sins, (Ephesians 2:1). A dead person cannot “decide” to become alive. It is the work of God who makes us alive (Ephesians 2:4).

However we are called to repent, and this is a conscious act of man. Repent means to take a 180 degree turn from the way we were, which was sinful, and to proclaim sorrow for our sins and go the way of holiness. It is perhaps here where the decision comes in.

Man is saved by Jesus but he is always responsible for his sins. Where that ground meets between sovereignty and responsibility is the gray line in decisional regeneration.

However at many churches and especially at Billy Graham crusades, “making a decision for Christ” easily becomes much more shallow. The practice is actually foreign to the scriptures, as Pastor Tim Challies explains here. The invention of the decision for Christ, combined with the altar call, is

“generally attributed to evangelist Charles Finney who lived from 1792 to 1875. He emphasized the need for a decision, usually made by “coming forward” to approach the altar. Becoming a believer became synonymous with making a decision and proving that decision by taking physical action. It is important to note that this system is entirely foreign to the Scriptures.”

Paul Washer speaks against the dangers of decisional regeneration often. Here, Todd Shaffer summarizes one of Washer’s sermons on the topic:

“Washer rails against how Evangelicals are so quick to proclaim people ‘believers’.  One of the most damnable practices in the church is when a person doubts their salvation, they are usually taken back to that day when they “made a decision” for Christ and “asked Jesus into their hearts”, neither of which are statements found in Scripture (apart from a poor hermeneutic).  We are often guilty of giving people a false assurance that is based more on the ‘sincerity’ of their decision than on the presence of a transformed life.“

And that is the danger: false assurance. Many people who come forward at a crusade or a Matthew Party having decided for Christ do so many times on a shallow Gospel presentation, or an incomplete Gospel presentation, or decide for a Christ who doesn’t exist, just because they are promised “happiness.”

In his talk about Billy Graham Cecil Andrews was speaking about the fifty year anniversary of the London Harringay Crusade. Andrews, who is from the UK,  said that despite many “decisions for Christ” at that monumental Graham crusade at Harringay stadium, by the time five decades had passed, there was virtually no effect remaining. The people who had been there fifty years before deciding for Christ before were not thriving Christians by any stretch, and it was plain to the interviewers that the “decisions” were vaporous emotional responses and not a lasting spiritual regeneration.

Relational Evangelism at a Matthew Party is a fad

I am not a fan of fads. Christian fads come and go with depressing regularity. Prayer of Jabez rugs, WWJD bracelets, Love Dares, Courageous Resolutions, Promise Keepers, Quiverfull, Daniel Fast, Prayer Circles, Parable of the Talents Challenge, and now Matthew Parties. If the thing has a name it is a sure bet it’s a fad. If the thing is mindlessly replicated from house to house and church to church, it’s a fad.

The bible says, “And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3). The KJV says ‘they will make merchandise of you.’ The word ‘exploit’ in the verse comes from the Greek word that we know today as emporium, or mall. Strong’s defines it as, “I travel as a merchant, engage in trade; I traffic in, make gain or business of.”

Now, the film is free, the associated bonus programs are free, you can watch them online for free or order them for free. The training is free and the support materials are free. That is wonderful. I am all for that. The My Hope Matthew Party is still a fad and it’s still merchandise. Here’s why:

The BGEA promotes the strategy of decisional regeneration and it focuses on results. This is the prophesied ‘merchandising’ part, even though no money passes hands. It is touted to be man-centered and results-oriented. In one of the promotional videos, it is stated that viewers of the My Hope DVD in other countries have “since 2002, ‘made average of 2 decisions for Christ per home.” Is that like “2 out of 3 dentists say…”?

The video is touted as a “unique opportunity” to witness for Christ where pastors have been “praying for a way to mobilize their people into evangelism”? Praying for a way, unlike the way the bible shows us? and we’re told that pastors are saying, “we’ve been looking for an opportunity to get our folks involved in personal evangelism and I believe this is it.” What if this ‘opportunity’ hadn’t come along? Would these pastors not be able to get their folks into personal evangelism? But you see, that is the results-oriented, merchandising language. The BGEA promotional video makes it sound like this is the only strategy and we better pick up on it fast. Is that like “operators are standing by”?

This is where the decisional regeneration method falters. It leaves the work of sovereign Holy Spirit of  regenerating hearts to the men behind production monitors counting how many decisions for Christ happened in a certain segment of the country.

“Decisions” often lead to False Assurance

Tim Challies explains,

“Finney’s legacy in church history is largely one of failure, of creating masses of people who believed they were Christians, but most of whom showed no evidence. They were assured by their decision which they could always regard as a milestone in their lives, but while they had raised their hand, they had never turned to Christ. Why had they not done this? Because the Spirit had not done any work in them and they were, thus, unregenerate. They had attempted to make themselves believers, a task which can only be done by God.“

And that was the legacy of the Harringay Crusade in 1954 and it is my worry and fear that the masses of homes where people are artificially invited to a My Hope Matthew Party will ‘decide for Christ’ based on peer pressure, or emotion, or because they were grateful for the food, or any other reason except that the Holy Spirit had opened their eyes to their need for a Savior. False assurance is worse than being unregenerate, in my opinion. Read this verse, and you can vividly see the myriads of unregenerate false Christians pleading with Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

You can just hear them say “I went forward at the altar call! I decided! I saw the Graham DVD! I signed a card! They told me I was in the family of God!” But no…Jesus never knew them.

I’m NOT saying that all people who have ever done those things are lost. I AM saying that the decisional regeneration method combined with fad Matthew Parties and promoted as a strategy that WILL get results is dangerous and shallow. The movie people promote it with terms such as I mentioned above, It is going to “heal our land”, and “it is going to put everyone at peace.” These claims are biblically false. When combined with the results-oriented statements such as people have “made average of 2 decisions for Christ per home” then what you’ve got is a gross misrepresentation of the Holy Spirit and not the praise due for a miracle of reconciliation by a holy, sovereign God.

The Christian Post touts this event as perhaps the biggest evangelistic event in history. Keep in mind it is created by a man who believes Muslims who don’t know Jesus are in the family of God, who believes that Roman Catholic Pope John Paul was the greatest evangelist ever, who makes a plea to thousands of people at his crusades to ‘decide for Christ’ but sends them to Catholic priests and Jewish rabbis for counseling, and put together a DVD which is a tactic, a strategy, and a passing fad of Matthew Parties.

