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Prophetic word for today

The end of old evangelism

First posted: July 1, 2005

Received by: Shamah-Elim Bible Studies

 

Between June 24 and June 26, 2005, evangelist Billy Graham held a crusade in Flushing Meadows, New York. The crusade was given very ample news coverage by the national TV networks in the U.S. and by the local TV stations in New York. The crusade was considered so relevant that the NBC network aired its June 24 nightly news broadcast from the site of the crusade.

 

The crusade was advertised as the last one Billy Graham would hold in the United States. Many of the people interviewed at the crusade said that they were attending precisely because of this. Some wanted to have the opportunity to hear Billy Graham in person. Others wanted to be part of this "historical" crusade.

 

The crusade organizers were concerned about the heat wave in New York at the time of the crusade. Because of the expected crowds, the crusade was held outdoors, which exposed the crowds to the intense heat and humidity.

 

U.S. ex-president Bill Clinton attended the crusade, and he spoke to the crowd. He praised Billy Graham as the only person he had ever known that had unfailingly lived out his faith during his entire life.

 

On the last day of the crusade, Billy Graham said that he didn't think that this crusade was his "last hoorah" in the U.S., even when his co-laborers may have thought so.

 

On the night of Sunday June 26 (the last day of the crusade), New York's TV channel 4 (WNBC) opened its 11:00 PM newscast with the story of Billy Graham's crusade. Their second story that night was about a "Homosexual pride parade" that was held in New York that same day.

 

 

Our comments

The focus

On November 26, 2004, we posted a word entitled "Out with the old, in with the true" where we spoke of how the Church will be transformed from a Church of old ministries and human traditions to a new Church that operates in God's truth and judgments. In it, the Lord prompted us to speak of men like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts, who did great things for the Lord, but who were never willing to cross their respective "Jordan" rivers, settling instead for ministries that reached spiritual plateaus and never grew from there. However, as we share in a previous word, our God is not a "simple" God, but rather a Deep and High God who calls His sons and daughters to grow into the fullness of His Wisdom and Glory. There are no "spiritual plateaus" in the Christian walk. There is too much to grow in and too much to conquer for us to settle for a plateau (Ephesians 1:16-23).

 

When a believer has a desire to grow in Christ, God's presence is strong, and there is constant growth and expansion in the Spirit. When the believer settles for a "simple" Gospel, God's presence retreats, and the growth and expansion stop. As the glory of God's presence retreats, man begins to stand out more and more, and, as that happens, man, rather than God, becomes the focal point. This can be clearly seen in the June 24-26 crusade. The newscasters who covered the crusade focused on Billy Graham and his legacy. Many people at the crusade went to see Billy Graham's "last crusade" and not to convert others to Christ. They wanted to share in the "historical significance" of this "great man's" last campaign, motivated by their reverence of the "reverend", and not by their reverence of God.

 

There is nothing inherently wrong with praising a man for his faithfulness to God, but there is something wrong when that praise becomes the focal point. God's Glory is overwhelming and absorbing, and it overshadows any human greatness around it. When God's Glory is shining from inside of you, the people who see you stop seeing you and start seeing the God that is inside of you, and they will either bow in reverence of Him or react angrily against His presence. When God is shining from inside of you, His invasive and expansive presence is "un-ignorable". People will either yield to it or fight against it. No one can stand passively in the presence of God.

 

"14Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 15For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)

[Excluding verse 15, all the words "savour" that appear in this passage were translated from the Greek word osme, which literally means, "smell, odor". The phrase "sweet savour" in verse 15 was translated from the Greek word euodia, which is related to the word osme and literally means "good fragrance".

 

The English word "osmosis" is derived from osme. Osmosis is a process where a higher concentration of a fluid can diffuse through a porous membrane to penetrate places with lower concentrations of the fluid. The word "osmosis", therefore, speaks of "invasion", and that is precisely what God's presence does. It is invasive and pervasive. It cannot be ignored. To some, it is a "deadly" invasion; to others it is a "life-giving" invasion (v16).]

 

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

[Notice how exposition to God's Glory leads to constant growth. As we are exposed to God's Glory, we are transformed into the image of God, and, as this happens, we begin to emanate the Glory of God all the more.]

