Reformed/Calvinist Theology - Is It Valid?

Yesterday I was drawn to a book I have had for a while, but never read.  The book is "What Is Reformed Theology? Understanding the Basics" by the late theologian, founder of Legonier Ministries, professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America, Dr. R. C. Sproul.  I have had the book for awhile, but for some reason had not bothered to read it until now.

In the book Dr. Sproul tells of visiting a prominent Midwestern college with a rich Christian and Reformed tradition.  He tells of his tour of the school and of noticing an office in the faculty office building with the sign "Department of Religion" on the door.   Later meeting with a group of faculty he asked about the sign and if it had always been the Department of Religion.  He was told that years before it had been called the "Department of Theology." 

When he asked why it was changed, no one seemed to know, for it had been changed many years before.  He got the feeling that their attitude was, "What does it matter?"  He took that moment to explain to the faculty that there is a profound difference between the study of theology and the study of religion.

He told them, “The study of religion is chiefly the study of a certain kind of human behavior, be it under the rubric of anthropology, sociology, or psychology.  The study of theology, on the other hand, is the study of God.  Religion is anthropocentric, theology is theocentric.  The difference between religion and theology is ultimately the difference between God and man.  Hardly a small difference.”  -  R.C. Sproul, "What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics"

At this point in the book, I am in total agreement with Dr. Sproul.  There is a vast difference between "religion" and "theology."   For me, religion encompasses a wide range of beliefs which are most often defined by rituals, sacraments, costumes, traditions, dogmas, and a wide range of teachings - most which have nothing to do with God or the Christian faith. 

At one end of the spectrum we have all the world religions:  Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Atheism, Humanism, Secularism, etc. 

And we have many pure cult religions:  New Age religions, Unitarianism, Armstrongism, Wicca, Hare Krishna, Nation of Islam, Scientology, etc. 

Then there are those who wear a Christian hat, but do not follow the same Jesus Christ:  Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Unification Church, United Pentecostal Church, etc.

Finally there are those religions more closely related to Christianity, but still not fully based upon the full 66 books of Scripture:  Judaism (Tanakh, i.e., Jewish Scripture) through which our Savior was born - Roman Catholicism (Bible plus Apocrypha and Vatican writings) - Adventism (Bible plus Ellen G. White writings), etc. 

These are all man-made means of trying to reach some kind of utopia here on earth - or of man adding his own extra-biblical documents of authority to what God has revealed to us in His Written Word, the Bible.  This is what Dr. Sproul defines as anthropocentric - centered upon man as the central and most important element of existence.

While theology is all about God, theocentric, where God is the main and central focus, explained in His full revelation to man, His Written Word, the Bible.

To this point Dr. Sproul and I are in agreement.  Let me take a side trip and clarify one point about Reformed Theology.  Reformed Theology is the same as Calvinist Theology.  Reformed churches which follow Calvinist teachings are:  Reformed Baptist Churches, Presbyterian Churches, Reformed Churches, The United Church of Christ, The Protestant Reformed Churches in America.

When speaking of the Reformed Church the two names which come to mind are the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Dr. Robert Schuller.  Both were highly recognized Reformed pastors.  And when considering the Presbyterian church the name most obvious to me is the late Dr. D. James Kennedy.

And when I think of Calvinist/Reformed Theology, I have two major areas of disagreement with their teachings: (1) Covenant Theology including the associated Replacement Theology and (2) Calvinist Predestination.

My main problem with (1) Covenant Theology is their teaching of Replacement Theology (also known as supersessionism), which teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan, that Israel is no longer God’s chosen people, and that God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel.  To believe that one must totally ignore Daniel 9 when the archangel, Gabriel, appears to Daniel with the Vision of the Seventy Weeks:

In Daniel 9:24-27 Gabriel tells Daniel, (24) "Seventy weeks are determined for your people (the Jews) and for your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy (Jesus Christ). .  .  . (27) Then he (the Antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many (Israel) for one week (seven years, the Tribulation).  But in the middle of the week (3 1/2 years) he (Antichrist) shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate (Antichrist defiles the temple by sitting on a throne in the temple and declaring himself to be God), even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."

Instead of direct Replacement Theology, some Covenant/Calvinist Theology churches do not see the church replacing Israel, but instead teach that the church is just an expansion or extension which grew out of Israel.  Since the early Christians were predominately Jews, the church's roots are Jewish, therefore in their view Christianity grew out of Judaism.  And in a sense it did, for Christ came to the Jews first and we are a branch that was grafted in - yet in God's eternal plan, Israel and the church are still two separate entities - His chosen people and the bride of Christ. 

Covenant Theology sees the Bible teaching three basic Covenants: The covenants of Works (Adam), Grace (Christ), and Redemption (Election).

Today a large number of the Protestant churches have a literal interpretation of the Bible and lean toward a Dispensational Premillennialism Theology rather than Covenant Theology.  For the record, this is where I stand doctrinally, for I believe in a PreTribulation Rapture of the church and a PreMillennial Second Coming of Christ to establish His 1000 year Millennial Kingdom on earth.

This theology teaches a PreTribulational Rapture of the church, i.e., that the bride of Christ will be removed from earth before the seven year Tribulation begins.  And it teaches a PreMillennial Second Coming of Christ in glory, that at the end of the seven year Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to earth accompanied by His Bride the church, the Old Testament saints, and the martyred Tribulation saints.  He will establish His 1000 year Millennial Kingdom from the throne of David in Jerusalem.

And my second major disagreement with Dr. Sproul and the Calvinist Theology falls upon the teaching of (2 ) the Calvinist Predestination doctrine - that before the Creation God, in His sovereignty, arbitrarily chose some of the humans He was planning to create in the future Creation and elected them to spend a glorious, joyful eternity in His presence.  These He called the Elect, for they had been elected to share the glory of His presence eternally.

At the same time God, before the Creation, decided that the vast majority of humans He planned to create - He would condemn, with no chance to be saved, to an eternity of pure torture, suffering, and agony - never ending hell.  These, according to the Calvinist theology He named the Reprobates.

Before we look at Scripture to find the truth, ask yourself:   Would God, the God of perfect Love and perfect Justice - create billions of people just to cause them to suffer that horrible existence eternally?   Does that, in any way, fit the God of the Bible, the God you and I worship?  No, even my limited human mind can neither grasp nor accept that view of God.