John MacArthur spoke to these issues in his sermon The Lordship Controversy:

“A subtle shift in emphasis over the past hundred years or so has gradually eroded the way evangelicals understand and present the gospel. Preaching and witnessing have changed. The message we’re hearing is less challenging, more comforting. But is it the truth?

Just as the My Hope DVD promised lands will be healed and true happiness will be found. Decisional regeneration is shallow and leads to false assurance much of the time. Continuing with the MacArthur segment:

“Listen to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You’ll hear sinners entreated with words like, “accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior”; “ask Jesus into your heart”; “invite Christ into your life”; or “make a decision for Christ.” You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn that none of them is based on biblical terminology.“

All of those are strategies you hear Billy Graham use and will find on the My Hope DVD. Continuing again:

“They are the products of a diluted gospel. It is not the gospel according to Jesus. The gospel Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship, a call to follow Him in submissive obedience, not just a plea to make a decision or pray a prayer. Jesus’ message liberated people from the bondage of their sin while it confronted and condemned hypocrisy. It was an offer of eternal life and forgiveness for repentant sinners, but at the same time it was a rebuke to outwardly religious people whose lives were devoid of true righteous­ness. It put sinners on notice that they must turn from sin and embrace God’s righteous­ness. It was in every sense good news, yet it was anything but easy-believism.Our Lord’s words about eternal life were invariably accompa­nied by warnings to those who might be tempted to take salvation lightly. He taught that the cost of following Him is high, that the way is narrow and few find it. He said many who call Him Lord will be forbidden from entering the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matthew 7:13-23).”

Far from enjoying tacos at a Matthew Party and then making a decision to accept Jesus into your heart in order to experience true happiness (Billy Graham method), true faith is described in the Beatitudes, (Matthew 5:3-12).

Faith’s foundational characteristic is humility–a poverty of spirit, a brokenness that acknowledges spiritual bankruptcy. Genuine believers see themselves as sinners; they know they have nothing to offer God that will buy His favor. That is why they mourn (v. 4), with the sorrow that accompa­nies true repentance. It crushes the believer into meekness (v. 5). He hungers and thirsts for righteous­ness (v. 6). As the Lord satisfies that hunger, He makes the believing one merciful (v. 6), pure in heart (v. 7), and a peacemaker (v. 9). The believer is ultimately persecuted and reviled for righ­teousness’ sake (v. 10). … Those who cling to the memory of a one-time decision of “faith” but lack any evidence of the outworking of faith had better heed the clear and solemn warning of Scripture: “He who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). (source)

“My Hope America” with Billy Graham (Part 1/2)

————————————
Here is some more information on all the topics I’ve covered in this blog entry

Got Questions: Decisions for Christ

Got Questions: Easy believism

Got Questions: Asking Jesus into your heart

The Difference In Making (A Decision) For Christ vs (A True Conversion) 8-min video

Paul Washer: “The Sinner’s Prayer” (3-min video)

Tin Challies: Decisional Regeneration

Posted in earthquakes, iran, israel, strange fire

Strange Fire defense; Indian seer sees gold; Israel quakes; Nomadic pursuits of beautiful earth; Bad real estate photos. More

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are a few links for you to enjoy on various topics:

A measured and reasonable response to Strange Fire, a conference organized to reject the claims of Charismatics that prophecy, healing and tongues are a legitimate part of the church today. And truthful. It starts like this

In Defense of John MacArthur, Strange Fire Conference and the Challenge to the Charismatic Mov’t
“A lot of people seem to be angry with John MacArthur; it would be more comforting to me, and a greater testimony to American sensibility, if Christians were more concerned about Pat Robertson. That the former can openly state his opposition to what he believes the falsified expression of spiritual power, is far less offensive than a man who has openly and repeatedly claimed to be speaking the words of God, but whose failed prophesies have proven him heretical. Yet the former man is almost universally condemned as hateful and divisive, while the latter maintains his audience for what? Not one, but multiple generations, despite a televised broadcast in which he said that Jesus told him President Obama would lose the last election.”

I’m very conflicted about Halloween. Our church does a large and popular outreach. Yet it is the devil’s night. This essay settled some things for me.
Halloween: Trick, Treat or Missional? – Jo Saxton

Monumentally bad real estate photos that will make you laugh The captions make it.
Like this one:

Presumably the idea being conveyed here is that if you don’t buy the house, the agent can arrange for you come to significant harm when you least expect it. Submitted by Jaques LeHommes, for which merci.

Joel C Rosenberg posted the following about Israel:

Netanyahu makes case for a preemptive strike during major speech on the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a thinly veiled defense of a possible Israeli preemptive strike on Iran during a Knesset commemoration Tuesday of the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War,” reports the Times of Israel.”

Speaking of Israel, there were several earthquakes there this week.

Two earthquakes in one day shake northern Israel
“Head of Geophysical Institute: Still no explanation for temblors; no reports of injuries or damage. While no injuries or significant damages afflicted surrounding areas, a string of minor earthquakes have rattled Israel’s North over the past few days – including two on Sunday alone.”

Jiro dreamed of sushi but this India seer dreams of gold- and everyone started digging
“NEW DELHI: Archaeologists began excavating an abandoned palace in Daudiakala village, Uttar Pradesh on Friday after a popular Hindu holy man said he dreamt 1,000 tonnes of gold were buried underneath. The dig at the fort of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh in Daudiakala village, Uttar Pradesh, started after Swami Shobhan Sarkar relayed his vision of the treasure to a federal government minister three months ago.”

Jim Nix at Nomadic Pursuits has a slew of gorgeous HDR photos to feast your eyes on, like this one

“This is one beautiful cathedral, and I am very happy to have found it on my recent trip to Brussels. I passed through Brussels last year and despite shooting quite a bit of the town, I never actually saw this cathedral (or knew about it, honestly). I’m not sure how I missed it, but am glad that I corrected it when I was there a couple of weeks back.”

Posted in crown of life, foxe's book of martyrs

Sunday Martyr Moment: Four Anonymous Women

Posted on by elizabethprata

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. According to this summary from Christian Book Summaries,

Writing in the mid-1500s, John Foxe was living in the midst of intense religious persecution at the hands of the dominant Roman Catholic Church. In graphic detail, he offers accounts of Christians being martyred for their belief in Jesus Christ, describing how God gave them extraordinary courage and stamina to endure unthinkable torture.

From the same link, the book’s purpose was fourfold:

  • Showcase the courage of true believers who have willingly taken a stand for Jesus Christ throughout the ages, even if it meant death,
  • Demonstrate the grace of God in the lives of those martyred for their faith,
  • Expose the ruthlessness of religious and political leaders as they sought to suppress those with differing beliefs,
  • Celebrate the courage of those who risked their lives to translate the Bible into the common language of the people.

