Billy Graham Is Now With Jesus in Heaven

November 7, 1918- February 21, 2018

When I turned on the TV this morning while making coffee and feeding our dogs, I heard the sad, but also celebratory news that Billy Graham has died at the age of 99.

As I listened to the Fox and Friends show, several people who knew Billy Graham for many years called in.  There was much information that I knew about Graham, but I also learned some new information about him.

Billy was included on a list of “most admired people” over 60 times.

Graham, who had been in ill health for a number of years, was regularly listed in polls as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World.”

He was non-partisan and had met and prayed with 12? ( I think) U.S. Presidents  over the course of his lifetime.  He was offered a cushy celebrity job and also encouraged to be a politician, but turned such offers down.  Thus, he became one of the greatest evangelists in my lifetime.

His Christian crusades took him from the frenzy of Manhattan to isolated African villages and according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website, he preached to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history.

Thank you, Billy Graham, for all the decades where you preached the truth of the Bible and how Jesus Christ saves us from our sins.  Enter into the joy of the Lord!

Perhaps I can revisit this blog post later today.  I’m sure that there will be many posts to share, celebrating his life and ministry that reached millions of individuals all across the world.

The BGEA put his lifetime audience at nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories, with “hundreds of millions more” viewing him on television, video, film and webcasts.

“My one purpose in life,” he said, “is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ.”

Billy often told the audiences at his revivals:

“God Loves You.”

He also quoted the following Scripture:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Near the end of the F & F’s show on Fox, Brian Kilmede quipped:

“If he’s not in heaven, then we all are in trouble.”

In a way, that could be deemed a humorous comment.   Knowing how, why, and what Billy Graham preached for his entire life – the truth of the Bible and the saving grace of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – saves those who have confessed and repented of their sins.  There is no fear of condemnation.  The promises of Jesus Christ tell us that we will enter into the joy of the Lord when we pass from this life into eternity.

Jhn 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.

Mat 25:21 – “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Christians Must Pray and Act

I’m reminded of that old metaphorical statement “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” We have to do both—pray and act. We have to pray like crazy for God to intervene in this country and break us. Incidentally, I also think if we’re going to see a spiritual change in this country, I believe it will happen through our young people.

I was with a bunch of young people yesterday and I was reminding them that all of the Great Awakenings, including the beginning of the modern mission movement, started among young people. One girl said, “I told God the answer is ‘yes.’ I don’t even know what the questions are, but whatever You want me to do, the answer is ‘yes.’” So I believe we need to pray with all of our hearts that God will do a work in our churches and especially in our youth. And while we’re all doing that, we don’t want to sit on our hands and not do the other things that we can do, such as vote, and try to have an informed vote based upon the issues that we know will really matter. So we have to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

– Dr. David Jeremiah in BGEA Decision Magazine’s 2016 Electoral Guide

Readers may recall that in my former post entitled, Stuck In The Middle With You I had encouraged voters to order the free Decision magazine issue that presents 2016 Election information when considering our choice this November regarding, “Two Visions, Two Americas.”

If you didn’t order the magazine yet, the good news is that the Electoral guide with complete articles are now online!

This morning, I finally finished reading all of the articles. They are very informative and I think they will help readers make the best decisions regarding this upcoming election.

I suggest reading all of the articles at Billy Graham’s website. Each reader can decide which article to read first. I chose to read The Party Platforms and then the Where The Candidates Stand report. As I saw the striking differences between the Democratic vs. Republican platforms, I thought to myself that as a Christian first, wife, mother and grandmother second, Conservative third, and registered Republican last, that if I were in a swing state I would vote for Donald Trump for President.   Why?  Because it would be a vote against crooked HiLIARy!

The stark differences between these two candidates (especially the egregious corruption in the Democrat party that has been revealed by Wikileaks each day)  makes me a Never Hillary voter. The criminal activity that she has been involved in (especially Benghazi), the mountain of lies she has piled up over the years, the legitimate concern about her obviously failing health (and the huge cover-up about this), and the media- of-mass-deception that is doing all that they can to avoid reporting her crimes (while so obviously backing her campaign), places an absolute conclusion in my mind that she should NEVER become president!

Being in the state of California in which the electoral college hasn’t given a victory to a Republican since Ronald Reagan in the ’80s tells me that even if I were to vote for Trump here, technically it wouldn’t really count anyway.  However, would I be neglecting my Christian duty to leave my ballot choice for president blank?

Dr. David Jeremiah’s question and answer portion in the magazine  was very informative; as were so many of the other articles so please take the time to read it all.  I especially took to heart these portions:

Q: How should a Christian voter prioritize the issues?

A: One of the most important questions going forward is, will our people be able to live their lives and worship God in freedom, or will the Supreme Court and its decisions continue to squeeze evangelicals, so that we are forced to violate the law or violate our conscience toward God? I think that’s the biggest issue—whether we can live and worship the Lord and live according to the dictates of our conscience, or get forced into a corner of political correctness and have to make a decision of whether to go to jail or follow our faith.

Q: Living in California as you do, you’ve seen firsthand a lot of the social progressivism before the rest of the country has experienced it. What do you foresee for Gospel-minded Christians in the next four to eight years?

A: There’s both good and bad. The church has always flourished when it was under pressure. Prosperity has never been good for the church. Adversity has consistently been good for the church. The New Testament was written in a time when Rome was running rampant over Christianity and you knew who the real Christians were. They stood up and were counted. I think one of two things is going to happen: Either we’re going to see a revival of some sort, and with that a renewal of the principles upon which this country was built, or we’re going to fall into a time of great pressure on Christians.

I think this current election may have a great deal to do with which direction that goes. And I believe that apart from a spiritual renewal, a Great Awakening like the ones we’ve had in the past—during which we would return to our roots spiritually—what we’re going to face is more and more the church under the pressure of the government, more and more being pressured to conduct weddings that we will never conduct, more and more being told to say things that we can’t say.

I don’t think that means we should be discouraged as believers. The Gospel has never been more necessary than it is now. All of these things that we talk about don’t in any way impact the fact that Jesus Christ is still the answer and that salvation is still the main business of the church.

Hat tip:

Billy Graham.org: Decision Magazine 2016 Electoral Guide

My Hope America with Billy Graham

After the broadcast special  called “My Hope America” with Billy Graham, Sean Hannity had a panel of commentators who each added commentary about the presentation.  It was only a very brief sentence uttered by Fox News Channel’s religion correspondent,  Lauren Green, but is certainly amplifies why America is in such disarray.  Ms. Green stated that Billy Graham has prayed with all of the Presidents of the United States during his lifetime, “up until Barack Obama.”  Recall that Obama was the only person elected to the highest office of the land who REFUSED to meet with Billy Graham!!  This most effective preacher of our lifetimes, Billy Graham, always had the purpose to pray for our nation’s leaders and our country.  Obama refused this.  We must ask ourselves, WHY?  Any regular reader of my Talk Wisdom blog knows exactly why!

The past four days away from the T.V. and Internet have left me very behind in all the news.  But my friend Steve over at Cry and Howl will help me catch up!

Looking at all the scandals surrounding Obama, it is unfathomable to me that ANYONE could EVER trust Ozero (a.k.a. Barry Soetoro)  after all the lies, deception, treason, traitorous, communist, radical Islamist, murders, and destruction he and his ilk have hoisted upon our nation and people.  It is as if the liberals who still support him have blinders on!  As one senator recently pointed out, “what will it take for anyone to be fired from this BADministration?”

God’s Word tells us about all kinds of blindness.  But the spiritually and intellectually blind are far worse than those who suffer from physical blindness!

Mat 15:14   “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Luk 6:39   And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?

I have always admired Steve’s attempts at his blog to get these reprobate liberals to see through the fog of their crazy adoration before they end up in the ditch with Obama and his evil cohorts.  Sadly, many of them just absolutely refuse to see the truth.  We can still hope that some may be “pulled out of the fire” before it’s too late!  The prophetic book of  Jude  tells us what types of people they are and how difficult it is for them come to repentance at the cross of Christ in order to be saved.

Those who refuse to repent end up in darkness and evil forever.

Jud 1:13   raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

The Billy Graham special that was broadcast on Fox News Channel at 7 p.m. (PT) during Hannity’s timeslot last night brought tears to my eyes.  It is called “My Hope America:  The Cross,” and it represented 95-year-old Billy Graham’s final attempt to reach the lost for salvation through Jesus Christ.  It was wonderfully done!  And I hope it will become a new spiritual awakening here in America!   Watch it here:

My Hope America: The Cross by Billy Graham

That special not only showed us the way to eternal life with God through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; but at the same time reiterates the fact that “the things on this earth”, especially politics and/or politicians,  will NEVER be the answer to our problems!  Why?  Because unregenerate men/women can never achieve what Christ has done for us!

Jer 17:9   “The heart is deceitful above all things,  And desperately wicked;  Who can know it?

Being away from the news most of the time for about 4 days has re-focused my mind on what truly matters!  Even though I will continue to point out the evils of this awful government that we are suffering under, I will continue to back it up with the hope that the Gospel gives every person willing to come to the Cross of Christ.  I will continue to pray that if it is in God’s Will, He will forgive our sins as a nation and restore our Constitutional Republic for the sakes of our children and grandchildren, as well as for generations to come!

Hat tips to all links

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Update: My Hope From California to Pennsylvania, ‘My Hope’ Points Americans to Christ