Is Predestination in the Bible?  Yes.  But not the Calvinist version of Predestination.  Predestination is in the Bible, that whom God Foreknew (meaning He knew them from eternity to eternity, down to the hairs on their head) in His Omniscience, He fully foreknew from eternity to eternity every sparrow which would fall and every person who would become a believer.  Yes, He knew that Bill Gray would become a believer at age 50 in 1987.  So He predestined Bill Gray to be among His Elect, His body of believers - from Adam to the last person saved.  He knew that I would meet my wife, Dory, who would lead me to meet Pastor Sam Lacanienta, who would lead me to the foot of the cross where the Holy Spirit would bring me into the family of God.  Yes, Bill Gray was predestined to eternal life in Christ - for He foreknew that Bill Gray would believe and receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Romans 8:28-30, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

Ephesians 1:3-6, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

Did He "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world"?  Yes.  Then doesn't that prove that God chose the Elect before the Creation, just as the Calvinist tell us?  No.  That tells us that God knew, in His omniscience before the Creation - who will believe.  He Foreknew who will believe - and these people He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Ephesians 1:11-14, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (12) that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.  (13) In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

Look at what Ephesians 1:13 is telling us, "In Him you also trusted ~ after you heard the word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation ~ having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."   How many people hear the Gospel and do not believe?   There are many.  For the first fifty years of my life, I heard the Gospel, I was in and out of so many churches, so many denominations, hearing the Truth, hearing the Gospel.  But, even though I believed that God and Jesus Christ were real - I had never put my faith in Him. 

What if I had not met Dory, then Pastor Sam - would I have been lost eternally?  There is a good possibility that I would have been lost.  But we know that God, in His Omniscient Foreknowledge, knew from before the Creation that I would meet Dory, that I would meet Pastor Sam, that I would believe - and I did, through the gift of Free Will that He has given to all people.    

All people, the whole world from Adam to the last person born - have the gift of Free Will - the ability and the responsibility to choose to follow Christ and be saved - or to reject Christ and be lost eternally.

In the New Testament sinners are commanded over and over to “repent” and “believe” (Matthew  4:17; Acts 3:19; 1 John 3:23).  Every call to repentance is a call for that person to make a choice, to use his Free Will to choose or to reject Christ.  That command to believe assumes that the person hears the admonition - and God knows that person has the Free Will to choose to obey the command.

Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' " 

Acts 3:19, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

Matthew 4:17 was Jesus speaking publicly to the people, first in Capernaum, then in many other places.   Acts 3:19 is Peter speaking to the crowd, the people in the streets of Jerusalem.  In these cases, and in many others, were all the people to whom Jesus and Peter speaking - all counted by God among the Elect before the Creation?  If not, and only that Elect can be saved - why would Jesus and Peter admonish all the people to repent and be saved? 

If Calvinist Predestination were true and many in these crowds were Reprobates, would Jesus really be that cruel to tease them and suggest they could repent and be saved - if God had already condemned them to eternal hell as Reprobates?

A solid, Biblical theology must be built upon the entire Bible, all 66 books, plus nothing else.  The Bible is God's full revelation and sole authority for our Christian faith and our daily Christian walk.  We can add nothing to it, nor subtract anything from it.  There are no other writings nor documents which have authority equal to or above the Bible.  So if a church, denomination, or individual believer has a theology which is not built upon all of the Bible, or where points of that theology contradict any portion of the Bible - that is a weak and invalid theology.

Years ago, Dory and I were watching a Christian television station and Benny Hinn came on.  Normally I would change the channel, but I decided to watch.  He was teaching about anointing oils and how they fit into his Prosperity Gospel Theology.  As he spoke the show director would pop up Scripture verses quickly to support what he was saying, but would not leave the verse or passage on the screen long enough for us to check it against the Bible.  So I just wrote down the verses and after it was over, I went to my Bible to check if those verses were applicable to what he was teaching.

As I said, he was teaching about anointing oils and his Prosperity Gospel.  It was obvious what he had done was to search for all Scripture verses that referenced "oil" and put those verses into his teaching - even when there was very little, if any at all, connection or reference to his message.  Of the ten verses I checked, maybe five somewhat fit his message, the others were no where close to his message thoughts.

And I get the feeling that my Calvinist friends who are attempting to prove Calvinist Predestination in the Bible are doing the same - finding verses with "predestine" "predestinate" or any similar spelling - and declaring that proof of their theology.

Other areas of Scripture where my Calvinist Friends and I take different paths are:

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world (you, me, all people who have ever or will ever be born) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

My Calvinist brethren tell me that in this Scripture verse the word "world" really only means those who were elected before the Creation.  Yet according to Strong's Concordance the English word "world" is the Greek word "kosmos" which means: "the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family."  In other words, all mankind.  Does God really love all mankind?  According to John 3:16 and other verses, He absolutely does love all people.

According to that, God loves ALL the world, all the people - and 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God really desires that all people be saved eternally.  Yet He knows that because all mankind has Free Will - many will not choose to not believe and receive Christ as Lord and Savior.  Yet those who do believe and receive (John 1:12) Him will have eternal, everlasting life.

What is everlasting life, i.e., eternal life?  It is life that will never end.  That is what God is promising to everyone who will believe and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  No restrictions - no "sorry you were not elected" - no "sorry, you had it, but you lost it."  No, God is telling us that if we will receive Christ, we definitely HAVE eternal, never ending, life in Him.

These are thoughts prompted from my reading Dr. R.C. Sproul's book "What Is Reformed Theology?  Understanding The Basics."   Does this mean I believe that all my Calvinist brethren are not saved?  Absolutely not!  If they have believed and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they, just like all my Arminian brethren, are absolutely saved and I will enjoy their fellowship in heaven, eternally.

All I am saying is that I believe their Calvinist or Arminian Theologies are flawed.  That will not keep them out of heaven, but it may affect their sense of eternal security while still struggling through this mortal life.  We all just keep saying, ".  .  . Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"  (Revelation 22:20).

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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Seniors Sunday School Class - February 24, 2019

Our Seniors Sunday School Class yesterday at International Bible Baptist Church was interesting.  We have been going through the Gospel of John and yesterday we discussed the meeting between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus the Pharisee, John chapter 3.   Then we moved into the true interpretation of John 3:16.

