Happy Birthday Billy Graham

Billy Graham turns 90 today. I’ve always been impressed by him. In an era when any well known preacher was a punch line, Billy Graham was the exception to the rule.

What has impressed me most about Graham is his obedience. His call was simple. To share the gospel with as many people as he possibly can. The outworking of that was complex but the  original call was so simple. It’s interesting that when his few mistakes did come (his preoccupation with politics, the Richard Nixon stuff) they came when he deviated from that simple course.

For all the debate over the effectiveness of the Crusade and the long term effects, Billy Graham showed us the power of God working through the dedication of group of people to one simple goal, to share the simple message that God came to Earth. That Jesus came and lived, died, and was resurrected for us and through his life we can have life and freedom, and we can’t gauge the impact these people had.

This is a video of Graham doing some of his best work, and the clarity with which he speaks is something I need to emulate.