GOODBYE BILLY...YOU WALKED THE TALK

Sometimes I just sit in amazement at the times we live in and wonder what we are going to do when the ICONS of the faith are no longer around. We are in an era when one of the most gifted,totally committed preachers of the GOSPEL is at the end if a career. We have only the hope that in the future..we will be able to understand the full impact of the the ministry of Billy Graham .
We must look at the example that he is leaving us . Billy never tried to enrich himself or his family with the power that GOD gave him in the answer to the call. This simple young man, who when he answered the call, could have taken a career in baseball, where he could have easily been one of the future stars. He instead answered the call of GOD on his life and with the help of those who recognized the call..stayed the course and ventured forth into uncharted waters. My father was one of those who at the very start realized that this is a man who has been truly called. The Christian Businessmens Committee International recognized this and those who could, gave of their resources, to provide funds for this young preacher to tell the Gospel that GOD had laid on his heart. Some tithed 90% of their income and others less to get this young preacher started. It was a good investment...he never gave the world a chance to sabatoge his calling. I remember dad telling me that Billy would never meet someone of the opposite sex alone...would never enter a hotel room alone...would never put any stumbling block into the fray as the crusades increased. He wanted only to provide the truth of the word, that Jesus Christ died for our sins..wanted to redeem us..and we could, if we followed through, receive the gift of eternal life from a simple decision to accept him as our eternal Savior. It should be noted in the day that we live in with all of the brazen Tele-Evangelists..that they are not even of the same mold. Billy started with a family in Montreet North Carolina..and ended at the same address. He never gained personal wealth from the ministry GOD gave him...he wears no outlandish jewelry..no big world class car..no thousand dollar suits..no custom designed haircut..no body guards...no personal living compound..only the same staff that started with him in the early 50's. The highest paid member of the staff was by accident, the wonderful singer George Beverly Shea..who by total default, was a recording artist with RCA records receiving royalties which eclipsed the staff salaries..to his credit he became one of the biggest tithers to the ministry..Billy faced all of the normal family problems that all of us face with our off-spring. Divorce..Drugs and Substance abuse..Rebellion..etc. Yet God fullfilled His promise to the young preacher that if he stayed the course..GOD would keep HIS word. All of Billy's family is in the fold..and we have only to see that if we belive the word..GOD will keep HIS WORD. "If we raise up our children in the WORD, when they mature, they will not depart from it". So as one who has followed the career of this wonderful servant of the Gospel..I must say that, if those who want to follow in the steps of the one called..they would do well to consider the CALL...and after praying over it..find that GOD did not call them to some royal status..with the gift of wealth..opulance..and worldly possession..rather that the Gospel was not meant for a roadmap to personal fame..wealth..recognition..it was meant to save those of us in this world who need redemption..and let GOD fullfill the rest.
I must say in the final word that I am one who has felt the impact of this simple man of GOD..and I must say that of all the preachers in the world today both locally..and Nationally..this is the only one who has preached the WORD in its simple form..and has , as we would say..WALKED THE TALK..Can you think of another? So my dear one may I leave you with this Irish Blessing,"May the road rise to meet you..may the wind be always at your back..may the good LORD hold you in the palm of HIS hand.and may you be an hour in HEAVEN, before the devil knows you are dead".
See you next time on ...the deaconsays...