In our study of John, we are using a downloaded movie which I feel is realistic of the day, culture, and generation of the Jewish people during the time of Christ's ministry on earth.  It does not show Him wearing elegant spotless linen clothing, but the blue collar clothing one would expect to see a carpenter wearing in that time.  His sandals were not expensive Italian designer leather shoes - but worn leather sandals of the working class, sandals worn by working and walking on the dusty roads in and around Judea and Galilee.

In previous weeks we saw that the Wedding at Cana was not catered at a Stouffer's class hotel of the day, but in a home with rough hewn wooden tables, no white linen table clothes and polished silver - but in the setting of the working class people of that day.

My wife, Dory, has asked me, "Why not just read and discuss the Scripture text verse by verse?  Why intersperse viewing portions of the movie with reading and discussion of the verses?"

That is the way Bible studies or Sunday School are usually done and there is nothing wrong with a verse by verse walk through the Scripture text.  However I want to add another dimension to our study.  I want to add the visual aspect of Israel of Christ's day with the reading and understanding of the text.  Why accept a two dimensional study when you can have a three dimensional study?

I love reading historical novels.  Why?    Well, I love history - but reading history books can often be rather dry.  Yes they give us historical facts, dates, events - but in what can sometimes be a rather dry, often sleep provoking, manner.  But take those same historical facts, wrap them around a novel with real characters (and perhaps a few fictional characters thrown in for flavor) in real historical circumstances - and we keep the reader's attention.  All the while the reader is learning history.

Over the years I have read many books about England and Scotland.  But not until I actually went to England and Scotland on business trips did I get a true feel, the real flavor of the people and the land.  Since we cannot take a business trip back to Israel in the time of Christ - I feel this movie will, to some extent, give us that same feeling for the people and places.  So we watch the movie in bite size chunks - in step with our reading and discussing verse by verse though the amazing Gospel of John.

The Gospel of John (2003 Full Movie) [HD]
https://youtu.be/KdYaHZHMGDM?t=2

Our discussion yesterday was about the meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus found in chapter 3 of John.   Actually we started in John 2:23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did."

Jesus was in Jerusalem for three Passovers during the last three years of His earthly ministry.  This is the first Passover of that time and we find that many believed in Him - but not necessarily for the right reason.  They saw the signs and miracles He did and believed He was a great teacher with apparent spiritual abilities - but they do not recognize Him as their Messiah. 

We read in John 2:24-25, "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."

Just as when Jesus fed the 5000 at Bethsaida and they followed Him to Capernaum, Jesus knew their hearts.  In their hearts, He was not their Messiah, the Son of God - but a man who could perform magical tricks and give them free material things.  And they wanted more of His bounty.
 
The Three Passovers Of Jesus' Earthly Ministry:

First Passover - Jesus meets Nicodemus:  John 2:13, "Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." .  .  .   John 2:23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did."

Second Passover - Feeding the 5000:  John 6:4-5, "Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?' "

Third Passover - Triumphal Entry/Crucifixion:  John 11:55-57, "And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, 'What do you think - that He will not come to the feast?'  Now both the chief priests (Caiaphas and Annas) and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him."

Who was Nicodemus and why did he come to talk with Jesus?  In the short movie clip I showed, we start viewing where Jesus had just driven the moneychangers out of the temple - and we saw that the Pharisees were very upset with Him.   All except one Pharisee - Nicodemus.  This moment in the movie shows Nicodemus at the instance when he is about to see the Light.  He does not fully comprehend, but you can see the seeking in his manner.  True, that is only the movie's interpretation - but I have a feeling it could very well have happened just like like it is shown.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a teacher.  At the time there were basically three sects in the Jewish religious community - Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes (ascetics).  During that time most cities had a religious/civic leadership called the Sanhedrin, much like our regional Federal Courts in America.  The Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem which was like their Supreme Court.  The Great Sanhedrin was the highest authority in the land.  It was comprised of 70 priests/rulers (Pharisees and Sadducees) and a High Priest, Caiaphas.  His father-in-law, Annas, was the retired High Priest.

You might relate the Pharisees and Sadducees of that day to the Liberals and Conservatives of today, sort of, but not exactly.  The Sadducees were more like Conservative in that they insisted on a literal interpretation of Scripture.   While the Pharisees, on the other hand, gave oral tradition equal authority to the written Word of God - much like the Roman Catholic church today views the writings of the Vatican as equal in authority (and often higher) than Scripture.

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead - but the Pharisees did believe in the resurrection.  The Sadducees denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death - like atheists and some cult churches of today.  But the Pharisees believed in an afterlife and they believed in rewards or punishment for each individual.  The Sadducees rejected the idea of an unseen, spiritual world.  But the Pharisees taught the existence of angels and demons in the spiritual realm.

The Essenes were an ascetic religious group, i.e., they dedicated their lives to a pursuit of contemplative spiritual worship and practiced extreme self-denial.  They lived an extremely austere and simple lifestyle, abstaining from the normal pleasures of life.  It was a strict men-only community typically living in remote areas - living lives of ritual purity and separation. 

The Essenes began about 100 BC and disappeared from history after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  They have given our Christian faith a major gift today.  It was they who created and saved the many scrolls found in the Qumran Caves, which we call the Dead Sea Scrolls.  And through these scrolls much of the Bible as we know it today has been validated.  One key book of our Bible, Isaiah, has most certainly been validated - for the Isaiah scrolls found in the Qumran caves - are virtually identical to the Isaiah we read in our Bibles today.

Most Christians today, when asked about the meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, will immediately bring to mind the teaching of Jesus in this very important passage:

John 3:34, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'  (4) Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' "

John 3:5-6, "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

What did Jesus mean by being born of water and the Spirit?   The Spirit is obvious.  We are born again, i.e., saved, by the Holy Spirit.  You and I can, and should, witness to non-believers about the salvation found only in Jesus Christ.  We can lead them toward the cross - but ONLY the Holy Spirit can lead them into the family of God.

But what did He mean to be "born of the water" - born of what water?  Glad you asked.

One interpretation is the natural or physical birth.  The pre-birth baby is protected in a sack of amniotic fluid for nine months.  At the time for birth, the sack bursts releasing the fluid/water, and the baby is born.   Thus the child is born of the birth water.  Yet this would be seen as being born of the flesh.  A child is conceived in the flesh, born in the flesh - but that does not give the child spiritual life.  We are all born with the Adamic Sin Nature, spiritually dead.