Text from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

The Seventh Persecution, Under Decius, A.D. 249, continued

Andrew and Paul, two Christian companions of Nichomachus, held fast to Christ and were stoned to death as they called on their blessed Redeemer.

In Alexandria, Alexander and Epimachus were arrested for being Christians. When they confessed they were indeed Christians, they were beat to death with sticks, torn with hooks, and then burned to death. On the same day, four female martyrs were beheaded; their names are unknown.

In Nice, Trypho and Respicius, prominent men and Christians were arrested and given over to the torturers. Nails were driven through their feet, they were scourged, dragged through the streets, torn with iron hooks, scorched with torches, and then beheaded.

Agatha, a Sicilian lady, was not more remarkable for her personal and acquired endowments, than her piety; her beauty was such, that Quintian, governor of Sicily, became enamored of her, and made many attempts upon her chastity without success. In order to gratify his passions with the greater conveniency, he put the virtuous lady into the hands of Aphrodica, a very infamous and licentious woman. This wretch tried every artifice to win her to the desired prostitution; but found all her efforts were vain; for her chastity was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could procure true happiness. Aphrodica acquainted Quintian with the inefficacy of her endeavors, who, enraged to be foiled in his designs, changed his lust into resentment. On her confessing that she was a Christian, he determined to gratify his revenge, as he could not his passion. Pursuant to his orders, she was scourged, burnt with red-hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired on February 5, 251.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think about the four females who were martyred. We do not know who they were … but Jesus does!!!

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9-10)

The martyrs of the Tribulation are honored by His granting their resurrection and then, they reign with Him!

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4)

They receive a crown of life! (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10)

Their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And we Christians will meet them in glory, where their injuries and pain are wiped away —

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev 21:4)

Hold fast, you brethren under trial! Hold fast, the brethren that are not but will be under trial, even unto death. Foxe wanted to honor those who had passed the bloody baton of faith forward into the generations that lived before us, and he wrote of them in his book. That is only part of the story. Jesus has recorded their names and deeds from the foundation of the world and their death has honored Him and glorified Him in the extreme. I can’t wait to meet those 4 precious women, and all the martyrs. My hallelujah will be joining the chorus of those who will hear Him say to them “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Posted in billy graham, false teachers, john macarthur, my hope america

"My Hope America" with Billy Graham, and a look at Graham’s teachings (Part 1/2)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Billy Graham is about to turn 95-years-old. He is often called “the world’s most admired man” or “the greatest living American.” He is said to have personally presented the Gospel to 215 million people, and to millions more via programs on the web, tv, radio and film.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:4)

Given Mr Graham’s extensive-lasting impact on the world, his long life, and the flurry of interest around his upcoming movie, “My Hope America with Billy Graham”, I am writing these things so that we can all be reminded that deception can come in any form and at any time.

If you have not been aware of the various aberrant and doctrines Mr Graham believes, then you might be shocked and upset that I am daring even to say these things about such a person of stature. However, as Cecil Andrews laid out the case against Graham carefully out in his 2001 speech, “Billy Graham: The Man and His Message,” (link at end)

“We need to do that [test the spirits] not just with Billy Graham, but with many others who are up on pedestals in the evangelical world. They’ve built a reputation early in their life, but where are they today? I’ll tell you, they are in the forefront of the compromising, ecumenical world that you and I are being challenged with.”

When the Apostle Paul was tested by the Bereans, and his words and teaching compared with scripture, and the Bereans were lauded for it.

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Note that they were said to be of noble character because of two things: they received the word with eagerness, and they examined them against Scripture to see if what was being taught was true. Mr Graham, despite his popularity, or perhaps because of it, should no more escape scrutiny than any other teacher of our faith.

Graham, Osteen, Warren

I have long thought personally, that the three seemingly-Christian men most impacting the faith in negative ways in the 20th and 21st century are Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, and Rick Warren. For the women, I personally believe Beth Moore has done the most damage. I’ve written about or mentioned most of those on my list, but not Mr Graham, because he is no longer active. However with his new film being produced and promoted, to be released next month, I felt it necessary to lay out the case for caution, for your scrutiny and edification. Take heed.

Born November 7, 1918, according to the website NNDB, which offers profiles of noteworthy individuals, “Graham’s “big break” came in the 1940s, when publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst got wind of Graham’s then-recurring theme that the Cold War was a showdown between good and evil, and that communists were Satan-worshippers. “Either communism must die or Christianity must die,” Graham famously preached, and Hearst sent a memo to all of his papers’ editors, ordering them to “puff Graham”. Prior to that, Graham had been just another traveling evangelist, holding meetings in half-empty tents. After that and for the rest of his life, he has been America’s most prominent Christian leader.”

Please note that the man came to prominence expounding on political, worldly matters. His statement equates an eternal, heavenly faith structure with a man-made worldly political structure. Secondly, anyone who reads the bible knows that Christianity will not die, no matter how many political or governmental structures have existed or will come to existence. However, in 1949, communism was a very big problem, consuming the interest and attention of those in power.

Yet in 60AD, Apostle Paul did not say that “Either Rome’s Emperor system must die or Christianity must die.” It is written, 

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1)

Since then, Mr Graham has appeared on Gallup’s list of most admired men of the 20th century, appearing 55 times since 1955 (including 49 consecutive years), more frequently than any other individual in the world.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” 
(Luke 6:26)

But let’s go back to his beginnings. In his youth, Graham was rejected for membership in youth group because he was “too worldly”. After graduating high school in 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College but he felt constrained by the restrictions and called it too legalistic (likely because Graham had earned a stack of demerits for disobedience). In addition, he was almost expelled, and wound up having a long sit-down with Bob Jones, Sr. about Graham’s future. Graham transferred to another college. After attending three total colleges, Graham eventually graduated from Wheaton in 1943 with a degree in anthropology. His college sojourn lasted 7 years, and please note his degree was not in religious or biblical studies. (Source, and source)

When he burst upon the scene in 1948 Graham did not seem to compromise on the basics, at least overtly, but over time he retreated on all fronts. David Frost said that in the beginning Graham used to say “the bible says” but as time went on he would more often say ‘what Billy Graham thinks’.

