A Dialogue About The Billy Graham Crusades

BACK IN THE 1980s, there was an exciting adventure series on television titled "The A-Team" - the adventures of four ex-special forces soldiers, starring Mr. T. with all his bling and with George Peppard as their leader.  After a successful operation, Peppard would often declare, "Don't you love it when a plan comes together?"

Well, I will take my version of that and say, "I love it when an interesting and productive dialogue comes together."   Especially with a Christian brethren.  And I love it when I have an opportunity to dialogue with my dear Friend and Christian brother, Mark Masakayan - for his thoughts and comments always gives me food for thought.  This current dialogue is a great example of how he can inspire me in a discussion on our Christian faith.  And I will admit that I really enjoyed sitting in his classes at church - even though once in a while he would have to tell me to sit down and shut up, but in a nice way.

On Wednesday, March 10, I shared a video where non-believing (possibly atheist or at least agnostic) Woody Allen interviewed Billy Graham and both take questions from the audience in this 1969 Woody Allen TV Special.  That post led my Christian brother, Mark Masakayan, to respond.

Mark Masakayan:  Billy Graham was a great man of God.  He shared the Gospel and did it in a very charming way.  I don't agree with some of his methods in unifying the Catholic church of his time (which is also ours) with the Christian church.  It was quite the controversy on ecumenicalism.   With that said, I still believe he was used by God.  Maybe this John MacArthur video will help better explain my thoughts.

John MacArthur On Billy Graham's Legacy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOtQEAjHZlI

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Bill Gray:  Hi Mark Masakayan, Funny you should bring that up.  Dory and I were just talking the previous evening about Billy Graham - and why some Protestants speak negatively of him.  Earlier that evening she had watched a video on her iPad where the speaker was dissing Billy Graham.  She asked me why he would do it - and I told her of the early days of the Billy Graham Crusades which began in Los Angeles in 1948.

Part of the Crusade's organizational effort was designed to encourage as many local churches as possible to support the Crusades and to act as focal points, i.e., counselors, for new "inquirers" who come forward at the Crusade.  The Los Angeles Crusade banner (see photo below) announced:  "Hundreds Of Churches Uniting."  He firmly believed that many of the thousands who came forward at a Crusade did so out of emotion, or because the person they rode with went forward.  And the following week, as they would got back into their work schedule and into the secular world, they would slip back into their old lifestyle, forgetting their reason for going forward at the Crusade.

So he organized counselors from the various churches to speak with and pray with each person who came forward - and to get their information so they could be connected with a local church fellowship.  Billy Graham's belief was that an "inquirer" who came forward and was helped to locate a local church fellowship where he/she could get involved, after a year or so of being involved and as they had grown spiritually - then he felt comfortable calling them "converts."  Greg Laurie does the same at his Harvest Crusades.

So Billy Graham wanted counselors from all the various local churches and denomination, including the Roman Catholic.

Why include the Roman Catholic church?  Among the many thousands, now millions, who have attended a Crusade and come forward - every church and denomination, including the Roman Catholic, was represented.  He wanted to have counselors with whom the inquirers could relate.

You and I would feel comfortable speaking with counselors from most Protestant denominations, even those with whom we have differences.  But the person raised in a Roman Catholic environment - who comes forward at a Crusade - very likely would not feel comfortable talking with a Pentecostal or Church of Christ counselor, or even a Baptist counselor - and that person could be lost spiritually because of that disconnect. 

However, let them talk with a person from their own environment and even if their background is Roman Catholic, their coming forward would indicate that they would be open to further Bible study and discipling.  And that is the first step toward bringing a secular person or a person who, all his/her life, has believed that salvation is from the church instead of through Jesus Christ alone - into an understanding and acceptance of Biblically based salvation.

In his biography Billy Graham tells of a high level Roman Catholic priest (can't recall if he was a Monsignor or a Bishop), attending one of the early Crusades, who came to Billy Graham's hotel room after the Crusade meeting - because he was concerned about being seen going forward at the Crusade.  Billy and his team talked and prayed with him - and he prayed to truly receive the Lord.  He was born-again.  But being in a position of influence in his local parish, how could he relate that new belief to those who attend his mass?  Given the lifelong mindset of the many, he would have to proceed slowly and cautiously.  But still the Holy Spirit would be working through him to reach them. 