Another interpretation favored in many churches is that a person is not saved UNTIL he/she is baptized.  The is called Baptismal Regeneration and is not supported in Scripture.

Finally the interpretation which I believe is supported by Scripture.  The water through which we are born again - is the Written Word of God, Scripture, the Bible.

Jesus to the woman of Samaria:  John 4:13-14, "Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.' "

Jesus teaching in the temple at the Feast of the Tabernacles:  John 7:37-38, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (38) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' "

Paul teaching on the Christian household:  Ephesians 5:25-26, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,"

And back in the Old Testament:  Psalm 119:9-11, "How can a young man cleanse his way?  By taking heed according to Your word. .  .  (11) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."

In classs we discussed Jesus' teaching of the Israelites grumbling and complaining against Moses and God in their wilderness journey and God causing 23,000 to die from poisonous snake bites.  To offer repentance, God had Moses lift up the Bronze Serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9, 1 Corinthians 10:8-9) and all who looked upon the Bronze Serpent, a type of Christ, were saved.  All who did not died physically.

This is an analogy, that like the Israelites looking up at the Bronze Serpent to be saved - sinners need only to look to Him who has been lifted up on the cross to be saved from the guilt, penalty, and power of sin (John 1:12, John 3:16). 

John 3:14-15, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

And that brings us to the one Scripture verse, that portion of the Living Water which every Christian should know by heart:

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world (you, me, all believers of all the world for all time) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting (eternal, never ending) life."
John 3:17, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

The WORLD is you, me, and all believers from all the world, throughout all history.

Whoever believers HAS ETERNAL LIFE.  Think on that.  It does not say, "Could have eternal life IF.  . . " nor does it say, "Could have eternal life UNTIL. .  ."  

ETERNAL means never ending - with no qualifications. 

1 John 5:11-12, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (12) He who has the Son HAS life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."  

Like I said in the beginning, yesterday we had an exciting Seniors Sunday School Class.   Kind of makes you want to be a Senior, right?  But not to worry, we do not discriminate because of age.  Anyone who wants is always welcome to join us.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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Feminist Pastor Gives Gloria Steinem Pagan Idol Sculpture Made Of Melted Purity Rings!

Everyday, I Thank God That I Am A Conservative (Fundamentalist) Christian!  "Bill, you are a Fundamentalist?"   You betcha!  

"What is a Conservative (Fundamentalist) Christian believer?"  Glad you asked.  A Conservative Christian, aka, a Fundamentalist Christian - is a believer who knows that the Bible is God's sole authority for mankind, His full revelation given to man to guide us in our daily Christian lives.  It is the Holy Spirit Inspired, Holy Spirit Inerrant, Holy Spirit Literal Written Word of God. 

Why do I say the "Written Word of God"?  Because Jesus Christ is the "Living Word (Logos) of God."  God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to offer all who will, by grace through faith, believe in Him - freedom from the Penalty of Sin (Justification).   The Bible, God's Written Word, if followed daily gives us freedom from the Power of Sin (Sanctification).  And one day, when we die or are raptured, He will give us eternal freedom from the Presence of Sin (Glorification). 

A Conservative (Fundamentalist) Christian fellowship and we as individual believers hold to the Verbal Plenary Inspiration of Scripture, that all 66 books of the Bible are without error in the original manuscripts.  We believe that the Bible is without error in its moral and spiritual teaching and in its record of historical facts.  What does Verbal Plenary Inspiration of Scripture mean?  "Verbal" means that every word of Scripture is God-given.  "Plenary" means that all parts of the Bible are equally authoritative.  "Inspiration" means that every word in the Bible is divinely inspired.

When we build our Christian theology upon the full 66 books of the Bible, excluding none of Scripture - that theology cannot be wrong.  When looking for a church to be your home church fellowship, look for a Christian church which views the Bible this way, which teaches the Bible in this manner - and you cannot go wrong.

Many Liberal churches view the Bible in a much different way.  They see the Bible as a good book, a guideline for Christian living, but not the Inerrant, Literal Written Word of God.  To many in the Liberal persuasion the Bible is a dynamic document, one that is to be continually edited and updated, which changes, grows, or shrinks over time - according to the mores, the acquired customs and manners, of the secular society.

In our Conservative Christian churches, our Bible-based view is that the Secular Society must adapt to what the Bible teaches.  Most Liberals believe that the Bible should adapt to modern Secular Society's relativism and latest, ever changing, ever evolving beliefs.

Does the Bible teach that God and His Written Word change with the ever changing societal desires?

Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I do not change; . . . ."  ~  This tells us that God does not change.  He is immutable, unchanging.  His Word if perfect, His plan for mankind is perfect, His will for mankind is perfect, and His mercy and justice for mankind is perfect.  There is no need nor reason for Him to change.

Psalm 119:89, "Forever, O LORD,  Your word is settled in heaven."  ~  This tells us that God's Word, what we read in the Bible, is settled in heaven.  Since it is settled in heaven, nothing man can do on earth can change it.

So what happens when an individual, a church fellowship, or a denomination insists upon viewing the Bible as a changing, dynamic document?  In my lifetime I have seen that scenario played out over and over.  In the past few decades we have seen the results of such a Liberal Biblical view.  We saw America look the other way when a Roman Catholic president, John Kennedy, had thinly veiled adulterous affairs, openly cheating on his wife.  We saw a president, Bill Clinton, who professed to be Christian, but was having an adulterous affair in the Oval Office. 

In 2004, we saw  the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire ordain Gene Robinson as a Bishop in that denomination.  And at the same time he was living an openly homosexual lifestyle with a partner.  We have seen denominations and individual churches openly accept people into church fellowship as pastors and other positions of leadership - while they are living in an active homosexual or lesbian relationship.  In doing this they are spitting on the Word of God and God Himself.

We have seen many churches, even including some Liberal Baptists churches, ordaining women as pastors.  The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ordained a woman pastor, Suzii Paynter, as their Executive Coordinator/Pastor over their whole denomination for the past five years.  We have seen the same heretical movements in other denominations where women have been elected to be the Executive Pastor over all the churches in those denomination.  Flagrantly ignoring the Word of God.

And more and more we are seeing mainline churches and denominations openly accepting the homosexual lifestyle (LGBTQ) as the norm, accepting that lifestyle within the leadership ranks of Christian churches.

