Franklin Graham and a Special Day of Prayer for Pres. Trump
READING TIME: 35 MINUTES
The following are the notes to the discussion found at this link (https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/637294033436975/?id=100014819433180) for anyone who would like to study the subject more in depth.
Yes, we wanted to discuss this event because as usual there is much more that needs to be understood than is relayed by one Facebook post or one news report that most people will see. I know we are way behind on getting this discussion recorded due to not being able to coordinate our schedules, but we still wanted to share this information.
I want to begin by reading the initial Facebook post from May 26 by Franklin Graham concerning this prayer event:
Along with 250+ Christian leaders, I am asking followers of Christ across our nation to set aside next Sunday, June 2, as a special day of prayer for the President, Donald J. Trump.
President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. In the history of our country, no president has been attacked as he has. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God.
This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask God to protect, strengthen, encourage, and guide the President.
We know that God hears and answers prayer. He can soften hearts and change minds. He is all-powerful, and He rules over the affairs of nations. The Bible instructs us to pray for those in authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:2–3).
On June 2, we ask that pastors would lead their congregations in praying for the President, that Sunday schools and other groups would join together and pray, and that individuals and families across the country would have a special focus on praying for the President that day.
Would you let me know in the comments below if you commit to pray with us? And will you share this on your social media platforms so that we can have as many people as possible praying?
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2497135067009326&id=131201286936061&p=10&av=100014819433180&eav=Afa0HwrP5LK-R2mGBUo6w451SLz1duxUQhCLUIFmzZEwP6CrK6UoS8CJ8FqGRiiT_P8&refid=52)
(Now, some of the things Franklin Graham said in this post are true. And, as I will mention again later, we have no problem with praying for the President. We do understand and believe 1 Tim. 2:2-3. We do believe in praying for those in authority, but our main focus of prayer for them will be for their salvation. However, I didn’t hear anything about this as a focus; in fact the focus is that people are trying to destroy the President, and by extension, this nation. People need to understand straight away that Franklin Graham is an ecumenist and he is a patriotic dominionist. We don’t have time to list all the examples of his ecumenical activity so I will include the link to a discussion we had concerning the Festival of Hope event he conducted in your country, sister Tammy, in September of last year. (https://www.facebook.com/notes/connie-schuetz-wright/franklin-grahams-festival-of-hope/437394366764541/) And, to show that he is a patriotic dominionist, we have the fact that he encourages Christians to run for political office. Many think this is a wonderful idea, but it is part of the 7MM false teaching that says when Christians dominate the so-called seven mountains of society then society will be “Christianized” and Christ will return. Graham said the following while conducting his Decision America tour in California before last year’s mid-term elections: “If all the school boards in California were controlled by evangelicals, "It would turn this state around. It can be done." (https://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-godless-progressives-california-decision-america-tour-224450/) And, then, the fact that he said, “This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice,” shows he has more concern for this nation than for souls. The job of an evangelist is to preach the salvation of souls, calling out sin and calling people to repent, not promoting any particular nation and its system of government).
Next, we have the following post at FG’s Facebook page on May 30: “I want to remind everyone of the importance of praying for President Donald J. Trump this Sunday, June 2.
Anyone around the world can turn on the news for 5 minutes and understand why this is so critically important. We need to pray for President Trump as he carries out his duties leading this nation, that God will give him wisdom in every decision he makes and protect him from his enemies who would like to see him fall. I have reminded many that if the President succeeds, we all succeed—not just Americans, but freedom-loving people around the world.
Thank you to the tens of thousands of people who have already let me know here on my Facebook page that you will be praying this Sunday. If you’d like to add your name to others who are now signing up at billygraham.org to show their support and that they are committing to pray for the President this Sunday, click the link below to sign on.
I also hope thousands of pastors across the nation will take a moment in their service this Sunday to pray for the President with their congregations. The Bible tells us, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power …” (James 5:16). I believe there is power in prayer!” (So, if the president succeeds, then freedom-loving people around the world succeed? But, our freedom comes from Christ; it comes by way of the cross. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” And, this is part of the message a true evangelist would preach).
And, here is Franklin Graham’s Facebook post on June 2 at 8:36 pm: “I would like to thank everyone who prayed for President Donald J. Trump today. God hears and answers prayer. I hope you will lift our leaders up in prayer every day. Here’s what Dr. Robert Jeffress had to say about why it’s so important to pray for the President.” And, here is one statement Robert Jeffress made in the video posted there: (https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/videos/367543583896910/) “I happen to believe if the Left is successful in taking this president out we will have lost perhaps the last opportunity we have as a nation to reverse the downward trajectory of this nation.” (Well, here we go again with saving this nation rather than saving souls).
Here are just a few pieces of information concerning Robert Jeffress that should make us steer clear of him. He is on the president’s spiritual advisory board (https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/key-evangelical-players-trumps-advisory-board), but apparently doesn’t see the need to counsel Pres. Trump concerning his pro-LGBT stance or any other concerns he should have with his beliefs or actions. Robert Jeffress has made the following statement concerning the pope: “I have great respect for Pope Francis. He’s a humble Christ-follower,” which is obviously a huge red flag. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNpiPKahSQ) Then, as an example of absolute idolatry, the choir from Robert Jeffress’ First Baptist church of Dallas sang a song entitled “Make America Great Again” at one of President Trump’s rallies in 2017. (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/340451-choir-sings-make-america-great-again-song-to-trump) In addition, when the news about Pres. Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels came out, Robert Jeffress had this to say on Fox News: “Evangelicals knew they weren't voting for an altar boy when they voted for Donald Trump," as if that makes any sin he commits all right. (https://thinkprogress.org/robert-jeffress-trump-stormy-daniels-evangelicals-176d228a1c55/) (You know, it’s just pathetic to watch these “evangelical faith leaders” dance all around these issues, as it were, but never come out and admit they were wrong to ask their church members to support this man).
Next, I want to share from an interview Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association and American Family Radio, conducted with Franklin Graham on May 30. (https://afr.net/podcasts/todays-issues/2019/may/rev-franklin-graham-joins-todays-issues/)
In his introduction of Franklin Graham, Wildmon mentioned that Graham is very engaged in the culture and what’s happening in our country politically.
Franklin Graham said he believes God put Pres. Trump in the presidency because there was no reason he should have won. (And, we have heard many quote Romans 13:1, “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God,” as an excuse to never criticize Pres. Trump. But, just to say reporting specific events and beliefs of a person is not bashing them. Concerning the idea that God put Donald Trump in office doesn’t mean He did so to bless this nation. So many look to the economy and are all excited about the increase in the stock market and so forth. But, I want to know how a country 22 trillion dollars in debt can have any positive economic outlook? Besides the fact that believers are strangers and pilgrims and are citizens of another Kingdom and our focus should not be on this nation’s economy. We simply trust God to supply our basic needs. God isn’t going to bless a nation where gay marriage and abortion are the law of the land, plain and simple. Thinking about the first century church, the fact God allowed evil rulers during that time meant that many believers fled Jerusalem to nearby regions and then to distant regions and they took the gospel to all these areas. If anything, Pres. Trump’s election should be causing believers to preach the gospel more fervently and to warn about people not being deceived by those coming as angels of light.
And, just to say if a church regularly prays for the president and his family to get saved and if they regularly pray according to 1 Tim. 2:2 which says, “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty,” we don’t have a problem with that. The issue we have with Franklin Graham’s proclamation is that he made this into a prayer event, the likes of which we warn about quite regularly. These events are always ecumenical and they are conditioning people to join up with so-called Christians and those of other faiths. When Franklin Graham said, “I am asking followers of Christ” to pray, well, just think about it, Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and so forth, all consider themselves followers of Christ. Plus, a church service is for the preaching of God’s Word and many of these “evangelical” leaders more than likely spent the majority of the service in prayer and/or the message involved a topic such as, “It is a Christian’s duty to be involved in politics”).
Franklin Graham said to make praying for Pres. Trump the focus because if he makes a good decision or a bad decision it affects all of us. He said we should pray for protection from those who want to destroy him, his presidency, and those who ultimately want to destroy our country. (And, this statement about those who want to destroy our country reminds us that Graham preaches a basic message about salvation out of one side of his mouth and then preaches a “we need to save America” message out of the other side. I mentioned Graham’s Decision America Tour earlier, but I want to mention it again. We need to remember that in the election year of 2016, Franklin held these prayer rallies in all 50 states as he said, “to proclaim the Gospel and challenge Christians to boldly live out their faith and pray fervently for our nation." Well, it’s not a coincidence that Graham conducted the tour during an election year and that they prayed fervently for our nation. It is sad to see someone preaching the gospel, but obviously with an ulterior motive).