 

As we have shared before, we are to be like the "burning bush" that Moses saw in Exodus chapter 3. The word "bush" is mentioned 5 times in the early verses of Exodus chapter 3, but is not mentioned again in the rest of the passage. Moses was initially drawn to the bush to behold it, but, once he was standing in front of it, he beheld the God of Consuming Fire that was in the bush, and he forgot altogether about the bush and focused completely on God from then on. It is sad, therefore, that, after 55 years of public ministry, Billy Graham became the focal point of attention in his last U.S. crusade. Obviously, this was not Billy Graham's intention, but, he is still responsible before God for allowing this to happen. This happened subtly, over time. As Billy Graham settled in his spiritual plateau of traditional doctrine and traditional evangelistic methods, the Glory of God began to retreat from his life silently, and the human name "Billy Graham" began to shine more and more.

 

Grace from the past

Billy Graham continued to operate under his God-given evangelistic grace, but, as we have shared before, once we depart from God's righteousness, we are left with remnants of a grace "that once was". This is not to say that Billy Graham was out there "sinning". However, as we have said before, there are two levels of righteousness, and there is a bridge that separates the two. Obviously, Billy Graham was a man of great integrity and character, but he was never willing to shed certain beliefs, and this prevented him from entering into the fullness of "Level-2 righteousness". Because of this, he slowly began to operate with the remnants of a grace that once was. His evangelistic grace did not grow into the fullness of what God had for him. He was supposed to shake entire continents for Christ. He was supposed to cause the fall of mighty Amorite strongholds in the spiritual atmosphere. Instead, he became a successful and well-respected evangelist who did a great deal for the Lord, but whose harvest became exposed to satan's corrosion.

 

In a sense, Billy Graham is like Moses. Moses was a great man of God. He did signs and wonders that had never been seen before, but he never did cross the Jordan river (Numbers 20:12) because he was never willing to allow God to destroy and regenerate the Israelite nation (Exodus 32:7-14). Moses was willing to sacrifice the long-term benefits of the Israelites for the sake of some short-term benefits. In the same way, Billy Graham sacrificed the long-term benefits of others by submitting himself to the belief that he would reach more people by making sure not to "offend" anyone. He became a consummate diplomat, and he settled for a more "acceptable and respectable" brand of the Gospel than the fiery Gospel that he preached as a young man.

 

As we have shared before, there was an important ruler mentioned in Scripture who was called to sell his "riches" and give to the poor in order to enter into Level-2 righteousness (Luke 18:18-25). Billy Graham's belief in "civilized diplomacy" and "traditional Church values" turned into the "riches" that he was unwilling to let go of. Had he let go of these beliefs, he would have empowered those converted in his crusades to operate in prophetic boldness and an apostolic zeal for righteousness. Had he decided to enter into the fullness of Level-2 righteousness, he would have empowered many to enter into it as well. However, since he chose to abide in the respectability of Level-1 righteousness, he gave birth to many believers who try to be good citizens, good fathers, good mothers, and good children, but who have a hard time confronting unrighteousness and sacrificing themselves for others. Being a diplomat himself, he begot many diplomats; being an upholder of tradition, he begot many traditionalist believers, and it all started when he settled into a spiritual plateau. Had he turned into a full-fledged apostolic and prophetic evangelist, he would have begotten a generation of evangelistic conquerors who would have toppled Amorite kingdoms and manifested God's Glory on Earth. Instead he begot a generation of tranquil, church-going Christians.

 

"Truman" diplomacy

Billy Graham's radical belief in "civilized diplomacy" grew from an experience he had after his first "presidential visit", which took place during the Harry Truman administration. According to his own autobiography, shortly after his meeting with president Truman, a few reporters approached him to ask him what he had discussed with Truman. He then gave details to the reporters about the conversation he had had with the president. When Truman found out about it, he became very upset at Billy Graham. When Billy Graham learned that Truman was displeased about his comments to reporters, he "learned" never to "displease" a president ever again. This allowed him to be a constant visitor at the White House, administration after administration. Since he became interested in "pleasing" presidents rather than speaking to them in the Spirit, he was no longer a threat to any president, and he became a "welcome guest" at the White House.

