I join with Christians around the world today to mourn the passing of our brother.
I never knew Billy Graham, but felt like I did! Maybe it was because when he talked and preached, you thought he was talking to you. As a young preacher looking up to him, he was the gold standard. And as was noted in one extended tribute in the US media today, he remained scandal-free. That wasn’t easy to do–even if he was scandal-free, it’s hard to keep public perception from at least thinking there’s a scandal involved, somewhere. It seems that being so close to President Richard Nixon, who was not scandal-free, is about as close as he got to dirt.
Many who knew him well will write and report today. These few words of mine are reflections from someone who didn’t know him; but even so, you can see what an impression he made on my life! (Makes me wonder: what kind of impression and impact do we leave on people that we ourselves don’t personally know, but they “know” us?)
I remember the first time I saw him live and in person was in the Atlanta Crusade of 1973. I can still see him in my mind’s eye striding across the field of Atlanta Stadium (where my beloved Atlanta Braves played) to assume the podium. He was striking, handsome, calm, assured, and seemingly in-control. He was showing up for work! And he knew what needed doing. Goodness, I admired him.
I was familiar with him through his writings, his TV broadcasts, his Decision magazine, and believe it or not, a phonograph record we owned which I remember listening to of some of his sermons (that’s really old school!). The content of one of those, about the Bible, stays with me to this day. That’s what I call good preaching. I could go on about his films, which were really popular in the 1960s through 80s, and which led me to decision-making and discipleship.
My wife Bekah and I attended, at his cost (funded through a generous foundation friend of his) his crusades and accompanying Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism in Boston in 1982, and in Orlando 1983. Those were powerful events for training and mentoring of a young pastor. They left a deep impression on me. I was a young pastor, working daily on my own (it seemed) trying to “figure out ministry”, and was hungry, and he fed me through his excellent faculty and staff, and through his own engagements with us as a large group.
I think today of some of the intersections I’ve had with him: a former boss of mine, Neville, was converted to Christ at Billy’s Melbourne crusade of 1959. One of our dearest pastor friends, Dr. Jim Kilgore of Canton, GA, was converted to Jesus watching The Hour of Decision on television, and was later invited by Billy Graham to attend and work at the New York Crusade in 1957. (I have put Pastor Jim’s comments below in a separate reply which he wrote for his local newspaper. I predict you will love reading those!) Billy Graham served for a few years on the board of directors of the organization I’ve been with for more than 30 years (doing so before I joined). Billy Graham gave the keynote address at the founding of Oral Roberts University, which is the university I graduated from. It was not just riveting, but prophetic. The film record of that talk is stunning. Kind of takes your breath away. The powerful book Unbroken, the story of WWII pilot Louie Zamperini, covers in a remarkable way Louie’s conversion at the Los Angeles crusade of 1949. As the son of a WWII veteran, that book impacted me in a great way—and as I was reading about Louie floating in the Pacific during 47 or so days of WWII and then going to a POW camp, I had no idea it would lead to the LA Crusade. I was privileged to spend part of a day a few years ago with Leighton Ford, who married Billy’s sister. Quite a family! I have been privileged to visit his Library and Museum in Charlotte. Amazing place. I also attended a meeting for a few days at The Cove near Asheville, NC…again, a special spot of ground. (And his soloist George Beverly Shea made an appearance while we were there—Bev was 100 at the time?! Smiling and happy.)
When I got the news today, I got on my knees, and thanked God for his life. I prayed for his family. I reached on my shelf and took out his autobiography Just As I Am, and have placed it on my desk. My mind has been racing and also pausing for periods of reflection. Tears have come freely. I’m not even sure why, but they have.
Two stories come to mind. One is how he encountered a famous pastor in Boston during his 1950 Crusade who admitted to him that he had been consumed with praying for and wanting to be the one to lead revival in New England—but God chose a “young preacher named Billy Graham to do that!” The pastor was confessing through tear-stained eyes and a wet face that he had extreme jealousy and he was dealing with God about it. He stepped aside and let God use Billy if that was His choice! Powerful lesson.