And, then, just to insert from an article at Breaking Christian News, which we have warned about before just to use for information’s sake, “Thousands of Americans, many complete strangers, grabbed hands and fervently prayed for America and its leaders during all 50 prayer rallies on the 2016 Decision America Tour.” (http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=21374) (Well, as we have mentioned in other discussions, we should not attend such events when we don’t know the beliefs of the other attendees. Considering the fact that Graham and his organization have worked with Catholics at many events he has held, there were very likely any number of Catholics in attendance at these rallies. In addition, Glenn Beck’s media network, the Blaze, favorably reported on the Decision America tour. (https://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/03/16/out-nation-is-at-a-moral-tipping-point-franklin-grahams-dire-warning-about-what-happens-if-we-just-stay-home-and-dont-vote) And, as a Mormon, Glenn Beck most assuredly influenced other Mormons to attend these rallies).
Continuing with the interview, Tim Wildmon mentions that over 200 Christian leaders have joined this effort and that he is one of those who signed on. And, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website that posted the names of these leaders, as of May 30 there were over 300. (https://billygraham.org/story/praying-for-our-president/)
And, here is the statement with the initial announcement at the BGEA site:
“We the undersigned are calling for June 2 to be a SPECIAL Day of Prayer for the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, that God would protect, strengthen, embolden, and direct him.
We believe our nation is at a crossroads, at a dangerous precipice. The only one who can fix our country’s problems is God Himself, and we pray that God will bless our president and our nation for His glory.” (https://billygraham.org/story/special-day-of-prayer/?fbclid=IwAR0jENxZSdfZmpLhuIVag7uC7c-q2eGA5cRD-ai5AAvehW_NtZezl4yeCxQ) (However, we have no indication in God’s Word that He desires to “fix” any country’s problems. When Jesus Christ returns He will smash this world’s systems to pieces. There is no “fixing” involved).
Then, someone else on the panel asked Franklin Graham what gives him hope when he thinks about the future of this nation.
Graham said God gives him hope. He knows his sins are forgiven. That we are called to take the gospel to the ends of the earth…We have a job to do…(Then he gives a clear presentation of the gospel which we already noted that he often does. But, such confusion is created when he melds it with a God bless and save America message). And, goes on to say, We’re living in a dark period of history…
Tim: Why are all the demons of hell against Pres. Trump? After all he doesn’t come from our world; he was a celebrity…he lived a playboy lifestyle…he’s not an evangelical Christian as we are.
Graham: But, he does protect Christians. He stands for religious liberty; he’s pro-life and they hate him. They want to destroy him. Graham mentions the Equality Act and says we’re just one vote away from losing our nation and it would take 100 years to get it back; it would take a nuclear war or something to get people to go back to their knees and turn to God and call on His Name…our leaders have turned away from God; they have taken God out of our political life. They’ve taken God out of our schools…And, it was God leading the Pilgrims; it was God leading our forefathers that built this nation to be the greatest nation on the face of this earth and now we have politicians that are trying to strip all that away and destroy our country. So, this prayer is urgent…It’s not an endorsement of Donald Trump…I’m asking you to pray for him. (And, we’ve shared this several times, but our many of our forefathers were deists, Unitarians, and/or masons. And, there are many more points to show we were not founded as a Christian nation and for lack of time I will just include the link to our Facebook note with our discussion entitled, “Allegiance to Christ or Country?”) (https://www.facebook.com/notes/connie-schuetz-wright/allegiance-to-christ-or-country/567251347112175/) (But, just to mention before we continue with this interview, I think the most telling piece of information that indicates we are not a Christian nation is the holding dear of one the most cherished ideals in the Bill of Rights. And, that is the concept of freedom of religion. Before anyone starts arguing I would just ask them to think about this for a minute. Why did God send the nations of Israel and Judah into captivity? It was due to idolatry as in the worship of false gods. What does freedom of religion mean? It means that every person in this nation can worship the deity of his or her choice. And, since the God of the Bible is the only true God, any worship of false gods is expressly prohibited by the first of the Ten Commandments. Additionally, in Matt. 22, in the New Testament, we are told the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Well, we cannot claim to love God while either worshiping false gods or supporting such).
Continuing with the interview, another man on the panel, named Steve, asked: You have occasion or privilege to counsel with the President. Can you give us a sense of where you’d gauge his spiritual journey because I know that he has said he is very appreciative of prayers like this?
Graham: He welcomes Christians in his circle. So many of his Cabinet members are evangelicals. Vice President, Mike Pence. There are many, many Christians in the White House. It gives me great comfort knowing they are advising the President and giving him their counsel. Now, he does, no question, have a faith. He believes in God; there’s no question on that. He was raised Presbyterian; that’s his reference point; that’s his background. He believes God and he believes in Jesus Christ. That’s where he is; now, as far as a person – the depth of their faith – how far they’ve journeyed; only God knows those things. (So, Graham mentions that many Cabinet members are evangelicals. However, we know that Ben Carson is SDA and that means every time the Cabinet members might pray together it is an ecumenical event. But, Graham is an ecumenist as we’ve already mentioned, so he won’t be sounding any alarms concerning this. You know, it’s interesting to notice the difference in “evangelical leaders.” Robert Jeffress, as we mentioned, says we knew we weren’t electing an altar boy and Franklin Graham essentially says Pres. Trump is saved. But, as we have shared many times Pres. Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t ask God for forgiveness; he just goes on and tries to do better. God doesn’t come into the picture). (https://www.theblaze.com/news/2015/09/21/donald-trump-was-again-asked-about-the-importance-of-asking-god-for-forgiveness-of-sins-heres-how-he-responded)
Tim: yea
Graham: But, we do have a president that supports what we stand for and what we believe. (And, this is basically the reason so many have become convinced they must vote for and support Pres. Trump. They have been led to believe that Pres. Trump is the only one who will allow them to continue to worship God in this nation. And, more so than that, he is the only one supposedly who will keep them from having to undergo persecution. All these namby-pamby “preachers” are encouraging people to idolize a man they think will keep them from suffering persecution while Paul, a true apostle of God, in 2 Tim. 3:12 forewarns us with these words: “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”).
Franklin Graham was also interviewed by Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch," a national radio show put on by the Family Research Council. Tony Perkins is president of that organization.
Here are a few of Graham’s statements in this interview concerning Donald Trump: “Is he a perfect person? Absolutely not. Is he the best example of the Christian faith? No way. But there's something in his heart where God has placed him there to defend the Christian faith and religious liberty. And so I appreciate that about him, and we need to try to lift him up in prayer and support him where we can." (https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/trump-prayer-franklin-graham-media-attacks) (So again, Franklin Graham is basically shilling for the President. If he was a true man of God he would be preaching the gospel, not a convoluted mix of the gospel plus saving the nation. He would be encouraging people to put their faith in Christ alone; not in a man or a system of government).
Moving on, I shared this information as a Facebook post, but I also want to include it here, and this concerns the “faith leaders” who joined Franklin Graham to call for a Special Day of Prayer for the President on June 2, as I have already mentioned. (https://billygraham.org/story/special-day-of-prayer/?fbclid=IwAR0jENxZSdfZmpLhuIVag7uC7c-q2eGA5cRD-ai5AAvehW_NtZezl4yeCxQ)
Several of these people are on Pres. Trump’s “spiritual advisory board.” A good number of them attend the National Day of Prayer events and the National Prayer Breakfasts which are completely ecumenical. They could also be classified as patriotic dominionists because they are more concerned about saving America as a nation than about saving souls.
What I want to know is where are these people when the President tweets, as he did on May 31: “As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals....”? (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1134538166919204865)
(For all of them who insist he is a “baby” Christian, as if he cannot be held accountable for his actions, or is unaware of what the Bible says about certain topics, where is the Biblical counseling? But, even more so, where is the concern for his soul? I pray that anyone who follows any of these “faith leaders” will cease to do so).
