Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr.is an American evangelical Christian evangelist, ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, who rose to celebrity status in 1949 reaching a core constituency of middle-class, moderately conservative Protestants. He held large indoor and outdoor rallies; sermons were broadcast on radio and television, some still being re-broadcast today. In his six decades of television, Graham is principally known for hosting the annual Billy Graham Crusades, which he began in 1947, until he concluded in 2005, at the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionReligious Leader
Date of Birth7 November 1918
CityCharlotte, NC
CountryUnited States of America
A tragedy like this could have torn our country apart. But instead it has united us, and we have become a family.
I never imagined anybody would ever come out to hear me preach. I'm just a country dairy farmer from North Carolina.
In the founding era of our country, it was not organized religion but personal faith that brought focus and unified the early leadership-maybe an unspoken faith in God, and certain values that came with that faith. So in that sense, we cannot discount, in my judgment, religious faith in politics.
I go and I keep friends with [Abe] Rosenthal at the New York Times and people of that sort, you know. And all - I mean, not all the Jews, but a lot of the Jews are great friends of mine, they swarm around me and are friendly to me because they know that I'm friendly with Israel. But they don't know how I really feel about what they are doing to this country. And I have no power, no way to handle them, but I would stand up if under proper circumstances.
In a country where Christians were looked upon with suspicion and disfavor, a government leader said to me with a twinkle in his eye, 'Christians seem to thrive under persecution. Perhaps we should prosper them, and then they would disappear.'
If ever there was a time this country needed the intervention of God, it is now.
America is said to have the highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have the greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can't even entertain themselves. They have to pay other people to amuse them, to make then laugh, to try to make them feel warm and happy and comfortable for a few minutes, to try to lose that awful, frightening, hollow feeling-that terrible, dreaded feeling of being lost and alone.
I first met Bev Shea while in Chicago when he was on Moody Radio. As a young man starting my ministry, I asked Bev if he would join me. He said yes, and for over 60 years we had the privilege of ministering together across the country and around the world.
The Church has lost a great warrior and the country has lost a great patriot who will long be remembered, ... He was a bold and courageous man who stood firmly for what he believed.
When I reached about 80, my physical world turned upside down,
The storm was raging. The sea was beating against the rocks in huge, dashing waves. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, the wind was blowing; but the little bird was sound asleep in the crevice of the rock, its head tucked serenely under its wing. That is peace -- to be able to sleep in the storm! In Christ, we are relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusions, bewilderments, and perplexities of this life. The storm rages, but our hearts are at rest. We have found peace -- at last!
Billions and billions of stars and planets out there, and behind them all are God.
The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not, 'What a lovely sermon!' but 'I will do something.'
The thing that alarms me is that there are so many clergymen who say that the so-called 'new morality' is all right. They say we're living in a new generation; let's be relevant, let's change God's law. Let's say that adultery is all right under certain circumstances; fornication's all right under certain circumstances. If it's 'meaningful.'