Will Rogers, the famous American humorist, had a very appropriate quote that fits this situation very well, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”   It most certainly seems that the Christian church, over the past 100 years, has been digging itself into a very deep hole - compromising with the secular humanist society..  And that is why we have the Secular Society and the LGBTQ activists raising the level of their all-out attack against the Christian faith, all across America.

In 1963 the Supreme Court evicted God and prayer from our public schools - and more and more from all public domain.  In 1973 the Supreme Court ignored God and legalized the murder, Infanticide, of unborn babies.   Then a few years ago, the Supreme Court ignored God and legalized homosexual marriage.  Now it appears we are on a fast track for the Supreme Court to once again ignore God and legalized the murder, Infanticide, of babies, even up to post-birth.   Today the push is to legalize the killing of babies who have miraculously survived abortion attempts.  Society still wants to allow them to be murdered by the abortionist.

With all those compromises with the world in mind, the story below should not surprise anyone.  A tattoo covered Feminist who has been ordained and is pastor of a Lutheran church in Denver - believes that all young girls who have committed themselves to abstinence, i.e., chastity, until marriage, who have accepted a "promise or purity ring" to signify that commitment - are abused.  She asked them to mail their "promise rings" to her - so that she could melt them down to make a pagan idol.

We have all read in Exodus 32, when God had Moses with Him on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments - that the Jews whom God had led out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt, turned their backs on God and demanded that Aaron, their high priest, make for them a golden calf they could worship in place of God.  Aaron had them gather all their golden rings and jewelry to melt down and from that gold he made them a pagan golden calf to worship.   

Doesn't the action of this tattooed, feminist woman pastor ring true to the story of Aaron, the Jews, and the golden calf?  She had women mail her their "promise rings" and she had them melted down and made into a pagan vagina idol.  Imagine having your sons and daughters, your grandchildren come under the influence of such a person, a person professing to be Christian - but living and teaching pagan idol worship.

Dory and I are so blessed to be in the Christian family of IBBC-Riverside (International Bible Baptist Church) where we have so many youth and young adults, male and female, who are happily living their lives to serve the Lord and to walk in His ways - and not in the secular world's ways.  Every time we come together to worship and study - I am so blessed by each and every one of our young people.  In each of them, from the youngest and up, I truly see the virtuous life of a Conservative Christian believer who is thrilled to be serving Him.

Yet when I read the story below and watch this video, my heart breaks for the young people who have been lured into this evil woman's web of paganism.

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Feminist Pastor Gives Gloria Steinem Pagan Idol Sculpture Made Of Melted Purity Rings!
THE DAILY WIRE, By Paul Bois, February 19, 2019
https://youtu.be/o8iSyfZwtAo

Well, she finally did it.  Feminist Lutheran "pastor" Nadia Bolz-Weber has given abortion propagandist Gloria Steinem the vagina sculpture she made of Christian purity rings last year, reports The Blaze.

Last November, the founding pastor (Nadia Bolz-Weber) of Denver’s House for All Sinners and Saints (Lutheran church) - who once described herself to The Washington Post as a "tatted-up, foul-mouthed" leader of a "new, muscular form of liberal Christianity" - announced on Twitter her "massive art project" - to create a golden idol to female genitalia in protest of evangelical purity.

"Beginning November 12th, until December 17th, you’ll have the opportunity to send in your purity rings to be melted down and recast into a golden vagina," she explained on her website about her plans to create her feminist idol. "This sculpture will be unveiled at the 2019 Makers Conference."

Women who sent Bolz-Weber their purity rings were given a "certificate of Impurity as well as a SHAMELESS impurity ring."  Evangelicals sometimes refer to such purity rings as "promise" or "chastity" rings.  They are typically given to young girls as a sign of promise to abstain from pre-marital sex.

When Bolz-Weber received enough rings, she had to hire a female welder to create the vagina statue after five men refused to make it.  Upon presenting the statue to Steinem at the 2019 Makers conference, the feminist pastor denounced the purity rings as a "footnote" in a vast history.

"Every single thing and person that seemed so powerful as to feel inescapable, I name them, and then I just go 'footnote,'" Bolz-Weber said. "I mean, seriously - Pontius Pilate?  He's a footnote.  Your bully from middle school?  Footnote.  Your depression?  Footnote.  Your (nasty) boss?  Footnote.  All those things are very real, and the harm that they have on us and the world is also real."

"But to me, the whole point of having faith is that it allows us to believe in a bigger story than the one we tell ourselves," she added.  "Those purity rings are a footnote."

Bolz-Weber explained to HuffPost at the 2018 Makers Conference (that) her motivation (is) to "take down" the evangelical purity culture.

"This thing about women that the church has tried to hide and control, and that is a canvas on which other people can write their own righteousness - it’s actually ours," Bolz-Weber said.  "This part of me is mine - and I get to determine what is good for it, and if it’s beautiful, and how I use it in the world."

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has developed generally liberal views on abortion, homosexuality, and universalism.  Bolz-Weber said her denomination has largely supported her.

According to The Christian Post, the modern purity movement among evangelicals began in the 1990s and 2000s partly because of Joshua Harris’ 1997 book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," - in which he suggested that dating should only be for preparing for marriage.  Harris has since apologized for that viewpoint, saying he presented an unhealthy view of recreational dating.

"I didn't leave room for the idea that dating could be a healthy way of learning what you're looking for in a long-term relationship, that it could be a part of growing personally," he admitted.  "I gave the impression that there was one formula that you could follow, and if you followed that, you'd be happily married, God would bless you, and you'd have a great sex life and marriage.  Obviously, the real world doesn't work that way."

This woman's goal: "her motivation (is) to "take down" the evangelical purity culture." 

That ties in well with this story from 2013, when the lesbian journalist, Masha Gessen, stated that the real goal of the LGBTQ homosexual activists - is to eliminate marriage altogether. 

Most people were duped into believing that the LGBTQ activists really wanted to have marriages similar to traditional Biblical marriage, a couple committed to one another for life.  I believe this woman, this lesbian journalist, is more on target with the real goals of the LGBTQ community.