The basics, or essential doctrines to which one must adhere or the truth is not in them, according to CARM.org are:

“The Bible itself reveals those doctrines that are essential to the Christian faith. They are 1) the Deity of Christ, 2) Salvation by Grace, and 3) Resurrection of Christ, 4) the gospel, and 5) monotheism. These are the doctrines the Bible says are necessary. Though there are many other important doctrines, these five are the ones that are declared by Scripture to be essential (I call them primary essentials since the Bible declares them as essential). A non-regenerate person (i.e., Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness, atheist, Muslim), will deny one or more of these essential doctrines. Please note that there are other derivative doctrines of scripture that become necessary also, the Trinity being one.“

Though there are many troubling statements Mr Graham has made which gives one pause for thought, (I’ll list them below and also provide links) the essential doctrine Mr Graham denies is the Gospel. Let’s take a closer look. CARM.org again:

“The Gospel:

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal. 1:8-9). Verses 8 and 9 here in Galatians are a self declarative statement that you must believe the gospel. The gospel message which in its entirety is that Jesus is God in flesh, who died for sins, rose from the dead, and freely gives the gift of eternal life to those who believe.”

He gives the gift of life to those who believe. Mr Graham has on many occasions, years and decades apart, denied the exclusivity of the Gospel, denied who are truly believers, and denied what they must believe. Here are specifics:

Graham & Schuller

In his interview with Robert Schuller in May 1997 on The Hour of Power, Billy Graham opened up the family of faith to Buddhists, Muslims, and non-believers. Here in a sermon from 2000, John MacArthur repeats the interview and expounds in between each of Graham’s statements with biblical truth:

——————-begin MacArthur———————–

John MacArthur: “Those of us who teach the Bible, those of us who uphold sound doctrine have to rise up and speak the truth. I’ve tried to show you the breadth of this problem and I want to conclude comments on people and issues with a particular focus this morning.”

“Through the years we have all become influenced by Billy Graham. One way or another he has, for us, been the spokesman for evangelical Christianity. He has become the symbol of gospel preachers to the world and even to the church. He, more than anyone else, has influenced evangelicalism through his preaching, through his cooperative evangelism, through his influence on Wheaton College, Fuller Seminary, Christianity Today and many other agencies.”

“There is an article in a journal that comments and reviews his autobiography, Just As I Am. And I think it’s worth giving you some insight into that because I think it points out the breadth of this problem. The editor of the journal says, “While Graham has become the very symbol of gentle, compassionate and loving evangelicalism, he has also become the symbol for evangelicalism that speaks cautiously, politically and non-theologically. He was never able to escape the fuzzy a-theological pragmatism of modern evangelicalism. It is Billy Graham more than any other figure in this century who helped to create by his overwhelming persona the present evangelical crisis which threatens to destroy the very institutions and causes in which Graham invested his life and energy for over 55 years,” end quote.”

“That is a sad statement, but it is an appropriate one in view of the facts. A recent public interview with Billy Graham and Robert Schuller underscores this. Graham has uncritically praised Schuller’s ministry, which is a ministry of what is called neo-orthodoxy combined with psychology, not a true historic Christianity. But in the discussion, and here it is verbatim, I’ll just share some things that will open to you the understanding.”

“Dr. Schuller speaks, speaking to Billy Graham. “Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?”

Dr. Graham: “Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there’s the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time.”

“Now let me stop there. He said that non-Christian groups are members of the body of Christ, that people can love Christ and know Christ whether they’re conscious of it or not and be members of the body of Christ. And therefore we’re not going to see a sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time, ostensibly because it isn’t necessary.”

“He [Graham] goes on to say. “What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not…he says…even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they’re saved and they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

Dr. Schuller: “What I hear you saying is that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and soul and life even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?”

Dr. Graham: “Yes it is because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, have never heard of Jesus but they’ve believed in their hearts that there is a God and they tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.”

Dr. Schuller: “This is fantastic. I’m so thrilled to hear you say that. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, Dr. Graham, there is…there definitely is.”

“In response to that interview, the editor of this journal wrote the Billy Graham Organization and received a reply that said, “Dr. Graham’s views were the same as they have always been.” Apparently his views have always been that Muslims are part of the body of Christ, Buddhists are part of the body of Christ, non-believers are part of the body of Christ, people who have never heard of a Bible are part of the body of Christ if they’re trying to be better than the people around them. People who never heard of Jesus are part of the body of Christ.”

——————-end MacArthur———————–

(Television interview of Billy Graham by Robert Schuller, broadcast in southern California on Saturday, May 31, 1997).

Graham refused to speak the Gospel to Larry King in 2005, and in fact refused to declare Jews or Mormons were lost souls

KING: But what about those faiths — the Mormons and the others that you mentioned — believe in Christ. They believe they will meet Christ. What about those like the Jews, the Muslims, who don’t believe they …

GRAHAM: That’s in God’s hands. I can’t be the judge.

KING: You don’t judge them?

GRAHAM: No.

KING: How do you feel when you see a lot of these strong Christian leaders go on television and say, you are condemned, you will live in hell if you do not accept Jesus Christ, and they are forceful and judgmental?

GRAHAM: Well, they have a right to say that, and they are true to a certain extent, but I don’t — that’s not my calling. My calling is to preach the love of God and the forgiveness of God and the fact that he does forgive us. That’s what the cross is all about, what the resurrection is all about, that’s the gospel. And you can get off on all kinds of different side trends, and in my earlier ministry, I did the same, but as I got older, I guess I became more mellow and more forgiving and more loving.”

Is it loving to refuse to use the worldwide media opportunity such as the then-popular Larry King show to expound on what Jews and Muslims need to do to be saved? No, it is not.

In each decade from the 1950s onward, since Graham burst upon the scene, Christians have been presented clear indications of Graham’s aberrant beliefs. He praised Catholicism in the 1950s, in fact in In 1967, he was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school. He has included rabbis and priests as counselors to inquirers at each crusade, effectively handing over little children seeking Jesus to a devastating cycle of apostasy and hopelessness. As mentioned in the Decision Magazine inquiry, Graham has believed since at least 1960 that most people will go to heaven. He believes in baptismal regeneration, the inclusion of old earth and evolution as part of God’s works, that Mary the mother of Jesus should receive higher due, that there is life on other planets who worship God … and so on.

His aberrant beliefs cannot be attributed to recent old age, infirmity, confusion, or anything else except that he was and is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I am sorry to say that and it gives me no pleasure, but in testing his beliefs against the bible, one must conclude that Mr Graham does not know the true, biblical Jesus, and is in fact a liberal compromiser in pursuit of earthly rewards, fame, and celebrity.

