"White hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life"...Proverbs 16:31
Franklin Graham and His Father the well known Billy Graham
Posted on 11/08/2014 6:51:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
By that logic, we can all say the same based on God’s mercy like the repentant brigand who was crucified next to our Lord and was assured by Christ that he will be in paradise. Billy Graham’s comment is unadulterated arrogance. Like all of us, he needs our prayers. The Sacrament of Confession is a good start.
“And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”
I don’t know how more plainly I can put it but our assurance is in Christ and His sacrifice not of our own works lest any man should boast. I am sure that Mr. Graham is not boasting on his own behalf but relying on the assurance of Christ!
Bless ya
Mel
Mary gave birth to her savior. Yes even Mary needed Jesus. Mary believed thus Mary was saved.
Blessed are you Simon for you did not learn this from man but was revealed to you by my Father.
That is the new church it is built upon revelation to man from GOD by the Holy Spirit sent to man which had not yet been manifested. The Temple Priest can't corrupt it. It's man and GOD's one on one relationship which "ALL" who believe were given as brothers in Christ. We ask/pray in Jesus name. Jesus said we could. Peter's confession of Jesus Christ as savior as revealed to him by GOD. Jesus told even His Disciples plainly there were other followers with the authority to use His name other then the twelve he chose. IOW even before the cross believers other than the chosen twelve were preaching The Gospel.
After his conversion on the road to Damascus I would count Paul among such. Peter was the chosen leader of the Twelve Disciples. Who's authority does Paul claim to be acting under? Peter's or Christ? Yes Paul knew Peter and at least once rebuked him. The were equal men serving the same savior. After Christ accession and the believers go out there is no mention of Temple Rites as such. Services were in homes, forums, wherever. They Preached The Gospel. They didn't stand there day after day repeating mandatory Temple rituals and dogma. They didn't place upon the churches the demands of laws like the scribes and Pharisees.
Paul did instruct a simple church structure with actually very few rules in places where he had established churches. Now what has it been turned into? Would Paul recognize it? Would Paul hear a spirit filled Preacher standing at the alter preaching The Gospel? Or would he hear rituals? Yeah Paul addressed that as well. The churches wanted to slip back into the old ways of the Temples or make ridiculous demands no one could abide in including the leaders.
"White hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life"...Proverbs 16:31
Franklin Graham and His Father the well known Billy Graham
Peter and his successors were commanded to teach ONE truth. Not “your” version of Scripture any more than Billy Graham’s or Rev. Moon’s or Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s or Joel Osteen’s. No matter how sincere “their” teachings are they are not the teachings of the ONE Church, instead they are all heresies.
Billy Graham has essentially proclaimed himself a saint. Not even St. Francis of Asissi who received the stigmata of Christ and gave away all his possessions proclaimed himself to be destined to heaven. This is a judgment for God, not for any of us to make about ourselves.
The article was about a man who has devoted his life to Christ. Not your church Dogmas and hierarchy.
God would differ with your opinion for it's written ..."These things I have written to you so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life."
“....devoted his life to Christ” and not about “church Dogmas and hierarchy.”
1. So please pray tell us his preaching about
“He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.”
2. Does anyone remember his various preachings anymore than they do Joel Osteens? Jimmy Swaggart? TD Jakes?
The Catholic Creed is recited at each Mass each day in just about every country in the world to the end of time. It is the Church of saints, martyrs, stigmatists, and every theologian of repute from Augustine to Aquinas to Benedict to leading Lutheran and Episcopalian theolgians who have converted to Catholicism.
Maybe Rev. Graham, (unquestionably a good man) knows something that have eluded the saints, martyrs, and even the early Church fathers many of whom wrote and preached within a decade or two after the death of the last Evangelist St. John.
3. Pray tell us teaching by what and whose authority?
This authority wasn’t given to every Tom, Dick, and Harry to crack open a Bible and “preach”
“And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”
It is given to every Minister GOD calls on to do so be it Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, Church of GOD, all churches who do not deny Christ as Lord and Savior. Yes they indeed have the same standing as your pope.
Paul almost immediately after his sight was restored was preaching. Now who taught him? Peter? No. The Holy Spirit? Yes. GOD calls persons to preach The Gospel. It can be someone illiterate who can still quote scripture chapter and verse. It can be someone blind. It can be a woman paralyzed who started a ministry to the disabled. Jesus answer that jealousy because the Disciples came to Him about others not with them or part of their group who had the same power they had. Jesus Christ addressed that very issue before the cross.
Your comparison of Billy Graham to Jeremiah Wright is a sick one. Christ said plainly by their fruits you will know them. How many persons do you think Billy Graham has preached The Gospel too and through the working of The Holy Spirit they heard and received Christ? His ministry is the most successful ministry in modern history. To whom does Billy Graham give the credit and glory? To the church or to GOD? The Holy Spirit gives believers discernment for those who pray and listen.
You bash Billy Graham yet your church ignores scripture after scripture. I do not call any minister Father. Do you? If I want to pray and confess my sins I do as Christ instructed. I go somewhere alone and pray. No person sitting beside me. It's between me and The Lord unless I have sinned against the church I belonged too and then I owe that church a confession of that sin. Jesus Christ is as accessible to me as he is anyone including you. I can pray directly to GOD asking in Jesus name as Christ instructed believers to do yet that too gets ignored.
Jesus Christ made salvation easy for man because doctrines of man made worship by the laws a burden man could no longer bear. Lo and behold a couple hundred years later in steps a hierarchy to begin doing the exact same thing.
Billy Graham preaches about salvation by Grace for those who by faith call on Jesus name for salvation. He has preached that over 60 years. The benediction of his services is the song Just as I am. A basic song of salvation.