 

It is ironic that this quest for "Christian diplomacy" started with a president named Harry "Tru-man". When you are concerned about "diplomacy" and "political correctness", you begin to sacrifice your personal convictions in a Canaanite effort to please others. As you do so, you stop being "true to yourself", and you allow yourself to be molded into the person that others want you to be, instead of being the "true man" God called you to be. God is Truth (John 17:17), and those who abide in Him become "true men" and "true women", i.e.- agents of truth, not agents of appeasement. In the Truman incident, God was testing Billy Graham's inner integrity. He was testing him to see if he would choose to be a "true man" or a "Truman pleaser". Unfortunately, he chose the latter.

 

Some might argue that we are supposed to be "diplomats" since Scripture calls us "ambassadors of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20). However, there is a basic difference between the word "diplomat" and "ambassador". Even though an "ambassador" is technically considered a "diplomat", they are two fundamentally different words. While an "ambassador" is a representative of a foreign entity's interests, a "diplomat" is a negotiator. When we act as true "ambassadors of God", we offer others "peace with God" in return for their unconditional surrender to Him. We are not sent to "negotiate" any terms of surrender. The deal is relatively straightforward: You surrender unconditionally to God, and He forgives you and restores you unto Him. We are not to say, "Well, you can keep this sin and that sin, if that is what it takes for you to become a Christian". We are not "negotiating diplomats". We are ambassadors of the One and Only Superpower in the Universe, and we are sent to offer two options: "unconditional surrender" or "utter destruction without restoration". We are not called to fashion "golden calf gospels" to the liking of others so that they may do God the "favor" of receiving Christ.

 

A tainted harvest

U.S. president George W. Bush converted to the Lord during one of Billy Graham's crusades. Even though president Bush is a devout and sincere Christian, he is still struggling with the subtle influence of Billy Graham's spirit of diplomacy and traditions.

 

Even though George W. Bush has taken some bold decisions when it comes to confronting unrighteousness head on, he has allowed some of the people around him to influence him with the Canaanite spirit of tolerance and "diplomacy". This is what prompted him to try the futile United Nations route before the Iraq war, and this is what has prompted him to be so soft on the issue of illegal immigration through the southern border with Mexico. This is also the spiritual reason why the terrorists have been able to infiltrate Iraq through the border with Syria and Jordan to wreak havoc there. Two days ago (June 29, 2005), two Iraqis were caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally through the Mexican border. This is a warning from the Lord for President Bush and the USA. He and America still have some "holes to close" with regard to the spirit of "tolerant diplomacy".

 

The subtle influence of Billy Graham's spirit of human traditions can also be seen in some of President Bush's actions. Brother Bush practices a traditionalistic brand of Christianity, which has hindered the development of the prophetic calling in his life. As we have said before, President Bush is a prophet. There are moments during some of his speeches when one can sense the strong prophetic anointing on his life. It is a shame, therefore, to have that prophetic anointing hindered by religious tradition. However, I do believe that brother Bush is growing spiritually before our eyes. He is slowly shedding the "tolerant diplomacy" and "human tradition" spirits. For his sake, I pray that he will grow fast enough to enter into the fullness of his callings.

 

Ex-president Bill Clinton also reflects the condition of Billy Graham's spiritual harvest. Even though Bill Clinton did not convert during a Billy Graham crusade, he is evidently influenced by and comfortable with Billy Graham's spiritual work. Two days ago (June 29, 2005), a few days after his appearance at the Billy Graham crusade over the weekend, Bill Clinton personally handed out an award to Ted Turner, founder of CNN, a man who is known for his strong anti-Christian, anti-Israel left-wing bias; apparently, Ted Turner received the "Clinton Center Award for Leadership and National service" because of some "humanitarian" work he has done. The fact that Bill Clinton could praise both Billy Graham and a staunch anti-Christian in the same week shows how he believes in the spirit of Canaanite tolerance and soul communion. A Christian with a strong apostolic zeal for righteousness would have never been able to publicly praise an enemy of God such as Ted Turner, much less grant him an award. As we have said before, Theresa-style humanitarian work is useless before God when it is not accompanied by an awareness of the spiritual roots of unrighteousness.

