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Billy Graham's Stand
- Thread starter TheOliveBranch
- Start date
TheOliveBranch
New Member
gb, Here is a link that gives the names of those who contacted BG, though I don't know how complete it is. Billy Graham Confronted
TheOliveBranch
New Member
Billy Graham has many accomplishments. He has bridged the gap between the liberals and fundamentalists. He has watered down christianity so as to allow acceptance of anybodies form of worship. He began mass evangelism and teaching so there is no need to do these things in the local church. He has given a form of gospel that shows easy-believism is all that is needed for salvation. He has broken down the fences to allow all to embrace each other, as long as you know the language.
Ecumenicalism at its finest. No longer do we need to obey biblical standards. Christians no longer see why we need to "come out from among them". Fear of false prophets no longer exists. The bible is no longer full of restrictions, as long as we focus on "love". Sound doctrine now flows thru all courses of christianity, after all, you are a follower of Christ if you are a christian,right?
I have tried to see the benefits of BG, but it seems more harm has been done in the long run. Praise God for the Fundamentalist that continue to take a stand for His sake.
i would like to see all these so called reports that show converts not going to church and who did these reports and how do we know they are truthful come on folks dont be stupid. People are coming to Christ through his ministry millions reached with the gospel. Why dont all of you shut up cutting the man down who cares if he is not a fundi(another word for pharisee it seems a lot of times)you people are so rediclous on all these post attacking any thing and every thng bill graham will be well rewarded in heaven unlike you who sit and criticize him. Some of you need to grow up and u start winning souls your self before you run your mouth "he that wins souls is wise" "preach the gospel to every creature" none of you are doing this but you are cutting down the man who is.
TheOliveBranch
New Member
This is an exerpt from Research of Fritz Springmeyer:
A third area is concern over the lack of depth that conversions at Billy Graham's crusades have, Some of the details on this are
l. Only 2% of the people coming forward at a Crusade have never been Christians
and are actually giving their life to Christ for the first time, and of these 80% fall away,
2. A great majority of people that come forward are sent to Catholic and extremely
liberal Churches, extremely few are sent to solid Bible believing churches., In the
Catholic Standard and Times, Thursday, July 16, 1992, p. 10, this Catholic paper
reported that 1,900 Catholics responded to Billy Graham's call to make decisions
for Christ in the Philadelphia Crusade and were referred to about 250 parishes.
3. People that come forward are sent even to Jewish synagogues and New Age
churches.,
4. Converts are given the impression that Christ wants decisions for him, rather than
that Christ wants disciples.
5. The people attending the crusades are almost all Christians, due to the high
numbers of Christian counselors and the high number of church people which are
always intentionally bussed in, (Frady exposes this, and in 1992 a writer of the
Williamette Week did a major story for the magazine detailing how she had
searched the entire week at the Billy Graham Crusade for an unsaved person
and failed to find a single non-Christian. There were a few, but so few she didn't
find any. Williamette Week, Oct. 1,1992.)
6. Most decisions at the crusades are for trivial things such as to stop smoking.
A third area is concern over the lack of depth that conversions at Billy Graham's crusades have, Some of the details on this are
l. Only 2% of the people coming forward at a Crusade have never been Christians
and are actually giving their life to Christ for the first time, and of these 80% fall away,
2. A great majority of people that come forward are sent to Catholic and extremely
liberal Churches, extremely few are sent to solid Bible believing churches., In the
Catholic Standard and Times, Thursday, July 16, 1992, p. 10, this Catholic paper
reported that 1,900 Catholics responded to Billy Graham's call to make decisions
for Christ in the Philadelphia Crusade and were referred to about 250 parishes.
3. People that come forward are sent even to Jewish synagogues and New Age
churches.,
4. Converts are given the impression that Christ wants decisions for him, rather than
that Christ wants disciples.
5. The people attending the crusades are almost all Christians, due to the high
numbers of Christian counselors and the high number of church people which are
always intentionally bussed in, (Frady exposes this, and in 1992 a writer of the
Williamette Week did a major story for the magazine detailing how she had
searched the entire week at the Billy Graham Crusade for an unsaved person
and failed to find a single non-Christian. There were a few, but so few she didn't
find any. Williamette Week, Oct. 1,1992.)
6. Most decisions at the crusades are for trivial things such as to stop smoking.
You wrote, "3. People that come forward are sent even to Jewish synagogues and New Age
churches.,
4. Converts are given the impression that Christ wants decisions for him, rather than
that Christ wants disciples."
5. The people attending the crusades are almost all Christians, due to the high
numbers of Christian counselors and the high number of church people which are
always intentionally bussed in, (Frady exposes this, and in 1992 a writer of the
Williamette Week did a major story for the magazine detailing how she had
searched the entire week at the Billy Graham Crusade for an unsaved person
and failed to find a single non-Christian. There were a few, but so few she didn't
find any.