Secondly, and I’ll close with this one, I remember that he was once asked in a press conference, and I believe it was during one of his London crusades, “Mr. Graham, why do you think that God has used you to be the evangelist for the world?” His face brightened, and he said with the humility that characterized his life and ministry: “That’s the first question I’ll ask when I get to heaven!”
I reckon he’s done that today.
Please feel free to leave comments below. I will cherish them.
Freddy Boswell 
Powerful, powerful testimony. How the world could use a dozen preachers like Billy Graham today!
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What a well written testimony! I myself have a book that is called ten boys who changed the world and billy Graham was one of them! And what do you know? Your testimony is even more descriptive. I loved It! https://conqueringourdemons.wordpress.com
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thank you! He’s easy to write about!!
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Billy graham really used his life to the fullest
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Amen. Thanks, Alan. “Lord, do it again!”
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Oh Freddy. Thanks so much. My littlest sister went to be with the Lord on Monday this week. Only 63. Busy week in heaven!
One of Billy’s quotes “if anyone says I died just say it’s not true. I just changed addresses!”
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Oh, wow, condolences Toney! God’s grace to y’all!
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Love the quotation on changing addresses!
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Comments in from friend Ray Sherwood: One of the many blessings of growing up in Minnesota was being able to regularly travel to Minneapolis to hear Billy Graham speak: in crusades, at churches, etc. I will never know why Minnesota was blessed to be the worldwide headquarters (during it’s first few decades before they moved to North Carolina) of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for this North Carolina preacher? But I’m glad….Non-descript one-story brick building (large, but non-descript) in downtown Minneapolis. No signs on the building. No signs on the loading docks. No signs on the street. No big entrance. The entrance to the main lobby was double glass doors with “Billy Graham Evangelistic Association” in gold leaf on the glass – the only place on the outside you’d even know it was his building. Simple lobby with a receptionist, a few plants and a few guest chairs. All of it said “Billy Graham” in its understatedness.
Back to Freddy: I remember as a boy, in the “old days” of US Mail service, the TV crusades’ broadcasts closed with Cliff Barrows telling the audience, “Write to Billy Graham, Minneapolis, MN…that’s all the address you need!”
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Freddy, I have loved this daily devotional but your very personal remembrances today very heartfelt and special. May we all finish the journey as strong.
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Thank you, Bryan….and not to trivialize, or just “make things fit”, but noticing that his passing during Lent has crossed my mind today that Billy spent his life in service to the Sacrificed Lamb and Risen Son–this is the season of extra reflection on our Savior and those themes!
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These are the comments I referenced above from Pastor Jim Kilgore:
This is the article I wrote for our local newspaper today. Pastor Jim
My Friendship with Billy Graham by James E Kilgore (for the Cherokee Tribune)
Since 1957 one of the high points of the Christmas season has been to open the envelope that was mailed from Black Mountain, N C and to receive a card with a personal signature “Billy Graham.” Until 2007 when Ruth (his wife died) her signature was there too. I was blessed to call them friends. Today I was saddened to learn of his death.
Of course, he has only left earth and is living in eternity. Because of his ministry I will be too in the future. It began for me in 1950 when Dr. Billy Graham came to Atlanta for his first evangelistic campaign in Ponce de Leon Ball Park (then home of the Atlanta Crackers). It was a cold Fall and the tent was heated by large portable units. My church choir director got me into the tenor section for most of the services. Later in 1951 I was watching the Hour of Decision television ministry and heard Billy Graham ask, “Do you want peace?” Something deep inside me said, “Yes.” He went on to say, “You will never know peace until you know the Prince of peace, Jesus Christ.” I slipped out of the room where the television was located and knelt beside a bed and received Christ as my Savior. My life has never been the same.
After being ordained to the ministry in 1954 I was invited to preach as youth speaker in the Montreat Presbyterian Church where the Graham’s oldest daughter, Gigi, attended. Through our friendship I was invited to their mountaintop farm house to meet the Grahams. I was also fortunate to get to know Cliff Barrows, who was a Greenville resident. He too was a gracious and joyous presence whenever he was around.
