Thankful for Billy Graham

Thankful for Billy Graham

When I heard that Billy Graham had died I immediately began to recall several of the various ways he has helped me in my Christian life. I never met him personally, but I did grow up watching him whenever he was on television and I read some of his books. For years my mother had a subscription to Decision, the monthly periodical produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which I often read cover to cover.

When I began sensing God calling me to preach, I naturally looked to Billy Graham as my model for how to do it. I thought of him as the premier preacher, so I wanted to learn from the best. When I did finally preach my first sermon, I stayed up most of the night prior trying to rework a chapter out of one of Dr. Graham’s books in order to somewhat make it my own. In the end, however, it was probably a work of plagiarism because it was mostly his words through my mouth. In time I learned to be myself, but I remain thankful that Billy Graham was there to model for me how to preach.

As the years have gone by I have come to appreciate other aspects of Billy Graham’s life, especially his devotion to prayer, his commitment to his family, and to being a man of integrity. In an era when hardly a day goes by without hearing of a new allegation of sexual misconduct and harassment, Billy Graham and his associates remained above reproach despite having tremendous popularity. I praise God that he and those around him remained free from scandal because that feat has become so rare these days.

I look forward to meeting Billy Graham when I go to be with the Lord as he has done. Until then, I pray that I will continue to preach the gospel and that God will help me to proclaim it clearly and faithfully as he did. I also pray that my prayer life, my love for my family, and my integrity will be steadfast and sure. And I will remain forever thankful for Billy Graham.