Billy  Graham's  "Jesus" is flexible  and  nonjudgmental.  Devout Buddhists,  Moslems, Hindus, Jews, and nature worshipers  already have  Jesus within, whether they even know his name.  Dr.  Graham not  only echoes the Pope physically but spiritually. Judging  by what appeared in the Tampa Tribune a month later, I would say  it is an echo of the New World Order.

If  someone  had told me twenty or thirty years ago, I  would  be reading the following headline, I would have told them to take me away, that I was probably hallucinating.

Here  it  is. "Bush, Chiles join in statewide  spiritual  renewal project. Tallahassee - Gov. Lawton Chiles and Gov.-elect Jeb Bush differ  over  politics, but they have agreed  to  pray, forgive, smile and sacrifice to get ready for the next millennium.

It's all part of an interfaith initiative called Awakening  2000, a project organized by Jim Torey, a former top state official who picked  Thanksgiving  eve  to announce his  campaign to  promote spiritual  renewal  in Florida. "We feel we can  build  a  better Florida one heart and soul at a time by focusing on our spiritual resources,  our spiritual treasures," Towey said Wednesday.  "And by remembering God."

But  in getting ready for the future, Towey pointed to the  past: When Abraham Lincoln (a Freemason we just discovered in a  German list  of famous Freemasons) (a) issued his Thanksgiving  proclamation 135 years ago, he said Americans had "forgotten God."

"What he said in 1863 is absolutely true today," Towey said. Awakening  2000 will try to change that by getting Floridians  to sign  pledge  cards (we are not allowed per Scripture to pledge allegiance ) reminding them to pray each day, reach out to people in need and perform "several other spiritual exercises."

The project will sponsor a "Summit of Faith" next fall and  dedicate  itself  to advocating for Florida's  needy  and  neglected, especially those who are dying. After leaving state government, Towey formed a nonprofit  commission on Aging with Dignity that started the popular "Five Wishes" living  will last year. Awakening 2000 is sponsored by  the  same commission.

Several  state  leaders  agreed to participate  in  the  project, starting  with  Chiles, a Democrat and Presbyterian who  will  be governor until Bush, a Republican and Catholic, takes over Jan.5. They will sign the commitment cards in early December.

Towey, a Democrat and a Catholic, experienced a spiritual renewal in  1985 when he met Mother Teresa. (Mother Teresa, who said  that she had never tried to bring anyone to Christ. All roads lead  to God, all you have to do is love! She was not biblical)

He  said  he was inspired to begin an interfaith project  by  the late  nun, who respected and cared for Hindus, Muslims and  Jews. (She was a Catholic in name only. Buddha never left her room).

"We  have rabbis and bishops and Democrats and Republicans -  the top  leaders  in Florida - recognizing this is a  very  important thing  we need to do in advance of the millennium,"  Towey  said. (??? what does the millennium have to do with our behavior?)

Rabbi Solomon Schiff, director of chaplaincy at the Greater Miami Jewish  Federation, said he signed onto the project  because  the moral fiber of American society has been devastated.

"A  total commitment by responsible people to try to .. bring  it to  a  level of decency is the only way really that  our  society will survive with a positive future," Schiff said. (Do you realize  that  we  are counted as indecent people?  What  makes  them believe that we need pledge cards to pray??)

Not  many  days hence came a beautiful prayer  book  "Magnificat" with  a portrait of Mary holding "Jesus", 431 pages  of  prayers, Psalms,  songs, poetry, meditations, Masses, reminders of  Saints and the Eucharist. In the front an editorial from Romanus Cessario, O.P. "Become part of the growing world-wide Magnificat  Family," and: "The New Evangelization: growth in the Christian Life.. Praying at mass.. and throughout the day.. Easy to use for everyone.. and an Invitation of the Pope. The information in the  book comes from the New American Bible 1970, Confraternity (notice the word  "confraternity"  "con" fraternity? or does  it  come  from "confrontations"? there is no such word confraternity) of Christian  Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C..

I looked through the  whole book page by page: not one cross just a pentagram with one  extra elongated  part  (the worst) sticking in the globe.   There  are several portraits of Mary, some with a disproportional (extremely small) baby "Jesus". We are not Catholics, nor have ever been nor ever would be because Roman Catholicism is not Scriptural.

As  I  stated  at the beginning, the forerunner  of  this  little article was the Billy Graham crusade. "I can't think of a  better role  model than Billy Graham," said a former schoolteacher  from the  Tampa Bay area. She has developed a program for  educational programing  on  Channel One, based in  Los  Angeles,  California, which supplies educational programs for 12,000 schools via satellite  viewed by 8 million teenagers daily. This time her  subject for teaching purposes was "Mr. Billy." "I felt our community  was really in need of a unifying event," said Peter Lowe, chairman of the  crusade. "The thing about a Billy Graham crusade is that  it transcends  all boundaries - boundaries of age, of race, of  economics, of education (he forgot one: of religions)," he said "And it brings everybody together in a way I don't think Tampa Bay has ever experienced before." (I wouldn't say that. Every time  there is a sports event you have the same situation) (10.21.98)

