{"id":9164,"date":"2018-02-21T18:38:16","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T16:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=9164"},"modified":"2018-02-22T07:34:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T05:34:49","slug":"the-legacy-of-billy-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/the-legacy-of-billy-graham\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy of Billy Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today at age 99 Billy Graham passed into the presence of his Savior.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2CaSuhc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biographer Terry Whalin<\/a>&nbsp;Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone else in the history of Christianity. Over 210 million people in 185 countries heard Graham preach in person! Some estimate that around 2.5 billion have heard Graham preaching on T.V. or radio.<\/p>\n<p>His impact on the USA and on the world is probably greater than we know&nbsp; and it can be easy to just focus on the numbers but what is it about Graham&#8217;s life that allowed him to be used so greatly by God? Let&#8217;s take a look at a few of the foundational factors that made Graham one of the greatest Gospel preachers of our time.<\/p>\n<h3>Faithfulness<\/h3>\n<p>Graham himself did not seem over concerned with the numbers, when asked by Larry King in an interview how he would like to be remembered, he responded by saying:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI want to be known as someone who was faithful. When I reach heaven, the Lord will respond, \u2018Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into my rest.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Truly Graham was faithful and maybe this is one of the greatest lessons we should take from his life. He was ordained by ministers in the Southern Baptist Church in 1939 and gave his final sermon on his 99 birthday on November 7th 2017. That&#8217;s 78 years of faithfulness, a record very few people can ever achieve.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pz4pFVVMzLw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In his final message this past November he told of his desire for a spiritual awakening and gave 3 exhortations to believers.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Follow in the steps of Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Read God&#8217;s Word every day.<\/li>\n<li>Pray until you and God become intimate friends.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Graham exemplified faithfulness in ministry and gospel preaching, an example that we need to follow.<\/p>\n<h3>Infallibility of God&#8217;s Word<\/h3>\n<p>Graham stood strong on God&#8217;s Word. If it weren&#8217;t for his firm belief in the infallibility of the Bible it&#8217;s doubtful that he would have so powerfully preached the message of Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Graham&#8217;s parents built this foundation into his life from a child, biographer Terry Whalin noted:<\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;In the Graham home, the family Bible was read daily not as a ritual but as a practice established the day Billy\u2019s parents were married. The Bible was a cherished book, the very Word of God, and they sought God\u2019s help to keep the family united.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Early on in his ministry Billy wrestled with whether he could really trust the Bible. One night thinking about this question he couldn&#8217;t sleep and cried out to God in prayer.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere are many things in this book that I don\u2019t understand&#8230; There are many problems with it for which I have no solution. There are many seeming contradictions, and many areas that do not correlate with modern science&#8230; Father, I am going to accept this as your Word\u2014by faith. I\u2019m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be your inspired Word.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Graham never again doubted the trustworthiness of God&#8217;s Word and it came out in his preaching and in his life. When asked about whether you could trust the Bible he later wrote the following:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<aside>\u201cDown through the years it\u2019s been ridiculed, burned, refuted, destroyed, but it lives on. It is the anvil that has worn out many hammers. Most books are born, live a few short years, then go the way of all the earth; they\u2019re forgotten. But not the Bible.\u201d<\/aside>\n<\/blockquote>\n<aside>Oh how we need Gospel preachers who are unwaveringly committed to the infallibility of God&#8217;s Word!<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Gospel Focused<\/h3>\n<p>No one can doubt that Billy Graham&#8217;s life was about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This laser focus helped him pursue God&#8217;s calling without getting caught up in many lesser matters. In 1957 he turned down a 5 year $1 million contract with NBC in order to continue his crusades. It seems that the Gospel to him was more important that fame, security, or money.<\/p>\n<p>His Gospel preaching didn&#8217;t play soft with issues of sin and repentance but he always pointed to Jesus Christ and His work on the cross as the answer.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSin is the second most powerful force in the universe, for it sent Jesus to the cross. Only one force is greater\u2014the love of God.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Graham was clear all men are sinners, hell was real, and Jesus was the only way to salvation.<\/p>\n<p>And didn&#8217;t lose his Gospel focus as he aged.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI\u2019ve become an old man now. And I\u2019ve preached all over the world. And the older I get, the more I cling to that hope that I started with many years ago, and proclaimed it in many languages to many parts of the world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>How we need pastors and preachers with a passion for the Gospel like Billy Graham!