 

As we have said before, "pastoral evangelism" (i.e.- evangelism influenced by the pastoral matriarchy) may catch the fish, but it leaves the fish to rot in the ships of religious structures. It may take people out of Egypt, but it generally leaves them to die in the desert, without helping them to reach the Promised Land. Pastoral evangelism leads to a Church full of believers who never grow into the fullness of their calling. Because of his unwillingness to renounce his belief in "diplomacy" and human traditions, Billy Graham was never able to make the transition from pastoral evangelism to apostolic-prophetic evangelism, which led to a great harvest of souls that were not empowered to mature into the fullness of their calling.

 

A false revival

When Bill Clinton praised Billy Graham as the only man he had known who had lived out his faith during his entire life, it may have sounded like a compliment, but the fact that he said it during an evangelistic crusade reveals that it was really an indictment from God against Billy Graham's life's work. An evangelist is supposed to beget mighty men and women unto God. Therefore, if Billy Graham has been unable to beget other believers who can consistently live out their faith (even after leading millions to conversion), something is definitely awry.

 

By emphasizing Billy Graham's integrity, Bill Clinton was testifying of Billy Graham's Level-1 righteousness (personal righteousness). However, by declaring him as the only one with integrity, Bill Clinton was implicitly testifying that Billy Graham had been unable to enter into Level-2 righteousness (where you enable others to be righteous).

 

When believers are asked to define the word "revival", they usually visualize the "great ministers" doing "great things for God". When they see Benny Hinn ministering before millions, they call it "revival". When they see Reinhardt Bonke ministering before millions, they call it "revival". However, the word "revival" conjures up different thoughts and emotions in the Lord's soul:

 

"O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2)

 

The word "work" was translated from the Hebrew word poal. This word also appears in the following verse, translated as "work", once again:

 

"Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me" (Isaiah 45:11)

 

Notice how this verse associates the "work of the Lord's hands" with "His sons". Therefore, when Habakkuk is crying out to God that He "revive His work", he is crying out that God revive His sons. To man, the word "revival" means "the great ministers doing great things for God". To God, the word "revival" means "God's people doing great things in Him". A revival is false when the only one doing great things is the minister in front. A revival is true when the minister in front is empowering the people in front of him or her to do great things in God. A true revivalist longs to see his brethren doing great things in Christ. A false revivalist is only concerned about doing great things him or herself. A true revivalist is an enabler of others. A false revivalist is enabled alone. A true revivalist gives birth to "dynamic" life that is independent of him or herself. A false revivalist gives birth to "static" life that is permanently dependent on him or her.

 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)

[Notice that Jesus was a true revivalist because He was concerned about enabling others, not just enabling Himself]

 

"10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Ezekiel 37:10-14)

[Notice how the revival (v14) of the dry bones shall lead to the raising up of an "exceedingly great army" (v10)]

 

Therefore, when Bill Clinton declared that Billy Graham was the only Christian he had ever seen who walked in consistent integrity, he was declaring that Billy Graham had failed to enable others to walk in the integrity that he himself had walked in. Without knowing it, Bill Clinton was saying that Billy Graham had failed. While man was busy praising Billy Graham, God was subtly impeaching him.

 

Girgashite heat

As we have said before, the sun in Scripture, when used in a negative sense, is a figure of Girgashite oppression. It is not a coincidence, therefore, that God did not bless Billy Graham's last crusade with cool and refreshing weather. Instead, He forced the crusade goers to be exposed to oppressive outdoors heat. As we have said before, the Girgashite spirit is the spirit that promotes human, religious traditions and methods. Once Billy Graham established a methodology for his crusades, he stuck to them until the end. He would work with the local churches, which would serve as the promotional agents and would help in the physical organization of the event. He would then invite brothers and sisters who would testify of their life in Christ. He would then preach a message based on current events which he would intertwine with a passage of Scripture. He would then make an altar call for those who wanted to be born again, and the event organizers would gather information on the new converts in order to get them to assist to one of the churches that participated in the event.