David Barton - Founder and President, Wallbuilder
John & Lisa Bevere - Messenger International
Mike Bickle - Founder and Director, International House of Prayer
Kenneth & Gloria Copeland - Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Jason Crabb – “Christian Music” Artist
Matt & Laurie Crouch - President of TBN
Dr. James & Shirley Dobson - James Dobson Family Institute
Mike Evans - President, Friends of Zion, Jerusalem Prayer Team
Jerry Falwell, Jr. - President, Liberty University
Jentezen Franklin - Senior Pastor, Free Chapel
James W. Goll - God Encounters Ministries
Dr. Jack Graham - Senior Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Former President of the Southern Baptist Convention
John Hagee - Pastor, Cornerstone Church, Founder of Christians United for Israel
Adonica & Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne - River at Tampa Bay Church
Larry & Tiz Huch - Senior Pastors, New Beginnings Church, President of Larry Huch Ministries
Gov. Mike Huckabee - Former Governor of Arkansas, Honorary National Chairman, MyFaithVotes
Mike & Cindy Jacobs - Founder, Reformation Prayer Network and Generals International
Robert Jeffress - Senior Pastor, First Baptist Dallas
Dr. David Jeremiah - Turning Point Ministries
Alveda King - Civil Rights for the Unborn
Marcus & Joni Lamb - Daystar Television Network
Dr. Richard Land - President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Greg Laurie - Senior Pastor, Harvest Christian Fellowship
Cissie Graham Lynch - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan’s Purse
Rod Parsley - Senior Pastor, World Harvest Church
Tony Perkins - President, Family Research Council
Ralph Reed - Faith & Freedom
Richard Roberts - Chairman & CEO, Oral Roberts Ministries
James Robison - Founder and President, LIFE Outreach International
Darrell Scott - Pastor, New Spirit Revival Center
Dutch Sheets - Dutch Sheets Ministries
Michael W. Smith – “Christian Music” Artist
Perry Stone - Voice of Evangelism, Omega Center International, International School of Word
Steve Strang - Founder and CEO, Charisma Magazine
Lance Wallnau - Founder, As One America
Paula White-Cain - Senior Pastor, City of Destiny, President, Paula White Ministries
Tim Wildmon - American Family Association
George Wood - Chairman, Assemblies of God Fellowship
And, just to note, Catholic priest Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, also joined Franklin Graham in this call for prayer. But, this shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands Franklin Graham’s ecumenical outlook as we have mentioned.
(These are the most recognizable names on the list and I pray that the listeners are familiar with all these names, and know, that for the most part, they are false teachers and leaders in the WOF and NAR movements. And, their idolization of Pres. Trump is just another red flag to support the fact they should be avoided).
I do want to mention that Tim Wildmon, President of the American Family Association, sent an email on June 3 concerning Pres. Trump’s tweet. He wrote: "On Friday, May 31 President Trump put out a statement celebrating LGBT pride month.
Homosexuality is not something the president should celebrate. It's unnatural, unhealthy and immoral behavior. We hope he will continue to stand firm against the so-called Equality Act (H.R. 5) and any legislation that threatens religious freedom. Such legislation will use the full force of the federal government to punish Americans who don't embrace the LGBT political agenda." (Some people might think at least he spoke out, but here are a couple of problems with his statement. Homosexuality is sin, not just "unnatural, unhealthy and immoral behavior." And, the fact that people almost refuse to call sin just that anymore is pathetic. And, then, if anyone supports this president in hopes of him vetoing the proposed Equality Act, you are only interested in saving your skin. We need to develop some backbone, here and now, brethren).
And, for the last part of this discussion, I want to mention a post at Frances Swaggart’s Facebook page on June 2 that contains an excerpt from Donnie Swaggart’s message on that date. Donnie Swaggart is the son of Jimmy and Frances Swaggart: “Today is June 2 and, as many of you know, Brother Franklin Graham has asked for churches across America to pray for our president. (We just have to note Donnie’s use of the term brother here for Franklin Graham. This ministry similarly posted tributes to Billy Graham upon his death. Anyone who has conducted even a minimum amount of research knows the ecumenical bent of both of these men. For decades the Catholic church supported and promoted Billy Graham and his crusades. At these events the decision cards turned in by those who came forward were given to Catholic churches when the people had expressed any previous affiliation or connection to a Catholic church, no matter that these people had allegedly just been born again. Franklin Graham’s events have had similar Catholic support even to the extent of a Catholic priest praying on stage at an event held in Pittsburgh in 2014) (https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/weekend-traffic-jam-session-expected-on-pittsburghs-roadways/).
Donnie Swaggart continued: We believe that President Trump, against all odds, has been placed where he is for a time such as this. (You know, many people in the “evangelical” world say this, as if it must be a good thing. Do any of these people consider that Trump might be a type of judgment on America; that God might be testing people to see if they will support wickedness just because a person is offering them a few trinkets? And, I am referring to the fact that “evangelical” leaders keep promoting Pres. Trump as the president who has done more than any other president for the cause of religious liberty. But, these are the people who apparently believe our rights come from man rather than God. And, as we have said many times the early church didn’t sit around waiting for the government to grant religious freedom. They, rather, preached the gospel no matter what it cost them).
Continuing: We do not approve of everything he says, do not approve of certain language, but we recognize the fact that everything he’s doing is to try to protect the rights of Christians. (So, basically here we learn that the president can do anything he wants, and no matter what information comes out about him, he gets a pass since he’s trying to protect the rights of Christians. However, believers know their rights come from God and they are looking for a city whose Builder and Maker is God, and not looking to this life, anyway).
Swaggart continued: You see, you’re not in the public arena as far as worldwide ministry is concerned and ministry that uses the airwaves, but under the prior administration, we felt the heavy hand of trying to stifle what we could say and what we could preach. We are well aware of other ministries and conservative outreaches that were unjustly persecuted and investigated by the IRS, using the IRS as a political weapon, but now we have a president that really believes ‘in God we trust.’ (But, I wonder what Paul would think about someone worrying about the government stifling what they could say and preach? We have his words in 1 Cor. 16:13 and I imagine he would say the same thing today: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” He also said this in Phil. 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
And, concerning the president believing “in God we trust,” we have said many times, which god? Anyone who knows anything about Donald Trump knows that his god has always been money. And, he also believes in a god to which members of many religions can pray as evidenced by the fact that he’s allowed Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, and so forth to pray at his inauguration and at the National Day of Prayer events held at the White House).
Continuing: And, you cannot be a liberal and be a born-again Christian. You cannot be a born-again believer and support the murder of innocent babies. You cannot be a born-again believer and support same-sex marriage. You cannot be a born-again believer and believe in transgenderism. You cannot be a born-again believer and believe in socialism. (Well, Donald Trump was pro-choice and now is against abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and when a mother’s life is in danger. He tweeted his support for LGBT rights on May 31 which means he is fine with same-sex marriage and transgenderism. And, born-again believers are not to believe in any form of government in the sense that Donnie means. It is not the duty of a Christian to promote any particular form of government. We are to preach the gospel that people may be snatched out of this evil world’s system, including its governments, and be brought into the Kingdom of light). (https://christiannews.net/2019/05/31/make-sodom-great-again-trumps-pride-month-tweets-urge-nations-to-join-effort-to-decriminalize-homosexuality/?fbclid=IwAR2OMLTd1OzFlDP8VZXmN0kO0Qz6HqXFQ05Kg4XNr2Yrf1NzEJ-ZEwrEpFk)
He continued: And we want to join together this morning and pray, not only for our president, but for all those in Washington, including the ones we don’t agree with. The Bible says pray for those in authority above you whether you agree with them or not. That’s the mandate, and I know some would say, ‘Well you didn’t do this in the other administration. Oh yes, we did. I can remember several occasions on this platform Dad asked everyone to stand and pray for the prior president and ask the Lord to help him because as America goes, so goes the world. A strong America is a stronger world. A prosperous America helps the other nations of the world. (And, again, we have no problem praying for those in authority but, first and foremost, we pray for their salvation. It is of great concern to us that all these “evangelical faith leaders” are not sharing the gospel with the president and others in Washington. Instead, they are joining in with these ecumenical endeavors such as the prayer breakfasts and National Day of Prayer events, even to the point of calling members of other faiths, brethren, as Paula White did at this past National Day of Prayer event. Either these “faith leaders” don’t know God’s Word, or their relationship with the President is just one of “you scratch our backs and we’ll scratch yours.” They all seem to be concerned with advancing their own agendas and they don’t seem to care about God’s Word at all). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1al23y-WUs 5:02 in)
He said: I want you to lift your hands this morning as we join our faith together to pray for our president: “Father, we come before You in the name of Your Son, Jesus. You told us in Your Word, ‘If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, then will I forgive their sin, and then will I heal their land.’