Homosexual Activist Admits True Purpose of Battle is to Destroy Marriage
The Illinois Family Institute
By Micah Clark  - April 6, 2013 
http://illinoisfamily.org/homosexuality/homosexual-activist-admits-true-purpose-of-battle-is-to-destroy-marriage/

Even knowing that there are radicals in all movements, doesn’t  lessen the startling admission recently by lesbian journalist Masha Gessen.  On a radio show she actually admits that homosexual activists are lying about their radical political agenda.  She says that they don’t want to access the institution of marriage; they want to radically redefine and eventually eliminate it.

Folks, as you can see, we Christian believers have our work cut out for us.   We have to stand strong against these attacks from the Secular Society, the Humanists, and the LGBTQ community activists - and keep sharing the Word of God, Biblical Truth, keep protecting our families, our children and grandchildren, from the lure of the pagan world.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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Jazz Great George Shearing 2011 Obituary - And Sharing The Gospel

Today, searching my archives I came upon the post below from 2011.  I posted it on the TimesDaily Religion Forum, in my Facebook Notes, and sent it as a Bill & Dory Gray Christian Ministries eNewsletter in February 2011.  And now, with some changes to bring it up to date and more relevant, I want to share it once again with all my Friends.

Bill Gray February 15, 2011 ·

JAZZ GREAT, GEORGE SHEARING, HAS DIED!  -  Today, I was reading the obituary for jazz great, George Shearing, in my hometown newspaper, the TimesDaily.  It announced that George Shearing had died at the age of 91.

In 1956-57, while stationed in the Air Force in Korea and Formosa, my best friend was a jazz guitarist named Bob White.  After the Air Force, Bob went on to help found the Funk Brothers inhouse band for MoTown Records.  During our time in Korea and Formosa, Bob formed a Jazz Trio which would play on our base radio station.  During that year, since Osan Air Base was the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing Headquarters, the regional competition for the worldwide Air Force Talent Contest was held on our base.

In that competition a one in a million thing happened to me.  The first evening of the competition the organizers realized they had not printed enough programs for the two night event. They asked us to return our programs so they could be distributed the second night.  Would you believe that on the second night I was given a program which had been used by a judge the previous evening?  The judge had written notes on the program.  The judge's comment about the Jazz Trio, "Guitarist obviously professional."  Bob was not professional, but he was that talented.  And what are the odds that in a full auditorium Bob White's best friend, me, would be given that particular program the second evening?

Since Bob was in Communications and I was in Radar/Electronics (the aircraft mechanics called all electronic techs the Whiz Kids) we were in the same quonset hut and had bunks side by side.  Between our bunks Bob had a record player (yes, long before CDs, cassettes, iPods, etc.).  We would go to the Base Exchange and buy 33 rpm records (no smirking from the younger audience) for our off duty entertainment.  He taught me to love jazz and one of the many jazz greats he introduced me to was the George Shearing Quintet.  I have been a fan of Shearing and all jazz music since then.

Many of my TimesDaily Religion Forum Friends complained about my posts, asking why we Christian believers insist upon sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ all the time.  Think about that.  Non-believers come on the Religion Forum to post - and complain because we believers share our Christian faith.  That should make you go, "Hmmm?"   Always my response to them is that we share the Gospel, which means "Good News" - because we are so blessed to be Christians and we want to share this "Good News" with all the world.

And our second, and very important, reason is that we cannot just step aside and allow atheists, agnostics, secularists, cults, and world religions to have the podiums all to themselves to preach their "bad news" to the over 11,000 TimesDaily Forum members and the untold number of other TimesDaily readers who come to the Forum just to read, but never post.  And we want to share the "Good News" to the billions of unsaved and unchurched people in the world.

Several George Shearing quotes really struck a chord in my heart.  His reasons and thoughts behind sharing his music with the world - are the same as we Christians feel about sharing the Gospel with the world.

In a 1987 Associated Press interview, Shearing said the ingredients for a great performance are, "a good audience, a good piano, and a good physical feeling, which is not available to every soul, every day of everyone's life."

"Your intent, then, is to speak to your audience in a language you know, to try to communicate in a way that will bring to them as good a feeling as you have yourself," he said.

As Shearing grew older, he spoke frankly of aging: "I'm not sure that technique and improvisational abilities improve with age," the pianist said.  "I think what improves is your sense of judgment, of maturity.  I think you become a much better editor of your own material."

Indeed I do agree with George Shearing.   We do want to "bring to them as good a feeling as you have yourself."  Can you imagine a better reason for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not yet know Him?

Then reflecting upon Shearing's second quote regarding growing older:  As we age and mature, "what improves is your sense of judgment, of maturity.  I think you become a much better editor of your own material."  This is called becoming a mature Christian and a more mature witness to the world, sharing our Lord's Gospel in a more mature, knowledgeable manner, better tuned through age and maturity in Christ to share with those who are, or should be, seeking an answer to life's questions.

But I will caution, maturity in Christ and His Word are not always linked to chronological age.  I have seen and know many young people who have a God given maturity because they have applied themselves to growing in Him.  In our church, International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside, we have many very mature young people who are very involved in ministry and outreach.  I am so blessed by them.

And I will never forget an evening in the early 1990s when I was in my early 50s and a relatively new believer.  Dory was out of town on a business trip, so I went alone to the Almeda home for our Friday Night Bible study, only to find that the parents had to be away that evening - and I did not get the word of cancellation.  As I was about to leave, their young high school daughter, Audrey, suggested that we - she, her brother Arnel, and I - have a Bible study.  Since I was not yet ready to lead Bible studies - this young high school student, Audrey, led a very good Bible study in the book of John.

While George Shearing was speaking of his love of music - he could just as easily have been speaking of our love of Jesus Christ and what He has done for all who will, by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ - believe and receive His "paid in full gift" of eternal life.

In George Shearing's memory I say, "Thank you for many years of beautiful music."

To all my Christian Friends, I say, "For you who are also believers, I praise God.  Now go to the world and share that Good News."

And, to my Friends who are not yet believers, I say with sincerity and a heart felt plea, "Why do you gamble with your eternal, immortal soul by waiting?  None of us knows when our next breath will be our last.  Why gamble that you might suddenly breathe your LAST breath because of an accident, heart attack, etc., and not be prepared?   Why wait until it is too late - before you take the time to assure your eternal home in heaven?  Why gamble when you are only a breath away from eternity - in heaven or in hell?  Make that decision today, right now.  Make your reservation for eternal life in heaven, today, now."

