Billy Graham: Family, Ministry, Awards, and More

Reverend, preacher and Baptist minister, today we will tell you about the incredible life of Billy Graham, the evangelical reverend who made history and influenced the highest spheres of the United States.

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Billy with his son, Franklin Graham.

Billy Graham: First Steps

On November 7, 1918, William Franklin Graham Jr., known worldwide as Billy Graham, was born on a farm dedicated to milk production, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

From a very young age, Graham was introduced to the Presbyterian Church, a Reformed church with origins in Scotland, which is governed by sessions or assemblies made up of representatives of the community, generally the elders.

When in 1933, the Prohibition Law within the United States expires, his father William Franklin Graham I, decides to force him and his sister to drink so much beer that they both ended up vomiting the drink.

This fact marked the reverend's life forever, since it marked the beginning of a strong repulsion towards drugs and alcohol that lasted all his life.

In the year 1934, when he was only 16 years old, Billy decided to convert to the gospel or what is the same, he converted to Christ. This event occurred during a series of revival events conducted by Mordecai Ham (evangelist), held in his native Charlotte.

It should be noted that Graham attended these events, encouraged by a worker on his family's farm. Despite his conviction, he was not allowed to join a local church group where all the members were young.

Studies

In 1936, he graduated from Sharon High School and began his journey at Bob Jones College, now Bob Jones University, a private evangelical school.

The boy only lasted one semester at this university, he was not able to get along with the legalism with which the classes were taught, nor with which the established norms were treated.

Bob Jones Sr., director of the institution, advised Graham on several occasions not to be expelled, the man believed that the young man had an attractive voice that could be used by God himself to transmit his message.

In Cleveland, where this university was (and still is) located, he met Pastor Charley Young belonging to the Eastport Bible Church, who guides and influences Billy during this period of his life.

By 1937, he was studying at Trinity College, a biblical institute in Florida, where he says he received "the call." However, he would be at Wheaton College, based in Illinois, where he would graduate in 1943 as an anthropologist.

During his stay in this school, it is when he strongly accepts that the Bible is the representation of God's wishes (God's word). Henrietta Mears, educational director of the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, is said to have influenced this decision.

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Family

In the same year of his graduation, 1943, Graham married Ruth Bell, with whom he met in classes during his time at Wheaton. Coincidentally, Ruth's parents were two Presbyterian missionaries who were on assignment in China.

The marriage took place just two months after graduation and they eventually moved into a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains designed by Ruth herself.

There is a rule known as "The Billy Graham Rule", a personal rule established by the Reverend not to be alone with a woman who was not his wife, in this way he thought to avoid misunderstandings.

Ruth and Billy had five children, three girls, Virginia "Gigi" Graham born 1945, Anne Graham Lotz born 1948 and founder of AnGeL Ministries, and Ruth Graham founder of Ruth Graham & Friends (born 1950).

While the two men are, Franklin Graham (b. 1952) director of an organization dedicated to international aid, called Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association; and Nelson "Ned" Graham born 1958, pastor of East Gates International.

The couple has 19 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren, including one of the grandchildren, Tullian Tchividjian, is a pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. Ruth Bell died on June 14, 2007 at the age of 87.

Ministry

While attending college, he served several times as a pastor at the United Gospel Tabernacle Church, near his alma mater.

Also, between 1943-1944, he served as pastor at the Village Church located in Illinois. At this time, the radio show of his friend Torrey Johnson, who was a pastor at Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, was in dire need of funding.

In order not to cancel the program, Graham advocated in his church so that the economic resources they received were used as a means of financing.

The Reverend began to take care of the program, keeping the original name and relaunching it on January 2, 1944 with George Beverly Shea as manager of the radio area.

In 1945, he stopped being part of the radio program to later, in 1947, become president of Northwestern Bible College in Minnesota, at the age of 30, a position he held until 1952.

Originally, Billy aspired to be a chaplain in the Armed Forces of his country, but this was impossible after contracting mumps. Upon his recovery, he served as the first evangelist in the organization Youth for Christ International (JPI), founded by Charles Templeton and Torrey Johnson.

Thanks to this new position, he was able to travel throughout the United States and see part of Europe, even though his training in theology was very limited.