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20)

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:1-6)

In part 2 I’ll look at Mr Graham’s movie, the movie’s designated evangelistic strategy of ‘friendship evangelism’, discuss ‘decisional regeneration’, and conclude with some general remarks. Below are many links to writings, quotes, and videos of Mr Graham’s apostasy. Please check them out yourself and as with everything test the spirits and use only the bible as your benchmark of truth. And stay away from Graham’s “My Hope America” movie.

Part 2/2 here
————————–

Links

Tim Challies: Billy Graham and Ecumenicism (essay)

John MacArthur clip, A Wideness in God’s Mercy? (video)

Cecil Andrews: Billy Graham: The Man and His Message (video)

World View Weekend: Billy Graham (article)

David Cloud: Billy Graham’s Sad Disobedience To The Word Of God (note: I disagree with a lot of Mr Cloud’s teaching but the article I’ve linked to is mostly Graham quotes and discussion of same, with sources)

John MacArthur: Deliverance: From the Temporal World to the Eternal Kingdom (sermon)

Midwest Today: A Conversation with Billy Graham, 1997 (news article, printed interview)

CARM.org: Billy Graham

Posted in creator, genesis, God

Hunter’s Moon 2013

Posted on by elizabethprata

I love weather. I grew up in New England, where the old adage attributed to Mark Twain goes like this: “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” I’ve been through hurricanes, the Ice Storm of 1998, The Storm of the Century, The Blizzard of ’78, snow, Nor-easters, winds, humidity, heat, you name it. A friend from Nova Scotia said once she was hanging bathing suits on the clothes line outside, and it began to flurry. Her toddler said, “Mommy, is summer over?”

When you grow up in New England with weather so severe and changeable, you become almost part of the weather. Not in the same way fishermen and farmers do, but we did live by the ocean and were on the water a lot. We always ‘kept a weather eye’. Weather was always the most important backdrop to any daily activity. That is because you could die. In New England during winter, you always had a trunk stocked with chains for your tires, a blanket, anti-freeze, a shovel and ice scraper, extra food, and a weather radio. If you slid off the road and got stuck in a snowbank, you could freeze before you were found and rescued. Even though we are living in a millennium of new technology and largely insulated from the elements except for the times I mentioned above, this generation and only a few prior to mine have lived exposed to it and submitted to it. For 7,000 years, men have lived by the weather, the elements, and the stars and planets.

“Cold feet” by EPrata

Anyway, I read the weather website and I was involved in this article and I became so excited when I saw God the Creator in it. The article opens this way,

“It’s that time again, time for another full moon. The one that falls directly after the Harvest Moon (which was Sept. 19) is called the Hunter’s Moon, and it happens tonight, Oct. 18.“

Hunter’s Moon. I hadn’t heard of it. I’d heard of Harvest Moon, Blue Moon, Blood Moon, but not Hunter’s Moon. The article continues:

“The Hunter’s Moon isn’t just any full moon. Like with other moons this time of year, its path — called an ecliptic — is shallow. That means for several nights in a row, the moon sits farther north on the horizon, according to EarthSky. “It’s this northward movement of the moon along the eastern horizon at moonrise,” EarthSky writes, “that gives the Hunter’s Moon its magic.“

“Typically this time of year, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. Say it appeared in the night sky at 7:00 p.m. today, tomorrow it would show up around 7:50 p.m. For several days around the Hunter’s Moon, however, it only rises 30 to 35 minutes later. (In that same example, it would emerge at 7:00 p.m. tonight, 7:30 p.m. the next.)”

“Why does this matter? Well, if you lived at a time when you needed the moonlight to harvest and hunt by, it clearly did. “The light of moon allowed farmers to harvest their crops later into the night,” O’Leary said of the September Harvest Moon. By the Hunter’s Moon in October, “it’s time to go hunting for Thanksgiving and the fall. The prey is easier to find. Rather than the moon being up in the sky an hour or two after sunset, it’s up in the sky sooner…. There’s less of a period of darkness.“

Source

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.” (Genesis 1:14-19)

Isn’t God so precise! He not only set the planets in the sky for lights to guide us, but just when the cycle of light diminishes yet the harvest needs to be done, He extends the light so that they can gather the crops, hunt, and provide food for themselves before winter. He thinks of everything. He is so wonderful and glorious. The more I read the word and contemplate His attributes, the more I am in awe and love Him for Himself.

Posted in charismatic, false prophets, macarthur, strange fire

Charismatics be warned: false visions, ecstatic experiences and prophetic proclamations are blasphemous

Posted on by elizabethprata

“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity.“

~Charles Spurgeon, The Immutability of God

Is your pride drowned in the infinity that is Holy God? I hope so. I hope mine is! What helps dampen down my pride is simply contemplating Him.

I’m reading 1 Kings. I am up to chapter 18, the tremendous chapter where God displays His power over the false prophets of Baal. In the chapters leading up to the climactic moment, the power of the LORD is displayed in many ways, and it builds and builds. He spoke to Elijah and commanded him to go to Zarephath. Yes, that is mighty power, that the Holy God of heaven would speak His word to a man, the prophet Elijah. Don’t let that become mundane. He is LORD over men! Then He fed Elijah by the brook by commanding the ravens. He is LORD over creation!

And Elijah drank from the brook. But the brook dried up. (1 Kings 17:7). Stop there. The LORD had told Elijah that he would feed Him by ravens bringing him bread and that he could drink from the brook. (1 Kings 17:4). I wonder if the brook dried up slowly, and Elijah could see it going, getting smaller by the day until only mud was left. I wonder what he thought. Or did the brook dry up overnight, and when Elijah went to drink from it in the morning, it was gone. I wonder what Elijah thought then. We know Elijah was a mighty man in the LORD, but he was still human. Did he muse aloud, “Aw, man. What now?” The next verse said that “the word of the Lord came to him” (1 Kings 17:8), but it doesn’t say when. Was there a lag between when Elijah spotted the dried up brook and the word came? Was Elijah thirsty? How long did he wait?

Anyway, next was the miracle of the widow’s never-ending jar of flour. He is a LORD of provision! And then came the resurrection of her dead son. He is LORD of life and death!

And then the LORD told Elijah to gather the false prophets of Baal and He manifested His great power over them and their notion of a false god.

“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (1 Kings 18:38)

The fire consumed the stones. So great is his power. It consumed the dust. So precise is His power.

