Billy Graham Crusade Nashville - Rubel Shelly

Can you cooperate with Billy Graham and Catholics without endorsing Billy Graham and the Catholic church? In Post Modern religion, fact-based denominational walls are broken down even to cooperate with Catholics and especially with charismatics in Promise Keepers.

In 1957 Graham announced his "inclusive policy" to infiltrate rather than separate. In 1963 he made liberal Bishop Gerald Kennedy the honorary chairman of his Los Angeles crusade. Kennedy's denial of the diety of Christ in the book God's Good News felt that Kennedy should be treated as 2 John states

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in doctrine of Christ, hath not God, If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

In changing his crusade policies, Graham influenced many pastors and churches to follow his example of compromise in a new approach to evangelism called ecumenical evangelism because of the peer pressure of a brother in Christ and for the sake of souls being saved. The mixing of belief (hot) with unbelief (cold liberalism) created the lukewarm condition of the Laodicean church as described in Revelation 3:15,16. In time it has created spiritual blindness, spiritual poverty, and apathy. Resource.

"It is one thing to invite unconverted Roman Catholics to a gospel meeting to hear the gospel preached, but it is quite another matter to go to a meeting where Roman Catholics, and Roman Catholic priests that are still firmly in Rome, are preaching from the platform." Christian News, June 26, 1988

Baptist Baptism was hatched in about 1525. It repudiates the clear Biblical statement and the history of the church. It is based on Calvinism which effectively ALSO repudiates the idea of reading the Word to gain faith. You cannot practice Baptist baptism without believing that God created the masses of people specificially to send them to hell to prove His superiority.

The so-called "Believer's Baptism" is quite identical to many ancient PAGAN BAPTISMS. It demands TWO CHRISTS, TWO FAITHS AND TWO BAPTISMS.

Mark Moore states that:

"Huldrych Zwingli (who defined faith only in 1525) stands in the third position behind Luther and Calvin in the trilogy of Protestant reformers. Yet in some ways his influence is even more important than the other two.

That is certainly true in the area of "faith only."

He was clearly the first to espouse the view that the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist had nothing to do with salvation.

If these two sacraments are reinterpreted, suddenly the church is very different than it once was.

The assertion of this paper is that Zwingli was the key figure for introducing a brand new thought into Christendom, namely, "faith only." That is quite a claim! However, it is a claim that Zwingli himself makes. He said, "In this matter of baptism -- if I may be pardoned for saying it -- I can only conclude that all the doctors have been in error from the time of the apostles. . . . All the doctors have ascribed to the water a power which it does not have and the holy apostles did not teach."[iii]

MARTIN LUTHER and Sola Fide:

But as our would-be wise, new spirits assert that faith alone saves, and that works and external things avail nothing, we answer:

It is true, indeed, that nothing in us is of any avail but faith, as we shall hear still further. But these blind guides are unwilling to see this, namely,

that faith must have something which it believes, that is, of which it takes hold, and upon which it stands and rests.

It is difficult to understand how one could participate in the MASS ORGANIZATIONS which almost by definition of the REMNANT cannot be faithful to the Word "as it has been taught." This is not difficult for the modern CHANGE AGENTS because they deny the inspiration of most of the Bible.

A copy of Harold Hazelip's earlier views about Billy Graham was recently published in the local papers. The conclusion was that if Hazelip will no longer "stand in the gap" then someone must. We note some comments from J. E. Choate who watched it all happen:

"President Harold Hazelip proved beyond reasonable doubt his intentions to abandon the traditions and the principles of the charter formulated by David Lipscomb. The fact that he had made a 180 degree turn away from his previous enchantment with the "cultic antis" shows his ready willingness to break away from one position and to adopt another. That he and Rubel Shelly have now become true yokefellows finds a common denominator in the fact that both share in a similar detestation for the conservative churches of Christ.

"The most extreme positions of postmodern theology are obviously understood by Dr. Hazelip. DLU Bible scholars tell you down front that they accept positions of postmodern theology. This is amply documented by the articles and books published by our scholarly brethren in DLU and sister institutions. Counter exposes of their views appear on a regular basis in Firm Foundation and numerous other church publications.

The postmodern view is very evangelic. The have adopted the methods of Machiavelli, Hitler, Jung and Antonio Gramsci. The view is that "prayer rarel works but force always works."

"There is a catalogued list of decisions and actions made over the past ten years by the DLU administration which puts into clear focus the present course of DLU. One of the very first things that the incumbent president did was to set in motion changes which only the DLU board of directors should address.

"The first proposal was to water down the primary worded objectives of the Nashville Bible School as phrased in the charter. The submitted proposal could be easily adopted by any institution with the most vague Christian connections. And tied in with this proposal was a move to change daily Bible teaching to three days weekly with two chapels thus meeting the legal requirement for daily Bible classes. Both proposals were formally rejected by the DLU (David Lipscomb University) board.