Since Billy Graham began his ministry here in the Tampa area, the newspaper  went all out and dedicated many pages to him when  he visited the Bay area where he held his first Revival Meetings  at age  19 in 1938. His wife believes this to be his  final  crusade but  Billy Graham has two more scheduled for  1999,  Indianapolis and St. Louis, and probably then some.
There were pictures of Dr. Graham shaking hands with each  President during our lifetime. Steve Hill wrote in 1979 "Billy  Graham thrust  his index finger into the cool night air as he  told  the crowd  of  more  than 28,000 .. that God is right  here  in  this stadium,  speaking  to you." Billy accepted the Lord  at  age  15 during a revival in Charlotte with traveling evangelist  Mordecai Fowler Ham . He said in May of 1938 after losing his best girl he prayed to God : "And all of a sudden, I just felt God was  speaking  to me, and he said, `I want to use you'." Graham's mother  a Presbyterian,  father a Methodist, Billy became a Southern  Baptist.
(Left is the picture of President Netanyahu and Mayor Olmert the question was asked: PHYRRHIC VICTORY?)

Today  he is one of most admired men in the world,  received  the Templeton  Prize for Progress in Religion, Presidential Medal  of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal of Honor at the White House, one  of only three recognized since 1776 so far. After he  worked for  Youth  for  Christ he received help  from  William  Randolph Hearst,  a newspaper mogul, who ordered employees to promote  his ministry. Billy's name was found on Internet among famous men  in Freemasonry which has been denied by the Billy Graham Evangelistic  Association  and removed from various websites. In  1997  he published  his latest  book "Just As I Am"  a  bestseller.  What concerned  us  more than anything was a Bible that  was  promoted under his name "The Answer to Happiness, Health, and fulfillment in Life The Holy Bible: a translation for our time with  selected writings  by leading inspirational authors: Billy Graham,  Robert Schuller,  Catherine  Marshall,  James  Dobson, Pat   Robertson, C.Everett  Koop, Mother Teresa, Max Lucado, Martin  Luther  King, Jr., Barbara  Johnson, Denis Waitley,  Madeleine  L'Engle,  Gary Smalley,  Norman  Vinvent Peale, Charles Swindoll,  Kevin  Leman, Lynn  Heitritter,  W. Phillip Keller,  Robert Helmfelt,  Charles Colson,  Zig  Ziglar, Tim LaHaye, Walter Martin,  Larry  Burkett, Martin Luther, Larry Crabb, Les Brown, Lloyd John Ogilvie,  William  Backus, Tony Campolo and more , the New  Centurian  Version (1987) " for young people.

Robert  Schuller and Norman Vincent Peale were both found  to  be Freemasons  which explains why Dr. Graham  moved  alongside  Dr. Schuller when the controversy came up about the airline  stewardess.

Just  about  every  denomination got  involved  providing  20,000 volunteers to do clean up and help with all the stuff that needed to happen. The choir consisted of 6500 singers. And the budget of $2.46  million was met by donations from the members of  all  involved churches,  businesses  and foundations and  most  of  was collected before a collection was even taken up. The crusade  was called an "opportunity of a lifetime" and "who could do it better than  Billy  Graham?" Which was of course right on.  Jesus  never drew such a crowds as Dr. Graham did.

The $168.5 million stadium recently completed, built mostly  with public money opened the doors for the first time to a nonfootball event. The crusade coincided with the election and President Bush attended to put a word in for his son Jeb Bush who won the gubernatorial election  in Florida. The newspaper  printed  even  his salary  being $115,000 a year and a $38,000 housing allowance.  I wonder  how much Jesus received from his chief executives of  his association.

In conversation with the Evangelist, he noted that he shares  the same condition as Pope John Paul II, who shows more obvious signs of  Parkinsons disease. The Catholic Diocese of  St.  Petersburg, transmitted most of the crusade during his 4 day stay. Dr. Graham made another interesting statement in conversation:  "The  Bible continues  to delight me. I start each day with five  Psalms  and one  Proverb. That explains why He keeps repeating the same  sermons like Jonah in the belly of the whale and the rest of the old cliches.  Three weeks short of 80, with what seemed to be a  bran new  face lift, he appeared slightly frail and walked  unsteadily to the front table. " But he spoke strongly, with his usual humor and confidence. "I used to preach on street corners  because  no church  would  have me." He had a different message  those  days. Today, 1004 churches representing 70 denominations, were involved in this event which took two years to complete.

Irene  McManus knew Billy when he was 19. "He was a  Presbyterian before  he was baptized and ordained an evangelist at  Peniel.  I played the organ the day he was ordained," she exclaimed. "He has definitely moderated his style," said Roger Olson, a professor of theological studies at Bethel College. "He's much more inclusive, softer and kinder." Martin Marty a leading church historian  said a  pivotal  crusade for Graham came May 15 to Sept  2,  1957,  at Madison Square Garden in New York. Graham was invited by  liberal Protestants,  signaling a break with fundamentalism  and  coining the "new evangelism" label. It turned the 38-year-old preacher in a  new direction. He drew 2.3 million people and  preached  about turning Times Square into a "great cathedral."

