Appearances alone will not tell the true story, as we can see by photographs of these two men who were born 40 years apart but more importantly there was a chasm of difference that was earth shattering between their souls! Billy Graham led a life serving Jesus Christ doing so much good for other human souls leading multitudes of people to Christ the Savior while Joseph Stalin with his brutal rule butchered and put many human beings to death; but he also got many others to do his bidding so he in turn led many souls to perdition and hell.
In my reaching out to a fellow Christian who had noticed a striking decline in the number of parishioners attending her local parish church apparently brought on by what seemed to be some internal conflict of the local church hierarchy, causing the church to lose its former inspirational appeal so she was greatly troubled. But more shocking yet was the fact that at the same time came the news of the startling revelation regarding the shake-up around author and former pastor Joshua Harris’ retreat away from the teachings of Christ; and that Harris announced his total departure from Christianity. So, then she and her family began a quest to find a new church to attend weekly which I commended her on for not losing hope or faith and being vigilant to seek God’s guidance; all of which I tried to sum up in the following outlook I share here for anyone who might feel they are in a similar situation. As you read on here please bear in mind the contrast of these two men; one who led people to the path of righteousness, love and freedom; the other to wickedness, hate, and enslavement! These polar opposite men!
This was indeed some sad news to hear about, though not unlike the turmoil throughout the world which is so prevalent, and I believe we now live in the unprecedented time that Scripture spoke to regarding the time period before the final conflict and Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For many years I’ve felt like I don’t belong and in fact the system as well as many people around me seemed to be much less connected or interested in each other as community and more apathetic! The lack of compassion and indifference is appalling these days with so many giving lip service to one thing or another but inside not caring at all about their neighbor; this is so different than how it was when I grew up which isn’t ancient history! Here is something Billy Graham had said that I believe speaks volumes about this current time and he referred to a particular scripture that came to my mind immediately upon reading your Blog Post; which is Isaiah 5:20.
“Many of our news magazines carry stories of immorality. Theologians and pastors are quoted as condoning sexual immorality under certain circumstances. The Bible says through Isaiah the prophet:
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).
“Humanity has always been dexterous at confusing evil with good. That was Adam and Eve’s problem, and it is our problem today. If evil were not made to appear good, there would be no such thing as temptation. It is in their close similarity that the danger lies.
Modern social righteousness often differs from the righteousness of the Bible. Someone has said: “A wrong deed is right if the majority of people declare it not to be wrong.” By this principle we can see our standards shifting from year to year according to the popular vote! Divorce was once frowned upon by society, and laws against fornication and adultery were strictly enforced. But now divorce is accepted by society, and fornication is glorified in our literature and films.
The Bible says: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” God has not changed. His standards have not been lowered. God still calls immorality a sin, and the Bible says God is going to judge it.
Honesty was once the hallmark of character. But it has been set aside with an “It’s all right if you don’t get caught” philosophy. Only when we are in court are we required to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/june-2012/confusing-evil-with-good/
I hope you are helped by my thinking about this and looking into this source of wisdom and insight that I came upon which quotes the late Mr. Graham. I do know and have faith that our Lord is fully aware of your difficulties and you are on the right path, so keep trusting in Him, your salvation waits just as I know mine does, if we remain vigilant and faithful in Him alone and not to be fooled by the ways of this world which is falling away!
God Bless You and Yours.
Brother in Christ,
Lawrence Morra
Zero Lift-Off 
Very encouraging. We Christians seem to be experiencing the same things, so it is important to keep encouraging each other in the Lord.
LikeLiked by 1 person
sallyball
Yes that is imperative as it is part of fellowship in the Lord with each other; and staying close to the Holy Spirit He will instruct and guide us to speak and do His will as it should be done on earth as it is in heaven. Especially in these very conflicting times, let’s not forget what time we are living in when there is an overabundance of information most of which is trivial or outright wicked secular distraction and brainwashing; and so much distraction can keep us from our mission along with succumbing to many temptations! People are becoming entrenched in folly, mischief and evil too, all part of the plan by the prince of this world to lead as many as possible to perdition and eternal damnation. Remember before the Second Coming there is to be a great apostasy or falling away from the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and you and I along with multitudes see this happening.
