The passing of giant - Billy Graham

"Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God."
-Billy Graham

DADDY IS HOME
February 21, 2018

STATEMENT by ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ

Regarding the death of her father, Billy Graham

My Father’s legacy is one that encompasses the world…and engulfs my own life.  When I think of him, I don’t think of Billy Graham, the public figure.  I think of my Daddy.  The one who was always a farmer at heart.  Who loved his dogs and his cat.  Who followed the weather patterns almost as closely as he did world events.  Who wore old blue jeans, comfortable sweaters, and a baseball cap.  Who loved lukewarm coffee, sweet ice tea, one scoop of ice cream, and a plain hamburger from McDonald’s. Who was interested in everything and everyone, from the small to the great.  Whose mind remembered details that even a computer would have trouble recalling.

But when I think of him I also think of his message because he was immersed in it.  Saturated in it.  He was his message…a simple man who had responded to God’s love by placing his faith in Jesus, receiving the assurance that his sins were forgiven, that he would not perish, but would have everlasting life.  Simple faith.  Faith that now matters more than anything else.

For years, over his head as he preached was the banner that quoted the words of Jesus:  I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Jesus completed that sentence by saying that no one comes to the Father but by Me.  Based on what Jesus said, Daddy is safely with the Father.  In Heaven. Daddy not only claimed Jesus as the only Way to God, he lived by the Truth publicly on platforms and privately behind closed doors, and is now enjoying real Life.

I have often stated that I was raised by a single parent because ministry took my father away from our family—for weeks and months at a time. Daddy estimated that he was gone from home approximately 60 percent of his children’s growing-up years. Now, he has left again.  This time, he will not be coming back. At least, not until Jesus does, too.

While he may be physically absent and his voice silent, I am confident that his message will continue to reverberate throughout the generations to come. My prayer on this day of his move to Our Father’s House is that his death will be a rallying cry.  That tens of thousands of pastors, teachers, evangelists, and ordinary men and women will rise up to take his place.  That they will take up his message like a baton being passed in a relay race and faithfully pass it on to those with whom they come in contact. Because Daddy’s message is God’s message.  And it’s a message of genuine hope for the future, of love for the present, of forgiveness for the past.

It’s a message, when received, that brings a fresh beginning, unshakable joy, unexplainable peace, eternal significance, meaning and purpose to life, and opens Heaven’s door.

It was this message, which Daddy carried to the world, that penetrated my own heart as a young girl and has created in me a personal, passionate resolve to communicate it myself to as many people as possible. And so, even as my tears seem to be unending, I silently rededicate my life to picking up and passing on the baton.  Would you do the same?

Quotes by Billy Graham

Sharing some of the quotes by Billy Graham which makes a lot of sense to me :

*ON SANCTIFICATION*
“Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion—it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.”

*ON MONEY*
“There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.”

*ON COURAGE*
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spine of others are often stiffened.”

*ON HARDSHIP*
“Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.”

*ON COMFORT*
“Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.”

*ON COMMUNITY*
“Churchgoers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.”

*ON JUDGING OTHERS*
“It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.”

*ON HONESTY*
“Don’t ever hesitate to take to [God] whatever is on your heart. He already knows it anyway, but He doesn’t want you to bear its pain or celebrate its joy alone.”

*ON JESUS*
“Many people are willing to have Jesus as part of their lives—as long as it doesn’t cost them anything. They may even profess faith in Jesus and join a church. But Jesus to them is almost like an insurance policy—something they obtain and then forget about until they die. What keeps you from being His disciple?”

****ON BIBLE READING*
“The very practice of reading [the Bible] will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart. Let nothing take the place of this daily exercise.”***

*ON GOD’S LOVE*
“Sin is the second most powerful force in the universe, for it sent Jesus to the cross. Only one force is greater—the love of God.”

*ON EVANGELISM*
“The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.”

*ON SALVATION*
“Salvation is an act of God. It is initiated by God, wrought by God, and sustained by God.”

*ON HOPE*
“I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.”