Re: What are "Christians"?

Yes, I was pretty shocked when I heard about this a few years ago myself. The Bible does warn of false teachers, ministers, wolves etc. I just never thought it would be Billy.

We do not know for sure what happened to Billy as we cannot see his heart. We can only guess. Maybe he never had strong faith. Maybe it was all for show or just a career to him. Maybe satan had it planned this way. Billy was well respected among Christians. After he gained respect and trust maybe satan felt it was now time to add the poison to deceive. I think that happens a lot.


Many times ministers of satan gain love and trust and then after that is accomplished they then administer the poison that will destroy souls knowing it will then be hard for many to leave a man's teaching because now they love and trust the man. Many people will still follow the man instead of Jesus out of love for the man, but those who really have sought Jesus and have their own relationship with Him will choose Jesus instead of the man.


I question whether Billy ever had his own strong faith. I question if he had any spiritual roots and if he did I question just how deep those roots went. I believe that when we are planted in good soil, as the parable of the sower describes, we will go on steadily producing a good crop. I do not believe that someone planted in good soil whose spiritual roots are deep will ever become as Billy Graham did.


Billy may not have ever been saved. I have no way of knowing. If he was, he certainly was not planted in good spiritual soil with deep spiritual roots or this would not have happened. In the parable the devil can easily uproot the others in the parable, but never those in the good soil.


I don't know where Billy stands today. I hope he has repented. I hope he surrenders to Jesus before it is too late if he has not already. He needs to know that Jesus is the only way and that way is not the wide way.

We should learn from this that we must examine ourselves and look to God for salvation and not man no matter who that man is. When a man we love goes the wrong direction we need to run away from him as fast as we can into the arms of Jesus. Our souls are at stake.

Just a reminder:

Luke 8
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

11-15 “This is what the parable means. The seed is the message of God. The seed sown by the roadside represents those who hear the message, and then the devil comes and takes it away from their hearts so that they cannot believe it and be saved. That sown on the rock represents those who accept the message with great delight when they hear it, but have no real root. They believe for a little while but when the time of temptation comes, they lose faith. And the seed sown among the thorns represents the people who hear the message and go on their way, and with the worries and riches and pleasures of living, the life is choked out of them, and in the end they produce nothing. But the seed sown on good soil means the men who hear the message and accept it with good and honest heart, and go on steadily producing a good crop.