Franklin Graham's Comments --How Such Hypocrisy of Christianity Seems to Know No Limit

The hypocrisy of Christianity seems to know no limit:-(

Read this statement by Franklin Graham and contrast it with the stated views of the Billy Graham Association and the leaders promoted in their magazine, Decision, each month!

Franklin Graham
June 5 at 9:04am ·
"Have you ever asked yourself–how can we fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay & lesbian community? Every day it is something else! Tiffany’s started advertising wedding rings for gay couples. Wells Fargo bank is using a same-sex couple in their advertising.

And there are more. But it has dawned on me that we don’t have to do business with them. At the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, we are moving our accounts from Wells Fargo to another bank. And guess what—we don’t have to shop at Tiffany & Co., there are plenty of other jewelry stores.

This is one way we as Christians can speak out—we have the power of choice."
--

You say "we have the power of choice." Then why does your magazine, Decision, each month promote Christian leaders such as John Piper who claim NO human has any choice?

Who claim that most of the billions of us were foreordained to eternal damnation from before the creation of the universe. That God only loves to save a limited number of humans through a "limited atonement." That God only "unconditionally" elected a limited number of humans.

Why do leaders of the BGA claim that God only wills for a limited number of humans to be rescued?!

We used to support Billy Graham's ministry. Back in the "Good News" days, before the "Gospel" became horrific news for most people. I still remember being a counselor at one of the BGA crusades, still remember Billy Graham emphasizing in his sermons and conversations that God is love,
and that God loves every single human being
and wills for every single human being to saved.

But all that has changed.

We will never support the Billy Graham Association any more.


Fighting against such darkness,

Daniel Wilcox

Part #2: Good Friday?

How could the murder of the Son of God by legal authorities and religious leaders be “good”?!

In the evil act itself, certainly not.

But rather the “good” comes from the Christian vision that God is love, and that in his loving providence God can bring good out of even the worst evil acts of humans. And what could be worse than the political execution of the Son of God by one of the supposedly greatest civilizations of humankind and by the leaders of a religious group chosen by God to serve him in order to bless all humans?

In Jesus’ execution, the worst became the best because God used the vile act to show us how even in our worst behavior and most hateful attitude, God still loves us. No matter what. God loves everyone of us, no exceptions. Yes God loves the Taliban, the serial murderer, the self-righteous prig, the rapist, the racist, the child molester, the liar, the self-centered right and left wing politicians, ALL of us, despite our evil actions.

So seemingly impossible for us. But God’s love is infinite, everlasting, never ending… as 1 Corinthians 13 shows, Love is the greatest and deepest and widest characteristic of God.

Jesus, hard as it is to fathom, even forgave the very Roman soldiers who tortured him, and who were now crucifying him and gambling for his clothes.

The terrible evil of humans, God turned to the redemption of all humankind!

It is a vile lie of many religious leaders of the present who claim God only willed a “limited atonement,” that God only loves to save some of us, has foreordained most of us not to be saved, and even worse that God has a secret will wherein God wills every evil act for his own glory.

How morally sick. What an hellish theology:-( Contrast that with John 3:16 “God so loved the world (Greek ‘Cosmos’) and I John 2:2 “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.)

On the contrary, God took this rejection and murder of Jesus, his dear Son, and through his eternal love turned this atrocity into the deliverance of every single human who has ever lived and who will ever live!

Billy Graham preached so movingly in his famous sermon, when he emphasized that Jesus would have suffered and died even if only one human had sinned! That is how great the love of God for everyone, every single one of us. Praise God. Maybe sing “The Love of God” now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fla6EO07I3E

If you have trouble getting your mind around this Christian vision—of how God can turn a legal murder into love for the very Roman soldiers who carried it out and extend that redemption to everyone—consider this very human example from the days of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the 16th Street Baptist Church in September 15, 1963 “…twenty-six children were walking into the basement assembly room to prepare for the sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives,” when the bomb exploded. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), were killed in the attack, and 22 additional people were injured..."