(Well, again with 2 Chron. 7:14. It’s almost as if this is the calling card for patriotic dominionism. No matter the numbers of people quoting this verse as if it can be applied today, God’s Word would seem to indicate that the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is based on the covenant between God and Israel; it is not based on God and any other nation or people. While the United States has had a Christian influence, Israel is the only nation that can be designated as God’s people. Christians are indeed God’s people, but not as a nation.
Additionally, these words were spoken to Solomon, the king of Israel, and God promised Solomon that when the land suffered from drought or pestilence, that if the people would humble themselves and pray, then God would hear those prayers and heal their land. The Lord specifically said that His eyes and ears would be attentive to the “prayer that is made in this place” (vs. 15), a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. And, Christians today do not have land that needs to be healed. Again, we are looking for a city whose Builder and Maker is God!
Since we always need to read verses in context, I will read these words of warning in verses 19 and 20: “But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.” I believe if we’re going to apply verse 14 to the United States we would have to claim this part of the passage, too. And if we do claim this for ourselves, are we to believe that God is warning us that we could be uprooted from this land and taken to a foreign country? I mean, no one even quotes these verses. And, while I do understand many scriptures have a dual significance, I just see too many problems with applying this verse to the United States today. Now, should we individually pray and repent? Absolutely! However, this is for salvation and not with the intent that God will restore any national status or favor particular countries may have lost).
Swaggart continued: Our land is sick. Our land is diseased. There is only one cure for this disease that is destroying our nation and that is for the power of the Holy Spirit to move, for Jesus Christ to be lifted up, for Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be proclaimed. We thank You, Lord, for a president that wants us to have the right to say what we want to say when we stand behind the sacred desk. We thank you for a man that is defending Christian rights, not just here in America, but all over the world, doing his best. (Nations, and their systems of government, rise and fall; that is just a matter of fact. We want Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be proclaimed, but so that souls might be saved, not that any particular nation and its culture might be saved. People seem to forget that Jesus Christ is coming to smash the whole world’s system; He’s not against socialism and for capitalism as it were. We have said it many times, but people truly have made an idol of this nation. They would insist their desire to save this nation is due to the freedoms we have, particularly freedom of religion and freedom of speech. But, our freedoms come from God. And, this freedom of religion people are so proud of is actually an abomination to God because it allows for, it supports, it tolerates the worship of false gods as we have stated).
Continuing: Lord, we are asking that You would watch over him; we ask that there would be a hedge placed around him; Lord, we ask for spiritual wisdom and spiritual guidance; put the right people in his path that will give him the right direction and the right information as it concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for those as well in the Congress, in the Senate, no matter what party they may be, no matter what they’re belief system may be, we pray that the Holy Spirit of God would penetrate their darkness and their blind eyes and the light of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine before them. (Now, this part of the prayer is the only part we can agree with because he is actually praying that the president and those in Congress would hear the gospel and get saved).
He continues: Pour out Your blessing one more time upon this nation; pour out Your blessing one more time upon this nation. Lord, once again, let the gospel shine bright. We are a city on a hill, we are a light that cannot be hid, and let that light go forth from this nation to the four corners of the globe that others may be touched and others may know that there is a Saviour, there is a Healer, there is a Deliverer, and we give You all the praise and all the glory in Jesus’ name, amen and amen. God bless America. God bless America.” (Now, do we want the true gospel to go out to the four corners of the globe? Yes, we do. But, sadly, the false teachings from the WOF concerning the prosperity gospel, also a social gospel, and then the 7MM false teaching have replaced the true gospel. And, then, false teachings are going forth from this nation at an ever increasing rate, abortion and gay marriage are the law of the land, and Donnie thinks God is going to bless America?)
Well, that is all I have for this discussion, sister Tammy. We are praying for eyes to be opened and that people will stop idolizing men, whether preachers or politicians, and focus only on Jesus Christ.
Just a few things that have been running through my mind as you share this, you know in the Bible, Mark 8:36 says what does it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose his very soul, you know we can apply this one verse of Scripture and apply this to everything you have spoken about and you know where was the concern for the eternal soul of these people? You know, President Trump, Franklin Graham, Donnie Swaggart, I mean all these people hearing these things. You know where is the concern for souls and where they spend their eternity? We do not presume upon another day and all these other messages going out to people today about let God bless America and all the other nations and like let’s all come together and bless this nation as though God is pleased because we have a so-called president that says he’s a Christian that stands for some morals but over the other side of the fence it’s just disgusting. We can’t, like you say, just look to a person, we have to look to Word God and actually for some people to stand up and preach the gospel in all its purity without all the mixed ideas of let try save the nation and change the morals over here and over there, bring Christ back in schools and let’s change the system, you know, as though that is going to change anything.
You know, I was having a conversation today with a dear brother about when I was at school, they used to sing Christian songs, we used to have assembly and prayer at the assembly and that didn’t make me a Christian, that didn’t change anything about the way I lived and would act, not one person in that school got born again. We were even given Bibles in the school, we took them home and we didn’t read them because there was no like preaching of the truth, there was no preaching of the gospel given, you know if people would have just gone in and preached the truth like we are supposed to and preached the gospel, then maybe some change would have happened, that’s what we are called to do, go into the world and preach the gospel. So you see all these things that are happening are actually pointless and not only pointless, they are leading souls astray, making people think that they are okay with God when they are not.
You know, we have all these ideas that people think if I am not gay or I haven’t aborted a baby, this kind of idea then they think well, I am a Christian, I am ok with God because this is what is being put out there. The morals are being lifted up more than Jesus Christ and you know when Jesus is lifted up He will draw all men unto Himself as the Bible says and morals will change. The heart will change when Jesus comes in, so it’s just like making sure we have a proper gospel preached going out into the world without all this mixture because it is leading people to hell. That’s how important this discussion is and getting these points across to people so that people will hear the truth in that Jesus Christ came to this earth, born of a virgin, you know He went to the cross and died for the sins of the whole world. He didn’t die just for these people over that are in this place that are hearing about having good morals. He came to save the vilest sinner; He came for the poor and the rich; He came for man and for woman; He came that all men everywhere would be saved. His desire is that none would perish but that all would come to repentance. You know, He was buried, as we know, He was risen and He rose again after three days.
This is the Gospel, Jesus died, Jesus was buried and Jesus rose again and why did He do this? Because we have all sinned, every one of us and He is the only solution for people to be saved. Where are we hearing this? You know, all you have shared today where are we hearing this, yes we have spoken about people that say they preached Christ crucified and want the cross to be preached and then it is not really explained because it is all mixed in with this other rubbish about prosperity and about having it all good in this world. And, it is not all about that, you know if people are rich or become rich then it is to be used for the glory of God, you know not to become greedy, He feeds our need and not our greed, anything above that is to be used for Him, you know and again where are we hearing this? Not anywhere and it’s just all just one big mess and I just pray for anybody listening today that you will get away from all these distractions and look to Christ and Him alone. He can save you, He forgives sinners. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you have been or even if you are in this mess we have been talking about today.
If you are in a church that has been preaching all of these things and you are, like wow, all these things are happening in the church and you can then share with the people in hopes they would turn from these things and to the Lord yourself, even if you have to leave these churches to understand the truth. Then go, you know, be ye separate says the Lord, come away from anything that is continuing in error because it will do you harm in the end. So just to summarize, sister Connie, what you have shared, it really is all a mess out there but if people can just stick to the truth, look to the Word of God and keep their hopes in the Word, look to the Lord and the Holy Spirit will help and we have the Word of God, we do. So, just thank you for sharing these points today and I know it’s been a bit of a drawn out one but I do pray the Lord encourages us to share more of these as time, well as much time as the Lord gives us because we do not even know if we will be here tomorrow, but as He gives the grace and as it is now. I just pray for eyes to be opened, as we do and just thank you again, and do have a blessed evening.
