Evangelist Billy Graham’s encouraging demeanor, brilliant intellect, and his Christ-like propensity for compassion and not condemnation always drew me to him like a moth to a light. One of the things that he was very disappointed in was the behavior of his close friend President Richard Nixon who was a Quaker, and Nixon’s involvement in Watergate. Even after disclosure of the secret profanity laced Nixon tapes this great man of God was reticent to condemn him for it and said: “Everybody has a little bit of Watergate in him”.
I’ve studied the Bible for many years now and can assure you that Jesus Christ could have just as easily said those words uttered by Billy Graham Himself.
I initially read the Bible in an effort to disprove it. I wanted to read it for myself to find subject matter that could be used to expose it as a fairy tale and fable used by weak people as a crutch to compensate for their weakness, and to reinforce my agnostic/atheistic bitter slant on life.
Instead of fiction and fables, I found truth and fact. Indeed the Bible turned out to be nothing like I envisioned it to be. I thought if there was a God, (judging from my miserable life), He was mean. To my surprise I discovered that Jesus is love; (something I didn’t know or understand). He was non-judgmental or condemning, and in fact was exceedingly compassionate. He came offering carte blanche forgiveness for my wicked sins such as I’d never imagined.
My favorite song is Amazing Grace. Amazing is an apt description of God’s compassion for sinners in spite of the sins we have committed in this life. In my case, way back in my “black-heart” days, one can rest assured that if something was wicked, if it was evil, if it was depraved, or if it was wretched, I did it; (and for the most part – more than once).
Billy Graham said, “Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness”. I didn’t know that was what my spirit longed for at the time. All I knew was that I was suicidal-miserable. I had a cancerous black hole in my heart and though I tried my utmost to fill it with alcohol, drugs, sex, the occult, and dark power derived from unbridled violence. All of that stuff just made things much worse.
David Wilkerson was a tremendous man of God. He wrote “The Cross and the Switchblade” and founded the great Teen Challenge organization. He wrote the following:
“We’ve held on to our religious rhetoric and our revival talk but we’ve become so passive. All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish. You search the scripture and you’ll find that when God determined to recover a ruined situation… He would share His own anguish for what God saw happening to His church and to His people. And He would find a praying man and take that man and literally baptize him in anguish. You find it in the book of Nehemiah. Jerusalem is in ruins. How is God going to deal with this? How is God going to restore the ruin? Now folks, look at me… Nehemiah was not a preacher, he was a career man. But this was a praying man.
And God found a man who would not just have a flash of emotion. Not just some great sudden burst of concern and then let it die. He said: “No. I broke down and I wept and I mourned and I fasted. And then I began to pray night and day. Why didn’t these other men… why didn’t they have an answer? Why didn’t God use them in restoration? Why didn’t they have a word? Because there was no sign of anguish. No weeping. Not a word of prayer. It’s all ruin…
There’s nothing of the flesh that will give you joy. I don’t care how much money, I don’t care what kind of new house, there is absolutely nothing physical that can give you joy. It’s only what is accomplished by the Holy Spirit when you obey and take on His heart.”
Do you have true passion for Christ? Is there any sign of anguish and passion for Christ in your life? Do you mourn for our once great country and its former love for God, Do you weep for her? Do you pray that our people will turn from our impending apocalypse? Do you have concern for the lost whoever and wherever they are regardless of their skin color, financial position, and/or current state of wickedness?
Look around the world and observe. It is growing more wicked daily, and the hearts of our children are growing cold. Do you feel anguish?
Jesus does.
Become involved. Join our ministry, or another, or form your own, but do something. Time is running out. James 4:14 “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away…”
Hmmm… Billy Graham is 94 now and he will be heading “home” to Jesus before too much longer. He became a Christian at 16 and went on to preach Christianity to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. He reached hundreds of millions more through television, video, film, books, blogs, printed material, and webcasts.
He poignantly said one time: “I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right”. I’m sure it will for Billy, but what about for the rest of us?
Gulp…I don’t know about you, but I’m getting busy before my vapor is vaporized…
Rev. 22:20
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.