Billy counseled him to not make his conversion known right away - for if he did, he would get strong resistance when he witnessed to other Roman Catholics in his parish.  We know that feeling - for most of us have experienced Roman Catholic friends and family, even some who have not been to mass in years - who will declare, "I was born Roman Catholic and I will die Roman Catholic!"  Would the priest be able to witness to that person if it was known that he had become a born-again believer?  Not likely.

These are some of the reasons why Billy Graham included the local Roman Catholic parishes in his Crusade team - for just as Christ ate with sinners - we, too, are to witness to all people, even to our Roman Catholics and Jewish friends - and to people from the many world religions.

At the 1948 Crusade in Los Angeles when Billy Graham included the local Roman Catholic priests - that caused a fire-storm among many Protestant leaders.  And it is obvious that storm lingers until today, leading Protestant leaders such as John MacArthur to misunderstand Billy Graham's motive for that inclusion.   Then and now, many well known Protestant leaders refuse to participate in the Crusades for that reason. 

I wonder how those same leaders relate to Jesus Christ eating with tax collectors and sinners.

Billy Graham was not saying that Roman Catholics are born-again believers.  But he is saying that there is a possibility that every one, including our Roman Catholic friends, can find the Truth at a Crusade - and he did not want to exclude anyone - just as Christ did not exclude the tax collectors and sinners.

In my personal experience I have met Roman Catholics who I believe were born-again believers, yet still participating in all the Roman Catholic masses, rituals, and celebrations.  Maybe some stayed to be witnesses to their fellow Roman Catholics, maybe others stayed because they did not want to give up their long held relationship with the Virgin Mary and other church Saints.  I have often wondered how long they could continue doing that - and I have postulated that they could stay in the Roman Catholic church for maybe a year or so before those practices began to wear on them.

About 25 years ago, a Chinese/Filipino pastor friend gave me an unpublished manuscript on a cassette tape, which has since been published, titled "Far From Rome, Near To God" and is the personal testimony of 50 Roman Catholic priests who made the transition from Roman Catholicism to the Protestant faith.  When I began to read the manuscript, I was immediately drawn to the very first testimony (at that time) in the unpublished manuscript.  That testimony was written by Anthony Pezzotta and is titled "I Found Everything When I Found Christ."  

The reason I was immediately drawn to his testimony was that he was born in Italy into a devoutly Roman Catholic family, educated in Roman Catholic seminaries in England, Germany, Spain, and Rome, and spent a large part of his early ministry as a priest and educator in the Philippines. 

After being ordained, he went to the Philippines where he taught theology in Roman Catholic seminaries.   He was later appointed and served for 10 years as Director of Schools and Seminaries, teaching other Roman Catholic priests - as well as being Rector of Local Salesian Communities.

In his testimony "I Found Everything When I Found Christ" Tony wrote:  "At the end of January 1974 I was in Santa Cruz, south of Manila, where an attractive Baptist church had just been built.  I had never been in a Protestant church, so one day I walked quietly into the sanctuary to look around.  Almost immediately I was greeted by a friendly Christian believer who introduced me to the pastor, Ernesto Montealegre."

Tony goes on to tell how he and Pastor Ernesto, in their conversations and friendship that followed, tried to convert one another.  Roman Catholic priest Father Anthony Pezzotta had a friendship with Baptist Pastor Ernesto Montealegre and also with my long time Friend, Pastor Joe de la Peña, who until a few years ago, served as senior pastor of the Church On The Solid Rock in Lake Forest, California.  And through that relationship with Pastor Ernesto Montealegre and Pastor Joe de la Peña, Tony Pezzotta made the final decision to leave the Roman Catholic church and join the Baptist church. That was the perfect example of Friendship Evangelism.

About 10 years ago, my Friend, Pastor Joe de la Peña, e-mailed me that Tony Pezzotta was speaking at their church in Lake Forest the following Sunday.   Dory and I went to that service and finally I was finally able to meet Anthony Pezzotta in person.  I was not disappointed.  Tony gave a message and then after our obligatory Fil-Am Food Fellowship, Tony led a Question/Answer session.

One thing that Tony emphasized in his Q&A session, as well as in his writings, is:  Even though he chose to leave the Roman Catholic church, he did not dislike nor look down upon Roman Catholics.   Tony, like me, still had family and friends in the Roman Catholic church.  It was just that he could not continue to teach and practice what he could no longer believe. 