"Before  New York, he was strident -  anti-Soviet,  anti-liberal, anti-cold  war, anti-everything," Marty said. "Then we  see  this transformation. Now he's a New Testament evangelist whose job  it is to save souls." "We have a lot of respect for the Rev. Billy Graham  over his many years, not just in America but  around  the world,"  says  Agieb Bilal, a Muslim and  principal  of  Tampa's Islamic  Academy.  "People are looking for a religious  high  and instant gratification," he says. "A truly religious person  lives by  his or her faith. Marilyn Taylor of Tampa, a Mormon who  does community  service work for her stake, said that Graham's  influence  on the people she knows is good." "Whatever  brings people closer  to God is good and whatever makes them better  neighbors, better people, better employees is good. Whatever makes them show more  integrity is good. There are many, many good people in  the world.  We believe it is the same God for everyone. He looks  out for them and touches them."

Ironically the Mormon and the Muslim will end up in hell  because Dr. Billy Graham neglected to tell them that they need to believe in  Jesus  of  Nazareth, not Mohammed nor Joseph  Smith  and  his Mormon Jesus.

Ed Golly of Tampa, president of Atheists of Florida, group of 150 active members, also says good things about Graham and added that the preacher seems to offer a "fantasized concept of  Christianity"  that doesn't reveal the negative attitudes  some  Christians have toward women, minorities and homosexuals. People just  listening to Graham wouldn't hear the "true story about  Christianity," he added.

The  clergy see no harm in Graham's crusade. They agree that  his drumbeat relays an ecumenical message identical to the Pope's.  A 2000 member church has placed offering envelopes in pews for  the crusade  but  will not donate none of its  regular  funds.  "What Billy Graham does is cross-denominational," says Wallace. "But we want to be careful in how we state our involvement." Bill Wallace knew  the truth. He did not want to identify with  ecumenism  because it is not of God.

A  Tampa  Tribune editor wrote  "Beneath  a  skull-and-crossbones banner that encouraged them to "Feel the Power," they felt  something  powerful. Some wept. Most smiled. All prayed. 7000  volunteer  counselors trained to answer religious questions,  pass  on literature and gather information.. The Co-Labor Corps, comprised of  250 volunteers, worked each night until 3 A.M. sorting  cards by gender, age, church, Zipcode, even the reason individuals came forward.

The  music  was  geared to draw teens.  "Liquid"  Jars  of  Clay, World's Apart, Fade to Grey, Like a Child, Crazy Times and  Flood to gospel with a hip-hop grind, which hooked the young crowd with tunes  such  as "Supernatural," a crashing slash of a  song  that just this week hit No. 2 in contemporary Christian  charts.  For this young audience, Graham wove a religious spell, as he has for more than 210 million people in over 185 countries. "This is your moment,  you'll  never have another moment like  this,"  he  told them.
"In some ways, the Christian-themed Concert for the NeXt  Generation was like a regular rock concert. People danced in the stands and  on  the  field. I was surprised to see  girls  dressed  like ooochie mamas and teens smoking pot in the corner of the  smoking balcony. "I'm not a Christian.. I'm here for the fun of it," said Joe  Hill. But I also felt a vibe unlike a typical  concert's. "He is  one  of the most humblest dudes on the face of  the  planet," said  Ryan Tyson. "This is better than seeing Elvis,"  said  Sami Sykes!

The death of one of the 70-member Christian Motorcyclists Association  left many of those seats empty at the stadium. "If one  of us  goes down, we all go down," said a member of the club.  Randy Stafford loved the motorcycle ministry and was looking forward to the crusade. A car made an improper left turn and  crashed  into the motorcyclist. He was alive long enough to say good bye to his family.  "We  never thought Randy would leave at  such a  young age," said McGraph. .

"Is the end of the world near? I'm asked on television and radio. We  don't know. But we do know that there is a coming a day  when this  age  will be finished and God will usher in a  new  age  of peace  in the world. You know there's an increase of in  doomsday cults and people prophesying the world will end on such and  such a date, but we don't know.." In this statement Dr. Graham  proved that  he considers the "return of Jesus Christ" as doomsday.  We don't.  We  are  looking for His return which  will  be  doomsday indeed for people who do not accept the Christ Jesus of  Nazareth as  their Savior and King, God's only begotten Son, God  Himself, who died so we could live forever.

They  counted over the four day period a total of 283,000  flowed into  the  stadium.  The crusade broke  several  records.  Nearly 100,000  pounds of canned goods for the Love in Action  program, the  most it has ever collected. They will be distributed  to  12 agencies that serve the needy.

The  fact  that the Graham crusades are a blessing to  the  whole community  financially  is to be commended. Spiritually  I  can't help  but make him responsible along with many other preachers, for  not telling me the truth about Mormonism, so I could be  set free from Satanic influences. We listened to many Graham  sermons as  well as others and not one warning that we needed to get  out of Mormonism to get right with God.