"Even though advised against it by DLU faculty, the president took the lead in granting the elders of the Woodmont Hills "Family of God" the privilege of using the Willard Collins Auditorium on the DLU campus for the Sunday meeting place of worship. Dr. Hazelip continues to promote this brother with a 1000 theological faces. This is further evidenced by the fact that Dr. Hazelip is a guest speaker in the Woodmont Hills pulpit, and Rubel Shelly is invited to speak in DLU chapels.

"Over a ten year period, President Hazelip has loaded the DLU Bible faculty with theologians who endorse the principles of postmodern theology, and the practices of the cultic charismatic churches identified with the Vineyard Movement, the Kansas City Prophets, the "Third Wave" Pentecostal movement.

The J. E. Choate article anticipated the new president of David Lipscomb University but when he arrived he was a founding father of the Jubilee movement. He, of course, removed himself to keep the critics silent. However, his present views is that the churches of Christ do not use instrumental music as worship because "that is just our tradition." And even more pragmatic, remaining A Cappella is to accomodate the clientele.

The Post-Modern "hermeneutic" of the Latter Rain (or Latter Reign) asks:

"Are you having difficulty discerning or receiving this "new revelation"?

Then you have been interpreting your Bible in the "old way,"

comparing Scripture with Scripture, studying diligently to account for every jot and tittle and being careful to rightly divide the Word of truth.

"If this describes you, then you belong to the "Old Generation"

which will not enter in to "possess the land" in the Latter Rain Revival.

You may even be a member of a denominational church, with its dogmatic confession of faith and statement of doctrine.

These legalistic forms will be relics of the past in the up and coming "Post-denominational Church."

Paul Cain advises that you "dump all that carnal stuff" (doctrine)

and listen to what the "spirit" is saying to the churches through the Latter Rain Prophets and Apostles, who are dispensing many "new, sacred truths."

Shelly also repudiates the notion of "commands, examples and inferences" to describe how God communicates His wish. However, this has been the view of everyone but Catholics and Calvinists who also needed direct operations and predestination to prove the correctness of their movement.

Harold Hazelip, Sept. 27, 1956 in a prepared statement about the Billy Graham Crusade (now festival):

Billy Graham: "Consequently Cain and Abel were infected with the death-dealing disease of sin, which they inherited from their parents and which has been passed on to every generation since. We are all sinners by inheritance..." (Peace with God, pp. 42-43)

Of course, Bible 101a understands that the tribe of Cain was completely cut off at the flood. We are not aware of Abel being called a sinner.

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: Ge.4:4

Even after Cain's sin God told him:

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Genesis 4:7

And only after Cain murdered Abel did God tell him:

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood from thy hand; Genesis 4:11

And Paul said:

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Heb.11:4

It was by faith that Abel obeyed God and brought an offering that pleased God more than Cain's offering did. God accepted Abel and proved it by accepting his gift; and though Abel is long dead, we can still learn lessons from him about trusting God. Heb 11:4LIV

Harold Hazelip refuted Billy Graham and it was proper that any literate believer should "stand in the gap" and refute the notion that God predestinates some people to heaven and the majority -- even little children -- to roast in hell for eternity.

Baptist baptism--going beyond Zwingli--is based on Calvinism. You cannot endorse Billy Graham and the Baptists without endorsing the TULIP.

This view includes the fact that God PICKED certain people from eternity past specificially to send to hell!

"Predestination, in Christian theology, the teaching that a person's eternal destiny is predetermined by God's unchangeable decree. Most exponents of the doctrine have maintained that it is only the individual's final destiny that is predetermined, not the individual's actions, which remain of free will. The doctrine customarily takes one of two forms: single predestination or double predestination.

"Single predestination is based on the experience of God's presence and love, and on the understanding that the gift of God's presence is an act of sheer grace. In order to emphasize that the gift is independently willed by God, some Christians have asserted that their relation to God depends only on God and on God's eternal decree established before the foundation of the world.

"Double predestination asserts that, because salvation and glory are predestined, condemnation and destruction must also be predestined. Encarta Online.

One of the worst evils to come into the mind of God was of a people who would put their children in the red hot arms of the iron idol of Molech to be burned up at Topheth, the "king's music grove" which came to stand for hell itself:

And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech;

which I commanded them not,

neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. Jeremiah 32:35

Christians cannot be associated with such an evil view which was concocted by men like John Calvin and radicalized at the Synod of Dort for the express purpose of proving the Reformation.

Click Here for some more views on the evil of predestination.

The connection between Dr. Shelly, his elders and Lipscomb survive and thrive. Because of the admitted Post-Modern or Post-Denominational view it comes as no surprize that Dr. Shelly "wrings out" the essence of the "core gospel" of seven facts about Jesus and relegates the rest to our interpretation and what Jesus said about His kingdom has no fixed meaning:

"Outside the essence of the gospel,

there are other features that reflect our history and consensus interpretations of the larger biblical message.

And Leroy Garrett was the father of the thought:

"This is to say that the gospel is not the whole of the New Testament scriptures,

for the gospel was a reality long before the scriptures were written.

