TAPPING TRIO: A tap dance, taped for the Mike Douglas Show. Left to right are Douglas, evangelist Billy Graham and singer John Davidson. Davidson is appearing at the Hilton, where the show was being taped, and Graham is conducting a five-day crusade at Las Vegas Convention Center. – From The Cincinnati Post, Sat., February 4, 1978
The unbelievable saga of Billy Graham and 20th century New Evangelical evangelism continues to unfold. Graham's recent Las Vegas five-day crusade furnishes us with the shocking evidence of the catastrophic decline of evangelical Christianity in America. When so few cry out against such compromise, it is further revealed how far we have fallen into error in these days. There is almost no separation from apostasy and outright heresy. Now it is revealed that there is a total lack of emphasis on holiness and personal separation. All of these together spell the total ruin of the New Evangelical movement, of which Mr. Graham is the titular head. Don't put this article aside until you read the shocking facts revealed.
"Christianity Today" is by far the most legitimate New Evangelical publication in America. It was founded by the father-in-law of Billy Graham and is now edited by Harold Lindsell. This magazine would seem to be indebted morally to Graham and his organization, since it has been revealed that they have received large sums of money from Graham's secret (?) 23-million dollar fund. They speak up in Graham's defense when criticism arises, and we cannot remember a single time when they have criticized him in any way. The February 24, 1978 issue of "Christianity Today" devotes over two pages of space to the Las Vegas Crusade. It is an interesting and well written article by Edward E. Plowman, their able news editor. However, there is not one whisper of criticism of the unorthodox crusade, which was so contrary to the Bible and the practice of evangelists of the past.
In this article we shall quote from "Christianity Today" (hereafter called CT). These quotes will be found in quotation marks. We are also going to call names, just as is done in CT, but we do this only for evidence for we have no desire to hurt any of these people.
CT says, "The evangelist won a special place in the hearts of many Las Vegans. ‘I did not come here to condemn Las Vegas,' Graham announced at the outset of the meetings. ‘I came here to preach the Gospel.' The audience appreciatively applauded his statement.
"Many of the city's residents -- including evangelical church leaders -- feel that Las Vegas undeservedly has a bad image in the eyes of the rest of the country, and they react defensively when outsiders come through and refer to it as Sin City."
While we are sure there must be some fine Christians in Las Vegas, the fact remains that "tourism and gambling are the city's main industries. Thirty conventions per month hit town...An estimated 50,000 couples per year come to the city to get married. Some come to end their marriages. Many single parents, mostly women, live in Las Vegas." One can hardly see why decent people in Vegas would be offended for calling the city what it really is, a Sin City. Thirty conventions a month do not descend upon Las Vegas to drink kool-aid and go to Sunday School. CT fails to give us the shocking number of divorces that take place in Vegas each year, although we suspect the writer had access to this information.
Melvin Pekrul, pastor of First Baptist Church and who served as crusade counseling chairman said, "We are a microcosm of all the ills in America." Many people who fail elsewhere in their marriage or employment come to Las Vegas. "They are losers, but they are open about it," says Pekrul, who has been in Las Vegas for seventeen years. The glitter and big money attract criminal elements, too, and crime rates are keeping pace with the population growth. All of this serves to keep a greater number of leadership-level people from moving to Las Vegas, and as a result, says Pekrul, "the leadership in our churches is stretched thin."
In other words, the reputation of the city is so rotten that decent church people are reluctant to move there, and the members gained in Vegas are not usually fit for leadership. So regardless of what Mr. Graham or anyone else says, Las Vegas is a city of wine, women, and song. Easy divorce, gambling, and prostitution make it a place where many want to go when they are ready to live in sin on a basis which is not yet popular in many other areas of the nation.
In the crusade, Graham avoided getting bogged down on the issue of gambling. He said the Bible is rather silent on the subject and that he does not gamble himself because of the personal-example aspect. He said that the same practice on Wall Street is called investing, prompting laughter and applause." Once again Graham is careful not to call sin by its right name. This is absolutely astounding in the light of the Bible, and in the light of how the evangelists of the past handled this issue. Of course he could hardly say anything against gambling since some of his counselors were professional gamblers. This terrible blunder will be dealt with later in this article.
"Nearly 200 Protestant churches cooperated in the crusade." We have no way of knowing how many of these are fundamental Bible believing churches, but we would venture to say that they would be non-existent or a very small minority. The modernists, charismatics, and new evangelicals no doubt constituted the majority.
"There is a fairly large community of Catholic charismatics, and they were active in the crusade, with some serving as counselors and choir members." Can you imagine the confusion of those who may have come forward to be saved, and then found themselves placed with a Catholic charismatic counselor. This would have been unbelievable just a few years ago!! Imagine Moody, Finney, Sunday, Jones, Ham, Cartright, Small or any of the other evangelists permitting such things.