READING TIME: 35 MINUTES
The following are the notes to the discussion found at this link (https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/637294033436975/?id=100014819433180) for anyone who would like to study the subject more in depth.
Yes, we wanted to discuss this event because as usual there is much more that needs to be understood than is relayed by one Facebook post or one news report that most people will see. I know we are way behind on getting this discussion recorded due to not being able to coordinate our schedules, but we still wanted to share this information.
I want to begin by reading the initial Facebook post from May 26 by Franklin Graham concerning this prayer event:
Along with 250+ Christian leaders, I am asking followers of Christ across our nation to set aside next Sunday, June 2, as a special day of prayer for the President, Donald J. Trump.
President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. In the history of our country, no president has been attacked as he has. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God.
This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask God to protect, strengthen, encourage, and guide the President.
We know that God hears and answers prayer. He can soften hearts and change minds. He is all-powerful, and He rules over the affairs of nations. The Bible instructs us to pray for those in authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:2–3).
On June 2, we ask that pastors would lead their congregations in praying for the President, that Sunday schools and other groups would join together and pray, and that individuals and families across the country would have a special focus on praying for the President that day.
Would you let me know in the comments below if you commit to pray with us? And will you share this on your social media platforms so that we can have as many people as possible praying?
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2497135067009326&id=131201286936061&p=10&av=100014819433180&eav=Afa0HwrP5LK-R2mGBUo6w451SLz1duxUQhCLUIFmzZEwP6CrK6UoS8CJ8FqGRiiT_P8&refid=52)
(Now, some of the things Franklin Graham said in this post are true. And, as I will mention again later, we have no problem with praying for the President. We do understand and believe 1 Tim. 2:2-3. We do believe in praying for those in authority, but our main focus of prayer for them will be for their salvation. However, I didn’t hear anything about this as a focus; in fact the focus is that people are trying to destroy the President, and by extension, this nation. People need to understand straight away that Franklin Graham is an ecumenist and he is a patriotic dominionist. We don’t have time to list all the examples of his ecumenical activity so I will include the link to a discussion we had concerning the Festival of Hope event he conducted in your country, sister Tammy, in September of last year. (https://www.facebook.com/notes/connie-schuetz-wright/franklin-grahams-festival-of-hope/437394366764541/) And, to show that he is a patriotic dominionist, we have the fact that he encourages Christians to run for political office. Many think this is a wonderful idea, but it is part of the 7MM false teaching that says when Christians dominate the so-called seven mountains of society then society will be “Christianized” and Christ will return. Graham said the following while conducting his Decision America tour in California before last year’s mid-term elections: “If all the school boards in California were controlled by evangelicals, "It would turn this state around. It can be done." (https://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-godless-progressives-california-decision-america-tour-224450/) And, then, the fact that he said, “This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice,” shows he has more concern for this nation than for souls. The job of an evangelist is to preach the salvation of souls, calling out sin and calling people to repent, not promoting any particular nation and its system of government).
Next, we have the following post at FG’s Facebook page on May 30: “I want to remind everyone of the importance of praying for President Donald J. Trump this Sunday, June 2.
Anyone around the world can turn on the news for 5 minutes and understand why this is so critically important. We need to pray for President Trump as he carries out his duties leading this nation, that God will give him wisdom in every decision he makes and protect him from his enemies who would like to see him fall. I have reminded many that if the President succeeds, we all succeed—not just Americans, but freedom-loving people around the world.
Thank you to the tens of thousands of people who have already let me know here on my Facebook page that you will be praying this Sunday. If you’d like to add your name to others who are now signing up at billygraham.org to show their support and that they are committing to pray for the President this Sunday, click the link below to sign on.
I also hope thousands of pastors across the nation will take a moment in their service this Sunday to pray for the President with their congregations. The Bible tells us, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power …” (James 5:16). I believe there is power in prayer!” (So, if the president succeeds, then freedom-loving people around the world succeed? But, our freedom comes from Christ; it comes by way of the cross. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” And, this is part of the message a true evangelist would preach).
And, here is Franklin Graham’s Facebook post on June 2 at 8:36 pm: “I would like to thank everyone who prayed for President Donald J. Trump today. God hears and answers prayer. I hope you will lift our leaders up in prayer every day. Here’s what Dr. Robert Jeffress had to say about why it’s so important to pray for the President.” And, here is one statement Robert Jeffress made in the video posted there: (https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/videos/367543583896910/) “I happen to believe if the Left is successful in taking this president out we will have lost perhaps the last opportunity we have as a nation to reverse the downward trajectory of this nation.” (Well, here we go again with saving this nation rather than saving souls).
Here are just a few pieces of information concerning Robert Jeffress that should make us steer clear of him. He is on the president’s spiritual advisory board (https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/key-evangelical-players-trumps-advisory-board), but apparently doesn’t see the need to counsel Pres. Trump concerning his pro-LGBT stance or any other concerns he should have with his beliefs or actions. Robert Jeffress has made the following statement concerning the pope: “I have great respect for Pope Francis. He’s a humble Christ-follower,” which is obviously a huge red flag. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNpiPKahSQ) Then, as an example of absolute idolatry, the choir from Robert Jeffress’ First Baptist church of Dallas sang a song entitled “Make America Great Again” at one of President Trump’s rallies in 2017. (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/340451-choir-sings-make-america-great-again-song-to-trump) In addition, when the news about Pres. Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels came out, Robert Jeffress had this to say on Fox News: “Evangelicals knew they weren't voting for an altar boy when they voted for Donald Trump," as if that makes any sin he commits all right. (https://thinkprogress.org/robert-jeffress-trump-stormy-daniels-evangelicals-176d228a1c55/) (You know, it’s just pathetic to watch these “evangelical faith leaders” dance all around these issues, as it were, but never come out and admit they were wrong to ask their church members to support this man).
Next, I want to share from an interview Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association and American Family Radio, conducted with Franklin Graham on May 30. (https://afr.net/podcasts/todays-issues/2019/may/rev-franklin-graham-joins-todays-issues/)
In his introduction of Franklin Graham, Wildmon mentioned that Graham is very engaged in the culture and what’s happening in our country politically.
Franklin Graham said he believes God put Pres. Trump in the presidency because there was no reason he should have won. (And, we have heard many quote Romans 13:1, “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God,” as an excuse to never criticize Pres. Trump. But, just to say reporting specific events and beliefs of a person is not bashing them. Concerning the idea that God put Donald Trump in office doesn’t mean He did so to bless this nation. So many look to the economy and are all excited about the increase in the stock market and so forth. But, I want to know how a country 22 trillion dollars in debt can have any positive economic outlook? Besides the fact that believers are strangers and pilgrims and are citizens of another Kingdom and our focus should not be on this nation’s economy. We simply trust God to supply our basic needs. God isn’t going to bless a nation where gay marriage and abortion are the law of the land, plain and simple. Thinking about the first century church, the fact God allowed evil rulers during that time meant that many believers fled Jerusalem to nearby regions and then to distant regions and they took the gospel to all these areas. If anything, Pres. Trump’s election should be causing believers to preach the gospel more fervently and to warn about people not being deceived by those coming as angels of light.
And, just to say if a church regularly prays for the president and his family to get saved and if they regularly pray according to 1 Tim. 2:2 which says, “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty,” we don’t have a problem with that. The issue we have with Franklin Graham’s proclamation is that he made this into a prayer event, the likes of which we warn about quite regularly. These events are always ecumenical and they are conditioning people to join up with so-called Christians and those of other faiths. When Franklin Graham said, “I am asking followers of Christ” to pray, well, just think about it, Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and so forth, all consider themselves followers of Christ. Plus, a church service is for the preaching of God’s Word and many of these “evangelical” leaders more than likely spent the majority of the service in prayer and/or the message involved a topic such as, “It is a Christian’s duty to be involved in politics”).
Franklin Graham said to make praying for Pres. Trump the focus because if he makes a good decision or a bad decision it affects all of us. He said we should pray for protection from those who want to destroy him, his presidency, and those who ultimately want to destroy our country. (And, this statement about those who want to destroy our country reminds us that Graham preaches a basic message about salvation out of one side of his mouth and then preaches a “we need to save America” message out of the other side. I mentioned Graham’s Decision America Tour earlier, but I want to mention it again. We need to remember that in the election year of 2016, Franklin held these prayer rallies in all 50 states as he said, “to proclaim the Gospel and challenge Christians to boldly live out their faith and pray fervently for our nation." Well, it’s not a coincidence that Graham conducted the tour during an election year and that they prayed fervently for our nation. It is sad to see someone preaching the gospel, but obviously with an ulterior motive).
And, then, just to insert from an article at Breaking Christian News, which we have warned about before just to use for information’s sake, “Thousands of Americans, many complete strangers, grabbed hands and fervently prayed for America and its leaders during all 50 prayer rallies on the 2016 Decision America Tour.” (http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=21374) (Well, as we have mentioned in other discussions, we should not attend such events when we don’t know the beliefs of the other attendees. Considering the fact that Graham and his organization have worked with Catholics at many events he has held, there were very likely any number of Catholics in attendance at these rallies. In addition, Glenn Beck’s media network, the Blaze, favorably reported on the Decision America tour. (https://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/03/16/out-nation-is-at-a-moral-tipping-point-franklin-grahams-dire-warning-about-what-happens-if-we-just-stay-home-and-dont-vote) And, as a Mormon, Glenn Beck most assuredly influenced other Mormons to attend these rallies).
Continuing with the interview, Tim Wildmon mentions that over 200 Christian leaders have joined this effort and that he is one of those who signed on. And, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website that posted the names of these leaders, as of May 30 there were over 300. (https://billygraham.org/story/praying-for-our-president/)
And, here is the statement with the initial announcement at the BGEA site:
“We the undersigned are calling for June 2 to be a SPECIAL Day of Prayer for the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, that God would protect, strengthen, embolden, and direct him.
We believe our nation is at a crossroads, at a dangerous precipice. The only one who can fix our country’s problems is God Himself, and we pray that God will bless our president and our nation for His glory.” (https://billygraham.org/story/special-day-of-prayer/?fbclid=IwAR0jENxZSdfZmpLhuIVag7uC7c-q2eGA5cRD-ai5AAvehW_NtZezl4yeCxQ) (However, we have no indication in God’s Word that He desires to “fix” any country’s problems. When Jesus Christ returns He will smash this world’s systems to pieces. There is no “fixing” involved).
Then, someone else on the panel asked Franklin Graham what gives him hope when he thinks about the future of this nation.
Graham said God gives him hope. He knows his sins are forgiven. That we are called to take the gospel to the ends of the earth…We have a job to do…(Then he gives a clear presentation of the gospel which we already noted that he often does. But, such confusion is created when he melds it with a God bless and save America message). And, goes on to say, We’re living in a dark period of history…
Tim: Why are all the demons of hell against Pres. Trump? After all he doesn’t come from our world; he was a celebrity…he lived a playboy lifestyle…he’s not an evangelical Christian as we are.
Graham: But, he does protect Christians. He stands for religious liberty; he’s pro-life and they hate him. They want to destroy him. Graham mentions the Equality Act and says we’re just one vote away from losing our nation and it would take 100 years to get it back; it would take a nuclear war or something to get people to go back to their knees and turn to God and call on His Name…our leaders have turned away from God; they have taken God out of our political life. They’ve taken God out of our schools…And, it was God leading the Pilgrims; it was God leading our forefathers that built this nation to be the greatest nation on the face of this earth and now we have politicians that are trying to strip all that away and destroy our country. So, this prayer is urgent…It’s not an endorsement of Donald Trump…I’m asking you to pray for him. (And, we’ve shared this several times, but our many of our forefathers were deists, Unitarians, and/or masons. And, there are many more points to show we were not founded as a Christian nation and for lack of time I will just include the link to our Facebook note with our discussion entitled, “Allegiance to Christ or Country?”) (https://www.facebook.com/notes/connie-schuetz-wright/allegiance-to-christ-or-country/567251347112175/) (But, just to mention before we continue with this interview, I think the most telling piece of information that indicates we are not a Christian nation is the holding dear of one the most cherished ideals in the Bill of Rights. And, that is the concept of freedom of religion. Before anyone starts arguing I would just ask them to think about this for a minute. Why did God send the nations of Israel and Judah into captivity? It was due to idolatry as in the worship of false gods. What does freedom of religion mean? It means that every person in this nation can worship the deity of his or her choice. And, since the God of the Bible is the only true God, any worship of false gods is expressly prohibited by the first of the Ten Commandments. Additionally, in Matt. 22, in the New Testament, we are told the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Well, we cannot claim to love God while either worshiping false gods or supporting such).
Continuing with the interview, another man on the panel, named Steve, asked: You have occasion or privilege to counsel with the President. Can you give us a sense of where you’d gauge his spiritual journey because I know that he has said he is very appreciative of prayers like this?
Graham: He welcomes Christians in his circle. So many of his Cabinet members are evangelicals. Vice President, Mike Pence. There are many, many Christians in the White House. It gives me great comfort knowing they are advising the President and giving him their counsel. Now, he does, no question, have a faith. He believes in God; there’s no question on that. He was raised Presbyterian; that’s his reference point; that’s his background. He believes God and he believes in Jesus Christ. That’s where he is; now, as far as a person – the depth of their faith – how far they’ve journeyed; only God knows those things. (So, Graham mentions that many Cabinet members are evangelicals. However, we know that Ben Carson is SDA and that means every time the Cabinet members might pray together it is an ecumenical event. But, Graham is an ecumenist as we’ve already mentioned, so he won’t be sounding any alarms concerning this. You know, it’s interesting to notice the difference in “evangelical leaders.” Robert Jeffress, as we mentioned, says we knew we weren’t electing an altar boy and Franklin Graham essentially says Pres. Trump is saved. But, as we have shared many times Pres. Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t ask God for forgiveness; he just goes on and tries to do better. God doesn’t come into the picture). (https://www.theblaze.com/news/2015/09/21/donald-trump-was-again-asked-about-the-importance-of-asking-god-for-forgiveness-of-sins-heres-how-he-responded)
Tim: yea
Graham: But, we do have a president that supports what we stand for and what we believe. (And, this is basically the reason so many have become convinced they must vote for and support Pres. Trump. They have been led to believe that Pres. Trump is the only one who will allow them to continue to worship God in this nation. And, more so than that, he is the only one supposedly who will keep them from having to undergo persecution. All these namby-pamby “preachers” are encouraging people to idolize a man they think will keep them from suffering persecution while Paul, a true apostle of God, in 2 Tim. 3:12 forewarns us with these words: “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”).
Franklin Graham was also interviewed by Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch," a national radio show put on by the Family Research Council. Tony Perkins is president of that organization.
Here are a few of Graham’s statements in this interview concerning Donald Trump: “Is he a perfect person? Absolutely not. Is he the best example of the Christian faith? No way. But there's something in his heart where God has placed him there to defend the Christian faith and religious liberty. And so I appreciate that about him, and we need to try to lift him up in prayer and support him where we can." (https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/trump-prayer-franklin-graham-media-attacks) (So again, Franklin Graham is basically shilling for the President. If he was a true man of God he would be preaching the gospel, not a convoluted mix of the gospel plus saving the nation. He would be encouraging people to put their faith in Christ alone; not in a man or a system of government).
Moving on, I shared this information as a Facebook post, but I also want to include it here, and this concerns the “faith leaders” who joined Franklin Graham to call for a Special Day of Prayer for the President on June 2, as I have already mentioned. (https://billygraham.org/story/special-day-of-prayer/?fbclid=IwAR0jENxZSdfZmpLhuIVag7uC7c-q2eGA5cRD-ai5AAvehW_NtZezl4yeCxQ)
Several of these people are on Pres. Trump’s “spiritual advisory board.” A good number of them attend the National Day of Prayer events and the National Prayer Breakfasts which are completely ecumenical. They could also be classified as patriotic dominionists because they are more concerned about saving America as a nation than about saving souls.
What I want to know is where are these people when the President tweets, as he did on May 31: “As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals....”? (https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1134538166919204865)
(For all of them who insist he is a “baby” Christian, as if he cannot be held accountable for his actions, or is unaware of what the Bible says about certain topics, where is the Biblical counseling? But, even more so, where is the concern for his soul? I pray that anyone who follows any of these “faith leaders” will cease to do so).