Following this, Charles Templeton tried to influence Graham to get a higher degree in theology, but the latter refused to enroll in any institute.

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The rise

In 1949, Billy became a major figure in the American religious world, becoming known for organizing a revival in Los Angeles.

William Randolph Hearst, was closely related to the recognition that the reverend obtained from this event, since the journalist commissioned the editors of his newspaper to support and spread it.

Hearst considered that Billy was a respectable man and admired his great capacity for repercussion on young people, in addition, he believed that through him, it was possible to spread the anti-communist and conservative ideas that the journalist had.

Thanks to Hearst's support, the campaign lasted five weeks longer than originally planned, lasting eight weeks in total. The most curious thing is that the two men never got to know each other personally.

Campaigns

At the beginning of his ministry, he was dedicated to renting premises, stadiums, parks and even entire streets, he came to gather up to five thousand people to sing as part of the choir.

When he finished preaching the gospel, he used to invite a certain number of people known as inquirers, to come forward and speak with a counselor who would clear any doubts, concluding with a prayer.

Normally, the inquirers had a booklet that talked about biblical topics or a copy of the Gospel itself. In the midst of these campaigns, NBC offered the reverend a multimillion-dollar contract, but he turned it down to continue his travels.

Preaching the gospel is not an easy task, that is why, like Graham, you have to be clear about why to do it, for that we invite you to read the following article: Preach the gospel.

Following the story, in 1954, she was on the cover of TIME magazine. On the other hand, in 1957, she had the opportunity to lead missions for 16 weeks in the important Madison Square Garden in New York.

In 1959, he carried out his first campaign in London, where he was able to stay for 12 weeks, thanks to the notoriety he acquired and the success of his missions.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

In 1950, Graham decides to found the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, abbreviated AEBG, a nonprofit organization that was originally headquartered in Minneapolis, before moving to Charlotte.

The partnership includes a tour known as the Decision America Tour, television broadcasts, a channel on SiriusXM, a magazine and even a rapid response team that provides support in disaster situations.

In addition, the Billy Graham Library and the Billy Graham Training Center are part of the association. In 2011, an online gospel ministry was launched, aiming to reach every corner of the world.

Hour of Decision, is the weekly radio program of the organization that has been on the air for more than fifty years, special programs are broadcast every month for American and Canadian television, for its part, children have a website to which can access, Passageway.org.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, they have a column published in several newspapers in the United States called My Answer and a video production company associated with the ministry.

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Civil rights and racial segregation

At the beginning of his campaigns, Graham did not give much importance to everything related to segregation, he came to participate in segregated events until in the fifties with the rise of the civil rights movements, he began to speak in segregated spaces and in others not.

His position on these issues was contradictory for a good period of time, for example, in 1953, he got rid of the ropes that separated the public, while in other scenarios he totally ignored these details.

The reverend affirmed that the Bible did not speak or had anything to contribute about segregation, this before the well-known "Brown Ruling" against racial segregation in schools.

It was only after this ruling that Graham began to strongly oppose racism and segregation, even going so far as to say that he got emotional every time he saw black and white people gathered before the cross.

In 1957, Billy invited Martin Luther King Jr. to participate in the 16-week campaign in New York. Similarly, when he started the civil rights movement in the 60s, Billy agreed to post bail for King's release.

While those 16 weeks passed, the public that came and witnessed the reverend increased more and more, which is why, not wanting to be involved with issues of racism and politics, he chose not to appear publicly with King anymore.

One of Graham's most powerful weapons was always his sermons, those that managed to captivate millions of people, so if you are interested in this topic, click on the following link and learn more about him. explanatory sermon.

Billy Graham and politics

Although initially he did not want to be associated with politics, Billy belonged to the Democratic Party and did not fully approve of what the religious right meant, since for him, Jesus did not belong to any political side.

In 1979, he denied his participation in the Moral Majority, a fundamentalist and ultra-conservative organization founded by Pastor Jerry Falwell.

For Graham, in his own words "evangelists cannot fully identify with any party or person in particular." The reverend's thought was an advocate of preaching to people of any political persuasion.

He even admitted that he had not faithfully followed this thought on previous occasions and indicated that he would in the future. For him, the gospel came first of all, that is, politics took second place.