I always love to think of the 23rd psalm whenever I get troubled or too worried about this weary and often confusing world because that prayer really tells us clearly we have nothing to fear if we are doing the Lord’s will and following Him, nothing will harm us because our souls belong to Him and he “saved” us!
This excerpt from the 23rd psalm really assures me giving me peace as I hope it always does you as well.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;”
Amen.
Brother in Christ Jesus,
Lawrence
LikeLike
Thank-you, Lawrence . Excellent words of wisdom. If God is for us, who can be against us ? 🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
sallyball8323, that is so true and profoundly put my friend, but no matter if they are against us you’re correct because ultimately it is cancelled out with zero effect because the everlasting true God Almighty will make everything as it should be in the final analysis. Only God has the last thing to say in all things! 🤗 Good Work and Thank You!
“And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall not exist anymore, nor grief, nor cry, nor distress shall exist anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4
LikeLike
Well said, Lawrence ! Let us keep encouraging the Body of Christ ! 🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sally, and that’s the best thing we can do for one another in this hard life that results in death to all; if we don’t follow Christ we have nothing! He is our only hope and our only salvation from this broken world; we must confide in Him always! By encouraging one another and hanging in there for the Lord we are going to make it home no problem! God Bless You and Yours! 🤗
LikeLike
Truth. Our God never changes from eternity to eterinty.:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
So profoundly put; as I recall in Scripture when God spoke to Moses he told him, that “I Am that I Am.” The Alpha and the Omega; the Beginning and the End, all encompassing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen.:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unfortunately Billy Graham held hands with the Roman Catholic Church 😔
God’s Word tells us what n Ephesians 5:11-
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello again, you and I have these big questions of our authority figures and institutions here on earth and yes even the institutions of religion! Martin Luther and so many others since even back in the founding times of Christianity in the catacombs began to sway or become divided in perspective just like America is now with regard to our political government system! All is not lost but all is corrupted my sister in Christ! And, I must add Pat Robertson a very wonderful Born Again Christian is always extending his hand to the Catholic Church which he has said plainly are very nice Christian people! I think you and I both need to be careful not to attack the messenger but instead focus on the content of the message and seek the wisdom to discern the truth in the message and hold that close to the heart while not getting too caught up in the mechanics of this corrupted world that is falling away! I bet you and I can have some interesting lengthy discussions about faith and perhaps even the institutions around it! I do like listening to Pat Robertson I see he has wisdom and is very clear on pretty much any topic that comes up on the 700 Club. I’m under the weather at the moment so I’ll hold off on more till later! Thank you for your faith and inspiration but especially the fellowship! God Bless You!
Brother in Christ,
Lawrence
LikeLike
The problem becomes when one has many many followers then one switches gears on God’s truth 😔 Which Billy Graham has done (he’s not the only one that has done that in all fairness to him)
Have you noticed many that are all of the sudden saying ( not in these exact words ) never mind I was wrong about Jesus? That’s happening ALOT lately ☹️😢😭
Thank you!
I pray you feel better soon! 🙏🏻💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you I had a sort of cold relapse this afternoon which I had for about a week but got my home remedies going and now I got a spike of energy and feel I may be finally over it soon! Faith can be like this too as you know I’m sure! Remember none are righteous we are all fallen every one! Some get into this thing of saying look here I got the real deal and then we have what Jim Jones had a cult run by a mad man and able to twist minds and get them to drink the Kool-Aid. Lately some pastors and a few very well-known dropped Christianity, so there are all kinds of very disturbing things happening even among the faithful too. This is all part and parcel of the end time I’m very certain in my heart not just my intellect, I’ve lived long enough and been tested by fire, seen and experienced enough to have seen a wide range of human compassion and outright depravity, hate or evil some of this directed right at me and into my life causing much damage and suffering, I had to just ask Jesus to help me through it so I could become a better person and do the Father’s will even better than I had my entire life. As I told you in the previous message we need to beware and careful not to attack the messenger so much because all are imperfect but look at the message and results! Billy Graham led many to God and I can’t find any fault in that! That is why I wrote the piece I did to show how many are leading others away from God and many are leading souls to be saved by Jesus Christ who otherwise would have stayed on a path of destruction! Graham said just before his passing, “When I face him, I want him to say to me, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant,'” When I think of how I contrasted him to Stalin who we can be certain didn’t hear nothing of the kind as he was a monster destroying and injecting evil into the lives of multitudes! We can’t judge but only discern and try to be faithful to God’s spoken word, but He through Jesus Christ will judge every soul through the heart. He knows all by their hearts and will be perfect in that judgment knowing full well who belongs to Him and who will be sent to everlasting damnation! We should all be focused on this fact and truth as we ask our Lord to give us the strength to get through each day and do the best we can to do the good He wants each of us to do according to His will!
