Billy Graham - Is the handwriting on the wall, America?

John Denver signs The Lord's Prayer

KNOWLEDGE

"But thou, O Daniel, 

   shut up the words, and seal the book, 

even to the time of the end:  

many shall run to and fro,

 and knowledge shall be increased." 

 (Daniel 12: 4)

   It is my belief that knowledge has increased more since the year 1900 up until today than knowledge increased from the time of Adam's creation up until the year 1900.
   Do you suppose this is a fair and accurate assessment for the increase in knowledge.
   Even as early as 1900 the horse was still the number one method of transportation worldwide; but because of the increase in knowledge in the 20th century man was able to mass produce automobiles and the horse was returned to pasture.
   Then, too, consider the impact of computer technology in addition to the increase in knowledge in medicine and science, which has enabled people to live longer and healthier lives as well as harness diseases before they spread.
   After all, the Bible says "knowledge shall be increased,"   and the Bible has never been wrong.
   Read the Bible:  and your knowledge shall be increased in the knowledge of God.

PADDLE TALES

There were six of us in all---
   marveled that we survived;
Not one perished in the flee.

Walking in ankle-deep water,
  we struggled and strained
  tugging our boats ashore;
   we fell on the ground
   to rest there for a spell.

Needing a fire,
  we gathered sticks and twigs
  and a few dry bones;
  striking rocks to get a blaze going.

Everything we had was wet---
  our clothes, food, harps still in tune---
  from not knowing the swelling currents
  in downstream water this time of year.

We hung our possessions in the trees
   to hopefully dry before the dawn.

Should we go or should we stay?
   we asked ourselves in the night.
'Tis better to die on a desert island,
   than return to Babylon,
   to its misery and darkness.
 
Zeke said we should look to Zion,
   for a sign we should see there,
   as a prophet of God
   he breathed no lies.

Pushing north
   we paddled upstream
   toward the destination
   we had chosen.

The days were long,
   the nights longer,
with fear on every side
   and in the boats with us.

And there it was
   as clear as the moon!

A cross stood in Jerusalem.

CHRIST ALONE

    Anybody can be a Catholic, anybody can be a Hindu, anybody can be a Buddhist, anybody can be a Muslim, and anybody can be a member of any religion in the world today, but it is impossible for people to be a Christian until they meet Christ the Lord.
   Until then, Jesus is no more than an imaginary character in the minds of religious people and with no more value than Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, or a Jack-o-Lantern at Halloween.  They can celebrate Christmas and Easter with all the pomp and pagentry of presents and green trees, yet believing that Jesus is no more than a ceramic baby in a manger scene.
   Unless people believe that Jesus is resurrected from death, they will never trust in Him to be the Savior of their sins while clinging to their religion until the day they die.
   The Bible, however, tells us the truth about knowing Christ:

   "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved."  (Romans 10: 9)

   Christ alone saves the souls of people, not religions.


   

PATHWAY TO GOD

   The pathway to God is through the word of the Lord, which is the Bible, and nothing else.
   For the Bible says,

   "So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

(Romans 10: 17)

      If we will believe in the word of God, then we will also believe that the pathway to God is not based on my church membership, nor is it based on my affiliation with a religious institution.

     Moreover, the pathway to God is not based on water baptism, nor in participation in rites, rituals, and traditions.

     The pathway to God is not based on my entrance to a temple, shrine, or cathedral, nor in the belief that I must go to building to meet God because God does not dwell in buildings made by human hands.

     Beyond this, my pathway to God is not based on whether my shirts and pants are starched and pressed, nor by the way I comb my hair.

     My pathway to God is based on God and not me, and not in the things that I do.

    God is interested in my soul and His relationship with me.

    For when I was without God and knew Him not, He came looking for me instead of me looking for Him.   

     "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of ourselves:  it is the gift of God:  not of works, lest any man should boast."  

 (Ephesians 2: 8-9) 

   In other words, we cannot save ourselves from sin because of the things we do.  If we could do that, then we would die on a cross for our sins instead of Christ.

   The pathway to God is through the word of the Lord, which is the Bible, and nothing else.

AN ELECTRONIC GENERATION

   As long as people feed their minds from television and iPhones, they will have difficulty believing anything else.
   Has America raised an electronic generation, a generation that relies on television and iPhones to tell them everything they need to know that they believe is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
   Have we raised a generation that refuses to read, research, and study in order to gather information to make up their own minds?  Or, are they allowing others to make up their minds for them, to believe as others believe, and to do as others do?
   The attention span of people is very short these days, especially as people are watching television or holding iPhones in their hands.
    It is also difficult to share a meal with others because their iPhones are closer to their plates than the silverware.

     "Excuse me,"  they say, "but I need to take this call.  Very important."  
     Then they say, "Hi, Susie.  How was your date last night?"

   Even out on the golf course people will stop the game and brake their carts in the middle of the fairway and say,

     "Excuse me, but I need to take this call.  Very important."
     Then they say, "Hi, Johnny.  How was your first day of kindergarten?"
     They cup the phone to tell their partners and whisper, "It's my grandson."  Then they go on to talk about fishing and camping and everything little Johnny got for Christmas, item by item, while other golfers are in a traffic jam, backed up to the first tee.

   Have you ever seen people in churches clinging to their iPhones instead of their Bibles?
   Watch him.  He's flirting with the girl in the choir, left side, next to the piano:  "Brush your hair if you see me."
 
   For the electronic generation, their only interest in news is selfie news, such as selfie cars and bars, pools and pets, and selfie Christmas trees that light up the night and will surely win Tree of the Month.
   On social gathering places on the internet, if the electronic generation does not like people such as you and me, or do not like what we say or post, all they do is click and turn the page; for we are not the important people in their lives even though they call us friends and will also tell us they love us from time to time.
   How quickly will this blog post today get a click and turn the page?
   There was so much I wanted to tell you, but now you are gone.  I thought we were friends.