WaPo reports three former U.S. presidents came together Thursday to praise evangelist Billy Graham and help dedicate a library in his honor, a $27 million complex that traces the preacher’s rise from farm boy to the most widely heard minister in the world.
My grandmother liked Billy Graham. I never understood why. I just learned today reading an article in WaPo that both former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton recalled how Graham helped bring blacks and whites together in the South through his insistence that his crusades be racially integrated. Maybe that’s why my grandmother liked him.
Or may she knew that in 1957 Billy Graham’s New York City crusade ran for 16 weeks at Madison Square Garden. Where he recruited his first black associate, Cleveland pastor Howard Jones. He received a letter from civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. congratulating him on his efforts to end segregation.
My Grandmother has passed many years ago, Billy Graham is now 88. I have a new found respect for Billy Graham. It's too bad I found this new found respect so late in life. But it's never to late to have more respect for our fellow man.
His wife, Ruth, who is 86 is bedridden at their home with osteoarthritis. Graham has preached in person to more than 210 million people in a career spanning six decades. More HERE
Posts
2 comments:
Thanks for this info on Graham.
I was not fully aware of his background, other than the fact that he was "America's Preacher" and was a giant of the pulpit for many years. I remember watching him when I was a youngster. He was "Mega"....before there were Mega-churches.
I'm skeptical of preachers in general, but it's good to hear about those who have made a significant impact.
I have always thought that they should be judged by their works...and not by how good they can preach or by how much money they can bring in.
I find it interesting, because while my Mama can't stand that evangelical group, in general, and won't even watch them on television...
She NEVER had a bad word for Billy Graham, and he was the ONLY one she would ALWAYS watch when he was on television.
I never understood why. I always thought it was 'hype'. But, for folks of my mother's generation, they definitely distinguished Billy Graham away from the rest of the crowd.
Post a Comment