The Pastor of US Presidents

Billy Graham was the pastor that many of the American presidents counted on to conduct personal audiences. Harry S. Truman was the first president he was in contact with.

In 1950, during the government of this president, together with two other pastors, he visited the Oval Office to express his concerns about the communism that afflicted North Korea.

Leaving the office, the pastors succumbed to press requests, spoke in detail about the meeting and even knelt to be photographed praying in the White House.

These facts did not make Truman very happy, who is said that years later in an interview, he referred to Graham as an eccentric and claimed not to have established any friendship with him.

 new presidents

After his first experience, Graham visited the Oval Office frequently during Eisenhower's presidency, asking Eisenhower to turn his attention to the Little Rock Nine case.

Thanks to his increasingly active involvement with political figures, during this period, the Reverend meets Richard Nixon, then President of the United States and who would become one of his close friends.

On several occasions, he advised personalities of the stature of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, among others. With John F. Kennedy it was different, they played golf together, but the president's Catholic condition prevailed over a possible friendship.

During the 1960 presidential campaign, Graham supported his great friend Nixon to win the race against Kennedy. Nixon believed that the Reverend could have played an important role in politics if he had chosen this path instead of the ministry.

Thanks to the fact that he was an adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson, during the last night of his presidency he accompanied him in the White House, just as he did with Nixon during his first night as president.

After winning the presidency in 1968, Graham became Nixon's advisor, organizing and directing some White House ceremonies. He could have been an ambassador to Israel, but the pastor did not accept the position.

Nixon participated in one of Billy's campaigns, becoming the first US president to deliver a speech on an evangelical stage. After Watergate in 1970, relations between the two remained tense, however, after the resignation of the president, he allowed them to be reestablished.

In 1952, he had the opportunity to offer the first religious service to be held in the Capitol, specifically, on the stairs.

Reagan, Bush and Obama

In the year 1976, Graham was hospitalized due to a health problem, at that time he received the call of three presidents, Ford, who was the acting president, Nixon (former president) and Carter, who had been recently elected.

Ronald Reagan personally invited the reverend to attend his inauguration, in the same way he attended that of George HW Bush, he accompanied him at crucial moments such as the beginning of the Persian Gulf War.

Bill Clinton was also influenced by Billy, acknowledging that he came to attend some of his campaigns back in 1959. As a pastor, he was at the head of the funeral of Lyndon B. Johnson (1973).

On the other hand, he was in charge of the funeral service for Pat Nixon (former first lady) in 1993, for a year later he repeated the role at the funeral of former President Nixon.

In 2004, a recent hip implant prevented him from officiating the funeral services for Ronald Reagan, a fact that was highlighted by Bush during his speech.

Declining health again made it impossible for Graham to officiate Gerald R. Ford's funeral in 2007, as well as Lady Bird Johnson's (former first lady) in July of the same year.

In 2010, he received a visit from Barack Obama in his own home, with him apart from exchanging opinions, he shared a private prayer.

Foreign policy

Billy Graham was opposed to communist policies, however, he considered the North Korean communist leader Kim Il-sung as a fighter for the freedom of his country, even exchanging gifts with the son of this leader.

On the other hand, he supported the Cold War and the Vietnam War, in addition, he believed that the Gulf War was necessary to achieve a "new peace" and a "new world order".

last years of life

Graham was the first Reverend Evangelist to speak from the Iron Curtain, the border between Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

For a long time, he dedicated himself to traveling around the world, specifically to places in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, in order to bring words that call for world peace.

During Apartheid, times of harsh racial segregation in South Africa, he did not want to travel to this country until the discrimination ceased, it was then in 1973 when he ran his first campaign there and made clear his resounding opposition to what had happened.

It arrived in the United Kingdom in 1984, occupying stadiums and auditoriums to carry out its events. He drew crowds on his stint in South Korea and China (1988).

In 1991, he led the largest event of its kind in Central Park, with an estimated 250.000 participants, even visiting North Korea in 1992.

Since he wanted the gospel to reach the whole world, he made an effort to promote the training of new evangelists. At one of these training conferences, he brought together people from more than 157 countries, making it the conference with the most participants from different nationalities.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Graham of the prayer service that was held in the Washington National Cathedral, an event attended by very important American personalities such as President Bush himself.

