Rev. Dr. Billy Graham; Nov. 7, 1918, Feb. 21, 2018

After more than a week since his home-going, much has already been said about this giant of  a man. I do not really have anything to add, yet I cannot let his passing go without paying my tribute to this man who was such a profound influence on my life.

The quotes below are mostly those that I got from my MSN newsfeed, hardly an objective and certainly a secular source, yet not surprisingly they had only positive things to say. I say not surprisingly, as there were very few sources from anywhere that spoke ill of Billy Graham. Unlike all too many evangelists   and televangelists who became notorious for other reasons, Billy Graham practiced and lived what he preached. To use a Biblical term, he was “blameless”.

The MSN article wrote:

“Mr. Graham spread his influence across the country and around the world through a combination of religious conviction, commanding stage presence and shrewd use of radio, television and advanced communication technologies.”

They went on to say”

A central achievement was his encouraging evangelical Protestants to regain the social influence they had once wielded, reversing a retreat from public life . . . “

A comment that struck closer to home for me:

“In his younger days, Mr. Graham became a role model for aspiring evangelists, prompting countless young men to copy his cadences, his gestures and even the way he combed his wavy blonde hair.”

Although I am guilty as charged on that count, in my defense, I combed my hair that way before I noticed that he did (and yes, I did once have enough hair to comb), and some of my friends were worse even to the point of copying almost all of his sermons. The point is, he served as a role model for us at a time when there were not too many of those available aside from social gospel liberals.

Billy Graham was probably one of the last, and certainly one of the best of what I would call “crusading evangelists”, conducting meetings in stadiums, auditoriums and the like. He drew crowds that were unbelievably large, and had many more who responded to his invitations at the end of the services than did his peers or predecessors. On a few occasions he even had a larger response that did Peter at Pentecost (5000, see Acts, chapter 2).  

On last night’s TV news (I don’t remember which network) Senator Mitch McConnell said, “The man we recognize today shared the Gospel with more people, face-to-face than anyone else in history.”

Although his organization goes on, and still holds the large crusades, it is on a much smaller scale. People of today do not turn out for such things these days, but in his time, they came, and by God’s Spirit they were drawn to his meetings. The time was right, and he was the right man for the times.

Mr. Graham is quoted in the article as saying, “This is not mass evangelism, but personal evangelism on a mass scale”, and I have to attest that his organization brought a whole new dimension to the personal aspect of those meetings. I served as a counselor at a greater St. Louis crusade in the late 1960’s led by one of his associate evangelists whose name I cannot remember. Before the crusade began, we attended sessions where we were trained by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and when the invitation was given we went forward and paired up with individuals who responded. We led them in whatever their decision was (usually to ask the Lord to save them), prayed with them, and took steps to get them to link up with a Church in their neighborhood to follow up.

One other very interesting thing noted in the MSN article was that when Billy Graham was growing up in his parents’ home “his father insisted on daily readings of the Bible.” which probably accounted for his commitment to staying faithful to Biblical truth. There is a lesson in this for all of us parents and grandparents who would aspire to raising young men and women of God.

The MSN article further notes: “The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association continues to organize crusades. It also produced Mr. Graham’s “Hour of Decision” global radio program and prime-time television specials, trains thousands of evangelists and missionaries, and publishes Decision magazine. A rapid response team deploys chaplains to disaster areas.”

Finally, the article quoted Dr. Graham himself who mused the question:

“Why me Lord? Why did you choose A farm boy from North Carolina to preach to so many people, to have such a wonderful team of associates, and to have a part in what You were doing in the latter half of the 20^th century?”

I don’t know either brother Billy, but I am nearly certain that at least in part it was because you became a yielded vessel in His hands, and allowed Him to use you to carry His message.

We are indeed very blessed to have had him among us, and to have served the kingdom along with him.

On the morning that he died I read a scripture in which Malachai referred to God’s relationship with Levi in the Old Testament. I felt as though the same could be said of Billy Graham.

My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.                      Malachai 2:5-6 (ESV)

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.