http://www.onepassionministries.org/blog/2018/2/23/three-lessons-from-the-extraordinary-life-of-billy-graham
The above link is still active. I wrote a response to it, in the Summer of 2018, and sent it to the onepassionministries. This is the letter I wrote:
"Dear Sir(s):
I wanted to write much earlier, but have finally gotten around to it. I was, and am still very disappointed and grieved in my soul, at the highly sanitized blog by Dr. Lawson on the late Dr. Billy Graham. At the time of Graham's passing, many people eulogized him, including Charismatics (Pat Robertson, and Kenneth Copeland), Prosperity Gospel preachers (Joel Osteen), and Roman Catholics (including Cardinal Timothy Dolan). Sadly, some evangelicals felt it necessary to join in the love-fest (Ken Ham, and Steve Pettit of Bob Jones University being among the most notable). Then, Dr. Steven Lawson had to add his voice to the mix in fulsome praise of Billy Graham and his "gospel" ministry.
Despite Mr. Lawson's attempt to exonerate Dr. Graham from any blame in the matter of his false statement to Robert Shuler about the destiny of the heathen - conjecturing that it may have been due to declining mental health in senior years and asserting that it was merely an aberration - the facts tell a different story. In fact, Dr. Graham made that assertion on other occasions as well. Even more disturbing, however, is the fact that Dr. Graham compromised with both liberal Protestants, including infidels, and Roman Catholics over decades of ministry. The facts are well-documented. Dr. Graham received an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey, N.C. decades ago. At the ceremony he spoke in glowing terms of that school, asserting that the gospel he preached and which built that school was still the power of God unto salvation. Was that statement the result of declining years? His well-known practice of having non-believers on Crusade organizing committees (and even on the platform as he preached) was surely not an "aberration"? How about his several visits with the Pope (John Paul II - the so-called "Marian Pope") and his kind words concerning the Pontiff? Were those mental lapses? The infamous practice of the BGEA sending "converts" back to apostate churches, including the Church of Rome, flies in the face of Dr. Lawson's claim about Billy Graham being a faithful gospel preacher. Words are important, but so are actions. I ministered in Scotland for over a decade. I was there when in 1991 the R.C. church encouraged its people to attend the Mission Scotland Crusade meetings. I spoke personally with a counselor who told me he was not going back to counsel, after seeing R.C. nuns acting as counselors at the Glasgow Crusade. The litany of Billy Graham's compromises would be far too lengthy for me to include in this message. What I would say, however, is that the preaching ministry of Dr. Lawson is seriously undermined by his public statements on Dr. Billy Graham. Soon Mr. Lawson will be preaching in my home city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Ligonier Ministries announcement of those meetings refers to the message he will preach, which has to do with Biblical preaching as one of the "Legacies of the Reformation". That sounds very hollow indeed in light of Dr. Lawson's uncritical eulogy of Billy Graham. Billy Graham's ministry helped to undo far more of the work of the Protestant Reformation than it ever continued or supported. Sending poor souls back to Romanism is hardly a legacy of Reformation Preaching. I find it difficult to believe that Steven Lawson is blissfully unaware of the awful compromise of Dr. Graham. However, it may well be the case that for decades he has been living in ignorance of it. I recommend that he do a simple internet search concerning the compromise of Billy Graham. and he will come up with copious sermons, books, pamphlets, and printed articles on the issue. At that point he might wish to clarify his position on the legacy of Dr. Graham. I would hope that a faithful preacher of the gospel would have the courage to admit his wrong-doing in such a matter. Enough time has now elapsed since Dr. Graham's death to allow Dr. Lawson to re-address the issue and clarify his position. If such a response is not forth-coming from Dr. Lawson, and he continues to stand over his comments concerning the "faithfulness" of Graham's preaching ministry, it will stand as a dark blot upon his own ministry.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Rev Stephen Hamilton
Lehigh Valley Free Presbyterian Church" |
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