One of my greatest honors in life was to interview Dr. Billy Graham, the greatest soul-winning evangelist of the Twentieth Century, when I was news director at KEAR-fm in San Francisco in 1969. I was with the professors of the University of California in Berkley as Dr. Graham spoke to them. Here are a few of my memories of that morning:
Billy began his message by saying, "Thank you for inviting me to speak to you this morning. I don't deserve this honor. Instead, I want to apologize to you that it is most likely you have neverheard a pure presentation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, the churches of America have, for the most part, blurred the gospel by adding their own heavy weights to Christ's unburdened invitation to come to Him and receive eternal life from Him."
Dr. Graham then launched into a message unlike the simple gospel messages that were his hallmark during his 56 years of a preaching ministry. It is estimated that during that time he led 3.2 million people to Christ. His message that day brought a pure presentation of the gospel surrounded by a profound and intellectual message worthy of the professors who had attended the breakfast to hear him.
Whether Dr. Graham had any converts that day, only Heaven knows. But whatever happened, it was obvious he had won many admirers among the faculty.
After a 34 minute message, he spoke and prayed individually with every professor who sought him out. When all that was complete, he allowed an interview with me.
I told him how amazed I was at the depth of the message he had brought the teachers. I admitted I had always heard him preach to stadiums full of people and that I was always amazed, too, by the simplicity in which he shared. He said, "The message one preaches needs to fit the people it is intended for. In our crusades, I preach most of all to the uneducated and the Bible illiterate. I know when I do that I will definitely be heard by everyone else."
I told Dr. Graham, who had just flown into the San Francisco Airport earlier that morning in order to be driven to the breakfast in Berkley, that I couldn't imagine how tired he must be from all that. Billy answered, "Yes, I must admit I am tired. Breakfasts in distant states are hardest on me. And I have an additional problem most people don't have. I'm Billy Graham! Wherever I sit on a plane, one or more passengers are bound to come to me and ask me if I am he. I am a Christian and can't lie to them! But once I tell them yes, for the rest of the flight I hear one of two things: Most want to share their testimony with me, especially if I had any place at all in leading them to Christ; the other wants to tell me why they are not a Christian and try to provoke me to argument over that fact. I won't argue with them, but I will share with them a defense of the gospel. I have led a few of them to Christ under such dialogue."
He further said something to me that is laughable now considering the fact that Billy is 94. He said, "I don't expect to live a long life, but the life I live is above all I could ask or think. It is worth whatever toll life takes from me. I have a pattern of going like a marathon runner from crusade to crusade, interrupted by my doctor who tries to scare me into resting from my agenda. Every once in awhile my body breaks down into something serious enough to make me stop completely. At such times my same doctor always comes to me to say, 'Billy, be sure you're right with God! You need complete rest from your travels in order to possibly get well.' So, I agree and Ruth and I stay home or occasionally vacation somewhere. I do obey Hebrews 4:1-3."
One thing no one could possibly miss when they are talking with Billy Graham. He has eyes that are for their eyes only. His focus is such that I felt he could see not only me but through me.
My notes from that very special interview are long gone except for that opening. But here is an interview with Dr. Graham that I put on my former News Watch Website on April 7, 2007. I introduced it by writing: From time to time I will have a night like this one when it is simply impossible for me to write a commentary because of commitments of my own or that Georgia has that I'm to be a part of.. We are five weeks away from graduating from Bethel’s School of the Supernatural in Redding, California. Tonight, would you believe, we will be doing homework way into the wee small hours of the morning. At 70, I sure am glad I’m young.
On nights like these I will still provide a NEWS WATCH to you. This one will catch you up with one of my real heroes – Dr. Billy Graham. But the news source Newsmax did this interview with Dr. Graham and his answers regarding news so nearly mirror my own that I believe you’ll find this quick interview enriching. It’s my prayer you’ll enjoy it.
He is 88 now, bent by age and ailments, spending his days sitting with his beloved bedridden wife, Ruth, at their home in the mountains of North Carolina.
Yet the stature of Billy Graham, whose global ministry got its start in Minnesota, continues to grow. In December, the Gallup Poll named him among the 10 most admired men in the world - a 50th time for him on that list.
Few living Christians have been stronger unifying forces, commanded such respect or influenced more people. Among high-profile evangelists, he stands out for personal integrity, openness to cultural change and a lack of interest in wealth.
