BaptistLife.Com Forums.

Just starting the thread. I have some stuff to post but don't have time to type it up at the moment. But I thought it desirable that there be a central thread on the subject of Billy Graham and his passing.

I count my “salvation moment” as at a Billy Graham Crusade when I was nine. I understood his message of repentance and the need to turn around. As a 1st/2nd grader in Portland Oregon, I felt pushed around too much. When we moved to San Francisco area (after three successive suicides in my father’s family in Portland), I swore that would not happen again and I started many fights with anyone who challenged me including a teacher one time. Soon after that at the Billy Graham Crusade came to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I did change and into Junior High I was picked on again - fights that I did not start (I was ate physically maturing). Sports in high school (again in a differing town) helped me get over that sissy reputation.

I recall that Billy Graham Crusade at communions I take part in. Each time I try to identify sin in my life. I grew to see more interior sin as I reached adulthood and more sins of omissions (like not challenging social evils) as I have grown older.

I would say that Billy Graham's preaching definitely had an impact on what I would call my salvation moment. I understood his preaching and his invitation.

I only saw him preach in person once, in Las Vegas, back in the late 70's. I was a college student, and a bunch of us made the 4 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix to hear him. I remember that he conducted a 3 a.m. service during that crusade, especially for the casino and hotel workers, which was the highest attended service of the whole crusade.

I attended a Crusade at the Kingdome (first time I'd been in the building) when I was in high school. It did not make a spiritual impression on me as far as I can tell, but nothing did at that point. I never had much contact with him after that; might read an occasional brief newspaper column (too short to really call it a column, it was generally like a third as long as Ann Landers, which I read more often (and with whom I had dinner one time). But my general impression of him was that he was pretty good about politically staying nonpartisan, ministering to the president regardless of the latter's party affiliation or specific governmental actions. And I was aware of his support of integration at a time when that was not necessarily to be expected. So it was a bit shocking to me this week to see some FB friends expressing extreme vituperation at him and joy at his death. I'll quote a couple of pieces if I can relocate them.

I met Billy Graham personally in the summer of 1961 at Ridgecrest. It was his custom to come to Ridgecrest once during the summer to meet with staffers. Usually, every staffer not on shift would come to meet him and hear him. That night, for whatever reason there were only about 12 of us. He sat on the edge of the stage and answered questions. No subject was out of bounds. He never raised his voice. He did not preach, but we got all of our questions answered. This was a Billy Graham seldom seen.

I heard him preach at eh fairgrounds in Louisville, KY during my years at Southern. This was the Billy Graham known to all. The sermon was powerful and it was long. The strange thing was that the vendors were quietly working the crowd selling peanuts and beverages. This was not a crusade. It was a one and done moment in time.

We talked about Billy yesterday in Bible study. Our starting point was whether turning points in history come slowly or quickly. I believe that WWII and the A-bombs set the stage for Billy's success. He did many things right.

I was never in a Crusade service but I made sure to see the televised ones. Mod-libs, as evidenced over and over in this forum, considered him to be unenlightened theologically and far too much of a literalist. He believed in absolutes, so was out of fashion with the highly educated (by their own accounts). Only God knows the tremendous impact he made here and on the world scene but I suspect it has made a tremendous difference in millions of people. Franklin, while lacking anything near the charisma and deliverance-of-the-word ability, has put the Faith in practice as preached by Billy via the injunctions of Christ. He, too, is hated by the enlightened not only for reflecting Billy's approach but by the jealousy of ministers who talk the walk but do not do well in walking the talk. RIP.

My parents loved to listen to him. I made a couple of crusades, Atlanta and Columbia, and he spoke in Dallas in '72. Many of my colleagues imitated him in various ways.

Fox will appreciate that I read the 1980s bio, unauthorized, by what's his name.

I appreciated his scandal free life, the financial integrity.

Sandy, I think you must be living out of Fantasyland at the moment. When I was at Southern, the library had the "Billy Graham Center for Evangelism" and the "Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism." I never heard the kind of criticism you say was taking place. Guess I was in an alternative universe then since I never heard it.

Personally, I had a great appreciation for Billy Graham because of his refusal to conduct his crusades in the South without inter-racial cooperation. I attended his crusade in 1965 in Greenville, SC, arranged for a church group to attend one in Raleigh, NC, in the 1970's while I was recuperating from surgery, and took a group to his Charlotte, NC, meeting around 1996. His style was not my style, but I always found him authentic and humble.

Ed: After posting three examples of anti Graham post Hauro wrote "Now, I don't know enough to judge. I know some of the criticism is justified, but I don't know how much. And I'm not sure I'll find out this side of Jordan. Nor that I'll care much once I cross the river. But it is interesting to me to observe how some of my friends have a view of the guy so much at variance with others'."

Ed: Interesting yes but not surprising in that you have such a wide assortment of friends.

And let's not forget Fox's long-running thread (starting now) in the Baptist Heritage and History forum.

There was also another strong pro-Graham faculty member at SBTS when i was there. Dr. Don Hustad, Professor of Music, was the long-time organist for the Billy Graham crusades.