Billy Graham

Billy Graham

William Franklin Graham Jr.

November 07, 1918

     Evangelist

• Born in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Parents: William and Morrow Graham
• Raised on parents dairy farm
• Education: Bob Jones College, Florida Bible Institute, Wheaton College
• Age of 16 attended a series of revival meetings run by evangelist Mordecai Ham
• After high school moved to Tennessee to enroll in the conservative Christian school, Bob Jones College
• Married Ruth McCue Bell and they had 5 children. Their names are Virginia, Anne, Ruth, Franklin, and Nelson.
• Joined a Southern Baptist Convention church where he was ordained in 1939
• President of Northwestern Schools, a group of Christian schools in Minnesota
• Hosted a program called The Hour of Decision, a program ABC initially transmitted to 150 stations before reaching its peak of 1,200 stations across America.
• Preaching at an L.A. revival and was a guest on Stuart
Hamblen’s radio show in 1949 publicity made Graham a superstar
• 1952, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association created the Billy Graham Evangelistic Film Ministry as a means of distributing personal conversion stories to the public through films
• Began broadcasting his sermons globally.
• BGEA Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• Scouts would be sent to cities all over the world to reserve a venue, organize volunteer choirs and arrange speakers. At the end of these events, audience members would be invited to commit to Christ and meet with volunteer counselors.
• 1952, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association created the Billy Graham Evangelistic Film Ministry as a means of distributing personal conversion stories to the public through films
• 1958, BGEA started Decision magazine, a monthly mailer with Bible studies, articles, church histories and crusade updates
• Preached the Christian gospel to as many as 215 million people in live audiences
over 185 countries
• Credited with preaching to more individuals than anyone else in history, not counting the additional millions he has addressed through radio, television and the written word.
• Time reporter dubbed him “the Pope of Protestant America”
• "One of the Ten Most Admired Men in the World" a staggering 51 times
• Retired in 2005
• Awarded the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion, the Big Brother Award, the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, and the Speaker of the Year Award
• Recognized by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for promoting understanding between faiths, and bestowed with the Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
• Announced that he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disease similar to Parkinson's disease. His son William Franklin Graham III was chosen to take over BGEA upon his father's retirement
• Billy and his wife Ruth eventually retired to their home in Montreat, North Carolina, in 2005
• Ruth Graham passed away from pneumonia and degenerative osteoarthritis. She is remembered by her husband, five children and 19 grandchildren.
• Turned 95 in 2013
• A celebration for his 95th birthday in Asheville, North Carolina on November 2013
• Around this time, Graham released what some have called his final sermon. In a video entitled My Hope America, he expressed concern for the spiritual health of the nation. "Our country's in great need of a spiritual awakening," he said, according to a report in USA Today. "There have been times that I've wept as I've gone from city to city and I've seen how far people have wandered from God."

JUST a FEW of his BOOKS
…Just as I Am …The President’s Devotional
…Billy Graham …The Reason for My Hope: Salvation
…The Billy Graham Story …The Heaven Answer Book
…Nearing Home with Grace … Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing
…Hope for Each Day     Well
…Angels …A Catholic looks at Billy Graham
…Unto the Hills …Peace with God
…The Billy Graham Christian Worker's Handbook
…Invitation: Billy Graham and the Lives God Touched
…The Legacy of a Couple: Ruth & Billy Graham
…Billy Graham: A Life in Pictures
…The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House
…Billy Graham, God's Ambassador: A Celebration of His Life and Ministry
…The Heaven Answer Book
…Answers to Life’s Problems
…Death and the Life After-Slightly Imperfect
…The Key to Personal Peace …Hope
…Angels   …Day by Day
…God’s Blessings of Christmas …Wisdom for Each Day
…The Secret of Happiness …The Holy Spirit







QUOTES

“God never takes away something from your life without replacing it with something better.”

“The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.”

“I've read the last page of the Bible; it's all going to turn out all right.”

“Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears she for others is a sign of strength.”

“When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. 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. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

“Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion; it is like a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.”

“My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world.”

“God has given us two hands--one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.”

“We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.”

“A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.”

“Therefore i live for today-certain of finding at sunrise guidance and strength for the way.
Power for each moment of weakness, hope for each moment of pain, comfort for every sorrow,
sunshine and joy after rain!”

“It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge and my job to love.”

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”

‎"Sincerity is the biggest part of selling anything -- including the Christian plan of salvation.”

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

“World events are moving very rapidly now. I pick up the Bible in one hand, and I pick up the newspaper in the other. And I read almost the same words in the newspaper as I read in the Bible. It’s being fulfilled every day round about us.”


I was so fortunate to meet Billy Graham and his wife Ruth when I was a student at the St. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College in St. Petersburg, Florida. When I would see Billy and Ruth downtown or walking on the beach barefoot I just stopped and looked at them.  They were such a good looking couple. The President of Florida Bible Institute that was located on the outskirts of Tampa was Dr. W.T. Watson (Christian & Missionary Alliance church) and a close friend of Dr. Charles M. Leaming (President of the S. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College).  Billy was a student there for almost four years.  During his time there I was a student at the St. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College. Classes were held in the Sunday school classes at Faith Temple located at 950 Fifth Avenue South.  The students of both colleges got together often for graduations, special dinners, seminars that helped not only me but all who worked as counselors, singing in the choir, ushers, greeters at every meeting and kneeling at the altar praying with the innumerable people that came forward in the evangelistic meetings to accept Jesus as their personal Savior that were held in the St. Petersburg-Tampa area.

It has been such a thrill and blessing to experience how HE has used Billy and Ruth Graham to minister to so many people on every continent in my life time.