European Evangelicals Condemn Franklin Graham

https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/34493/giacomo-ciccone-franklin-graham-remains-incapable-of-embodying-any-prophetic-responsibility-he-is-lost-in-a-servile-posture

I'm not usually thrilled with the proclamations of Lausanne-style Evangelicals but this was somewhat refreshing, and all the more given that they specifically condemn the son of Billy Graham. Graham-style Evangelicalism is their hallmark and while these groups are hardly what I would call conservative or Biblical, they have enough sense to realize that Franklin has gone off the rails and lost his way.

If you listen to Paula White pray and take in the totality of what she's about, she can be correctly reckoned as something of a witch. The fact that supposed conservatives like Graham and Robert Jeffress stand there with her on stage tells us more about them than it does White - a person that anyone grounded in Scripture would not be taken in by for even a moment. It must be remembered that while Evangelicalism is a term that incorporates the Charismatic movement, it is the latter in particular that has been particularly given over to MAGA pseudo-Christianity.

Ciccone is correct in pointing out that the words and deeds of people like White and Hegseth have brought great shame on the Church. I would add that in addition to their blasphemies they have also given occasion for God's enemies to blaspheme. They are enemies of Christ's Kingdom.

I do not agree that Hegseth is expressing Manichaean views but rather that of Sacralism. Whether sacralism is applied to a greater Christendom or to a specific nation such as the Roman or American Empire - the error and result are the same. Though I chuckle because the Doug Wilson Dominionist cult is more likely to call someone like me a Manichaean and so the label (if they encounter Ciccone's comments) will be especially odious to them.

Let us hope that these Evangelicals will break with Graham, Doug Wilson, and other American clerics who promote nationalist heresy and betray Christ's Kingdom, who serve mammon and the sword and despise Zion.

To simply refer to Franklin Graham's omissions or missed opportunities is I think a case of soft-pedalling. Graham needs to be called out on multiple fronts for strengthening the hands of evildoers and for his idolatry and rank corruption. The fact that he remains a leading figure in American Evangelicalism is testimony to the group's apostasy.

Sadly the Nine Points cited in the article are (as might be expected) a mixture of truth and error. Their condemnations of nationalism and the like are praiseworthy but the document confuses Enlightenment Liberalism with Christian ethics and a right understanding of our pilgrim status in this world. And sadly the underlying assumptions also tend to confuse the nature and identity of the Kingdom - not to the extent of the nationalists, but there is still a great deal of muddled thinking.

I was also encouraged to read of the concern expressed by Evangelical leaders in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. Let us hope these expressions of apostasy emanating from American Evangelicalism will stir hearts and generate some healthy Biblically-oriented reflection and change.