Graham, who has made only a few personal appearances in the past years, rarely grants interviews. He spoke to the Star Tribune - by e-mail, due to his poor health - because he has a deep appreciation for Minnesota, where he was a Bible college president and created the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
In the interview, he reflects on his desire to see heaven soon, his concerns about the war in Iraq and the changes taking place in American evangelism.
How are you and your wife, Ruth, doing?
Graham: One of the joys of growing older is the opportunity for us to spend more time together. Sometimes we'll just sit for hours, holding hands and talking or watching a video, or even just enjoying each other's company in silence. After a lifetime of travel and being apart so much, we treasure this stage of our lives.
At the same time, old age has its burdens, and we aren't immune. Whoever said, "Old age isn't for sissies" had it right. For years Ruth has struggled with serious pain because of the degeneration of the bone structure in her back, and she is now bedridden. I have several continuing health issues. Ruth and I know that each day is a gift from God, and we are thankful for them.
America's evangelical subculture has recently undergone some interesting changes, including the rise of new, more liberal voices whose views on cultural issues stand in sharp contrast to those of the religious right. What do you make of such changes?
Graham: As an evangelist, my calling has always been to proclaim the central message of the gospel: What Christ did for us by His death and resurrection, and our need to respond to Him in repentance and faith. I've always tried to avoid being associated with groups that focus on political issues, either on the right or the left. That isn't my calling.
Sometimes trying to be neutral isn't easy - kind of like the man I heard about in the Civil War who decided to wear a blue coat and gray trousers and got shot at by both sides!
However, I'm very concerned about the growing polarization we see today, both in our society generally and even among some evangelicals. Somehow we've got to find a way to get past this and find a common ground.
Have your views on such issues as foreign policy and homosexuality grown more liberal through the decades?
Graham: Well, I hope they've grown more balanced over the years, although I try to avoid labels like "liberal" or "conservative."
When I was young, I thought I knew the answer to almost everything, and I cringe when I look back at some of those ill-considered remarks. The world is complex, and as I've grown older I've learned that foreign-policy issues, for example, usually aren't as easy as they may seem on the surface.
Homosexuality is not a lifestyle that is endorsed by the Bible, although I don't believe Christians should single out homosexuals for condemnation or contempt. God loves the homosexual just as much as the heterosexual, and so should we. We have all sinned, and we all need God's grace and forgiveness. We also all need God's strength to fight temptation and to change our lives.
Do you follow news from the Middle East and Iraq? If so, is there anything you'd like to say about the conflicts in those places?
Graham: I try to follow the news from there, and Ruth and I pray every day for our president. I don't think any of us can appreciate the pressures he faces. We pray also for our military personnel who are serving over there, and for their families.
One of our grandsons - Franklin's son Edward - is serving over there as an Army Ranger, and a few weeks ago he was wounded by shrapnel while on duty. Thankfully, he is recovering, but this has brought home to us what the families of our military personnel are going through.
Some of the tensions in the Middle East go back thousands of years to Abraham in the Bible, with the births of Ishmael and Isaac. I also think we aren't as knowledgeable about Islam as we should be, or the centuries-old conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites. These conflicts took centuries to develop, and they won't be solved overnight.
At the same time, we ought to pray for peace in that part of the world, and encourage our leaders to do everything they can to promote peace.
What has age shown you most vividly?
Graham: To depend on the Lord for everything, and to be thankful for everything he gives us, including hope for the future. I've also learned that even if we can't do everything we once did, God isn't finished with us, and we can still serve him. Sometimes the greatest service we can do for someone is to pray for them, and I find myself doing that more and more.
I admit I don't like the burdens of old age, but it can be a special time of life, and God has lessons to teach us through it, if we'll only listen. Unfortunately, we can become so preoccupied with whatever is happening to us at the moment - or so worried about what might happen to us in the future - that we forget to ask God what he is trying to teach us.
Sometimes, of course, God isn't teaching us something new, but simply reminding us of things we've known all our lives, and making them more real to us. For example, more than ever I've realized just how short life is, and how important it is to live for eternity and not just the present.
This world is not our final home, and if we are Christians, we know we are only pilgrims passing through this world on our way to Heaven. We ought to live each day as if it were our last. Someday it will be.