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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The Divine Chains Of Eternity! ~ 2019 Revisit

Today before our Sunday Schools started I was chatting with Ben Gallardo, our Adult Sunday School Leader.  On my laptop, I was showing him the video movies I have downloaded of the four Gospels.  I am currently using the Gospel of John (2003) video as I help lead the Seniors' Sunday School class.  In our class we viewed the first 25 minutes of the video, then that Sunday and the next we read through and discussed John chapter 1 verse by verse.   I believe this made the verses come to life more effectively to visually see them played out in the movie - adding another dimension to our verse by verse study of John. 

In our conversation I shared with Ben that, although I have a number of commentaries on the Gospel of John, my favorite is H. A. Ironside's commentary "John" first published in 1942.  And Ben mentioned that he likes Ironside's work also.  And his work is amazing considering that Ironside had no formal seminary education.  In 1924, Ironside began preaching under the direction of the Moody Bible Institute. 

In 1926, he was offered a full-time faculty position at the Dallas Theological Seminary, which he turned down, although he was frequently a visiting lecturer there from 1925 to 1943.  In 1930-1948 he served as pastor of Moody Church in Chicago.  In 1930, Wheaton College presented Ironside with an honorary Doctorate of Letters degree, and in 1942 Bob Jones University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. 

That led Ben and me into a discussion of Dwight L. Moody, a great evangelist and Bible teacher who, without a formal education and no seminary training - became one of the most influential evangelist in the world.  Moody, despite his own lack of formal education, preached revival meetings around the world, was instrumental in founding schools for both men and women, and his work eventually led to the founding of the school which became Moody Bible Institute and later birthed Moody Theological Seminary. 

You know that God was the guiding force behind both H. A. Ironside and Dwight L. Moody in all they accomplished and the way they continue to influence our Christian world long after their deaths.

My discussion today with Ben made me think back to a church bulletin insert I wrote in 1999, "The Chains Of Eternity."

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In 1999, as an elder in the Fil-Am Church of Corona (now the Corona International Christian Fellowship) one of my tasks was doing the Sunday Worship Service bulletin.  Viewing this task as an opportunity to edify and encourage folks in our fellowship, I usually included an insert in the bulletin sharing the Gospel or some other information which I felt would be helpful, edifying, and/or instructive to our fellowship members.   For the October 10, 1999, Sunday bulletin I included an insert titled "The Chains Of Eternity."   Below is a slightly edited reprint of that 1999 bulletin insert:

THE CHAINS OF ETERNITY

Life is a continuous chain of events - cause and effect.  If one event in the chain is changed, the effects will be innumerable.  Fictional novels have been written about people who are able to go back into their past and do something differently.   I am sure we all have such fantasies at time, i.e., if only I had taken this path and not that one.  Several  years ago their was a television show, "Quantum Leap," about a scientist who was able to time travel into the past.  But he was warned that no events were to be changed - for the effects on the world could be catastrophic. 

There was another television show on the PAX network called “Twice In A Lifetime.”   The story line is about a person who has had, or is having, a trauma in life, i.e., dying of cancer, suffering the lingering effects of a youthful abortion, lost a child through neglect, and many more traumatic events.  The people are divinely granted an opportunity to go back into their past anonymously for an opportunity to convince their youthful self to alter his/her lifestyle to prevent the troubling event from occurring in their older life.

Why am I having these thoughts on the chain of life’s events?  Because we, as born-again Christians, are links in a real, divinely designed chain of events.  To illustrate, let’s follow a chain of events which involves a man who is familiar to all of us, Billy Graham.  Although this chain began in the Garden of Eden, we will jump into it in the 1860s, and follow it through Billy Sunday, to Mordecai Ham, to Billy Graham, to events which have influenced your life, and to events happening in your life today.

In the late 1860s a young lady, Sarah Dunn, was decorating her family home in Waterloo, Iowa, when she felt the Lord was calling her to a ministry.  It seemed that she heard an audible voice asking, “What are you doing to decorate your heavenly home?”   Thoughts of perishing souls marching into an eternity without Christ began to flood Sarah’s mind.
 
Later she moved to Chicago, and in 1873 she met and married Colonel George Clarke, a real estate business man.  He shared her spiritual desires and together, in 1877, they opened a Mission Sunday School in a small storefront in Chicago, which would seat about 40 people.  There the homeless and downtrodden found warmth and the love of God through George and Sarah Clarke.

In 1880, they moved to a larger facility in a building vacated by the notorious Pacific Beer Garden.  Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist of the 1800s, recently back from an evangelistic crusade in England, suggested they change the name to Pacific Garden Mission, which is the name of that mission to this day.

Here, as very frequently happens, several momentous eternal chains seem to overlap.  During the Dwight L. Moody crusade in England, Horatio G. Spafford, a wealthy Chicago businessman and a friend of Moody, was going to England to help him in the crusade and to give the Spafford family a vacation to recover from the  death of their only son and the financial loss they had suffered in the great Chicago fire of 1871.  Due to last minute business problems Spafford sent his wife and four daughters ahead on the ship as scheduled, promising he would follow on the next ship. 

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship carrying his family sank and their four daughters were lost at sea.  Heartbroken, he immediately took the next ship to join his wife.  It was on this voyage, while reflecting on his great loss, that God gave Horatio Spafford the peace of mind to write the words to the great hymn we all have sung so many times, “It Is Well With My Soul.”  How many of us have found peace and assurance from the words of that hymn?

In the late 1800s Billy Sunday was a professional baseball player for the Chicago White Stockings (now the White Sox).  He was a heavy drinker, a carouser, a fast-lane-liver.  As the story is told, in 1886 Billy Sunday was drinking in the seamier part of Chicago when he first heard the Gospel from the Pacific Garden Mission’s roving Gospel Wagon. 

That night Billy Sunday visited the Pacific Garden Mission, liked what he heard, and finally one Sunday evening publicly invited Jesus into his heart.  He continued to visit the mission, became an eager Bible student, and frequently gave his testimony at the mission.  Later he left professional baseball and the lucrative income to work for the YMCA.  In 1910 he started his own full time evangelistic ministry.

