Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets & Evangelism

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 21, 2011

Billy Graham doesn’t like being old, regrets politics and thinks sharing the gospel is still our most important priority. Christianity Today recently interviewed Billy Graham via e-mail and asked about these issues.

When asked what he’d do differently if he had the chance, Graham said he’d spend more time with his family.

“I’d study more and preach less,” he said. “I also would have steered clear of politics.”

To the end, Graham remains committed to evangelism: “Our calling is to declare Christ’s forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this.”

Billy Graham Meets with President Obama

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on April 25, 2010

President Obama meets with Billy Graham.

U.S. President Barack Obama met with 91-year-old Billy Graham today at the evangelist’s North Carolina home. It was Obama’s first meeting with Graham, who has met with every president back to Harry Truman. The two tried to meet back in 2008 during the presidential campaign but it never happened due to scheduling conflicts. It was also Graham’s first meeting with a president in his Montreat, N.C., home.

Graham presented Obama with two Bibles, one for him and one for his wife. The two also prayed for each other.

Like other presidents before him, Obama confided with Graham how lonely, demanding and humbling the presidency can be:

“That is a discussion that Mr. Graham has had with previous presidents who realize not only the demands but the loneliness of the job. And they’re humbled by that,” [Graham spokesman Larry] Ross said. “The only way one can do the job properly is to draw on spiritual resources.”

Graham and Obama spoke for about 35 minutes over coffee. The discussion included their wives, their past history in Chicago and golf.

Sarah Palin on Meeting Billy Graham

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on November 30, 2009

Last week former vice presidential candidate and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin met with Billy Graham. She had dinner with Billy as well as Franklin Graham, accompanied by some of her family. Billy Graham issued the following statement afterword:

“It was an honor having Governor Palin and her family in our home this evening. I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country. I appreciated hearing her speak of her own spiritual journey and her life in Alaska. I shared with her my own memories of preaching in the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage in 1984.

“We had an opportunity to pray together. Life in the spotlight is not easy and I pray that whatever lies ahead for this family that their faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, would remain strong and that God would put a hedge of protection around her and all those she holds dear. Sarah and her family will always be welcome in the Graham home.”

Sarah Palin is also featured on BillyGraham.org talking about facing challenges, her faith and the experience of meeting Billy Graham.

This encounter does at least add some substance to the previous comments about Palin attributed to Graham.

Billy Graham Doesn’t Have a Death Wish

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on September 5, 2009

In case you were wondering, the 90-year-old ailing evangelist Billy Graham may have trouble seeing, hearing and walking—but he doesn’t have a death wish. Nor is he depressed. So his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, told Twin Cities radio station KTIS (which Billy Graham launched 60 years ago) in what seems like an answer to a question nobody asked.

“He struggles a little bit, I think, with a sense of purpose,” Lotz said.

On a positive note, she does add that he’s clear-minded, quick to pray about current events and deeply misses his late wife, Ruth Bell Graham who died in 2007.

The New Passageway.org

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on July 22, 2009

Once upon a time passageway.org was the teen web site of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. But not for long.

You can still find vestiges of the teen site here. Of course none of the links work and the content has been largely pulled into Dare to Be a Daniel or dumped. But that’s OK. That’s the way of these things. Before Dare to Be a Daniel there was passageway.org. Before passageway.org there was Alive.

If I sound a little nostalgic, it’s because I worked on passageway.org for two years. Good times.

Now it seems the passageway.org url and name are being reused for a children’s curriculum series. The place holder graphic looks like Billy Graham meets Disney. Yikes.

Billy Graham Preaches Jonathan Edwards

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on June 17, 2009

You could call it “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Evangelist,” but I don’t think anyone ever describes Billy Graham as angry. At any rate, during Graham’s famous Los Angeles crusade in 1949 he preached the infamous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale offers a digital exhibit on the curious case of the 20th century’s most famous preacher borrowing a sermon from the 18th century’s most famous preacher.

What’s perhaps most interesting are the edits Graham makes to Edwards’ sermon. Graham focuses more on mercy and grace, he brings up Jesus sooner and more often, and he gives more of an Arminian slant on God’s will than Edward’s Calvinist take.

Bono’s Billy Graham Poem

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on April 30, 2009

We’ve talked about the poem U2 frontman Bono wrote for Ruth Bell Graham before. He visited the Graham house in 2002, read poetry to Ruth and presented her with a book. A photo appeared in Decision magazine capturing the moment. But with that book of poetry Bono also included a poem he wrote about Billy Graham.

That hand-written poem is on display at the Billy Graham Library:

“The journey from father to friend
is all paternal loves end.
it was sung in my teenage ears
in the voice of a preacher
loudly soft on my tears
I would never forget this
melody line
or its lyric voice that gave my life
a rhyme,
a meaning, that wasn’t there before.
a child, born in dung and straw
with The Fathers love and desire to explain
how we might get on with each other again….”

for The Rev. Billy Graham (that preacher)
Ruth and all the Graham Family
from Bono (March 11 2002)
with much love and respect….

(Special thanks to John Schroter for taking the photo and jotting down the words.)

Billy Graham: Sincerity in Evangelism

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 27, 2009

“Sincerity is the biggest part of selling anything—including the Christian plan of salvation.”
-Billy Graham
(Texas Monthly, March 1978

Billy Graham: We Punched Them with the Gospel

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 25, 2009

“We used every modern means to reach the ear of the unconverted … and then punched them straight between the eyes with the Gospel.”
-Billy Graham
(Texas Monthly, March 1978)

Billy Graham on the End of his Ministry

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 23, 2009

“I realize that my ministry would someday come to an end. I am only one in a glorious chain of men and women God has raised through the centuries to build Christ’s church and to take the gospel everywhere.”
-Billy Graham
(Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador)