Jerry Jenkins - In His Own Words: Inspirational Reflections on the Life and Wisdom of Billy Graham

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In His Own Words: Inspirational Reflections on the Life and Wisdom of Billy Graham

Copyright 2018 by Jenkins Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jenkins, Jerry B., author.

Title: In his own words : inspirational reflections on the life and wisdom of Billy Graham / Jerry B. Jenkins.

Description: Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018022137 | ISBN 9781496436436 (hc : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Graham, Billy, 1918-2018.

Classification: LCC BV3785.G69 J46 2018 | DDC 269/.2092dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022137

ISBN 978-1-4964-3645-0 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-3644-3 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-3646-7 (Apple)

Build: 2021-04-21 15:24:27 EPUB 3.0

TO STEPHANIE WILLS

Blessed is she who believed,

for there will be a fulfillment of those things

which were told her from the Lord.

LUKE 1:45

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

THE APOSTLE PAUL IN 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-2

The single most striking character trait attributed to Billy Grahamhis humilitymade him so instantly attractive that it warred against his very nature. The truly humble shun the spotlight, abhor attention, and labor to shift the focus elsewhere. In Mr. Grahams case, he pointed to Jesus.

Yet his particular modesty proved so magnetic, it made him a celebritythe label he hated most. The clich about ones presence lighting up a room could have been written for him. Everyone from waitstaff to heads of state were drawn to him, and he made Gallups annual list of the worlds most admired people sixty-one timesmore than any other man or woman.

Billy Graham never wavered from his sole message: salvation by grace through faith in the work of Christ on the cross. Yet he once lamented to me that nine of ten people on the street would tell you my message was the opposite. They believe I urged them to live right, to do more, to work harder, to go to church, to pray, to read their Biblesall wonderful things. But those will not save you. The Bible says were saved by grace through faith and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

His statistics stagger the imagination. The most famous evangelist since the apostle Paul, Mr. Graham spoke live to more than 215 million people in 185 countries over the course of more than 60 years. Yet he was never about numbers. When the press raised the subject, hed say, Its not how many people can I get into the stadium, but how many people can I get the word out to. About 3 million people indicated that they came to faith in Christ at one of his crusades.

A confidant and spiritual adviser to twelve US presidents, Mr. Graham was an early leader in civil rights, integrating his Southern meetings as early as 1953. An innovator in the use of media, Graham used radio, television, films, books, and a syndicated newspaper column to reach an audience estimated at nearly 3 billion people. He founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950 with the aim of using every means of modern communication to spread the Gospel.

Despite the staggering reach of his message, when Mr. Graham was asked how he would want his obituary to read, he said simply, That I loved the Lord with all my mind and soul and spirit. And as for his epitaph? Preacher.

How gratifying to know that despite his passing, there is no epitaph on Mr. Grahams worldwide ministry and influence. Under the leadership of his son Franklin, the work of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association continues. The organization scheduled twenty-four Gospel preaching events in ten countries in 2018 alone. BGEA also maintains a twenty-four-hour-a-day worldwide Internet presence. The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, ministers to thousands of visitors annually. The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, hosts Bible conferences year-round. And the BGEAs Rapid Response Team, created in the aftermath of 9/11, has responded to more than 350 crises in twenty countries.

In every endeavor, Billy Grahams goal was to point others to Christand that was true even when writing his autobiography. In the early 1990s, I enjoyed the unspeakable privilege of assisting Mr. Graham with that book, Just As I Am. For thirteen months I traveled to and from his home on Black Mountain in Montreat, North Carolina. I spent hours interviewing him for the autobiography, but we also spent a great deal of time in informal conversation, both at his house as well as on the road.

I took careful notes, with his permission. For this book, I not only combed through Mr. Grahams published books, articles, and interviews, but I also perused the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website and referred to our conversations.

Ill never forget those precious hours with him. My wife says that whenever I returned from Montreat, I seemed to be floating two feet off the ground.