"The explosion blew a hole in the church's rear wall, destroyed the back steps and all but one stained-glass window, which showed Christ leading a group of little children.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing

Martin Luther King Jr. preached their memorial service and said, “These children unoffending, innocent, and beautiful were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity…my friends, they did not die in vain. (Yeah) God still has a way of wringing good out of evil. (Oh yes) And history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive."

"The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force (Yeah) that will bring new light to this dark city. (Yeah. Mmm) The holy Scripture says, 'A little child shall lead them.'"

Was that “Good Sunday”?

In the sense of evil, NO WAY!

Yet from God’s loving redemptive perspective of opposing and defeating that horrific evil, yes.

King explains in his sermon how God can bring good out of even the murder of four young teens, how God seeks to redeem even the worst white racists despite, and yet through their horrendous murders.

And many racists in the United States were redeemed from their sin and self-righteousness, when they repented and turned to God in Christ.

So, yes, strangely that evil church bombing, that tragic Sunday was turned to “good.”

Now write that large for the Son of God’s murder, and how that evil act has been turned by the love of God for every one of us into Good News.

Amen—Let it be so.

To be continued--But what about the Nazi Holocaust?

Daniel Wilcox

Against 7 Bad B's: Part 2 The Battle Axe of the Heart

So what is The Battle Axe of the Heart?


It is the wonder of meaning-centered transcendence.

Awaking to the awareness that all humans have inherent value, that everyone is of worth, that human rights and justice and truth are real.

The wonder that we conflicted and ethically mixed-up humans with our 7 Bad B's, can find hope.

I used to greatly admire the famous evangelist Billy Graham of the Christian religion because he emphasized the inherent worth of every single human being.I didn't agree with some of Graham's social views in the 1950's, but Graham grew in his understanding of what the love of God meant for social and political situations. And thank God for his witness for integration and racial equality

Graham strongly insisted on the equality of all people even during the 1950's during Segregation in the U.S. Furthermore, when other religious leaders were supporting Apartheid in South Africa, he stood up strongly against that racism, too.

And he was willing to dialog with every one, including humans totally opposed to his views, even dictators such as the leaders of the Soviet Union.

In many of his famous speeches, Graham stated, "God loves you. You may be at the very gate of hell itself, but God loves you with an everlasting love."

He often quoted the good news verse of the Bible:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16 NKJV

Of course the huge irony and tragedy now is that while Graham still walks such a talk, his huge religious organization denies his central message!

The leaders promote the exact opposite of what Graham preached for many years. According to the BGA, God only loves a limited number of humans; their leaders say Jesus came for only a "limited atonement"!

NO WAY!

Eliminate such horrific theology.

Cut it down with the heart of kindness toward all.

If you remember (and especially if you don't;-), last time, we discussed the fixated tendency of religious humans to treat women as things, one bad action of the Seven Bad B's.

Destroy sexism and abuse with the "battle axe of the heart."

What about the other Bad B's--brawn, brains, and belief?

How we men use their best--their best mind, best skills, best physical strength, best values--to commit the worst acts of war and other injustices.

For now, let's just say no, NO to 'unjust' wars and even 'just' wars.

Cut them down with the axe of compassion!

What country has ever gone to war that didn't think its own cause was 'just'?

Instead, let us commit to the Lamb's War where Christ's love is the only armament--

The ARMS OF HUGGING!

The "mouthed-sword" of the Good News the only weapon--

Sharing, giving, empathizing, helping, caring!

The battle axe of the heart--

That is the only destroying agent!

It seeks to destroy wrong-doing, selfishness, abuse, injustice and war.

By witnessing to the heart of ever person.

But what about police? What about defense?

Like Quakers of old in the government in Pennsylvania, I would separate the atrocity of war from the defensive and protective action of policing.

Good police officers (which on occasion include soldiers who are assigned to peacekeeping, not invasion killing) focus on protecting not attacking.

For instance, I knew an officer who worked in one of the major cities of the United States who in many years of law enforcement only needed to draw his gun several times!

Instead, in most criminal situations, he used commanding authority, persuasion, and non-lethal force to stop criminal actions and to protect the innocent.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox