Billy Graham

We all wanted to be him. We wanted to dress like him, wear our hair like him, walk with Presidents as he did, and win the lost as he did. We even had to fight the urge to say "The Bible says" with a North Carolina accent. All of us young preachers found in Billy Graham a prototype of what we felt in our hearts we should be.

My first remembrances of ambition included him. I guess I was maybe nine years old when I decided I wanted to play baseball like Mickey Mantle so that I could become famous and be elected President of the USA, which would lead to a popularity that would draw huge crowds to hear me preach about Jesus. Convoluted? Yes. But at least I was ending on the right note.

His preaching was so simple. The message came through loud and clear. Without Jesus, people are lost and undone; Jesus loves sinners; they can be saved if they will call upon Him. I appreciated the fact that my favorite Bible verse, John 3:16, was by far the text he most often used in his preaching.

I will post more about Billy Graham in later blogs. I have set aside a post on my Facebook wall to receive your encouraging comments about him.

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