In 1923 Billy Sunday held a Revival Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one of the men saved at this revival meeting was Thomas Wilson, father of Grady Wilson, a long time friend of Billy Graham and a fixture in the Billy Graham evangelistic team.  Thomas Wilson and a group of other Charlotte businessmen, all of whom had come to the Lord at Billy Sunday’s meeting, formed a group called the Billy Sunday Laymen’s Evangelistic Club, later to be renamed the Charlotte Business Men’s Committee which is still active today.

In 1934, the depression was on and many people had little faith to carry them through the hard times.  The Charlotte Christian men’s group, most of whom were saved at the Billy Sunday meeting in 1923, held an all-day prayer meeting to discuss inviting Dr. Mordecai Ham to Charlotte for a Revival Meeting (they were not yet called Crusades).  Even though the local ministerial association was not in favor of the revival meeting, these Christian laymen made it happen.  Vernon Patterson, leader of the laymen’s group, later prayed that “out of Charlotte the Lord would raise up someone to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”  That prayer, most certainly, was answered in Billy Graham.

The Mordecai Ham Revival Meeting lasted eleven weeks and two of the converts of this evangelistic outreach were Grady Wilson and Billy Graham, who at the time even though both were teenagers in Charlotte, did not know one another.  Yet they soon became strong friends and through divine guidance their spiritual growth and lives seem to run in the same path.  Through college and early pastoral endeavors their lives became entwined and a few years after Billy started his crusades Grady Wilson joined his team and was very much a factor in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Crusades.

In the late 1940s an organization called Christ For Greater Los Angeles wanted to have a revival meeting in Los Angeles.  They invited Angel Martinez, a dynamic Baptist evangelist in Texas, to be their speaker.  He turned them down because his heart was more in church revival rather than large mass meetings.  In his place, they invited Billy Graham. 

During the early weeks of that revival meeting William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper tycoon and a non-believer, was led, even though there is no evidence that he ever attended any of the meetings, to instruct the editors of his many newspapers to give Billy Graham full-blown, all-out coverage in their newspapers.  That crusade, publicized by the Hearst newspaper empire, catapulted Billy Graham into the national and international spotlight.  God was working.

In Los Angeles Suzy Hamblen, a Christian lady and the wife of Stuart Hamblen, famous radio celebrity and songwriter in Hollywood, came to the meetings.  One night she went to the Prayer Tent and asked them to pray for her husband to be converted.  To make a long story short, she finally got Stuart to attend one of the meetings where God laid conviction on his soul. 

But instead of coming to the Lord, Hamblen bolted and headed to the mountains to hunt.  Halfway to the mountain retreat a blizzard forced him to return to Los Angeles.  He felt God’s hand in all this and went back.  Hamblen and his wife went to visit Billy Graham and some of the crusade team at their hotel.  That night Stuart Hamblen invited Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior.  After that he did nothing but Christian music.  One of his songs I’m sure you will recognize, “It Is No Secret What God Can Do.”   How many times have you sung that song?

Billy Graham calls the people who come forward at his altar calls “inquirers.”   He explains this with the story of Sam Jones, a Methodist evangelist.  At one of Sam Jones’ meetings a drunk staggered up to him and belched, “Mr. Jones, I am one of your converts!”  Jones looked him over and answered, “You look like one of my converts.  But it’s plain to see that you are not one of the Lord’s.”   In Billy’s thinking, after you have been established in your Christian walk for a year or so, and involved in a local Christian fellowship, THEN you can be called a convert.

Point of interest, Greg Laurie in his Harvest Crusades does the same for those who come forward at their crusades.  Many counselors and an extensive follow-up effort works to link those coming forward with a local Christian fellowship where they can become active believers.

At the 1952 Washington DC Crusade, Billy met Senator Willis Robertson, father of Pat Robertson of the “700 Club.”   Senator Robertson was the one who introduced Billy into the Washington political community.  This led to his one-on-one personal friendship with many congressmen, senators, cabinet members, and presidents.  Even though we most often see evidence of influence from the other side, the Prince of Darkness, in Washington - I know that God, through Billy Graham, has greatly influenced many decisions in our federal legislative bodies.

Tom Phillips, president of Raytheon Corporation, was saved at a crusade.  He later was prominent in leading Chuck Colson, one-time top aide to President Nixon, to Christ.  We all know of the wonderful work Chuck has done for the Lord through his Prison Ministries.  God’s chains have many links and many intertwined connections.

At a 1957 crusade Ethel Waters, world-renowned singer of movie and Broadway fame, came to the meeting.  After experiencing the crusade, she asked if she could be a member of the choir.  For the rest of her life she was considered an honorary member of the Billy Graham Crusade family, singing at many meetings.  If you are younger, you might not recognize Ethel Waters’ name.  But even if not - I bet you will remember a song she introduced in the Broadway play "A Member Of The Wedding."  That song is “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”

In the late 1950s my wife, Dory, attended the Billy Graham Crusade in her native Philippines.  At that crusade, Billy Graham touched her life and through her he has touched me.  Now, I am a link in that divine chain.

One of the early workers in the Billy Graham Crusades was Dawson Trotman who set up their first system for following-up the people who came forward at the crusades.  Dawson Trotman founded the Navigators and through the Navigators my friend, Pastor Ed Dacio, became a born-again Christian during his college years in the Philippines.  Through that chain, everyone at the Corona International Christian Fellowship, where Ed is pastor, is a link in the Billy Graham spiritual chain of events.

You have your own chain of life’s events.  Everything you do, day to day, affects many other people as you travel through life.  Each event, or connection, is a link in God’s divinely planned chain of life.  Make sure that you are prepared for that task.  Be in the Word of God, the Bible, daily - be in communication with God, through prayer, daily - and then you will know that you are in the will of God, daily.  If you do this, you will never be a weak link in His eternal chain.

In The Guideposts Treasury of Faith Ralph L. Woods wrote the perfect description of “A Genuine Christian.”

One evening during the latter part of his life in the late 1800s, John Ruskin, artist, scientist, poet, and philosopher - sat at a window in his home watching a lamplighter, with torch in hand, ignite the street lamps on a distant hill.  Since it was dark the lamplighter himself could not be seen, but his progress up the hill could be observed as successive lamps were lit.

After a few minutes Ruskin turned to a friend and said, "That illustrates what I mean by a genuine Christian.  You may not know him or ever see him, but his way has been marked by the lights he leaves burning."

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16

Have you taken a serious look at your eternal chain of events?  You may be surprised who has influenced you - and who YOU have influenced and pointed toward the cross.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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