Souls deceived in Billy Graham's wake

When I was a kid, Billy Graham was revered by my dad and grandmother. My dad would always have us watch any crusade rebroadcasts on TV. He often said it was a big wish of his that each of us kids would one day attend a Graham stadium event and walk the aisle to the center to openly acknowledge our faith. My grandmother loved to play George Beverly Shea records on her record player.

In all the media's endless references to Graham as a friend and "spiritual advisor" to presidents since Dwight Eisenhower, I haven’t heard it mentioned that President Harry Truman actually denounced Graham once as a "counterfeit" and publicity seeker.

Of course, there’s seemingly endless material to explain to a person why Graham was an apostate preacher. In one website alone, Biblical Discernment Ministries, is a gold mine.

Here are just some examples:

-- In 1966, Graham was asked in a panel discussion led by the apostate United Church of Christ, "Do you think a literal belief in the Virgin birth—not just as a symbol of the incarnation or of Christ's divinity—as an historic event is necessary for personal salvation?"

Graham's answer: "While I most certainly believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, I do not find anywhere in the New Testament that this particular belief is necessary for personal salvation."

-- In a 1978, Graham, in an interview with McCall's Magazine, endorses pantheism as a means to achieve salvation without Jesus Christ. He is quoted in the article as saying,

"I used to think that pagans in far-off countries were lost—were going to hell—if they did not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe that. . . I believe there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God—through nature, for instance—and plenty of other opportunities, therefore, of saying yes to God."

-- In a Time magazine article from 1993, Graham denies a literal hell. He says in the article, "The only thing I could say for sure is that hell means separation from God. We are separated from His light, from His fellowship. That is going to hell. When it comes to a literal fire, I don't preach it because I'm not sure about it. When the Scripture uses fire concerning hell, that is possibly an illustration of how terrible it's going to be -- not fire but something worse, a thirst for God that cannot be quenched."

--In  1985, when asked by a newspaper reporter from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, ""What about people of other faiths who live good lives but don't profess a belief in Christ?" Graham replied, "I'm going to leave that to the Lord. He'll decide that."

-- In 1993, Graham said to David Frost in a television interview, "And I think there is that hunger for God and people are living as best they know how according to the light that they have. Well, I think they're in a separate category than people like Hitler and people who have just defied God, and shaken their fists at God. ... I would say that God, being a God of mercy, we have to rest it right there, and say that God is a God of mercy and love, and how it happens, we don't know."

-- From a 1998 interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," came this exchange where Graham suggests not only a belief in reincarnation (I guess, but for sure it's not biblical since our soul is the only eternal part of humans) but in a heaven devoted to man's sexual lusts:

GRAHAM: I'll know Him. He'll know me. He will receive me. I believe the moment I die, an angel comes and takes my hand and leads me into His presence.

 KING: In your body or through a soul?

GRAHAM: Both -- maybe both, because we have been resurrected. Remember, this body's coming back together again. Nothing ever disappears ...

KING: All right. You'll meet Jesus and then what will it be like? What will paradise be like?

GRAHAM: It's going to be like paradise. It'll be the -- everything that you ever wanted for happiness will be there. People say that the Bible teaches there's no sex in Heaven. If sex is necessary for our happiness and fulfillment, it'll be there. And then, if certain other things that we think are pleasurable will -- it'll be there.

-- In 1993, Graham attended a prayer breakfast in which President Clinton participated. Senator John Kerry read from John 3:1-21 in the Bible, but purposefully skipped verse 3:16, which says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Kerry then explained Christ was speaking of "spiritual renewal" and that "in the spirit of Christ . . . Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, Christian" were meeting and "there is renewal . . . with a new President and Vice President. . ."

Graham added, "I do not know a time when we had a more spiritual time than we've had today."

-- From published accounts in 1988, Graham was quoted saying, "Mao Tse Tung's Eight Precepts are basically the same as the Ten Commandments. In fact, if we can't have the Ten Commandments read in the schools, I'll settle for Mao's Precepts" (Gothardism Evaluated, 1988, p. 16).