The next verse says that the false prophets fell on their faces. And yet we have so-called Christians, one after the other, coming out of the woodwork saying that Mighty Jesus, descends from heaven and pals around with them at the zoo, or while they are shaving, or runs around going ‘woop woop’ with Gumby arms. That THIS Jesus, does those things:

“and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” (Revelation 1:13-16)

That this Jesus who said He was not coming again until the time, appears to them in visions…

“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

“See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” ” (Matthew 23:39)

…and they DO NOT FALL ON THEIR FACES, but joke around with a buddy Jesus of their imagination. FALSE is the Charismatic movement. They make up a god of their vain imaginings. He is immutable and His hand is mighty and His Son is coming again in power and glory.

Please take some time to listen to the live stream of the powerful preaching at the Strange Fire conference going on now. And if you are reading this and cannot listen live (as I can’t) or the conference is concluded, then be sure to listen to the uploads which will be on the website when the conference concludes. Dr John MacArthur explains why he and his elders & peers put together the conference:

The conference came about as a result of my escalating concern about the charismatic movement. While claiming to represent a special work of the Holy Spirit, many in charismatic ranks—joined now by many in mainstream evangelicalism—are actually guilty of blaspheming Him. Out of a love for God’s people, and more important, for the sake of His glory, some hard things needed to be said.

I opened with Spurgeon and his sermon on the immutability of God, let’s close with him and another quote from that sermon. We do not need pale and flimsy man-made so-called miracles attributed to the wispy smoke of strange fire, not when we have the Holy Godhead to contemplate in spirit and in truth. We do not need visions and miracles and ridiculous speeches and claims when we have the power and might to contemplate from His word. Spurgeon encourages us:

“Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatary. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrows? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.“

It’s very simple. The Charismatics who claim physical, ecstatic, and visionary experiences diminish their souls and besmirch the Godhead. Pure worship from His pure word expands the soul and honors the Godhead. Listen to the Strange Fire lectures and sermons to learn how to distinguish between the two.

Posted in street of gold, tribulation, wealth

Wealth is relative

Posted on by elizabethprata
Photo Wikimedia. Our plate had only two claws on it.

Some time ago, I went out to dinner with my husband and a well-heeled couple. The rich couple were hosting some clients. We all ate at a very high-end restaurant in Miami. We had attentive waiters, there were plush carpets, an extensive wine list…one of those places. I remember ordering the stone crab claw appetizers for $30 per plate, and this was in the 1990s.

Growing up, I never paid attention to money much. We always had a lot of it. I thought it was important to be frugal, though, and moderate with money, and to be generous. But as to the amounts, I didn’t pay attention. It was always there.

In my early adult years I owned a home and had a professional job, and not a lot of debt except the house. I liked earning my own money and paying for things in a timely manner. I guess you could say that I was a regular person in my relationship to money and personal wealth.

Now of course, the economy in America has changed and many people are struggling, even if they are lucky enough to have a job. “The working poor” I think the term is.  Wikipedia explains:

“While poverty is often associated with joblessness, a significant proportion of the poor in the US and Canada, but also Italy, Spain, and Ireland are actually employed. The wages the working poor receive are insufficient to provide basic necessities and lead to people making choices between having food on the table or having a table. Largely because they are earning such low wages, the working poor face numerous obstacles that make it difficult for many of them to find and keep a job, save up money…“

So back to the long-ago fancy dinner in Miami. The bill came to well over $600. I was amazed that one evening’s entertainment could be so expensive. I remarked as such to the host (a person with I was very familiar, so we could speak familiarly). He said, “It’s like this. You go out and spend $60 and it’s not so much money to you, because of your income. I go out and spend $600 and to me it is not so much, because of my income. It’s only another zero.”

He said that in 1998, and I remember it today. “It’s only another zero.”

The coming Tribulation will widen the gap between the working poor, who will simply become the poor, and the rich. There will be extreme wealth (Rev 18:3) and extreme poverty (Rev 6:6).

The extremely wealthy will trade in ivory and gems and spices and men. The poor will work all day for a loaf of bread.

However the relativity of wealth even then will be able to be comprehended. The people eating bread will glare at the large limos gliding by, the wealthy eating in restaurants, and the money traded as ships come in. “It’s only another zero” will still be comprehensible.

However, the wealth I am thinking of is incalculable.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

There are not enough zeroes in the world to comprehend the treasure that awaits His children.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

The inheritance is our salvation come to full fruition in the eternal state. Oh, yes, we will receive physical inheritance, in terms of rewards, and a place in His Father’s house prepared for us, and we will dwell where there are magnificent jewels and a street of gold. That is not the inheritance I am speaking of. That is like what we think of on earth when we inherit the grandmother’s jewels or mom’s house or dad’s roadster.

What we inherit is salvation, and then we inherit Christ. He is the unique jewel of the universe, distinct in glory and beauty.

And there are other things too, we can’t even conceive of.

“But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

The difference between a rich man and a poor man’s zero is minuscule compared to the riches of His immeasurable grace and our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

May these thoughts bless and encourage you. 

Posted in news, prophecy, pulpit, sermons, signs

Should pastors do news-prophecy updates?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been thinking a lot about pastors who do prophecy updates. This is when pastors speak from the pulpit regarding current events of the day, such as the Syrian civil war, or a major earthquake, or the eclipses coming up, or Egypt’s coups, etc. The speak about this news from the pulpit during service and relate the news back to the bible.

Should pastors do this? Should they refrain from updating their parishioners on the news?? It is a difficult question. As with all hard questions (and easy ones too) let’s look at the bible first. The role of pastor is to include:

–Care to those whom he has been entrusted (1 Peter 5:2-3).
–A pastor is a shepherd of God’s flock who is to instruct, teach, and protect the people under his charge. In John 21:15-17, Jesus said to Peter, feed My sheep, tend My sheep, feed My sheep.
–Acts 6:4 those who lead the church are charged to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
–Acts 20:27 declare the whole counsel of God
–2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Though pastors have many duties as defined by the bible, teaching and preaching the word of God to the flock is number one. It is the major way they tend the sheep, and feed the sheep. They also protect the sheep from wolves, by guarding the congregation from false doctrine and the people who bring it. Feeding the lambs with the bread of life is uniquely given to elders/overseers.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31. The only enduring thing in this world are the words of Jesus, and shepherds are entrusted to pass them to the people, to explain, to use as encouragement and rebuke, for training in righteousness.