Tony Pezzotta found the Truth through meeting and fellowship with Baptist pastors.  Would that have happened if those Baptist pastors had rejected Tony and refused to talk with him because he was Roman Catholic?  Very likely not.  But praise God, they were open and their openness help smooth the way for Anthony Pezzotta to follow that inner voice and become a great Baptist leader in Southern California.   Isn't that what Jesus did with the tax collectors and sinners in his day?

To my very dear Friend, Mark Masakayan, I pray this gives you a better understanding of Billy Graham's approach to the Crusades and his inclusion of Roman Catholics in the Crusade counselor teams.

Actually, a non-believer, possibly an agnostic or even atheist, William Randolph Hearst, was used by God to make the Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade effort explode into a great soul gathering.

Hearst was head of one of the largest newspaper and publishing organizations in America.  And although it is never known if he attended a Crusade meeting or not - for his own reasons (God working?) he instructed his editors all across America to publicize the Los Angeles Crusade.  And that caused the Crusade, which was scheduled to only last a few weeks - to last for several more months.  God knows what He is doing, even when using non-believers - and, yes, even Roman Catholics.  

That highly publicized 1948 Los Angeles Crusade is what catapulted Billy Graham into national and world-wide prominence and made him into the world's leading Evangelist.  And God kept those Crusades reaching million for half a century.  God bless, Bill

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Mark Masakayan:  Bill, wow! Thank you for that full response.  I hope you were able to watch the video I included of Pastor John MacArthur.  Thanks for the tag too!  I almost forgot all about the Woody Allen video connection.

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Bill Gray:  Hi Mark,  Yes, I did watch the video and in most of it I do agree fully with Pastor John MacArthur.  He spoke of the metastatic spread of Liberalism throughout the body of Christian believers.  That actually became a major problem in the latter part of the 19th century following the Civil War and grew at an alarming rate through many Christian churches and denominations - bringing an urgent need for Conservative, aka, Fundamental Christians to stand up for our faith.   

In 2016 I wrote in another blog titled "Conservative - OR - Liberal Secularist.  Which Flavor Christian Are YOU?" addressing comments from a Religion Forum adversary, Crusty, and his persistent declaration that Bill Gray is a "Fundamentalist."   How did I address that accusation, i.e., Crusty's secular attack against my Christian faith?

Actually, the term "Fundamentalist" was coined by a journalist in Southern California during the first years of the 20th century as a negative label for Conservative Christians. 

Following Christ's earthly ministry, adversaries of Christ and His teachings in the city of Antioch coined the term "Christian" as a negative label for followers of Jesus Christ in the early body of believers which was born of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost 33 AD.  What the Antioch adversaries meant as a derogatory name for believers quickly became a "crown of glory" for us. 

And in the same way, "Fundamentalist" was intended to be a negative or derogatory label for Conservative believers - yet has become a hat those of us who understand it wear with pride.

In that blog, I shared with my Friend, Crusty:

Well, let me see.  I call myself a Conservative Christian and Crusty, you call me a Fundamentalist.  Okay, no problem.  For the vast majority of Conservative Christians I know do believe what is taught in the 12 volume set published in the early 20th century and distributed by Biola University, titled "The Fundamentals, A Testimony To The Truth."

"The Fundamentals" is a 12-volume series of articles defending the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith.  And, I praise God for putting a full set of these books into my personal library about 20 years ago.   How He did that is another story which I will share at a later time.

A century ago, Biola University founder Lyman Stewart and his brother anonymously funded a hugely influential set of essays known as "The Fundamentals" - to combat the Liberal Theology teachings spreading through the Christian churches.  A Biola historian's research of archived letters and documents sheds light on how Stewart and others helped to shape the face of evangelicalism today.  If you truly understand what these volumes teach and why they were written, you will realize that being call a Fundamentalist - is really a great compliment. 

This Biola web site tells us more about "The Fundamentals" and why they were written and distributed:

The Untold Story Of The Fundamentals:
By Paul W. Rood II - Biola Magazine
https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2014/the-untold-story-of-the-fundamentals


A remarkable literary project of the early 20th century, "The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth," is soon approaching the 100th anniversary of its completion.  The project was conceived and funded by Biola’s founder, Lyman Stewart, mobilizing a network of conservative evangelical writers into a movement in defense of the inspiration and authority of the Bible and the core doctrines of traditional Christian faith.

