Billy Graham’s Dating Rules

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)

Billy Graham’s Purpose

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 12, 2009

“My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ.”
-Billy Graham
(Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador)

Cat Bites Won’t Stop Billy Graham

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on March 5, 2009

If you ever needed a reason to hate cats, this may be it: Billy Graham’s cat keeps biting him. The Ashville Citizen-Times gave an update on Billy Graham’s health, from his grandson, Will Graham.

“He’s 90—I think that’s about the best way to describe it,” said Will Graham. “He has good days and bad days.”

Will Graham added that an electronic stunt has made a marked difference in Graham’s health. He also added that a cat given to Billy Graham for his birthday has been continually biting his hands. Graham, a dog lover, has tolerated the cat:

“He said, ‘That’s OK—it lets me know I’m still alive,’” Will Graham said.

Bono Writes a Song for Ruth Graham

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 26, 2009

The Billy Graham-Bono connection goes a little deeper as we discover an interesting tidbit: U2 frontman Bono wrote a song for Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth Bell Graham. A Washington Times story about the 2005 New York Crusade, billed as Graham’s last, included this bit about the rock band U2:

The evangelist geared the evening to young people, intertwining mentions of the rock group U2, St. Augustine and MTV. U2’s lead vocalist Bono, visited him and his wife at their Montreat, N.C., home,  he said, and composed a song for Ruth Graham.

“In his song, he said we are ‘estranged by sin and bones,’ ” he said.

Which raises the obvious question for U2 and Billy Graham fans: Where is this song? So far a U2 song with the lyrics “estranged by sin and bones” hasn’t surfaced, and it doesn’t look the song will appear on U2’s latest studio album, No Line on the Horizon, which comes out next week.

Billy Graham’s Heir: The Rebellious Franklin Graham

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 25, 2009

A 1996 TIME magazine article explores the passing of the evangelistic baton from Billy Graham to his oldest son, Franklin Graham. It has a number of interesting tidbits about the rebellious Franklin:

• Billy Graham had asked evangelist John Wesley White to encourage Franklin in preaching. In 1983 White gave Franklin a chance to share his testimony in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in front of 1,000 people. Not a single one came forward. Franklin later told White: “Don’t you ever ask me to do that again. I’m not Billy Graham!”
• The article also described Franklin Graham’s rebellious streak growing up and the lengths his mother, Ruth Bell Graham, had to go to keep him in line: “On another occasion the mother, provoked beyond reason during a fast-food jaunt, locked her son in the car trunk. When she opened it again, he cheerily placed his order for ‘a cheeseburger without meat, French fries and a Coke.’”
• Some of the details are a little more frightening: “In 1987 neighbors called the local sheriff when he took on the task of chopping down a neighbor’s tree—with 720 rounds of machine-gun fire from a borrowed weapon.” Later in the article it adds: “His only known explanation was that he hadn’t realized it would require so many rounds.”
• The article primarily covers Franklin’s ascension to the leadership of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which it describes as the “Rolls-Royce of revival ministries.” The article notes that Franklin once said, “I wouldn’t touch BGEA leadership with a 10-foot pole,” though he said he would consider it if Billy Graham asked him. Despite reservations from other board members, that’s eventually what happened.
• There’s also the interesting ‘what if’ that some board members, Billy Graham included, publicly considered the idea of shutting down the BGEA after Billy was gone.

Billy Graham on Bono’s Social Crusading

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 24, 2009

“Few people of our day are more committed to using their celebrity for the cause of the poor around the world than my friend Bono.”
-Billy Graham
(endorsement for the book On the Move, which features Bono’s speech at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast)

Layoffs at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 23, 2009

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association doesn’t seem to be immune from the economic downturn. Maybe. Last week the organization founded almost 60 years ago by Billy Graham announced the layoff of 55 employees, though the organization says it’s not due to a decline in donations:

“I think people see much more of a need to continue to minister to those who are much more in need and need our services, as well as other ministry services. But in this case, it causes us to take pause and make sure, although this ministry has always been very good financially at making sure we are using the funds that we are entrusted with correctly. I think we continue to do that,” said Ken Barun, a senior VP at the BGEA (if that made you scratch your head, join the club).

Laid off employees will receive severance and job search assistance. The BGEA recently cut back about 100 positions when the organization relocated to Charlotte, N.C., in 2002-2003.

Update: The Ashville Citizen-Times has more (including readable Barun quotes) and the Charlotte Business Journal notes that a company spokesperson said, “the poor economy hastened the association’s plans to reduce costs and boost efficiency.”

Billy Graham on Twitter

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 18, 2009

Billy Graham has joined the Twitter frenzy. What’s Twitter? It’s kind of a mini-blog application where people can share updates of 140-characters or less. These updates can be shared from a computer or cell phone and are valued for their brevity.

BGEA
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has an official Twitter feed that offers links and updates about what the BGEA is doing and what’s new on their web site. In addition to pointing to quality content, BGEA on Twitter can also hook you up with some inside information. According to the feed, the BGEA is working on a redesigned web site.

Cliff Barrows
Billy Graham’s long-time song leader, the 86-year-old Cliff Barrows, also jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Is it really him? He notes that his wife Ann does the typing and he dictates: “I’m 86 and learning. Staying relevant to the times and anchored to the rock.” He also says, “Old soldiers never die, just fade away.” Awesome. When most people on Twitter talk about getting on their scooter to get some ice cream, it’s an entirely different visual.

Billyspot
You can also find the Billyspot on Twitter. We’re cranking out updates on Billy Graham, quotes, links and other fun stuff.

That’s Not Billy Graham’s Prayer

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 17, 2009

More than a few e-mails have been flying around since last fall claiming to be Billy Graham’s prayer for our nation. The prayer includes lines like:

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

It’s a powerful prayer. But it’s not Billy Graham’s prayer. More than a few folks have debunked it, including Snopes, Truth or Fiction, Trans World News, Bible Belt Blogger and more. It’s actually a 1996 prayer that pastor Joe Wright gave to open a session of the Kansas House of Representatives (and he based it on a 1995 prayer by Bob Russell).

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Focuses on End Times

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on February 16, 2009

It’s the end of the world as we know it. Or at least that’s what the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will focus on in 2009.

“The Bible teaches that Jesus is coming again,” writes Billy Graham, “And I don’t see any other hope, because we’re heading toward a catastrophe in our world.”

Even Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, is getting in on the act. She recently spoke at the National Religious Broadcasters convention: “I believe we’re living in the last generation before he comes back.”

No theological qualms with the BGEA’s focus (though perhaps with Lotz’ emphasis—how many preachers throughout history have said what she did?), but is it really news? Billy Graham has talked about the end times his entire career, including at least three books on the subject (World Aflame, 1965; Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1983; Storm Warning, 1992). The second coming of Christ is hardly new ground for Billy Graham.