-- After a five-day visit to North Korea in 1992, in which Graham praised North Korea's Marxist dictator Kim II Sung's call for "reconciliation and peace" and said he had "learned to appreciate Korea's long struggle to preserve its national sovereignty," Graham appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America", saying of his trip that the people of North Korea seemed "relaxed and happy," noting that they were preparing for Kim's 80th birthday, of whom Graham said was almost like "a grandfather" to his people. Graham said that Kim had given the Graham party "a very lavish luncheon" during which he was "very warm and friendly." (Reported in the 5/1/92 Calvary Contender and the 2/22/93 Christian News.)

--In 1988, Graham gave the keynote address at the signing ceremony of the Williamsburg Charter Foundation, "an ecumenical amalgamation of professing Christians, humanists, atheists, New Agers, Eastern religionists, etc., whose stated goal is religious tolerance in education, but all the while is promoting a new one world religion," according to the BDM website. Other "evangelical" signators and/or supporters with Graham were James Dobson, Beverly LaHaye and Chuck Colson.

--In 1967, Graham spoke at the dedication of Oral Roberts University and has appeared on TV specials with Roberts, never speaking a negative word on Roberts' "wild visions, faith healing, and shameless money-raising schemes," as the BDM site reports. At Graham's Amsterdam '83, two of the main speakers were wacked-out charismatics David Yonggi Cho of Korea and televangelist Pat Robertson.

******

On this same website of Biblical Discernment Ministries' is a great overall testimony from a pastor who attended a Billy Graham crusade in Long Island in 1990, then wrote to the publication The Baptist Lighthouse, saying,

"I have read often of the compromises of Billy Graham, but doubted some of the stories as exaggerated. Now they have been proven, in my eyes, worse than reported. . .My conclusion is that Billy Graham is making men twofold more the child of hell. . . The emphasis was on believing in God, with a little commentary on Jesus Christ, but very little. . .We were told that the way to take care of the sin problem is to 'receive Christ, rededicate your life, or renew your confirmation vows, or whatever you call it in your church.' I could hardly believe my ears. What do confirmation vows have to do with salvation?. . . No one could have convinced me of the apostasy of Billy Graham any more than my own experience. . . .He even had a Rabbi on the platform to show the unity of the religions. . . . Not having competent counselors is bad enough, but then to have led them to believe that a church experience is the same as being born again is the height of apostasy. . . . Billy has not compromised, he has gone kaput!"

******

The horrid theology of Billy Graham can be found page after page in his 2013 book, “The Reason for My Hope: Salvation.”

He writes, “To those who say you can have Christ without giving anything up, Satan is deceiving you. Do you become part of your country’s military force by just saying you are?”

In another passage, he scolds, “Who said that becoming a Christian was easy? It certainly was not for Jesus. Going to the cross for us was no easy task for Him—it cost Him His life’s blood. Being resurrected was no easy happening—it took a miracle. ‘Easy believism’ is an insult to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us. The reward of His shed blood was the saving of lost souls.

Graham writes, “Today people are charmed by the love of God without realizing the curse of God’s judgment. Multitudes claim to follow Jesus but curse the changes He demands. The Bible says, ‘Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.' He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him’ (I John 2: 3-4).”

  

Here are just a few more similar outtakes:

·        “Jesus is bigger than life, so when He comes into yours, there is no room for anything that does not glorify Him.” 

·        “Many people who are thinking about becoming Christians ask, ‘What’s in it for me? How can I benefit?’ If the answer is only to keep you from Hell, you haven’t considered the cost of living for Christ on earth. The right question is not, ‘What’s in it for me?’ but rather, ‘Is Christ in me?’ That very idea is unsettling for most because it means forfeiting control. It means the Lord Jesus Christ will come into your life and reform, conform, and transform you into an obedient follower. If that is not your desire, you have every reason to question whether or not you have been saved.”

·        “To be a Christian means to surrender yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, to give up whatever stands between you and the Lord. This is God’s truth . . . You must be willing to be changed . . . if we continue to feed our desires and serve our imaginations, there is reason to doubt our Christianity.”