 

Billy Graham's messages did have a prophetic element to them, as they challenged people to question the "mundaneness" and purposelessness of their lives. His messages also had an apostolic element to them, as they confronted the unrighteousness of the world (in a general way) and offered the hearers an alternative where they would no longer be part of that unrighteousness. However, these prophetic and apostolic elements were always contained within a restricted human methodology, and they were never allowed to overflow and take control of the event. As far as I know, there was never a Billy Graham crusade where the crowd would be overtaken by a spirit of conviction to the extent that thousands would cry and wail uncontrollably as they recognized their impurity before God. As far as I know, there was never a Billy Graham crusade where the crowd would come under a strong prophetic anointing, with the believers speaking in tongues and prophesying as the unbelievers would receive Christ and would begin to prophesy themselves. There was an apostolic and prophetic presence of God in his crusades, but they were always contained within man-made "vessels". Supernatural outbreaks would never take place, which means that the Spirit of God was subtly suppressed for years during Billy Graham's crusades (Amos 2:9-13). This is why Billy Graham's last crusade was held under the oppression of the Girgashite sun.

 

Consider what evangelist Peter did in the book of Acts. He had no "church apparatus" to work with. He did not organize massive ad campaigns for his "crusades". On his first "crusade", 3000 spontaneously converted to the Lord as the Spirit fell upon a group of praying believers at Pentecost (Acts chapter 2). On his second "crusade", 5000 spontaneously converted to the Lord on a day when Peter and John were headed to the temple to pray (not to organize an evangelistic campaign); when a lame man was supernaturally healed, the crowd was confronted by God in the Spirit and they converted to Christ (Acts chapters 3 and 4). There was no need to fill out "conversion cards". There was no need for an elaborate "follow-up" scheme. These people converted to the Lord and congregated of their own volition, without any need for outside pressure. These men and women continued in the faith, despite man's systematic persecution and torture. Why? Because evangelist Peter was relying on the Spirit, not on human methods, and he would allow the Holy Spirit to overflow and take over events. Because evangelist Peter refused to suppress the Spirit, he was able to offer "refreshing". On the other hand, because evangelist Billy Graham allowed for the subtle suppression of the Spirit, he could only offer believers oppressive heat during his "last crusade".

 

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19)

 

As we said at the beginning, on June 26, New York's TV channel 4 featured the last day of the Billy Graham crusade as the leading story of its 11:00 PM newscast. In the story, an emphasis was made on the fact that Billy Graham did not rule out the possibility of another U.S. crusade. This bothered me immensely because it meant that he had allowed people to be drawn to this crusade based on the publicized belief that this would be his last American crusade. I do not believe that this was an "intentional deception" on Billy Graham's part, but it does bear out the fact that he was not in spiritual control of this crusade. His "staff" touted this crusade as his last crusade because they sincerely believed this to be a fact, and there was little that Billy Graham could do about it. Since he had placed his trust on human organization and methods all of his life, he became vulnerable to human organizers and promoters. A man is only as vulnerable as his spiritual foundation. Those who place their faith on the rock-solid workings of the Spirit are invulnerable to the enemy. Those who place their faith on the rigid-clod methods of man are vulnerable to the soul winds of man.

 

June 26, 2005

The prophetic word where the Lord prompted us to speak about Billy Graham's ministry for the first time was posted on November 26, 2004. It is interesting therefore, that Billy Graham's "last crusade" ended on June 26, 2005, exactly seven calendar months later. The crusade began on June 24, 2005, which happens to be exactly 210 days after November 26, 2004. 210 days is equivalent to seven 30-day months (since the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar, its months are all 30-days long). Coincidence? I don't think so. All of this is a figure of how Billy Graham's ministry was unable to enter into its 8th month.

 

As we have shared before, the Lord's death and resurrection was a 3-day process: He died on the 6th day, rested on the 7th, and was resurrected on the 8th day. If this process had been cut short 2 thirds of the way, the 8th-day resurrection would have never taken place. Many believers faithfully sow into God's righteousness and purposes but they at some point decide to cut off the process 2/3 of the way into it, and they fail to reap the full harvest that awaited them (Galatians 6:9). The reason for cutting off the process 2/3 of the way is because of their Girgashite fear of death. They prefer to literally "rest on their 7th-day laurels", and they never enter into the 8th-day fullness of their calling. This is what happened to Billy Graham.

 

Girgashite flood

The Billy Graham crusade began on June 24, 2005. If the crusade had continued beyond June 26, day #6 of the crusade would have been two days ago (June 29, 2005). As we have said before, the number "6" is associated in Scripture with human earthliness and weakness. Therefore, the number "6", when used in a negative sense, points to the Girgashite spirit of earthliness. It is not a coincidence, therefore, that the New York City area was bombarded on June 29 with unusually heavy rain that led to massive flooding in several parts of the metropolitan area. As we have said before, God judges Girgashites by drowning them in floods, meaning that God was judging the New York area as a result of their warm embrace of the Girgashite influence brought in by the Billy Graham crusade.