In June 2005, he began what, according to his own words, would be his "last campaign" on US soil, a campaign that lasted three days.

However, he returned in March 2006 to celebrate the Festival of Hope, in New Orleans, after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, an event he led with his son.

deterioration of your health

Due to the constant deterioration of his health, Graham decides to take his retirement into force. It should be noted that throughout his life he suffered from prostate cancer, hydrocephalus, pneumonia and hip fractures.

In August 2005, at the age of 86 and with the help of a walker, he laid the first stone in the library inaugurated in his honor, in his native Charlotte.

During the Maryland Metro Franklin Graham Festival, held in Oriole Park, he participated with a few words in 2006. In 2007, a debate arose among his family about what would be the best place to bury both him and his wife, Ruth.

Graham apparently wanted to be buried next to his wife in the library that bears his name, but his youngest son, Ned, did not consider it appropriate.

Ned supported his mother's wishes to be buried in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. For his part, Franklin supported his father's idea of ​​him being buried in the library.

Finally, after the death of Ruth Graham in 2007, the family reported that both would be buried in the library. In August of this year, Graham entered the hospital to treat an intestinal hemorrhage, but her condition was always stable.

more health problems

In 2010, a 91-year-old Billy Graham with advanced hearing and visual loss makes an appearance at the library's renovation.

A year later, on May 11, 2011, the reverend is admitted to the Asheville hospital, following pneumonia that did not escalate since on the 15th of the same month he was discharged.

After struggling many times with his health problems, on February 21, 2018, Reverend Billy Graham passed away at his home at the age of 99, receiving recognition from President Donald Trump.

Graham preached the gospel to crowds around the world, reaching audiences of up to 185 million participants in a total of XNUMX countries, his incredible legacy lives on in American history today.

Awards

Over the years, Reverend Graham has been included in various lists of recognized personalities inside and outside the United States.

He appeared several times on the list of most admired people of the Gallup Organization, a company dedicated to analysis and advice through surveys, this occurred between 1950 and 1990.

This same company drew up a list of the people most admired by American citizens during the XNUMXth century, in which Billy ranks seventh.

The Catholic high school, Belmont Abbey College, awarded him in 1967, an honorary degree for his career, being the first time that this happened with a Protestant person.

He was also awarded by the Conference of Christians and Jews in 1971 and recognized by the American Jewish Committee, thanks to the reverend's tireless work to unify relations between Jews and Christians.

The committee awarded him the National Interfaith Award, considering Graham a great friend and ally of the Jews, despite being a Christian.

While these times were passing, in Charlotte, the pastor's hometown, a special day is named in honor of him, Billy Graham Day.

His work on American soil and around the world spreading the words of the gospel, along with his good deeds, earned Graham the highest civilian honors in the United States, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Reagan.

Likewise, he was honored with the North Carolina Award for his public work and by 1996, then President Bill Clinton along with Senate leader Bob Dole awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal.

2000 years

During the year 2000, Nancy Reagan personally presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to Graham. In addition to the Billy Graham Library, in Charlotte and Asheville, there are highways named after the reverend.

In 2001, specifically in December, he received recognition as Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for the contributions made not only to religious life but also to civil life for more than sixty years.

He was recognized with the Big Brother of the Year Award, the Templeton Foundation Award for Progress in Religion, and the Sylvanus Thayer Award.

In Asheville, there is a Children's Health Center named after him and funded by his family. On the other hand, at the Alabama Baptist-Affiliated Samford University, there is a chair named in his honor.

The same thing happens at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a place that, unlike a professorship, has an entire school with the name Billy Graham.

Likewise, at Wheaton College, the university where he graduated, the Billy Graham Center is located, a place of the institute where the works carried out by the reverend during his studies are located.

Graham has a film developed in his honor, Billy: The Early Years, released in October 2008, which according to his fourth son, Franklin had not been approved by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, but in which his sister Gigi Graham collaborated. .

Billy has received a host of honorary degrees, over 20 to be exact, and even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Without a doubt, Billy Graham's good deeds for children, religion, politics and peace are the greatest legacy he could leave the world and clearly represent the charisma, personality and intelligence of a man who marked history. american.

Finally, if like Graham you want to follow God's designs, it is important that your spirit be free, so learn how to achieve it through the following article: Spiritual liberation.


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