Prophecy is part of that general mandate. Too few pastors preach the prophetic passages or even mention them in passing. Somehow prophecy has gotten a bad reputation. This is likely because so many crazy people have set dates and brought shame onto Christianity by being a fringe element. Others are too shamefully gleeful at the wrath parts of judgment in prophecy and do not demonstrate the love of Christ by counterbalancing His wrath with talk of His grace and mercy. Or, many pastors don’t want the ‘taint’ that has besmirched prophecy in general to taint them, so they shy away. Oftentimes, it is also because seminaries do not teach pastoral students the importance of prophecy or preaching the prophetic passages, calling them unknowable, or controversial, and they ignore them altogether. Thus, new pastors don’t feel equipped to preach on them and they never do, even as they mature.

Frontspiece to “America A Prophecy”
William Blake 1793

As for the sheep, us, many have gotten discouraged by the hype that too many eager pastors have promoted with prophecy. Or, they have picked up on the general taint and they frown meanly from the pews when or if a pastor preaches it.

Yet the bible says to preach the whole counsel of God. Preaching the prophetic is encouraging because it shows God’s sovereignty, His careful attention to detail, and His everlasting covenants. When was the last time you heard a good sermon from, say, Obadiah? I listened to Phil Johnson preach from Nahum last weekend, and I loved every minute of it.

However that said, there is a difference in preaching prophecy and preaching secular news. As an example, John MacArthur has been preaching for 46 years, 44 of them at one church. All of his sermons he’s preached since 1969 are online. I’ve listened to a healthy sampling of them from each decade, including the ones from 1969, from the 70s, and 80s and 90s and 00s and beyond. In a bare few, he mentions current events. For the most part, he simply does what the bible says, preach the word. The word is always fresh. When he expounds on it, I literally cannot detect which era the sermon is from. It is as fresh as if he delivered it today than when he did 45 years ago. It is all edifying.

I applaud and honor those pastors who occasionally relate something happening in the culture or the world to the bible. John MacArthur did this in 2012 when he preached two sermons pointedly on America’s downward slide into immorality. They were “sermons on the spiritual and moral decline being championed by our country’s leaders.” The introduction to that two-part series states,

“If you’ve followed John MacArthur’s teaching for any length of time, you know he rarely says much about politics, culture, or society. It’s not that he’s uninformed on those topics. It’s that they’re often an intrusion upon the teaching of God’s Word. Evangelical Christians are already too easily distracted from the Great Commission in order to engage in partisan politics.“

However, sometimes mixing the current news and the bible is called for. Dr MacArthur stated

“I’m not one to talk about politics as such, but I was essentially amazed that one of the historic parties here in the United States adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform. This is a new day in our country. Parties which used to differ on economics now differ dramatically on issues that invade the realm of God’s law and morality.”

Even at that, the bulk of those two sermons were mainly focused on the Word of God and not the news of culture. And the rest of his sermons are focused totally on the word of God.

In the few cases if a secular news event is mentioned in an older sermon I am listening to, it’s jarring. It dates the sermon and makes it seem old and creaky. It kind of ruins the whole thing. Tying news into preaching is a bad mix, kind of like the iron and clay toes in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar that will not stay together.

There are some pastors who choose to speak a prophecy update each week, or quarterly. I have more concerns about these. I truly thank these preachers for doing weekly prophecy updates, I know their heart is in the right place. I know they love the Lord. But to work news back into the bible and claim meaning from it regularly is a dangerous activity, in my opinion. When a pastor has committed to a weekly prophecy update that includes the news of the world, their attention is necessarily divided.

I believe pastors should walk a fine line when it comes to preaching the news. They spend time reading newspapers instead of reading the bible. Tying news articles to the word means we think we can see what the Lord is doing or that we know his ways. But His ways are far above our ways. The pulpit is for God’s word.

Pastors should be excited about His appearing though, and talk much of our new home based on what the bible says, and look forward to the era to come. But they throw ALL prophecy out with the bathwater and never mention that this earth isn’t our home! Instead of preaching news stories from the pulpit, they go too far in the other direction and never preach the bible’s prophetic passages, either.

As far as news goes, we have come to the prophetic brink so often since 2008 and then the Lord saw fit to retreat the world from the prophetic brink. Russia is rising, Middle East is inflamed, the world economy is tanking, Damascus is dying, Egypt is failing, we can see the prophetic indicators.

The pastor’s role is to preach the word in season and out, ALL of the word, and this is on them- when

St Bernard preaching from a pulpit,
G. Martini, 1470

they do not preach prophecy passages from the bible they are not fulfilling the command to feed His sheep the whole counsel of God. But the word does not command shepherds to feed us news. So many pastors unwittingly get drawn away when they include secular news to their sermons from the pulpit. They start looking at the news and not expending their precious time on learning the word. Satan will take anything, even something good, and make it bad. If they feed us the word then we will understand and see the times. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being able to tell the weather from signs but not His appearing from the fact of His appearing! (Mt 16:3). And Paul said –

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess 5:4-5)

So the pastors preach the word, the whole word, and the Spirit illuminates the times for us.

It is a shame that so few are excited about His appearing. Paul mentioned it constantly! I talk about it a lot at church. I think He is coming soon. Not because the news indicates He is coming back soon but the bible says His return for His bride is imminent. It is something to get excited about! Not the news but simply the eagerness of going to our new home or the fact of His coming to get us. It is a sad thing that too few Christians look eagerly to that moment. If Paul and the early Christians did, how much closer is it today! Every NT book except Philemon mentions the prophetic future of our being raptured to Him and the new era. Christians who long for His appearing even earn a crown! And that is a shame, that so many brethren won’t share the joy of anticipation. I speak it from the bible, though, not from the news.

I do believe that the Lord is returning soon. I believe the rapture will be any day. I have believed this since I read it in the bible. The events today look to me like they are pointing to our last moments on earth under the Age of Grace. But, it’s been 7 years since I first thought that and it could be two years from now or another ten or I could die tomorrow and go to heaven anyway. We just don’t know. We look at the seasons and we look for His appearing and this should give us urgency to witness. But when I go to church I want to hear His word explained, there is no better way to spend time than hear the word. It is the only enduring thing on this earth.

What’s your opinion on the matter?

Posted in china, one world economy

The words "USA" and "default" beginning to appear in news headlines: big changes ahead?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The words “USA” and “debt” and the dreaded word “default” are starting to be used in the same headline. The Congressional-Presidential standoff on the budget and the Federal government shutdown has rattled the world. As the dollar is currently the world’s reserve currency this is making everyone else very nervous. The problem is, as USA Today explains,

Source

“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who shuttled between the global finance talks and negotiations with Congress over the debt ceiling, has warned that he will exhaust his borrowing authority Thursday and the government will face the prospect of defaulting on its debt unless Congress raises the current $16.7 trillion borrowing limit.”