 

After the Lord flooded the "earth dwellers" (i.e.- spiritual Girgashites) of Noah's days (Genesis 6:13, Genesis 7:10), He regenerated the earth through Noah. Therefore, the flooding of June 29 was a prophetic sign from the Lord that God will destroy the influence of the Girgashite spirit over New York and will regenerate the Church in New York. As we have said before, New York will be the starting point of God's latter-rain revival. Therefore, the June 29 flooding in New York is also a prophetic sign of what God will do with the Church throughout the world. He will bring destruction upon those who believe in a "pastoral evangelism" that relies on Girgashite human methods, and He will bring forth a new remnant Church that will practice true evangelism in the Spirit.

 

Conquering evangelism?

As we said above, on June 26, New York's TV channel 4 featured the last day of the Billy Graham crusade as the leading story of its 11:00 PM newscast. They then "segued" into a story on a "homosexual pride parade" that was held in New York on that very day. God allowed this as a spiritual embarrassment for the Billy Graham crusade. Evangelists are called to be spiritual conquerors who dethrone Amorite kings and establish God's kingdom on Earth. Wherever God's Kingdom is reestablished, the fear of His Name permeates the place:

 

"So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun" (Isaiah 59:19)

 

"16The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee. 18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." (Micah 7:16-18)

[Notice that, when the prophetic remnant is manifested, the nations will fear the Lord (v17)]

 

Instead of "fear", homosexuals in New York were feeling "pride" over their immorality, so much so that they did not feel at all uncomfortable about "parading" their immorality on the very day that Billy Graham's "historic" crusade was ending. Was the spiritual atmosphere in New York truly impacted at the end of the evangelistic crusade? If so, why were homosexuals so comfortable about parading their pride on the very day that the crusade ended? Let him who has ears hear what God is saying to His Church!!!

 

One might think that the "secular" TV's coverage of the crusade is a testimony to how Billy Graham has impacted American society's awareness of God. However, the fact that New York's channel 4 felt so comfortable about airing the homosexual parade story right after the crusade story says something different. In fact, I was appalled at how the female reporter displayed her pro-homosexual bias during her report on the homosexual parade. At one point, she spoke of the opposition to the parade, and showed a Jew wearing his yarmulke who condemned the parade as an exhibition of people who were not embarrassed about their "wicked lifestyle". After showing the Jewish man, the video then showed a group of homosexuals wearing women's underwear who were proudly dancing during the parade, and the reporter then said, "Well, they are not allowing such negative comments to ruin their fun!!", and the report ended. If New York's channel 4 was covering the crusade as a result of the reverence they felt for the "things of God", why would its reporter refer to homosexuals dancing in the streets in women's underwear as "having fun"? If I am not mistaken, the reporter who narrated the homosexual story also did reports on the Billy Graham crusade from the crusade site! I guess she was truly impacted by God at the crusade site! Let those who have ears hear what God is saying to His Church!!!

 

Effeminizing evangelism

There is another reason why God allowed a "Homosexual pride parade" in New York on the day that the crusade ended. As we have said before, the spirit of homosexuality is promoted in an environment dominated by Jebusite spirits because Jebusites deprive believers of their "spiritual manhood". The Jebusite spirit is a spirit of "human legalism" that acts as an oppressive enforcer of Amorite human laws. Jebusites slap the believers who "dare to" walk in their God-given spiritual authority, reducing them to powerless effeminate souls that are dependent on the "spiritual authority" of their male Amorite king.

 

Billy Graham was born in North Carolina, a state in the U.S.'s South. This means that Billy Graham was exposed as a youth to the strong traditionalistic tendencies that prevail in the South, even to this day. The South is dominated by Girgashite and Jebusite spirits that have worked to suppress the prophetic freedom of God's people in that area. By not being fully antagonistic to the Jebusite spirits he had grown up around, Billy Graham converted many believers and then turned them over to churches with strong Jebusite tendencies, thereby begetting a generation of powerless souls with no "spiritual manhood". This is the reason why a "homosexual pride parade" was held at the end of a crusade where America was showing its pride for Billy Graham's work.