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>For a good biography of Billy Graham check out <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2EVD7KF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Billy Graham, A Biography of America&#8217;s Greatest Evangelist&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2EVD7KF\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"9166\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/the-legacy-of-billy-graham\/51l65orhzql\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"313,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"51L65ORhZQL\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL.jpg\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9166\" src=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"313\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL.jpg 313w, https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/51L65ORhZQL-165x263.jpg 165w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today at age 99 Billy Graham passed into the presence of his Savior.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2CaSuhc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biographer Terry Whalin<\/a>&nbsp;Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone else in the history of Christianity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[500,10,204,98],"class_list":["post-9164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-billy-graham","tag-evangelism","tag-faithfulness","tag-gospel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Billy-Graham1919-2018.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-2nO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9199,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/how-to-raise-a-billy-graham\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":0},"title":"How to Raise a Billy Graham","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 21st 2018 aged 99 Billy Graham passed into the presence of his Savior. Graham preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone else in the history of Christianity. Over 210 million people in 185 countries heard Graham preach in person! Some estimate that around 2.5 billion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/billy-graham-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/billy-graham-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/billy-graham-4.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/billy-graham-4.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2477,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/how-to-love-your-enemies-and-be-a-millioniare-giver\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":1},"title":"How to Love Your Enemies and Be a Millionaire Giver","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's easy to say that we love our neighbors but how do we show that in real life? Everyone wants to be a millionaire but wouldn't it be crazy to try to give away a million dollars? Theological education is great but why are there so many seminar grads just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dr_Oh1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4824,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/unbroken-what-angelina-jolie-isnt-telling-you-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":2},"title":"Unbroken, What Angelina Jolie Isn&#8217;t Telling You!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"What Angelina Jolie left out of her new film \"Unbroken,\" changes the whole story! The film chronicles the story of Louis Zamperini who survived 47 days on a life raft in the South Pacific before being picked up by the Japanese Navy. The following two years of his life was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/unbroken.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4360,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/i-have-two-moms-and-ive-got-two-dads-honey-maid-wholesome\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":3},"title":"I Have Two Moms and I&#8217;ve got Two Dads -Honey Maid Wholesome","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I came across this video from Honey Maid, a company that is known for its Graham Crackers and whose tag line is \"This Is Wholesome!\" The video shows \"wholesome\" scenes of a boy named Issac with his family at home, praying at the table and playing with his siblings.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ministry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/wholesome.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/wholesome.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/wholesome.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1229,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/three-of-the-greatest-lessons-my-parents-taught-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":4},"title":"The 3 Greatest Lessons My Parents Taught Me","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This evening I received the following email from my mom: Last week in Sunday School Graham gave a good challenge for us--a question to ask our grown kids.\u00a0 What were the 3 most important things I taught you when you were growing up?\u00a0 I'll look forward to hearing what you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Family&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DSC05766-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DSC05766-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DSC05766-001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12595,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/6-reasons-for-lack-of-faithfulness-in-ministry\/","url_meta":{"origin":9164,"position":5},"title":"6 Reasons for Lack of Faithfulness in Ministry","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 11, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Have you ever wondered why there are fewer faithful pastors now than there was 40-50 years ago? In this episode of the podcast I talk about 6 reasons why there is a lack of faithfulness in minsitry. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Uncomfortable-Questions-on-Love-and-Marraige-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Uncomfortable-Questions-on-Love-and-Marraige-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Uncomfortable-Questions-on-Love-and-Marraige-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Uncomfortable-Questions-on-Love-and-Marraige-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Uncomfortable-Questions-on-Love-and-Marraige-3.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9164"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9172,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9164\/revisions\/9172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}