Scripture:
John 3:13-21
Reflection:
We began this series on Great Christians in the History of the Church in October 2020 with Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who was born in the late 1st century AD. Now, we finally come to one
who died within our lifetime. Following in the line of D. L. Moody (see previous blog), Billy Graham is described as an ‘Evangelist and Christian Statesman’ – such was his reputation and fame amongst Christians and non-Christians alike.
Liberalism spread within the church in the early to mid 20th century. It arose out of the Enlightenment period of the late 17th to late 18th century, when reason and rationalism through science came to the fore. Liberal Christians no longer accepted the Scriptures as literal truth, deeming them incompatible with scientific discoveries and reasoned logic. Original sin, miracles, and the deity of Jesus were among the teachings questioned in an attempt to remove the ‘superstition’ from Christianity.
From the early 1940’s a biblically-based movement emerged to counter liberalism, led in the UK by the likes of Rev. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Billy Graham became one of the leaders of this counter-movement after the 2nd World War. He made it clear that he stood firmly on the authority of the Bible as the Word of God, and taught an orthodox faith. His famous ‘catchphrase’ was ’The Bible says…’
Graham was raised in the countryside of North Carolina, where he helped with the chores around the family farm. The family were church-goers, and Billy was converted during an evangelistic crusade at the age of sixteen. He trained at a Bible Institute in Tampa, Florida. There he had his first encounter with street preaching and was ordained as a Baptist Minister aged 21. He went on to gain a degree in anthropology, and meet and marry Ruth Bell, the daughter of a missionary surgeon in China. Graham pastored a small Baptist church in Chicago for two years, in which time he was invited to speak on a Sunday evening radio programme called 'Songs in the Night'. In 1945, he became a full-time evangelist with Youth for Christ, speaking regularly at Saturday night rallies.
Graham began to tour America, and made a brief trip to England and Europe in 1946. This brought an invitation to return, which he did in the winter of 1946-47, accompanied by musician (and ordained Baptist Minister) Cliff Barrows. They visited twenty-one British cities and held three hundred and sixty meetings!
Graham then formed an evangelistic team, which included singer George ‘Bev’ Shea, and despite some early failures which caused some kind of spiritual crisis in Graham, things turned in 1949. A campaign due to last three weeks in Los Angeles was extended to eight, and he came to fame through the conversion testimonies of some notable gangsters.
In 1950, Graham reorganised his team, and developed new methods of operating. He would never visit a town or city without an invitation from the local churches, and prior to the crusade, they would train ‘counsellors’ to meet and follow up new converts, linking them with a local church.
Graham conducted his evangelism in a similar way until he was no longer able to continue. In 1954 he led a three-month crusade at Harringay Arena in London. At first, many church leaders were suspicious of him and the Press was very antagonistic. This soon gave way, however, when they heard his honest approach. Further crusades were held in Scotland, Wembley and Cambridge in 1955, Manchester (1961), Earls Court (1966), Sheffield (1973), and other places during Mission England in 1984 and 1989. Some later crusades were beamed by satellite across the country, where screens were set up. He returned to Scotland in 1991.
During his 1955 crusades, he met with members of the Royal family, and preached before the Queen at Windsor Castle. He also prayed at the inauguration ceremony of 4 US Presidents.
Graham travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Japan, India, Singapore, Brazil, and several Communist states of Eastern Europe. In all, he is thought to have preached to live audiences of 201m people in 185 countries. More than 3.2m people are thought to have responded to the invitation he always gave to ‘accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.’
Graham remained a humble man to the end. Despite his fame, and many invitations to enter politics, he stayed faithful to his calling until his death in 2018 aged 99, when his passing made headline news across the world. Here is a tribute from the Baptist Union. His funeral was attended by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives.
Graham’s legacy is huge. He used his fame to influence political leaders, but as a result he was embroiled in the Watergate scandal, due to his loyalty to Richard Nixon. Many of his converts went on to become significant church leaders, and thousands converted under his preaching continued in their faith to the end.
Prayer:
A prayer by Billy Graham
Our Father and our God, we pray that… we all might be conscious that Thine eye is upon us. If God can see the sparrow fall, if He has the hairs of our head numbered, we know that He watches us, that He loves us, that He cares for us, and we’re told in Thy Word that He cares for us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to the cross to die that we might find forgiveness of our sins. We pray… that Thy Holy Spirit will draw all men unto the Saviour, for we ask it in His Name. Amen.
Songs:
I’d rather have Jesus – sung by George Beverley Shea
Because He lives – Chosen by Billy Graham to be sung at his funeral
Food for Thought:
Thank God for the legacy of Billy Graham’s faithful service as an evangelist.
Pray that more may be raised up to follow in his footsteps, using the opportunities of modern means of communication.
PICTURE 1: At the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993
PICTURE 2: Billy Graham's Wembley Crusade 1954