Posted on 05/19/2014 3:58:40 PM PDT by xzins
Franklin Graham: ‘At Every Turn, the Gay and Lesbian Agenda is Being Pushed by This Administration’ Rev. Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. (AP)
(CNSNews.com) – Rev. Franklin Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, said that “true followers” of Jesus “cannot endorse same-sex marriage” regardless of what President Barack Obama, the Congress, the Supreme Court, or the media say about the issue, adding that marriage was “settled by God Himself” and cannot be modified by man.
“True followers of Jesus Christ, whose salvation is based entirely upon God’s Word, cannot endorse same-sex marriage, regardless of what our President, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the media or the latest Gallup poll says about the matter,” said Rev. Graham in his May 2014 column for Decision magazine.
“This moral issue has been settled by God Himself and is not subject to man-made revisions or modifications,” he said. “In the end, I would rather be on the wrong side of public opinion than on the wrong side of Almighty God who established the standard of living for the world He created. Marriage is a biblically moral issue, not a political or theological one.”
Rev. Graham made those remarks after first discussing how “pressure from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community” on the A&E cable channel had tried to force Duck Dynasty off the air last year because its patriarch, Phil Robertson, had expressed his “biblically based convictions.”
Graham also noted how the restaurant and country store chain Cracker Barrel had initially given in to LGBT pressure and pulled all its Duck Dynasty products from its shelves, only to reverse itself after an uproar by millions of Americans who support the show.
“In both cases, the LGBT lost,” said Rev. Graham. “While many in the liberal and progressive media have deceived the public into thinking that this group makes up a large portion of our nation’s population, surveys support the fact that this small but boisterous movement consists of less than 2 percent of society.”
Rev. Graham went on to discuss how the international Christian aid group, World Vision, had also apparently given in to pressure in March, announcing that it would hire people in same-sex marriages. That decision also caused an uproar from donors and other evangelical groups, and World Vision subsequently reversed its decision within two days.
At the time, Rev. Graham, who is head of the international Christian aid group Samaritan’s Purse, said, “In our country today, there is tremendous pressure on Christians, churches, and Christian organizations to lower our moral standards. God is clear in His Word, and His standards never change. I’m thankful that Christians across the country urged World Vision to reverse their decision, and prayed fervently that they would do so. Three cheers.”
Rev. Graham: ‘True Followers of Jesus … Cannot Endorse Same-Sex Marriage’ Regardless What the President, Media, Supreme Court Say
After commenting on Duck Dynasty and the World Vision scandal, Rev. Graham said he was grateful about how things concluded but hoped the fundamental issue would “cause a depth of soul-searching” because, as he understands it, there is no compromise on marriage.
“This debate is ultimately about something much more important than the question of same-sex marriage,” said Rev. Graham. “It is about the great compromise, calling into question the authority of Scripture. If Christians do not agree concerning the authority of Scripture, we will eventually disagree about all sorts of things.”
He continued, “The church is on dangerous ground when it departs from the teaching of Christ and attempts to redefine His commands and compromise His truth. There are many things in Scripture that Christians disagree on, but the Bible is crystal clear about the sanctity of life and marriage. It is also clear that homosexuality is spelled out as sin—there are no ifs, ands or buts.”
Rev. Graham ended his commentary by telling those in “the LGBT community” that God “loves you and will forgive you,” and that God “is eager to forgive all sinners,” including Graham himself.
Franklin Graham, 61, is married, has five children, and lives in Boone, N.C. He is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Samaritan’s Purse.
I originally had read the entire post, and the “well, duh” still struck me as out of place.
My point is that as “followers of him” we do all those things that you say. That is what marks us a believers as “sanctified set apart believers” You are splitting hairs!
You should ask Him about that.
And I have said in a previous message that all I have done is remind you of the Word of God. “...But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
I did not think your redefinitions of “follow” and of “homosexual marriage” fit with the Word of God.
“I originally had read the entire post, and the “well, duh” still struck me as out of place.”
I disagree. It indicates that the passage is obviously, undeniably true. So much so that if someone didn’t get it, I would want to slap him in the back of the head after saying, “Well, duh.”
Am I?
Is you heart filled with the Holy Spirit? Did He tell you to accuse me of hair splitting?
Or might He have suggested that our differences were based on semantics with no one in the right or wrong?
Or did He tell you to make an accusation in which you take the high ground and offer me the low?;-)
I think I am hearing your voice...not His. Am I wrong?
Very few other websites even ALLOW you to post articles for discussion.
This is one of the ONLY that would permit you to post such an article as this for discussion.
I sincerely believe that Free Republic is worthy of our support. A dollar, a five, a ten, a hundred, a thousand....whatever....It ENCOURAGES Christian participation.
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Amen and AMEN!
I might, of course, be completely wrong.
Tell me I am wrong.
I didn’t read the part beginning with “flippant” that way, but if you say that’s what you meant by it, then I have no business telling you what you meant to write.
I have stood for the Word of God and You have said things that don’t align with the Word of God. You have said we don’t have to follow Jesus, and you have said that homosexual marriage isn’t what’s really wrong. I have said that Jesus said to follow Him, and I have said that Jesus said that a man will be united to his wife and they will become one flesh.
Do you agree with Jesus or do you agree with yourself?
If we are singing from the same hymnal...
vs 1 We follow him
vs2 we worship him in spirit and in truth
vs3 we are transformed by the renewing of our minds
as so on!
In my hymnbook...being followers of Jesus Christ appears in many stanzas as well as all the other things that go into being a child of grace!
1 Peter22: 21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should FOLLOW his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
There’s that word “follow” again...coupled with that shepherd motif like Psalms 23!
I agree..no ifs, and or butts. Especially a Queer one.
This isn't an intellectual exercise.
Amen, mdmathis6
This isn't an intellectual exercise
I have already told you that the Spirit of God has evidenced His indwelling in me. When I quoted Jesus saying that the Comforter will remind us of His words, it is the same as saying “His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are children of God.”
And His Spirit does not tell His children that they don’t have to follow Him. And His spirit does not tell them that homosexual marriage is not what’s wrong. That is all pure philosophical sophistry.
Bump
If that is your answer, He is calling you tonight to become filled with the Holy Spirit.
I'm not much of a salesman, but He needs no sales promotion.
Invite Him into your heart and soul and body tonight!
Don't let the sun rise on another day without your being filled with Him.
AMEN!
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