"Kenneth Forshee, a Disciples of Christ pastor, served as crusade chairman." The Disciples of Christ is the left wing liberal branch of the Campbellite church, founded by Alexander Campbell. They used to teach salvation by water, but they have grown so liberal that it is doubtful if most of them teach salvation from hell at all. So if the crusade chairman is a conservative Disciples of Christ preacher, he teaches salvation by water. If he is a liberal, then he is an apostate. If he is neither, he should get out of the Disciples of Christ!
No, this is not a misprint. People who work as card dealers in gambling casinos participated in the crusade. Remember that the counselors deal with those who come forward during the invitation. CT says, "A number of pastors and other church leaders say that Las Vegas began to experience spiritual stirrings about four years ago. Some pastors, including Pekrul, reported that they had experienced in-depth encounters with the Holy Spirit, not necessarily of the charismatic kind, and that their lives and ministries had become more productive spiritually.
"The stirrings were not limited to the churches. A number of hotel and casino employees and people attached to the lavish Las Vegas show world began turning to Christ -- often apart from church contact. (Work schedules of many of these people prevent them from attending church.)"
The same spirit that stirred in the churches, was the one that stirred in Vegas casinos, if we are to believe CT. The Bible says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). One thing is certain, the Holy Spirit did not lead anyone to remain a gambler in a Vegas casino. If he did, he would cease to be the "Holy" Spirit.
"Casino employee....Larry Trimber, 37, a ‘21' dealer at the Showboat Hotel" was a counselor in the Graham crusade. "In June, 1976, he became a follower of Christ."
We quote from CT: "Trimber says the gambling business is the only one he knows, and he insists that God wants him there for now. ‘The people I work with don't go to church,' he said. ‘God sent me here to be a witness.' In recent months he had led several fellow employees and a supervisor to Christ. ‘This whole town of losers is reaching out to God,' says Trimber earnestly.
"He asked for a week off from work in order to work as a counselor at the Graham crusade. ‘Look at them, they're hurting, they're crying out for the Good News,' he commented as people walked to the front of the auditorium in response to Graham's invitation to turn to Christ. ‘I don't condemn them; they need Christ real bad.' Trimber counseled a couple that first night. The wife, crying, tugged at his arm and said, ‘I need help.' Trimber brushed away a tear and replied: ‘I know you do. I know about that.'
"Scores of employees scattered in casinos around Las Vegas are Christians. For most of them, the ‘gaming industry' is just another job, and they see no moral conflict. Most, however, agree that they would never visit a casino as a customer. ‘The odds are too great -- you always lose,' said Trimber."
Space forbids us to comment at length on these unbelievable statements. We believe most of our readers know enough to see the terrible sin in all of this.
"John Hughes, 32, was a card dealer when he ‘met the Lord' four years ago. His marriage was in deep trouble at the time, and both he and his wife Sherry -- a casino Keno runner -- began a spiritual search...He remained a dealer for more than a year after becoming a Christian, then felt God wanted him to get out of casino work. ‘It appeals to base instincts,' he explains. At the same time, he is open to the possibility that God may want some people to stay on the inside in order to show others the way to life."
At least he did get out of the casino, but takes no clear stand against them. He is now "a lay assistant pastor of a Disciples of Christ church with plans to go to the seminary."
"Because the people in Las Vegas tend to be more open, they also tend to be more caring, says Dave Noonan, 38, a pit boss who supervises dealers at the Four Queens hotel. Noonan's third mar riage was coming apart when both he and his wife Elsie turned to Christ a year ago. Neither was attending a church at the time. Noonan, like Trimber, sees no heavy moral reason for Christians to leave casino employment (‘many are using it to witness'), and he says that groups of Christians working in the casinos gather regularly for prayer and Bible study. He does not see himself remaining in the gaming business all his life; he is toying with the idea of trying to start a church just for people who work on the Strip. They have special hours and special needs, he suggest."
"The evangelist held a meeting at three o'clock Saturday morning for the Strip people, and about 1,000 attended, including some show headliners. Among those who responded to the invitation were a belly dancer, several showgirls, cocktail waitresses, Keno runners, a bartender, and a craps dealer. Graham said the service was unprecedented in his thirty-year ministry."
We read other reports of the 3:00 a.m. meeting in the newspapers. It was stated there that one or more prostitutes responded to the invitation. We have serious doubts that Graham or any of his counselors instructed any of these people that they needed to depart from their trade. We have heard of none of the "converted" strippers, prostitutes, belly dancers, or cocktail waitresses leaving their trade after responding to Graham's invitation. If the card dealers, Keno runners, and other show people didn't have to quit their occupations to be Christians, why should the strippers, prosti tutes, and belly dancers have to give up theirs.
This is enough to make the angels weep. Graham had an opportunity to tell these people the truth, but he copped out in order to not be controversial and to get converts. Supposedly he would tell Lot to stay in Sodom and witness and the prodigal son to stay in the hogpen and witness to the hogs. The truth of God is being dragged in the gutter and little panty-waist, thumb-sucking, mealy mouthed preachers are standing around saying nothing.