David Barton - Founder and President, Wallbuilder
John & Lisa Bevere - Messenger International
Mike Bickle - Founder and Director, International House of Prayer
Kenneth & Gloria Copeland - Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Jason Crabb – “Christian Music” Artist
Matt & Laurie Crouch - President of TBN
Dr. James & Shirley Dobson - James Dobson Family Institute
Mike Evans - President, Friends of Zion, Jerusalem Prayer Team
Jerry Falwell, Jr. - President, Liberty University
Jentezen Franklin - Senior Pastor, Free Chapel
James W. Goll - God Encounters Ministries
Dr. Jack Graham - Senior Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Former President of the Southern Baptist Convention
John Hagee - Pastor, Cornerstone Church, Founder of Christians United for Israel
Adonica & Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne - River at Tampa Bay Church
Larry & Tiz Huch - Senior Pastors, New Beginnings Church, President of Larry Huch Ministries
Gov. Mike Huckabee - Former Governor of Arkansas, Honorary National Chairman, MyFaithVotes
Mike & Cindy Jacobs - Founder, Reformation Prayer Network and Generals International
Robert Jeffress - Senior Pastor, First Baptist Dallas
Dr. David Jeremiah - Turning Point Ministries
Alveda King - Civil Rights for the Unborn
Marcus & Joni Lamb - Daystar Television Network
Dr. Richard Land - President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Greg Laurie - Senior Pastor, Harvest Christian Fellowship
Cissie Graham Lynch - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan’s Purse
Rod Parsley - Senior Pastor, World Harvest Church
Tony Perkins - President, Family Research Council
Ralph Reed - Faith & Freedom
Richard Roberts - Chairman & CEO, Oral Roberts Ministries
James Robison - Founder and President, LIFE Outreach International
Darrell Scott - Pastor, New Spirit Revival Center
Dutch Sheets - Dutch Sheets Ministries
Michael W. Smith – “Christian Music” Artist
Perry Stone - Voice of Evangelism, Omega Center International, International School of Word
Steve Strang - Founder and CEO, Charisma Magazine
Lance Wallnau - Founder, As One America
Paula White-Cain - Senior Pastor, City of Destiny, President, Paula White Ministries
Tim Wildmon - American Family Association
George Wood - Chairman, Assemblies of God Fellowship
And, just to note, Catholic priest Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, also joined Franklin Graham in this call for prayer. But, this shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands Franklin Graham’s ecumenical outlook as we have mentioned.
(These are the most recognizable names on the list and I pray that the listeners are familiar with all these names, and know, that for the most part, they are false teachers and leaders in the WOF and NAR movements. And, their idolization of Pres. Trump is just another red flag to support the fact they should be avoided).
I do want to mention that Tim Wildmon, President of the American Family Association, sent an email on June 3 concerning Pres. Trump’s tweet. He wrote: "On Friday, May 31 President Trump put out a statement celebrating LGBT pride month.
Homosexuality is not something the president should celebrate. It's unnatural, unhealthy and immoral behavior. We hope he will continue to stand firm against the so-called Equality Act (H.R. 5) and any legislation that threatens religious freedom. Such legislation will use the full force of the federal government to punish Americans who don't embrace the LGBT political agenda." (Some people might think at least he spoke out, but here are a couple of problems with his statement. Homosexuality is sin, not just "unnatural, unhealthy and immoral behavior." And, the fact that people almost refuse to call sin just that anymore is pathetic. And, then, if anyone supports this president in hopes of him vetoing the proposed Equality Act, you are only interested in saving your skin. We need to develop some backbone, here and now, brethren).
And, for the last part of this discussion, I want to mention a post at Frances Swaggart’s Facebook page on June 2 that contains an excerpt from Donnie Swaggart’s message on that date. Donnie Swaggart is the son of Jimmy and Frances Swaggart: “Today is June 2 and, as many of you know, Brother Franklin Graham has asked for churches across America to pray for our president. (We just have to note Donnie’s use of the term brother here for Franklin Graham. This ministry similarly posted tributes to Billy Graham upon his death. Anyone who has conducted even a minimum amount of research knows the ecumenical bent of both of these men. For decades the Catholic church supported and promoted Billy Graham and his crusades. At these events the decision cards turned in by those who came forward were given to Catholic churches when the people had expressed any previous affiliation or connection to a Catholic church, no matter that these people had allegedly just been born again. Franklin Graham’s events have had similar Catholic support even to the extent of a Catholic priest praying on stage at an event held in Pittsburgh in 2014) (https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/weekend-traffic-jam-session-expected-on-pittsburghs-roadways/).
Donnie Swaggart continued: We believe that President Trump, against all odds, has been placed where he is for a time such as this. (You know, many people in the “evangelical” world say this, as if it must be a good thing. Do any of these people consider that Trump might be a type of judgment on America; that God might be testing people to see if they will support wickedness just because a person is offering them a few trinkets? And, I am referring to the fact that “evangelical” leaders keep promoting Pres. Trump as the president who has done more than any other president for the cause of religious liberty. But, these are the people who apparently believe our rights come from man rather than God. And, as we have said many times the early church didn’t sit around waiting for the government to grant religious freedom. They, rather, preached the gospel no matter what it cost them).
Continuing: We do not approve of everything he says, do not approve of certain language, but we recognize the fact that everything he’s doing is to try to protect the rights of Christians. (So, basically here we learn that the president can do anything he wants, and no matter what information comes out about him, he gets a pass since he’s trying to protect the rights of Christians. However, believers know their rights come from God and they are looking for a city whose Builder and Maker is God, and not looking to this life, anyway).
Swaggart continued: You see, you’re not in the public arena as far as worldwide ministry is concerned and ministry that uses the airwaves, but under the prior administration, we felt the heavy hand of trying to stifle what we could say and what we could preach. We are well aware of other ministries and conservative outreaches that were unjustly persecuted and investigated by the IRS, using the IRS as a political weapon, but now we have a president that really believes ‘in God we trust.’ (But, I wonder what Paul would think about someone worrying about the government stifling what they could say and preach? We have his words in 1 Cor. 16:13 and I imagine he would say the same thing today: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” He also said this in Phil. 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
And, concerning the president believing “in God we trust,” we have said many times, which god? Anyone who knows anything about Donald Trump knows that his god has always been money. And, he also believes in a god to which members of many religions can pray as evidenced by the fact that he’s allowed Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, and so forth to pray at his inauguration and at the National Day of Prayer events held at the White House).
Continuing: And, you cannot be a liberal and be a born-again Christian. You cannot be a born-again believer and support the murder of innocent babies. You cannot be a born-again believer and support same-sex marriage. You cannot be a born-again believer and believe in transgenderism. You cannot be a born-again believer and believe in socialism. (Well, Donald Trump was pro-choice and now is against abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and when a mother’s life is in danger. He tweeted his support for LGBT rights on May 31 which means he is fine with same-sex marriage and transgenderism. And, born-again believers are not to believe in any form of government in the sense that Donnie means. It is not the duty of a Christian to promote any particular form of government. We are to preach the gospel that people may be snatched out of this evil world’s system, including its governments, and be brought into the Kingdom of light). (https://christiannews.net/2019/05/31/make-sodom-great-again-trumps-pride-month-tweets-urge-nations-to-join-effort-to-decriminalize-homosexuality/?fbclid=IwAR2OMLTd1OzFlDP8VZXmN0kO0Qz6HqXFQ05Kg4XNr2Yrf1NzEJ-ZEwrEpFk)
He continued: And we want to join together this morning and pray, not only for our president, but for all those in Washington, including the ones we don’t agree with. The Bible says pray for those in authority above you whether you agree with them or not. That’s the mandate, and I know some would say, ‘Well you didn’t do this in the other administration. Oh yes, we did. I can remember several occasions on this platform Dad asked everyone to stand and pray for the prior president and ask the Lord to help him because as America goes, so goes the world. A strong America is a stronger world. A prosperous America helps the other nations of the world. (And, again, we have no problem praying for those in authority but, first and foremost, we pray for their salvation. It is of great concern to us that all these “evangelical faith leaders” are not sharing the gospel with the president and others in Washington. Instead, they are joining in with these ecumenical endeavors such as the prayer breakfasts and National Day of Prayer events, even to the point of calling members of other faiths, brethren, as Paula White did at this past National Day of Prayer event. Either these “faith leaders” don’t know God’s Word, or their relationship with the President is just one of “you scratch our backs and we’ll scratch yours.” They all seem to be concerned with advancing their own agendas and they don’t seem to care about God’s Word at all). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1al23y-WUs 5:02 in)
He said: I want you to lift your hands this morning as we join our faith together to pray for our president: “Father, we come before You in the name of Your Son, Jesus. You told us in Your Word, ‘If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, then will I forgive their sin, and then will I heal their land.’