My church doesn't declare persons saints. We leave that up to GOD. When you recive and accept GOD's Word and accept Christ as Lord and Savior you eat His flesh and drink His Blood. He marks us, He feeds us. He marks us with His blood the same as angels marked the Jews homes before The Passover and Exodus. He seals us. Christ instructed believers to observe a "REMEMBRANCE" of His shedding His blood for us by what we call The Lords Supper.
Jesus Christ is present where two or more are gathered in His name. He said that. It doesn't take bread and wine for that presence. This observance is done solely so we remember and honor His sacrifice for us and examine our hearts just as Paul instructed.
Billy Graham isn't perfect and he would likely be the first to tell you that. Jesus Christ has many flocks of both Lambs and sheep which He at the Fathers appointed time will gather together and reconcile. Baptist will be with Catholics, Jews will be with Methodist and all of one accord. Why not now? Because The Gospel must be preached to all nations.
GOD is pouring out His Spirit on man young and old Jew, Catholic, and Protestant, for HIS Divine reasons. If you were called to be a Catholic GOD Bless You. Just as you should bless someone called by GOD to be a Protestant. I'm not here to convert believers of any church. Christians both Protestant and Catholic waste precious time and efforts trying to convert each other when it's the non believers who are perishing. Think about it.
No one is going to hell because they are Protestant or Catholic. They will go to hell The Bible says if they reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Despite the way my replies may seem I do not hate Catholics. I have a cousin who is a Priest as well as aunt and uncles who were Catholic. I also have Protestant Preacher cousins. My second wife and I were married in a Catholic hospital Chapel by our Baptist minister. Guest were the Priest {chaplain} and several Nuns as well. The Nuns had my wife at that time girl friend hidden for her safety while she was recovering from loss of use of her limbs. They did so three months. My cousin who is a Priest at my request gave my first wife's funeral service though she was Protestant. But by church rules he could not do our marriage and I respected that very much. At family gatherings we are all believers. That's what counts.
Congrats Rev. Graham on your 95th birthday and God Bless.
Corection: Congrats and God Bless you on your 96th Birthday Rev. Graham!
The sin is pretending to know things one can’t possibly know.
Please, do end the bashing of our brothers and sisters in the Lord on this thread, including that of the Rev. Billy Graham. My late paternal grandmother, a devout Catholic, liked him and often listened to him preach on the radiod/tv.
“Let us love one another, for love comes from God”.
RE: Congrats Rev. Graham on your 95th birthday and God Bless.
Make that 96. :)
We repeat, Rev. Graham is a good man. But no one should say in essence, “I’ve kept the Commandments, I preached the Word of God, I preached it accurately, and so my place in heaven is assured.”
No, preaching the Word of God is NOT given to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who thinks they can crack open the pages of the Bible and give it “their” interpretation, no matter how well intentioned they are be it Graham, Rev. Moon, or Jimmy Swaggart or the snake handlers of Appalachia. This leads to confusion of multiple interpretations.
The source and summit of all Catholic worship for 2000 years is the belief in the Eucharistic Celebration of the Mass as referenced in the Living Bread and Blood of Christ found in scripture and handed down by the early Church fathers.
The Catholic prayer for Graham when he leaves this earth is just the same as for all deceased. We are all sinners.
“Almighty and Everlasting God have mercy on his soul.”
You should read Paul's writings. Whom does he say called him to preach? Peter or Jesus Christ? Galatians ch 1. As for your post? Only believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and asking for His Salvation can save you.
It is by Faith we are saved through GOD's Grace in believing Christ blood shed for our sins. However we are not saved by any church.
BTW I did say GOD's Word and call to Preach is to those whom HE Himself The Lord GOD calls to do so.
Except this line of logic leads to the inescapable conclusion that everyone has the “right” to “read, interpret, and preach” the Gospel just the way they see it. This leads to the mudslide of multiple beliefs, and of course there is ONE truth based on the authority given to ONE Church until the end of time for all nations.
Nor am I one of those who subscribes to the pedestrian concept of “What would Jesus Think,” but I believe we all know that we cannot pound our chests, say we kept the commandments, preached the Word of God as we see fit, and now proclaim heaven is mine for the asking. This is arrogance. We enter Heaven through the mercy of God by doing our best to follow His teachings as authoritatively bestowed to Peter and His successors. Not to the David Koreshs, Jim Jones, Jimmy Swaggart, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Sharptons, and Rev. Wrights, Rev. Moons of this world nor to the Grahams and Schullers and a thousand other self-appointed reverends.
The Douay-Rheims may translate it so, but the Greek actually means "favored one", "found favor", "highly favored" or "much graced". Mary had no more grace from God than anyone else who is trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. HIS righteousness is imputed to us instead of our own and our sins have been washed away by his blood. However, if what you claim is true that only Mary is in heaven for sure because the angel said "full of grace", then you will have to admit Steven was also destined to heaven since Scripture says he was "full of grace" (Acts 6:8). See how that works?
You can assert all you want that no one knows before they die they are going to heaven for sure, but those of us who trust God's word and believe He would never lie or deceive us, DO proclaim we ARE saved and WILL be in heaven when we die. Why else would the Holy Spirit have those passages in Scripture if He wanted us to be uncertain or worry about it?
If someone is dependent on their own righteousness to get them into heaven, they can be assured they will NOT be going to heaven. Genuine, soul saving faith is what is necessary for everlasting life and that excludes adding our own works to Christ's perfect and complete work for us. If we believe our works save us, then we nullify God's grace and without grace we will NOT be saved. Is that the kind of assurance you want?
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