The whole cause of God and truth is under violent attack from within the ranks of religion. "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" (Jeremiah 5:30-31).
"Graham brought his own headliners along to Las Vegas: Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter, singer B.J. Thomas,...Norma Zimmer, and others. Thomas gave one of the most moving testimonies of the crusade. He said that he was a loser on a $3,000-a-week dope habit and had nearly died when he accepted Christ in January, 1976."
Of course such a line up would be popular in Las Vegas. Johnny Cash has grown fat on money earned singing in the night clubs and gambling casinos. Does God need such people to make Him popular and acceptable? Maybe some gods do, but not the Holy and mighty God of heaven!
There is an amazing dearth of the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ is an unfamiliar and almost unknown theme today. Even among evangeli cals and those who claim to be fundamentalists, there is an amazing lack of depth in preaching and teaching. The terminology is almost totally foreign to the teaching of the Bible. Instead of emphasizing the absolute holiness of God, the depravity and sinfulness of man and the mighty convicting power of the Holy Spirit, there is an emphasis on what man can do for himself. Even good Bible believers have fallen victim to Satan's semantics. People are being told: "Ask Jesus to come into your heart;" "Take Jesus into your life;" "Turn your life over to God;" etc. This is almost all totally foreign to the teaching of the Bible. There is little or no emphasis on the true meaning of the cross of Christ. It is all so appalling and pathetic. What a sin against God and also against lost sinners.
The people of Las Vegas, including the gamblers, desperately need the truth of God's Word. To say that we love such people and yet withhold the truth from them is a travesty of the worst kind. These people need to be informed of the requirements of the thrice Holy God. A saved person is a new creature in Christ Jesus, and if he isn't, then he isn't saved. Jesus said, "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Lk.13:3). Jesus preached to harlots, publicans, and all kinds of sinners, but He never encouraged them to remain in their sin. Zacchaeus, the cheating tax collector, changed after being saved by Jesus (Lk.19). Jesus saved the fallen woman of Samaria, but her way of life was changed after His salvation (John 4). The woman taken in adultery was saved by Christ but He told her, "go, and sin no more" (Jn.8:11).
Billy Graham says, "the Bible is rather silent on the subject," but what are the true facts? We might also say that the Bible is silent on shooting a man with a gun, but it is not silent on the subject of murder. The Bible is silent on the use of heroin, but that should not be twisted to mean that nothing in the Bible applies to its use.
Forty-nine of our fifty states have some kind of laws against gambling. In Nevada legalized gambling has been practiced for a long time. It appears that our various states have seen the evil of gambling all along, but Mr. Graham has trouble in seeing it. The World Book Encyclopedia (1960 edition) says, "People gamble because they hope to win something for nothing. But one can more easily lose, and the loss may involve money which was earned by hard effort and which may be difficult to replace. A serious loss often causes hardship. Hence it is not considered desirable or wise for anyone to gamble." This statement contains a world of truth and common sense.
For the Christian, one verse of Scripture ought to settle the matter. "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Another Scripture that applies here is: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Pray tell how a Christian can go into a place of crime, nudity, cursing, drinking, and gamble for the glory of God? Gambling is also a violation of Genesis 3:19 which teaches that we are to earn our living by the sweat of the brow. In other words, we are to labor for it. Gambling violates almost all of the ten commandments in one way or another. Gambling becomes a god to many, thus violating the first commandment. The images on the cards may well be a violation of the second com mandment. Gambling is associated with people who commonly take the name of the Lord in vain, thus breaking the third. The Lord's day is taken for gambling and thus breaking the fourth. The gambling people cannot attend church because of their schedule, if we are to believe CT. "Six days shalt thou labour...." The idea behind gambling is something for nothing, and this also violates a part of the fourth. Gambling sons are notorious for breaking the heart of father and mother, thus breaking the fifth. Murder has taken place many, many times as a result of gambling, thus violating the sixth. Adultery and fornication follow the gambling centers, thus violating the seventh. For many years portions of Nevada has had legalized prostitution. Cheating is common in gambling, thus violating the eighth, "thou shalt not steal." Lying goes hand in hand with gambling, thus violating the ninth.
Now we come to the clincher. The 10th commandment says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's" (Exodus 20:17).
Covetousness is consistently pictured in the Bible as one of the basest and vilest sins. Gambling is almost totally motivated by covetousness. Space forbids us to quote all the Scriptures that mention this awful sin, but here are a few references for those who care enough to look them up: 1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:10; Eph.5:5.
Many sermons have been preached on this. True pastors and evangelists of the past have stood firm on the gambling issue. It would not be difficult to produce many statements made by these godly men of the past showing the evils of gambling. Most of them not only stood 100% against gambling, but condemned card playing as well.