Strictly speaking,

the teachings of the apostles are not facts, as the gospel is, but interpretations, implications, and edification based on the gospel.

In this area, that of the didache (teaching) even the apostles differed in their ideas and emphases. The churches for whom these documents were written were likewise different from each other. Click for More

Once you have made the post-modern leap which rejects the direct commands of God you may safely defend, support and uphold the Calvinistic views -- it no longer matters.

However, if you still believe in the ability of Christ to reveal His words then Jesus would say: "Don't go out: the kingdom of God is within you."

The newspaper article alluded to the Promise Keeper's slogan and the connection between Catholicism, Promise Keepers and Billy Graham are intended. With Shelly leading the charge to involve Woodmont Hills Family of God (lost Christs somewhere) with the Billy Graham the warning should be well heeded.

However, the walls can be broken down is because there is now just a CORE gospel which just means that Jesus was crucified. Or, if you don't believe that then we can compromise on something. Dr. Shelly spoke to this issue at ACU (Abilene Christian University) where drinking wine was a second-order doctrine about eight times. To understand why Shelly and Woodmont Hills can cooperate with a musical revival, you may want to read Rubel Shelly's repudiation of the none use of instrumental music in worship. This, of course, is the step required before the use of musical worship teams could be presumed to have mediating power between God and the worshiper.

While Dr. Shelly proposes to preach only a "core gospel" he not only repudiates any presumed authority for not using instruments, he goes further and demands that they are the gift of God. At the same time, he declares on the side of A Capella for the "plenary" sessions of the church but allows them for other "non-worship" rituals.

In Love Lines Volume 25 / Number 39 ¥ September 29, 1999 Woodmont Hills Family of God's elders have invited Billy Graham to Nashville where Rubel Shelly will try to collect some wandering sheep. Reports of others who have attempted to compromise have found that the referrals often get lost unless, of course, you have repudiated baptism

Lovelines begins:

Billy Graham Crusade ¥ June 1-4, 2000 / Adelphia Coliseum

"By now it is likely that you have heard the news that Billy Graham is planning an evangelistic crusade for Nashville in the spring of next year. This crusade has the potential to be a significant event in the spiritual life of many people in our city.

"Dr. Graham will soon be 82 years old, and he is being treated for Parkinson's Disease. The Middle Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade could be among his final efforts at preaching to stadiums filled with seeking hearts.

"Woodmont Hills supports the decision of Dr. Graham and his ministry team to be in Nashville. Even though traditional revivals and crusade events are no longer believed to be the best way to reach people with the message of Christ, (sure beats obeying Jesus to go preach to the unpreached to) the uniqueness of this event stands to make it effective in reaching many who don't know Christ.

"It is important for the members of our church family to understand why we will be enthusiastic participants.

"Billy Graham presents Jesus Christ as mankind's only hope for eternal life. "My one purpose in life," he insists, "is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which I believe comes through knowing Christ." If it is right to link arms with other believers to oppose pornography and drugs, surely it cannot be wrong to join with them to preach Christ crucified.

Isn't that a bit like circular reasoning? Can you really draw an analogy between opposing pornography and cooperating with and endorsing Billy Graham and the Catholic church by inviting and cooperating with the crusade?

In the following article, Billy Graham lowers the bars to just reject those who reject the virgin birth and the Deity of Jesus. However, when the bar is this low (just preach Christ crucified) then the bar is lowered to one who does not believe in the Deity of Jesus.

"Dr. Graham has a reputation of honesty, accountability, and moral uprightness. In a generation when so many evangelists have been tarnished by scandal, he has exhibited Christian character throughout his career.

"The Graham Crusade will challenge the church in Nashville to reap a harvest of souls to God's glory. The most important part of the crusade will not be four days of preaching at the coliseum but the months of prayer, teaching, and seed-planting that will lead up to the first week in June of 2000.

"The invitation to be given each evening will be for persons to make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Didn't do that in the Bible. When the "gospel" had been preached they wanted to be baptized. The gospel includes baptism or it has not been preached.

"Respondents will then make a self-designating choice to be counseled about the meaning of their decision by people from several different groups.

Is this the Tower of Babel or what?

"We will be working closely with the campaign effort to advise and teach those who mark "Church of Christ." We will also try to connect such persons with a congregation that can minister to them appropriately and help them in their spiritual pilgrimage.

"With the blessing of our shepherds, Rubel Shelly is serving as a General Committee Member on behalf of this outreach effort. Several of our shepherds wrote letters of invitation to Dr. Graham to encourage him to come to our city. Training sessions for crusade workers will be hosted on our property. And we ask all of you to pray for the success of this effort to exalt Jesus Christ in our great city.

When the shephers--who shepherd the ministers the TRUE leaders and not the flock--bless something they have probably been Machiavellied into agreeing with Rubel Shelly.

"Jesus is not only the hope of the world &emdash; but of our city, your block, and a non-Christian friend you can begin now to pray will attend the crusade with you next spring.

Billy Graham Crusade Nashville - Rubel Shelly - Woodmont Hills