I know from personal experience with the BGEA organization that what you wrote in at least these three is absolutely wrong.
The people I counseled were coming out my ears. I met few who weren't first time decisions. In the classes the BGEA mentions that about half are first time decisons and the other half are rededications.
If Billy Graham didn't want disciples then why does the BGEA go to such great pains to get people into Bible Studies that are discipleship oriented.
Why would Billy Graham have asked Dawson Trotman to do the follow up work for the crusades early on?
Perhaps you should read what Dawson Trotman preached in the middle 1950's I have an actual recording of him preaching that.
The words can be found at http://www.bibleteacher.org/Dm118_8.htm
The following is an excerpt from one of two sermons given on the subject of follow up.
Five years ago, Billy Graham came to me and said, "Daws, we would like you to help with our follow-up. I've been studying the great evangelists and the great revivals and I fail to see that there was much of a follow-up program. We need it. We are having an average of 6,000 people come forward to decide for Christ in a month's campaign. I feel that with the work you have done you could come in and help us."
I said, "Billy, I can't follow up 6,000 people. My work has always been with individuals and small groups."
"Look, Daws," he answered, "everywhere I go I meet Navigators. I met them in school in Wheaton. They are in my school right now. (He was president of Northwestern Schools at that time.) There must be something to this."
"I just don't have time." I said.
He tackled me again. The third time he pled with me and said, "Daws, I am not able to sleep nights for thinking of what happens to the converts after a crusade is over."
At that time I was on my way to Formosa and I said, "While I am there I will pray about it, Billy." On the sands of a Formosan beach I paced up and down two or three hours a day praying, "Lord, how can I do this? I am not even getting the work done You have given me to do. How can I take six months of the year to give to Billy?" But God laid the burden upon my heart.
Why should Billy have asked me to do it? I had said to him that day before I left for Formosa, "Billy, you will have to get somebody else."
He took me by the shoulders and said, "Who else? Who is majoring in this?" I had been majoring in it.
What will it take to jar us out of our complacency and send us home to pray, "God, give me a girl or man whom I can win to Christ, or let me take one who is already won, an infant in Christ, and try to train that one so that he or she will reproduce!"
How thrilled we are to see the masses fill up the seats! But where is your man? I would rather have one "Isaac" alive than a hundred dead, or sterile, or immature.
From my point of view and your mileage may vary, Brother Graham simply sought to continue in the over 150 year old traditon of mass evangelism dating back at least to the days of the Wesleys and George Whitfield. He started out in the ministry (late 1940s) a generation behind the days of R.A. Torrey and Billy Sunday. Men like Bob Jones, Sr., Hyman Appleman, et al. were still on the scene. People were still alive who had been to Moody Meeting. Though, they all were getting up in years. Brother Graham believed God had called him to continue in this tradition.
Regretfully, in the space of forty years (1900-1940) the heresy of Modernism and the apostasy Liberalism (the last term being used in light of Machen's Liberalism and Christianity) had swept through and overtaken the mainline denominations. This apostasy destroyed the basis for co-operation that had existed between churchs in the days of Moody, Torrey, Sunday, et al.
I simply state the matter as Billy Graham sought with the best of intentions to return better days. Again regretfully, those better days had just been killed off a half a generation earlier.
Other men saw this state of affairs. After having fought and lost the various denominational battles, they sought to move on to filling new wineskins.
[ September 22, 2003, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: Squire Robertsson ]
Regretfully, in the space of forty years (1900-1940) the heresy of Modernism and the apostasy Liberalism (the last term being used in light of Machen's Liberalism and Christianity) had swept through and overtaken the mainline denominations. This apostasy destroyed the basis for co-operation that had existed between churchs in the days of Moody, Torrey, Sunday, et al.
I simply state the matter as Billy Graham sought with the best of intentions to return better days. Again regretfully, those better days had just been killed off a half a generation earlier.
[ September 22, 2003, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: Squire Robertsson ]
TheOliveBranch
New Member
gb, This is precisely the point I was trying to make. In the mid-'50's, BG was at the end of what was a good ministry. He had been just approached by some as to what he was doing. It is later that this Research is being done by Fritz Springmeyer. I pasted this quote form the link posted on my response. It was a quick look on the Web for some stats you requested.
I think you missed the point I tried to make. The point is that Billy Graham felt that most revivals and other evangelistic efforts had failed due to poor follow up.
It sounds like you didn't read what I quoted from a sermon given by Dawson Trotman nor the website I suggested. If every church in America did what he did, there would be no mass evangelism in America. It's that simple.
If you have read Dawson Trotman's sermons and also the sermon Need OF The Hour you will notice that he not only advocates the use of the Bible but he memorizes it. Read what he talks about when it comes to evangelism and follow up. If you do that you might double your ministry in about two years.
gb, I believe Olive branch was refering to my post immediatly above his last one.