 

End of an era

As you may have noticed, we have mentioned incidents that happened on "June 29, 2005" throughout this word. There is a prophetic reason for this. As we have said before, on June 29, 2003, God cast away Latin America's spiritual calling. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that many events spiritually related to Billy Graham's crusade took place on June 29, 2005. Latin America underwent a major evangelistic revival. Over a 25 year period, the stronghold of the catholic religion over Latin America was broken and many became open to the evangelical faith. However, the focus of the evangelism effort was centered on getting people to escape from the torment of literal hell, instead of being centered on the raising of a righteous generation of believers. Because it was focused on human mercy and not on God's mercy unto righteousness, Latin America's evangelistic revival led to a generation of religious evangelicals with little moral character. Instead of overcoming the corruption that has plagued Latin American culture throughout its history, the evangelical Church became co-participant of that corruption. The old catholic religious structures were replaced by "new" religious structures that simply masked the same spiritual corruption under different names. Instead of the "priest", they now have the "pastor"; instead of "sacristans", they now have "deacons"; instead of idols of wood and stone, they now have idols of flesh and blood (the "ministers"); instead of Sunday mass, they now have Sunday services, but underneath all of this religious facade, the same moral corruption remains. This is what happens when evangelists are only interested in catching the fish without bringing them to "land" to be eaten by God. This is what happens when evangelists are concerned about "saving people from" and not "saving people unto" (Ephesians 2:8-10). Therefore, it is not surprising that the date "June 29" appears several times in connection with Billy Graham's last evangelistic crusade. He represents the era of "pastoral evangelism" in the Church.

 

Evangelist Reinhardt Bonke was able to sacrifice some of the "riches" (i.e.- beliefs) that Billy Graham was unwilling to surrender. His ministry began with a strong apostolic anointing as he was forced to endure a long and difficult period of spiritual preparation. His ministry also began with a strong prophetic anointing as he was willing to harbor God's prophecy to him that he would see one million souls saved in a single day; he was willing to believe this prophecy, even when it meant defying a whole Jebusite-Girgashite religious structure that dismissed that prophecy as so much nonsense. That prophecy eventually came true.

 

On one occasion, God told Reinhardt Bonke to preach about the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" at an evangelistic crusade. When he heard this in his spirit, his natural mind reacted with the question, "Why should I preach about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? This is an evangelistic crusade, so I should be preaching about being born again". However, he did not allow his natural understanding to prevail, and he obeyed the voice of the Spirit. He went out that night to preach to a huge crowd in Africa about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As he preached, a spiritual wave hit the crowd, and, to this day, I still get goose bumps when I remember a video I saw of that night. Millions of people were hit by the Spirit, and they were baptized by the Spirit and began speaking in tongues. The wave of the Spirit swept across the audience of millions from one side to the other. Instead of boxing the Spirit within the confines of human evangelistic methods, Reinhardt Bonke has allowed the Spirit to dictate things, and, as a result, God has used him in a mighty way in Africa.

 

Unfortunately, Africa is beginning to go in the same direction that Latin America took. The evangelistic revival in Africa has not translated into a continent of righteousness. There are countries in Africa with extremely high percentages of evangelicals where corruption still abounds, even among the "Christians". Why? Because the evangelism there has once again focused solely on saving people from hell, instead of focusing on saving them unto righteousness and eternal life. As we have said so many times before, "eternal life" is not equivalent to "escaping hell" in Scripture. Eternal life means being One with God (1 Timothy 6:12, 1 Timothy 6:15-16), and not all who are born again will be One with God, even when they will not go to literal hell.

 

If Reinhardt Bonke does not heed the warning of the Spirit, his ministry will go down the same path as Billy Graham's. He will have gotten many fish out of the sea, but he will have left them to rot in the boats of Girgashite religious structures and the broken net of emotion-based Canaanite unity.

 

Billy Graham's last crusade marks the beginning of the end of an era of "pastoral evangelism" in the Church. From now on, those who continue to operate under such evangelism will expose themselves to God's expeditious judgments upon their ministries. This applies from Reinhardt Bonke's and Benny Hinn's ministries to youth groups doing person-to-person evangelism in public parks.

 

Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church!!!