By 1957 I was a senior at Bob Jones University (where Dr. Graham had attended briefly). The school took the position that Billy Graham was compromising by inviting people from all the mainline churches to be part of his evangelistic efforts. I refused to sign a pledge not to support the New York Crusade and was dismissed from the campus just before my graduation. Dr. Graham called and invited me to join the team for the New York Crusade. I was privileged to say yes.
I worked in the office relating to church groups from all over the New England area who were bringing bus loads to Madison Square Garden. The crusade was scheduled for four weeks but was extended for 16 to accommodate the people wanting to be a part of what was happening. Thousands of people came forward at the invitations to accept Christ.
As a team member, I sat in a box at the Garden for one service with Mrs. Cliff Barrows and Mrs. Ruth Graham. Several rows in front of us was a blonde woman wearing a scarf and dark glasses. Her name was Marilyn Monroe. Later when I learned of her death, I prayed that her life was impacted that night.
Dr. Graham was a tall (6’2”) and handsome man but you didn’t have to be around him long to know that deep within him a special fire burned to witness to the Christ Who had changed in life in a tent revival when evangelist Mordecai Ham was preaching in North Carolina. God gave him a special witness. One of the occasions that was illustrated was when he went to Israel to preach. A group of reporters asked him if he expected to convert the Jews. He paused and said, “I’ve always wanted to come to see the places where Jesus lived on earth, but most of all I wanted to thank this nation because it was a Jew that changed my life.”
I will ever be grateful to God that He used Billy Graham to change my life. When he hears the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” I have no doubt his response will be, “Thank you, Jesus!”
To know Billy Graham was a privilege but his most important gift for any of us was to introduce us to the Christ he loved and proclaimed. For that I thank God!
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Thanks, Freddy, for these thoughts on Billy Graham. You always touch our hearts with your words. We are blessed daily with your Lenten Devotionals. Our story of Billy Graham is that when our family all went to his crusade in Anaheim. Our granddaughter was 4 at the time. She asked why everyone was going forward. I replied that they were going forward to ask Jesus into their hearts. She said, “Why aren’t we all going”? We asked if she wanted to do that and she said, “Yes”! So, her daddy took her forward and she did just that! Praise God for Billy Graham and his heart for the lost.
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That is a great story! Thanks so much for sharing it! ….this man touched so many lives…it’s just mind-boggling!…
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Excellent, Freddy. Just hearing you tell about taking out Billy Graham’s autobiography and placing it on your desk, struck a chord in my heart. Perhaps it’s the title, Just As I Am, the song that has always connected me with Brother Graham and that has accompanied countless throngs to their true freedom.
… and that Thou bidst me come to Thee, oh Lamb of God, I come. I come.
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Thanks, Mark—now that you mention it, that title really hits home, doesn’t it?! Man, you can just see these guys streaming forward…
Did you ever read his final book, Nearing Home…i remember he said when you’re in your 50s you don’t think about dying, but as you age it becomes more and more in your thoughts…it’s a powerful testimony.
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Dear Freddy, thanks for sharing! As a college sophomore, I attended a national gathering of Youth for Christ that was held in Urbana, Illinois. Billy Graham was the keynote speaker. I’ll never forget how “used” his Bible was as he held it in his hand and preached to us. Somehow that memory, accompanied by the sound of George Beverley Shae’s voice, set the tone for my life in Bible translation. God bless. Phil
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Powerful, Phil. What a great memory! He had an amazing influence on Bible Translation, including your entry. thank you for sharing.
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Thanks Freddy, for your remarkable witness to Billy Graham’s impact on your life…on the life of so many. As president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I had many opportunities to have personal moments with him. He was not a trained theologian, but an ardent advocate for theological education. As one of the Founders of the Seminary, he encouraged, he supported, he led the way. His vision was to have the most effective Seminary on the East Coast dedicated to preparing Preacher’s of the Gospel. He modeled that vision for us all. He was a true Mentor! The personal moments with Mr. Graham are jewels in my crown of memories. He enriched my life in so many ways. Now he rests in eternal peace as we await the final redemption that he proclaimed with eloquence and fervor.
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Bob, this is such a powerful word. Thank you for sharing and giving us a glimpse, as the former President of Gordon-Conwell Seminary, the impact that Billy Graham had there. I love your last sentence as a summary statement for us to meditate on!
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