(Well, again with 2 Chron. 7:14. It’s almost as if this is the calling card for patriotic dominionism. No matter the numbers of people quoting this verse as if it can be applied today, God’s Word would seem to indicate that the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is based on the covenant between God and Israel; it is not based on God and any other nation or people. While the United States has had a Christian influence, Israel is the only nation that can be designated as God’s people. Christians are indeed God’s people, but not as a nation.
Additionally, these words were spoken to Solomon, the king of Israel, and God promised Solomon that when the land suffered from drought or pestilence, that if the people would humble themselves and pray, then God would hear those prayers and heal their land. The Lord specifically said that His eyes and ears would be attentive to the “prayer that is made in this place” (vs. 15), a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. And, Christians today do not have land that needs to be healed. Again, we are looking for a city whose Builder and Maker is God!
Since we always need to read verses in context, I will read these words of warning in verses 19 and 20: “But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.” I believe if we’re going to apply verse 14 to the United States we would have to claim this part of the passage, too. And if we do claim this for ourselves, are we to believe that God is warning us that we could be uprooted from this land and taken to a foreign country? I mean, no one even quotes these verses. And, while I do understand many scriptures have a dual significance, I just see too many problems with applying this verse to the United States today. Now, should we individually pray and repent? Absolutely! However, this is for salvation and not with the intent that God will restore any national status or favor particular countries may have lost).
Swaggart continued: Our land is sick. Our land is diseased. There is only one cure for this disease that is destroying our nation and that is for the power of the Holy Spirit to move, for Jesus Christ to be lifted up, for Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be proclaimed. We thank You, Lord, for a president that wants us to have the right to say what we want to say when we stand behind the sacred desk. We thank you for a man that is defending Christian rights, not just here in America, but all over the world, doing his best. (Nations, and their systems of government, rise and fall; that is just a matter of fact. We want Jesus Christ and Him crucified to be proclaimed, but so that souls might be saved, not that any particular nation and its culture might be saved. People seem to forget that Jesus Christ is coming to smash the whole world’s system; He’s not against socialism and for capitalism as it were. We have said it many times, but people truly have made an idol of this nation. They would insist their desire to save this nation is due to the freedoms we have, particularly freedom of religion and freedom of speech. But, our freedoms come from God. And, this freedom of religion people are so proud of is actually an abomination to God because it allows for, it supports, it tolerates the worship of false gods as we have stated).
Continuing: Lord, we are asking that You would watch over him; we ask that there would be a hedge placed around him; Lord, we ask for spiritual wisdom and spiritual guidance; put the right people in his path that will give him the right direction and the right information as it concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for those as well in the Congress, in the Senate, no matter what party they may be, no matter what they’re belief system may be, we pray that the Holy Spirit of God would penetrate their darkness and their blind eyes and the light of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine before them. (Now, this part of the prayer is the only part we can agree with because he is actually praying that the president and those in Congress would hear the gospel and get saved).
He continues: Pour out Your blessing one more time upon this nation; pour out Your blessing one more time upon this nation. Lord, once again, let the gospel shine bright. We are a city on a hill, we are a light that cannot be hid, and let that light go forth from this nation to the four corners of the globe that others may be touched and others may know that there is a Saviour, there is a Healer, there is a Deliverer, and we give You all the praise and all the glory in Jesus’ name, amen and amen. God bless America. God bless America.” (Now, do we want the true gospel to go out to the four corners of the globe? Yes, we do. But, sadly, the false teachings from the WOF concerning the prosperity gospel, also a social gospel, and then the 7MM false teaching have replaced the true gospel. And, then, false teachings are going forth from this nation at an ever increasing rate, abortion and gay marriage are the law of the land, and Donnie thinks God is going to bless America?)
Well, that is all I have for this discussion, sister Tammy. We are praying for eyes to be opened and that people will stop idolizing men, whether preachers or politicians, and focus only on Jesus Christ.
Just a few things that have been running through my mind as you share this, you know in the Bible, Mark 8:36 says what does it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose his very soul, you know we can apply this one verse of Scripture and apply this to everything you have spoken about and you know where was the concern for the eternal soul of these people? You know, President Trump, Franklin Graham, Donnie Swaggart, I mean all these people hearing these things. You know where is the concern for souls and where they spend their eternity? We do not presume upon another day and all these other messages going out to people today about let God bless America and all the other nations and like let’s all come together and bless this nation as though God is pleased because we have a so-called president that says he’s a Christian that stands for some morals but over the other side of the fence it’s just disgusting. We can’t, like you say, just look to a person, we have to look to Word God and actually for some people to stand up and preach the gospel in all its purity without all the mixed ideas of let try save the nation and change the morals over here and over there, bring Christ back in schools and let’s change the system, you know, as though that is going to change anything.
You know, I was having a conversation today with a dear brother about when I was at school, they used to sing Christian songs, we used to have assembly and prayer at the assembly and that didn’t make me a Christian, that didn’t change anything about the way I lived and would act, not one person in that school got born again. We were even given Bibles in the school, we took them home and we didn’t read them because there was no like preaching of the truth, there was no preaching of the gospel given, you know if people would have just gone in and preached the truth like we are supposed to and preached the gospel, then maybe some change would have happened, that’s what we are called to do, go into the world and preach the gospel. So you see all these things that are happening are actually pointless and not only pointless, they are leading souls astray, making people think that they are okay with God when they are not.
You know, we have all these ideas that people think if I am not gay or I haven’t aborted a baby, this kind of idea then they think well, I am a Christian, I am ok with God because this is what is being put out there. The morals are being lifted up more than Jesus Christ and you know when Jesus is lifted up He will draw all men unto Himself as the Bible says and morals will change. The heart will change when Jesus comes in, so it’s just like making sure we have a proper gospel preached going out into the world without all this mixture because it is leading people to hell. That’s how important this discussion is and getting these points across to people so that people will hear the truth in that Jesus Christ came to this earth, born of a virgin, you know He went to the cross and died for the sins of the whole world. He didn’t die just for these people over that are in this place that are hearing about having good morals. He came to save the vilest sinner; He came for the poor and the rich; He came for man and for woman; He came that all men everywhere would be saved. His desire is that none would perish but that all would come to repentance. You know, He was buried, as we know, He was risen and He rose again after three days.
This is the Gospel, Jesus died, Jesus was buried and Jesus rose again and why did He do this? Because we have all sinned, every one of us and He is the only solution for people to be saved. Where are we hearing this? You know, all you have shared today where are we hearing this, yes we have spoken about people that say they preached Christ crucified and want the cross to be preached and then it is not really explained because it is all mixed in with this other rubbish about prosperity and about having it all good in this world. And, it is not all about that, you know if people are rich or become rich then it is to be used for the glory of God, you know not to become greedy, He feeds our need and not our greed, anything above that is to be used for Him, you know and again where are we hearing this? Not anywhere and it’s just all just one big mess and I just pray for anybody listening today that you will get away from all these distractions and look to Christ and Him alone. He can save you, He forgives sinners. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you have been or even if you are in this mess we have been talking about today.
If you are in a church that has been preaching all of these things and you are, like wow, all these things are happening in the church and you can then share with the people in hopes they would turn from these things and to the Lord yourself, even if you have to leave these churches to understand the truth. Then go, you know, be ye separate says the Lord, come away from anything that is continuing in error because it will do you harm in the end. So just to summarize, sister Connie, what you have shared, it really is all a mess out there but if people can just stick to the truth, look to the Word of God and keep their hopes in the Word, look to the Lord and the Holy Spirit will help and we have the Word of God, we do. So, just thank you for sharing these points today and I know it’s been a bit of a drawn out one but I do pray the Lord encourages us to share more of these as time, well as much time as the Lord gives us because we do not even know if we will be here tomorrow, but as He gives the grace and as it is now. I just pray for eyes to be opened, as we do and just thank you again, and do have a blessed evening.