Bill Gray Note:  Visit the Biola link above to read the full story of The Fundamentals.  Their Vision: Stem the Tide of Liberalism.

So, when my Friend, Crusty, and other non-believers or Liberal theology proponents declare that Bill Gray is a "Fundamentalist" - that is a hat I am proud to wear.  For, in doing so, I am in the company of many great Christians, including the founders of Biola University/Talbot Seminary.   You will often see me speak of Conservative Christian theology; that could just as easily be called Fundamentalist Christian theology - for, in my heart, the two names are synonymous.

Mark, in your video, Pastor John MacArthur's other major point regarding Billy Graham and the Roman Catholics, I have pretty much covered in the earlier part of this blog.  But let me say there are movements within the Roman Catholic church which most folks miss.  There is the dyed-in-the-wool Roman Catholic and on the other end of the spectrum there is the Charismatic Roman Catholic, which is akin to Pentecostalism in the Protestant churches. 

But in the middle of that spectrum, there are many Roman Catholics who are very similar in thinking to we Conservative Christian believers.  They believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life - not the church.  They have Bible studies to learn for themselves what it teaches.   And I would suggest they are the ones which the evangelicals in the Billy Graham Crusades were reaching out to with the Gospel.

When I was in the Air Force I married a beautiful lady who was Roman Catholic, but divorced for a good reason.  And for about 20 years I attended the Roman Catholic church, but never actually joined it.  During all those early years, I don't recall ever seeing anyone coming to mass with a Bible in hand.  The only Bible I saw was the one the priest read from on the lectern or pulpit.  We participants had our Missals and Rosary, but no Bibles.  Yet today we see Roman Catholics attending Bible studies.  Could God working through Billy Graham have helped make that happen?

Around 1990, Dory and I were still worshiping with Pastor Sam Lacanienta in the Fil-Am Church of Irvine.  He was invited by such a group within a local Roman Catholic church in Orange County to come and lead a Bible study for them in their church facility.  Dory and I went with him and found the group of Roman Catholics very receptive to the Gospel as found in the Bible.

Circa 2000, Dory and I were in the Fil-Am Church in Corona and through the working of God and new members of our fellowship, a number of people in a local seniors complex began coming to our worship services. 

One of those men, Daniel, came faithfully to our afternoon worship service every Sunday - but in the morning he went to a local Roman Catholic church because his cousin was the Monsignor there.  He and I had many good conversations.  One in particular I recall, we were helping a mutual friend, Maggie, in her apartment.  Our conversation turned to prayer and the difference between praying to Roman Catholic Saints versus praying only to Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Daniel told me, "But, Bill, you host an E-Mail Intercessory Prayer Chain where you ask people to pray for others. That is all we are doing when we pray to Mary and the Saints." 

My answer to Daniel, "In the Intercessory Prayer Chain, those people whom I ask to pray for others - are all alive and can offer their prayer requests directly to God.  But Mary and your Saints are all long dead.  They cannot hear our prayer requests, nor would they be praying for folks here on earth.  They are too busy worshiping God in heaven to bother with us on earth."

About that same time, 2000, we had a beautiful lady, Connie Quintans, who had been in the Roman Catholic church all her life.  Her two sons and their families had become members of our Corona Baptist church - so she started coming with them to worship services and Bible studies.  After worshiping with us for a while and faithfully attending our Bible studies each week, she prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  Connie was born-again in our fellowship.  A year later she passed away with cancer, but she was saved. 

At the burial, because some of the family were still in the Roman Catholic church - at the internment first there was a Roman Catholic priest who spoke to us at the grave-side service.  He told us that Connie was in purgatory.

After the priest left, our pastor, Ed Dacio, came and spoke to us.  The very first thing he said was, "We can celebrate Connie's life - for we know that at this very moment, she is in heaven in the presence of her Lord Jesus Christ."   I just looked at Dory and smiled.

So to close this rather long dialogue, let me finish by saying that just as Jesus Christ ate and had fellowship with sinners and tax collectors - I do not fault Billy Graham for including Roman Catholic parish representatives in his Local Churches Team to counsel inquirers. 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill Gray