Thank You again and God Bless You!
Your prayers are very much appreciated and may have already helped I feel!
I will pray for you tonight!
Brother in Christ,
Lawrence
LikeLike
👍🏻
Amen! Thank you, brother!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen! Anytime for you, sister!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate your kindness and truthfulness-examining myself! 🙏🏻💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good, it helps me too to know I’m doing some good based on the Word of God because if I fulfill His word and do His will I surely must be on the path to the promised land, with you sister!
Let’s discuss this and much more soon anytime we can as far as I’m concerned, I feel this fellowship is God sent!
My dear Mother repeatedly said to me in many conversations about our faith and Savior, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on thy own understanding, acknowledging Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths!” I love how she ingrained that in my head to be honest because that is almost it in a nutshell as far as having the compass the true one, Him our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ front and center at all times, with that He will never let us down, no way!
Thank God for Mothers who have that special bond from the moment of conception with a new soul within her own body and heart sharing her blood and essence of who she is with that new child of God and that bond can never be broken, this is why I have seen my Mother over the years sacrifice and pursue any course of action for any of her children no matter how much difficulty she had to go through she was a most dedicated beautiful woman and Mother to all of her children. I know how she made the difference for me even times I asked her not to worry and I’ll be fine and go take care of certain difficult business alone, but she said no you should have family with you and show how they love you and care about you and she would insist that I bring her along! I gave in every time even though I had been all over the country alone many times but when those times came and she was with me in that difficult circumstance I was so relieved to know she was nearby me and I knew God was too, even more feeling a greater confidence that things would have to work out in the end if not for me alone but more so for her the Mother of this child of hers and God’s! She was right she made the difference not just by being there with emotional support but beyond her countless prayers she did convince our heavenly Father that I was deserving of a chance to be spared any additional suffering and that she vouched for me! At those moments I know the saying that the whole wide world is in His hands meant exactly that; it wasn’t me or powers and principalities or authority figures or anyone on this earth that helped me but it was God the Father through Jesus Christ and my Mother’s commitment to me having shared her body as a new child during that special time in her womb! I get teary eyed when I think of mothers and how they are so special and beautiful, what an amazing gift they have being able to be that and connect in that total way with another human being building that bond from the second of conception and until death and beyond to Heaven!
God Bless Mothers!
Brother in Christ,
Lawrence
LikeLike
Aaaw! Amen!
I have been blessed with 7 children and 5 grandchildren!
We have a set of twins out of our 7. They have Down Syndrome 💕💕
I had special circumstances when I was growing up and my “step” grandma prayed for me all the time!!! So thankful she did!!
Sometime soon I would like to share my suicide testimony with you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
With God anything is possible and you along with your family are testimony to that truth! These facts about your personal life are revelation to me and I’m sure they have been and will be to others! Whatever God through His Holy Spirit instructs you to share is going to always be a blessing! I would be honored to hear this testimony when you are able to share it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have a blessed day KNOWING how blessed we truly are!!
How are you feeling this morning?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello I’m just catching up and sorry I hadn’t seen any of my messages on WordPress. I felt quite an improvement this morning and now I’m fading so off to bed early and hopefully tomorrow will be even better! How about you and yours there, all good I hope? God Bless You All!
LikeLike