Nana's posts with tag: billygraham
 A hero? Not your typical hero..but one, to me, nevertheless. I've truly respected and admired Billy Graham for so many years. I was thinking since he is now close to 89 years old and suffering from Parkinson's Disease, it might not be long before he goes to see his Heavenly Father. What a crown he'll receive!
I found a page that listed him as a historical hero. :) I consider him one for the simple fact that he has presented the Gospel to over 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. I've never heard this following account but found it very interesting and inspiring:
In 1954 Billy Graham launched a crusade in Great Britain. The British had lost their great empire after World War II. They once bragged the sun never set on their empire. And oh, how they had relished all their colonies, especially India, their Crown 'Jewel'. But one by one the colonies had gained their independence. Now all seemed lost. They were filled with hopelessness and cynicism. Many in Britain looked at Billy's trip to 'save' them with anger and contempt. Reporters certainly did not welcome Billy Graham. In fact they openly harassed him at the dock when he arrived.
"Would Jesus travel on a luxury liner?" scoffed a reporter.
"Do you really think you can save England?" sneered another.
"Just how much money do you plan to haul out of England?" needled another reporter.
The crusade nevertheless went very well - enormous crowds and many 'enquirers' - but the press remained unrelentingly hostile. To them Billy was a phony, a moneygrubber, a hypocrite. A proud man would have fumed under the unfair attack. Not Billy. He just determined to meet as many of the press as possible. His goodness and humility melted them one by one. One Daily Express columnist admitted he goaded Billy unmercifully during an interview. But suddenly he was overwhelmed by the realization:
...he is a good man. I am not sure he isn't a saintly man...But make no mistake about this. Billy Graham is a remarkable man...it is a bitter pill to swallow...(after Graham left me) my eyes were scalding with tearsâ¦
Yes, that reporter broke down in tears from shame. But after three months of the crusade Billy had yet to meet his most vicious attacker - a man who wrote for the Daily Mirror as 'Cassandra'. In polite flattering letters Billy asked again and again to meet with him. Finally Cassandra agreed - if Billy would meet him in a particularly nasty pub where every other word uttered was a cuss word. He was sure Billy would not show up. But he did.
Days later 'Cassandra' wrote in his column:
(Billy Graham has) a kind of ferocious cordiality that scares ordinary sinners stone cold...He came into the Baptist's Head (pub) absolutely at home - a teetotaler and an abstainer able to make himself completely at home in the spit and sawdustâ¦a difficult thing to do. I never thought that friendliness had such a sharp cutting edge. I never thought that simplicity could cudgel us sinners so (expletive deleted) hard. We live and learnâ¦The bloke means everything he saysâ¦
When Billy finally returned to America the British press was friendly, even sorry to see him go. He had won them over not with intelligence or charm or scheming but with humility born of love. Why is the virtue of humility so essential to heroes?
Jesus spoke on the virtue of humility:
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
(Matthew 5:5 NIV)
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
(Matthew 11:29 NIV)
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:4 NIV)
I liked these quotes that I found attributed to Billy Graham:
"My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ."
"If you find a perfect church don't join it: You'd spoil it."
And my favorite, plain and simple.....
"I have one message: Jesus Christ came; He died on a cross; He rose again. He asks us to repent of our sins and receive Him by faith as Lord and Savior. And if we do, we have forgiveness of all our sins.
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