Who was Billy Graham?

God chooses the unlikely, for sure. Graham was just a tall scrawny farm kid of 16 when a traveling preacher came through his little town in 1934. He loved baseball and went to church…but Billy’s heart was stolen when he was saved.

Through the second world war years, Graham attended the Florida Bible Institute and Wheaton College, where he met the daughter of a missionary to China named Ruth Bell. She soon became the partner in a life-long ministry of spreading the Good News.

As we look at his life from the vantage point of 2018, it might be hard to remember how huge this man was. How in 1957, in a post-war world that was entering a cold-war world, Graham filled Madison Square Garden for 16 weeks with those anxious to hear the voice of this giant of a preacher. Over his life, he conducted 417 crusades in 185 countries on six continents. During one crusade the crowd topped 80,000 on consecutive nights with more than 15,000 standing in the parking lot.

In Seoul, South Korea in 1973 an estimated 3.2 million people attended with 1.1 million traveling—mostly by foot—to the final service on the airstrip at Yoi-do Plaza.

But, perhaps the most attractive trait in the life and message of this man was his humble character. He recalled committing to God “in spite of his doubts and questions.” And later at a time when many evangelicals were writing books predicting the apocalypse, he calmed the waters, “leaving all the worrying about such matters that we cannot know to God,” urging his listeners to live one day at at time.

Yet he was very sure about his stand on race relations. Way back in 1957, before the Civil Rights Movement really had traction, he had added a black evangelist, Bill McCartney, a former football coach, to his staff. To me, Graham’s staying power was based in his grasp of the requirement of Christians to love each other and hence, his support of the unequivocal rights of the black minority in the U.S. which was starting to break free of repression.

When asked how someone who considers themselves a Christian can be filled with prejudice, he was very clear. “Racial or ethnic prejudice is a sin in the eyes of God, adding that “all men were purchased for God from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

Billy Graham authored 33 books and televised his Decision Minute from 680 television stations. He attended the inaugurations of eight presidents and counseled most of them. He brought millions to Christ, formed the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, he and Ruth were the recipients of hundreds of awards, and spawned a son—Franklin—who preaches with the familiar zeal and strength of his father.

For 70 years Graham dominated the world’s spiritual stage. He will be missed, but I am sure that He who sent him is very glad to have him home.

Blessings,
Nancy