CNBC explains “Debt is not the only method to finance overspending”
“When our government spends more money than it takes in, as it has been doing both consistently and at an accelerating pace for the past 30 years, it has to find a way to pay for that overspending. As any individual or business knows, there are choices you face when you need more money than you have at hand. You have to find a way to bring in more capital through making more money, selling some assets or securing financing.”

With the current climate of government strangulation of the entrepreneurial spirit and small business death, it’s not likely we will make more money. On a larger scale, we have no assets to sell, except land. Would Russia like Alaska back? The scenario for raising money is unlikely. And as for securing financing, China has already gone to their limit for us in buying our debt and has warned us they are loathe to buy ore. They are also making moves to remove the US dollar as global currency reserve. So that scenario is unlikely too.

CNBC says, “Debt cannot be used as a continual financing solution without dire consequences.”

One dire consequence that is likely with the US and the Chinese is this: invasion. Don’t laugh. Wikipedia explains sovereign default:

“Since a sovereign government, by definition, controls its own affairs, it cannot be obliged to pay back its debt. Nonetheless, governments may face severe pressure from lending countries. In the most extreme cases, a creditor nation may declare war on a debtor nation for failing to pay back debt, in order to enforce creditor’s rights. For example, Britain routinely invaded countries that failed to repay foreign debts, invading Egypt in 1882.”

Members of a Chinese Military Honor Guard. Source Wikipedia

If we can’t pay China back, do you think they will hesitate to come get what is owed them? Something to think about. Even if they do not invade our mainland, they may seize overseas assets.

“Other examples include the United States’ “gunboat diplomacy” in Venezuela in the mid-1890s and the United States occupation of Haiti beginning in 1915. A government which defaults may also be excluded from further credit and some of its overseas assets may be seized“

I think that we think the world is civilized and that finances and war are further apart than they really are. And remember, the second horse of the apocalypse if the fiery red horse of war. “Peace will be taken from the earth.” (Rev 6:4).

Here are three snippets of current news headlines remarking on the US potential for default.

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World top bankers warn of dire consequences if U.S. defaults
Three of the world’s most powerful bankers warned of terrible consequences if the United States defaults on its debt, with Deutsche Bank chief executive Anshu Jain claiming default would be “utterly catastrophic. This would be a very rapidly spreading, fatal disease,” Jain said on Saturday at a conference hosted by the Institute of International Finance in Washington. “I have no recommendations for this audience…about putting band aids on a gaping wound,” he said.

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Get your fiscal house in order: China warns US as Asia expresses concern for $1.3tn of investments
“China, the biggest foreign creditor of the United States, has waded into the American budget crisis, warning Congress that it must resolve the political impasse over the debt ceiling without further delay. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhu Guangyao, told America’s deadlocked politicians on Monday that “the clock is ticking” and called on them to approve an extension of the national borrowing limit before the federal government is projected to run out of cash on 17 October. We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a US debt default to ensure the safety of Chinese investments in the United States,” Mr Zhu told reporters in Beijing. “This is the United States’ responsibility,” he added.”

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Finance officials press U.S. on default risk
“World finance officials pledged on Saturday to deal with new risks to the global recovery while they kept up pressure on the United States to address the biggest threat of all — a market-rattling default on U.S. debt.”

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CNBC further explains,

UK Telegraph


“However, a default is hardly the only threat to our credit standing. We lost our AAA credit rating for the first time ever from S&P in 2011 based not on a default (which was threatened but never happened), but instead on our overall accumulation of debt, lack of a credible plan to reduce it and overall problematic policymaking governance. All of those issues have gotten worse. We have more debt than two years ago and there has been no improvement in our political discord, the financial savvy of our lawmakers, or in our governance in general.”

The economy plays a major role in the Tribulation. As a matter of fact, an entire chapter of Revelation is devoted to the Lord’s destruction of the global economy. (Revelation 18).

Revelation’s third horseman, the Black Horse of the Apocalypse, is unleashed by Jesus to wreak economic havoc on the world (Revelation 6:5-6). This happens at the beginning of the Tribulation. The world economy fails, and is restructured as seen in Revelation 13 into a one world economy with one currency. (Revelation 13:16-18)

The world economy picks up and reforms and apparently successfully too, given the luxuries that the merchants lament when it collapses for the final time in Revelation 18. This last, restructured economy is the worst one of all, given that satan has been allowed to thoroughly pollute it to its final length of sin.

Source

“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:4-5)

What I am saying is that there are several characters who play a major role in the final days. There’s the antichrist, the false prophet, satan, his unholy angels, the holy angels and of course Jesus. The final religion and the final economy are major players too. Those last two become judgments upon the people of the earth, vehicles for the pursuing of the length of sin and two of the means by which Jesus judges humanity. Remember, the participating in the economy or not participating in the economy is tied to whether you will worship the beast or not worship the beast. The economy is the tempting fruit and the ultimate dividing line. Those who wish to participate in the final economy will accept the mark of the Beast which is a mark of worship and allegiance to him. Christians who refuse will die of starvation or be hunted down and martyred. (Revelation 13:16).

Drastic, catastrophic changes for the global economy are ahead. You know, it seems that we have always had an economy like this one, but there have always been eras in finance as well. In Mesopotamia archaeologists discovered 5,500 year old clay balls that indicate a record keeping for a thriving economy. This is amazing because they predate the time before writing was invented. (source).

For a long time, bartering was the means by which men traded. Then modern banking was invented in 14th century Florence, Italy. Then we invented bar codes and checks were born and then credit cards and ATMs all the rest we know in this generation. And all along, countries default and hyperinflation comes and goes.

Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty
Enlightening the World
(1886) by Edward Moran.
Museum of the City of New York.

Since 1800, 91 countries have defaulted or had major debt restructuring. The United Kingdom defaulted four times. Twenty have defaulted in this century, since 2000. It’s not an unknown thing and is actually more common than we think. That it can’t happen to the US is ridiculous to even entertain. Of course it can. We are not above the laws of finance and the rules of sound economy. That is is likely to happen to the US is more logical to entertain.

Such huge changes are ahead for us. Keep looking for Jesus, since we are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess 5:9) and will not be present here for any of these devastating earthly changes. I’m looking forward to the wonderful changes in the plan Jesus has for those who love Him: rapture, (1 Cor 15:52) glorification, (1 Cor 15:53) and eternal rest and dwelling in heaven with Him. (1 Thess 4:17). Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!