Posts Tagged ‘Billy Graham’
How Should Christians Respond to “proof” of UFOs and Aliens?
Former President Barack Obama believes the revelation of UFOs and aliens could unite humanity.
So now we are looking for E.T. to bring peace and prosperity to the world it seems.
The Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are scheduled to soon deliver an unclassified report on unidentified flying objects to Congress. Many are quite curious about what is about to be revealed.
In March, former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe offered some hints in a Fox News interview, saying it would describe events from “all over the world,” and that “there are a lot more sightings than have been made public.”
Our former President said, “But no doubt, there would be immediate arguments about, well, we need to spend a lot more money on weapons systems to defend ourselves,” Obama said. “And new religions would pop up, and who knows what kind of arguments we’d get into.”
President Obama admits that even he, with the wealth of information and secrets only the highest officials in our nation are privy too, doesn't know if aliens exist. He is not sure what the unidentified flying objects that have been reported over the years are.
“What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there is footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t exactly know what they are,” he went on. “We can’t explain how they move, their trajectory,” Obama said. “They did not have an easily explainable pattern, and so I think that people still take seriously, trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”
Former president Trump claimed last year that he had heard “very interesting” things about Roswell, the New Mexico city known for an alleged UFO event in 1947.
“I won’t talk to you about what I know about it, but it’s very interesting,” Trump said at the time.
We have pilots speaking about their experiences with UFOs on 60 Minutes, videos captured by military personnel and even the Pentagon confirming several videos of UFO activity in 2019.
HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS REACT?
Branson Ambrosino of the BBC writes, “The discovery of life on another planet might seem incompatible with faith in a deity.” “…How could a believer reconcile this with their faith that humans are the crowning achievement of God’s creation?. How could humans believe they were the apple of their creator’s eye if their planet was just one of billions?”
While Billy Graham reportedly told the National Enquirer that he “firmly” believed God created alien life “far away in space,” it would not be a stretch to admit that such a belief is challenging to support with Scripture.
In our post-Christian world we first must agree that the Bible is the final authority on all matters. If a big-headed, thin-limbed green alien were to stare us in the face with their oversized eyes, and the Bible explicitly revealed that aliens do not exist, we'd have no option but to consider other conclusions. Contrary to the science-first crowd, I'm a Scripture-first guy. The Bible isn't threatened by scientific revelation, nor is it constrained by it.
Creationist Jonathan Safarti believes that humans are alone in the universe. He said, “Scripture strongly implies that no intelligent life exists elsewhere.”
Of course, many Christians, including General of the faith Evangelist Billy Graham, give room for the possibility of other-worldly life.
On the official billygraham.org website a question about the possibility of alien life is answered beginning with this: “The Bible doesn’t say anything about the possibility of life on other planets. Its main concern is with human life on this planet, including our problems and our future. This doesn’t mean life can’t exist on other planets, for it well might; the Bible simply doesn’t tell us.
Granted, the Bible is silent on many issues, including many astronomical facts. Biblical silence doesn't erase the possibility of aliens existing.
Of course, we do know that God created everything, including Earth and all the worlds beyond. If aliens existed, it would mean that God created them as well.
However, there are some difficulties that we must consider when discussing the possibility of aliens existing.
INTELLIGENT LIFE
We often hear about the possibility of the existence of intelligent life on other planets. The question we'd need to consider as Believers is a bit different. Does this life, if it indeed exists, have an eternal spirit? Dolphins, dogs, pigs and other animals are extremely intelligent, yet they are distinctly separated from humanity. They do not have an eternal spirit. God gave dominion over the animals to humans. Further, the whole of Scripture is intent on rescuing the souls of man. It has nothing to do with our intelligence, but rather it's our capacity to be in relationship with Jesus forever. So, would these aliens have an eternal soul?
EARTH-CENTRIC SCRIPTURE
It would take quite a creative theological dance to dismiss the reality that Scripture is centered on Earthlings. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Yes, of course, there's space here for the creation of aliens and other worlds in this scripture, but what follows in the entirety of the Bible is zeroed in on mankind on this planet. It's important to note that there is only one Bible. There cannot be additional “words of God” for other civilizations that qualify as the Word of God. There is no other. The Bible we have on Earth is the supreme and only true Word of God.
With this being the case, if alien life-forms did have an eternal spirit (meaning they were like humans and not animals), then how could they gain access to the Bible? If God provided a copy of Scripture for them, how could they relate to it if earth and humans were foreign to them?
THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION
Central to Christianity is the death of Christ on the cross, which, of course, took place on our very own planet. There can be no duplicate scenario for other worlds. God's son was sent once, only to Earth, to die. Is it possible that other worlds could be benefactors of the death and resurrection of Jesus? Yes. If we populate the moon or Mars, and people are actually born and live their entire lives there, they would, by definition, be aliens to Earth. Just because someone is a “human Martian” who never visits Earth doesn't mean that Jesus would visit Mars as a baby, die and rise from the dead for that culture. That has already been done and it will never be done again. Those living on the moon or Mars would have to learn about the story of Jesus coming to Earth, a place they would never visit.
That's a fairly easy scenario to imagine as it would be inhabitants of Earth migrating to another world. Our stories, books, history, culture and much of what we experience on Earth would be readily accessible elsewhere. How unhuman foreigners from light years beyond would gain access to this truth is harder to conceive. Their sin must be atoned for just like ours is. The truth remains, the death and resurrection of Jesus on this planet must be embraced by all who wish to be saved, no matter where in the universe they may live.
Dr. Jason Lisle on the Answers In Genesis website said, “If there were Vulcans or Klingons out there, how would they be saved? They are not blood relatives of Jesus, and so Christ’s shed blood cannot pay for their sin. One might at first suppose that Christ also visited their world, lived there, and died there as well, but this is antibiblical. Christ died once for all (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:27–28, Hebrews 10:10). Jesus is now and forever both God and man; but He is not an alien.”
THE RETURN OF JESUS
Earth is also central to the return of Jesus and God's forever Kingdom. This is where it will all take place at the end of the age. All authentic Believers in Jesus will be living here as Jesus governs from Jerusalem. Will there suddenly be an insurgence of aliens who somehow gave their lives to Jesus? Though silence doesn't preclude it from taking place, Scripture doesn't remotely give room for anything this far-fetched happening.
“PROOFS” OF ALIEN LIFE MUST BE SCRUTINIZED BY THE WORD OF GOD
One thing we know with clarity is that the end of the age will offer all sorts of extremely convincing deception. If something contradicts the Word of God, we must reject it, even if the alien is staring us in the face.
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–11, ESV)
There is much to be discussed including the possibility of Nephilim appearing as aliens and other Satanic deception. Numerous scriptures about God's unique relationship with Earth-bound humans could be studied. Dr. Jason Lisle said, “From a biblical perspective, extraterrestrial life does not seem reasonable. Intelligent alien beings cannot be redeemed. God’s plan of redemption is for human beings: those descended from Adam.”
We could also talk at length about the possibility legitimacy of alien life. Are there some divine loopholes that would enable extra-terrestrial souls to find salvation in Jesus? Maybe. For the sake of this short article suffice it to say, the arguments against the possibility of aliens existing far outweighs the probability that there are other explanations.
Photo credit: “The Science of Aliens” by MIKI Yoshihito. (#mikiyoshihito) is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The danger of a ‘wait and see’ approach toward revival
FIRST—Tonight at Revival Church we’re gathering together with people hungry for a move of God in Detroit. If you aren’t pursuing revival corporately tonight, by all means come on out and contend with us!
ALSO—Be sure to REGISTER for the upcoming Michele Perry event at Revival Church! www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/events
I sometimes wonder if we truly understand the severity of the crisis we are experiencing
in the church. Rick Joyner reports that today only 5% of people who make a decision for Christ actually end up in church.
Billy Graham’s on stats reveal that only 2% of people who make a decision for Christ at his crusades end up in church.
We are in the midst of a crisis that every day is resulting in people who were incorrectly secure in their position in Christ dying and entering into Hell. Does this mean that everybody that doesn’t ‘go to church’ is out of relationship with Christ? No, but it is at least an indicator of a possible problem.
The church is a corporate entity. We love, serve, worship, pray and contend together on a very regular basis. In Acts we see that they were in the temple daily and in prayer and other activities corporately. To remove oneself from that fundamental New Testament structure is at least an indicator of several potential issues.
I’m teaching part two of “The Spirit of Pilate in the Church” tonight at Revival Church. We are seeing a serious problem of affirmation of the people who have rejoiced at the arrival of Jesus in their lives (Palm Sunday) but who have refused the cross as the answer (Good Friday). When there was hope of personal gain (Hosanna) the people gathered, but when there was risk of personal loss (the cross) the people scattered.
The big show, the rejoicing and worship of the Palm Sunday crowd must be interpreted carefully. Churches are growing through the affirmation of the Palm Sunday believer, when, in fact, those people may not have embraced the cross of Christ.
THE PROBLEM
Churches that are birthed and developed from the Palm Sunday style crowd are making a tragic mistake. The emphasis is on what the church can offer the people. On Palm Sunday that’s what happened. They were yelling, “Hosanna!” which means, “save us” or “deliver now.”
With so many people craving their needs and desires to be met it’s quite easy to attempt to satisfy those demands. What results, however, is a culture of diminished focus on the cross, and a body of believers who aren’t schooled in the call to pour out, to minister and to give and serve with no demand for anything in return.
Simply, it results in a lazy church.
DETROIT
When I started traveling to Detroit to minister, and God was exploding in power in the services, I began to experience a strong and urgent concern constantly with me.
There are a lot of hungry, desperate people here in Detroit. The opportunity for revival is huge in this region.
However, the concern that has only intensified within me is this: Many are taking a wait and see approach. They are hungry, but they simply move from Sunday to Sunday and special event to special event hoping that God pours out that day.
On the surface that sounds great. People are hungry and want God to move. However, if we’re not careful we’ll easily embrace the Palm Sunday strategy.
We can’t simply express our desire for “Hosanna”, for saving, for deliverance and then kick back and wait for it to arrive.
In Acts 1, the disciples had a similar mindset. They asked Jesus when he was going to establish his Kingdom. They wanted Jesus to kick back into action an do the work. Jesus then said something that changed the face of history. He told them that he was leaving, and they must now do the work themselves! They were to initiate revival, to expand the Kingdom. They had a lot of serious work to do!
They transitioned from disciples to apostles (sent ones) on that day.
This is what the entire church of Detroit (and the nation, and the world) must do! It’s our responsibility to initiate and facilitate revival, the establishment of the Kingdom. It’s our job to heal and deliver. We also have a lot of serious work to do!
We CANNOT take a ‘wait and see’ approach!
If you are in the church in the Detroit region, ask yourself, “What am I doing strategically and intentionally every day and every week to initiate revival and to advance the Kingdom?”
We need everybody zealously contending individually and corporately. The churches should be packed Sunday morning, Sunday evening and many nights through the week!
The church needs every believer in position as the 24/7 church is being restored.
Let’s not just ‘hope’ and wait… but, let’s aggressively release revival in this city. Let’s do the work necessary.
As Bill Johnson says, “Nothing in the Kingdom comes outside of declaration.”
If you don’t have a service TONIGHT to attend, don’t miss the chance to contend in the presence of God with us at Revival Church! www.detroitrevivalchurch.com