Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on November 30, 2009
Last week former vice presidential candidate and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin met with Billy Graham. She had dinner with Billy as well as Franklin Graham, accompanied by some of her family. Billy Graham issued the following statement afterword:
“It was an honor having Governor Palin and her family in our home this evening. I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country. I appreciated hearing her speak of her own spiritual journey and her life in Alaska. I shared with her my own memories of preaching in the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage in 1984.
“We had an opportunity to pray together. Life in the spotlight is not easy and I pray that whatever lies ahead for this family that their faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, would remain strong and that God would put a hedge of protection around her and all those she holds dear. Sarah and her family will always be welcome in the Graham home.”
Sarah Palin is also featured on BillyGraham.org talking about facing challenges, her faith and the experience of meeting Billy Graham.
This encounter does at least add some substance to the previous comments about Palin attributed to Graham.
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on September 5, 2009
In case you were wondering, the 90-year-old ailing evangelist Billy Graham may have trouble seeing, hearing and walking—but he doesn’t have a death wish. Nor is he depressed. So his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, told Twin Cities radio station KTIS (which Billy Graham launched 60 years ago) in what seems like an answer to a question nobody asked.
“He struggles a little bit, I think, with a sense of purpose,” Lotz said.
On a positive note, she does add that he’s clear-minded, quick to pray about current events and deeply misses his late wife, Ruth Bell Graham who died in 2007.
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on July 22, 2009
Once upon a time passageway.org was the teen web site of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. But not for long.
You can still find vestiges of the teen site here. Of course none of the links work and the content has been largely pulled into Dare to Be a Daniel or dumped. But that’s OK. That’s the way of these things. Before Dare to Be a Daniel there was passageway.org. Before passageway.org there was Alive.
If I sound a little nostalgic, it’s because I worked on passageway.org for two years. Good times.
Now it seems the passageway.org url and name are being reused for a children’s curriculum series. The place holder graphic looks like Billy Graham meets Disney. Yikes.
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on June 17, 2009
You could call it “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Evangelist,” but I don’t think anyone ever describes Billy Graham as angry. At any rate, during Graham’s famous Los Angeles crusade in 1949 he preached the infamous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale offers a digital exhibit on the curious case of the 20th century’s most famous preacher borrowing a sermon from the 18th century’s most famous preacher.
What’s perhaps most interesting are the edits Graham makes to Edwards’ sermon. Graham focuses more on mercy and grace, he brings up Jesus sooner and more often, and he gives more of an Arminian slant on God’s will than Edward’s Calvinist take.
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on April 30, 2009
We’ve talked about the poem U2 frontman Bono wrote for Ruth Bell Graham before. He visited the Graham house in 2002, read poetry to Ruth and presented her with a book. A photo appeared in Decision magazine capturing the moment. But with that book of poetry Bono also included a poem he wrote about Billy Graham.
That hand-written poem is on display at the Billy Graham Library:
“The journey from father to friend
is all paternal loves end.
it was sung in my teenage ears
in the voice of a preacher
loudly soft on my tears
I would never forget this
melody line
or its lyric voice that gave my life
a rhyme,
a meaning, that wasn’t there before.
a child, born in dung and straw
with The Fathers love and desire to explain
how we might get on with each other again….”
for The Rev. Billy Graham (that preacher)
Ruth and all the Graham Family
from Bono (March 11 2002)
with much love and respect….
(Special thanks to John Schroter for taking the photo and jotting down the words.)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 27, 2009
“Sincerity is the biggest part of selling anything—including the Christian plan of salvation.”
-Billy Graham
(Texas Monthly, March 1978
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 25, 2009
“We used every modern means to reach the ear of the unconverted … and then punched them straight between the eyes with the Gospel.”
-Billy Graham
(Texas Monthly, March 1978)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 23, 2009
“I realize that my ministry would someday come to an end. I am only one in a glorious chain of men and women God has raised through the centuries to build Christ’s church and to take the gospel everywhere.”
-Billy Graham
(Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 19, 2009
“Have you ever wondered why God put you on earth, what is the purpose and meaning of life? It is to know him and to know his love.”
-Billy Graham
(Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 17, 2009
“My parents never once told me to be in at a certain time when I went out on a Friday or Saturday night date. I knew that I had to be up by three in the morning and if I stayed out past midnight I would get only a couple hours of sleep.”
-Billy Graham
(Just As I Am)
