One plants, one waters, but God makes it grow -- Full message

 

A Story of Grace From Ruth Graham - Billy Graham's Daughter

I was moved as I watched Billy Graham’s daughter, Ruth, speak of some of the failures in her life at her father’s funeral today. In particular, she mentioned relational mistakes that resulted in two divorces.

Some of you may not be old enough to remember that divorce was once considered to be scandalous. And a divorce within the family of a minister was even more scandalous. When that minister happened to be one of the most famous people in the world… that must have quadrupled the level of humiliation and embarrassment Ruth felt.

Ruth described a long painful drive home after her second marriage ended within weeks. She realized that after her family had cautioned her about moving too quickly into a relationship that wound up with a terrible ending they might just say, “We’re tired of fooling with you! …You’ve embarrassed us!”

As she pulled into her parents’ driveway, her father was outside watching for her arrival. She stepped out of her car and her father, Billy Graham, wrapped his arms around her and said, “Welcome home.”

No shame. No condemnation. A father’s love for his daughter.

Ruth correctly stated that Billy Graham is not God. But that day, he showed her what God is like.

The cameras at the funeral panned the crowd as the story concluded and I saw many people wiping tears from their eyes. I was doing that, too, as I watched on a computer screen.

I love stories of grace because I, personally, am so in need of grace. Stories of grace stir gratitude and hope within me.

Ruth shared a wonderful Billy Graham story with the world. But even more important she gave us a powerful reminder of the truth of God’s amazing grace.

"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes..." Romans 1:16

God's Wisdom and Goodness in Billy Graham's Life

Many years ago, I read a biography of Billy Graham. In the biography it described how, early on in Graham’s ministry—as his popularity and influence rose—significant money began to come in the form of many donations to the ministry.

I suspect it must have felt overwhelming… and very tempting.

So, as a young man Graham determined that he would form of a Board of Directors for the ministry to be responsible for the finances of the ministry and other aspects of their work, as well. Graham would be accountable to them.

This is what happened and the board handled the finances, paying Graham a salary.

I remember being impressed by this move. He did not have to arrange things this way. He was young, incredibly popular and successful. He could have rationalized, “Hey, this money is being sent to me to continue to do my noble work, therefore, it’s my money!”

But he did not.

Looking back on this decision, years later, Graham indicated that he believed it was one of the ways God, in His goodness and kindness, looked out for him and protected him—in a sense—from himself and his popularity.

Most of us are not particularly wise when we are young. Wisdom, tends to require time and experience to develop. I’m 59 years old, I’m hoping wisdom will kick in for me, any day now. This decision regarding finances was a form of God’s wisdom in Graham’s life. I am thankful for Dr. Graham’s willingness to create a form of authority to whom he remained accountable; his example of preaching the word of God; and his effective use of his gift of evangelism to help multitudes of people all around the world come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Rev. Dr. Billy Graham: November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018

Have You Been To A Crusade Lately?

It’s been a while since I’ve been to what could be called a large “evangelistic meeting”.  This is understandable since there is often considerable debate just centered around the wisdom of me leaving the house, even for a few moments.

Tonight I attended the “Harvest Crusade” in Chicago and I was able to see how an evangelistic event is done in the year 2010.  It’s pretty impressive.

Of course, the technology is noticeably updated.  Camera operators are strategically set up to capture the event on video for those watching remotely and on large screens for those present at the venue.  Many of the conference materials make references to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and other online technological connections that they would like the crusade attendees to make.

At one point, early in the program, we, the participants were actually encouraged to take out our phones and text family or friends and invite them to watch the program live online.  Really. 

“Get your phone out and text someone who isn’t here and tell them to watch online,” we were told by the computer generated holographic image standing on the platform.

They didn’t mention anything about “texting” or watching “online” when I went to the Billy Graham Crusade in 1974, that’s for sure!  In fact, Billy didn’t make a single reference to cell phones.  Although, he mentioned his CB “handle” a couple of times; he told us his favorite new game was “Pong”; and then he stomped around the stage for a while in his platform shoes.  (He had outstanding sideburns in those days.)

The Harvest Crusade was very good.  The music was excellent.  The musical artists included The Katrinas; Steven Curtis Chapman; and Jeremy Camp.  The speaker was Greg Laurie.  And the ushers were Floyd, Bill and Eddie.  (That’s right, it’s time the ushers get the mentions they deserve!)

The theme for the evening had to do with finding hope in the midst of hurting and pain.  That’s always a relevant subject!

There were a number of terrific moments in the course of the evening, but two moments, in particular, stand out for me.  The first one occurred when we were being led in a song by Jeremy Camp.  I can’t remember the name of it, but it was one of those moving songs that touches the heart deeply.  And as we sang together, we were encouraged to join our hands and raise them into the air.

All around this large arena, some 30,000 people were joined together, hands lifted high, singing a song of praise to Jesus.  It was a spiritually powerful moment.

As we sang, many in the crowd spontaneously began to sway back and forth, with the rhythm of the song.  But that’s where a slight problem developed.  The people I was with couldn’t sway properly.  So, as the song continued and the gentle swaying of the crowd occurred, we were knocking back and forth and awkwardly moving around with no sense of coordinated movement.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was still a nice moment but our swaying, sadly, never quite came together.  It was embarrassing because I noticed as thousands of people throughout the arena began pointing at us, shaking their heads with disdain, and mouthing the words “those-people-can’t-sway.”

The second stand out moment occurred at the end of the evening when an invitation was made for people to come forward to the large open space on the main floor of the arena, in order to make public their profession of accepting faith in Christ.  Thousands of people went forward—literally—and they completely filled all the available space.  It was inspiring to see this kind of response.

As this occurred, I looked at the people in our group.  There were about 18 of us.  I knew that it was good for us to see this work of God in the lives of thousands of people even in our big-city, secularized Chicago culture.  I was especially glad that some of our youth were able to see this massive, humble, public response to God.

I honestly believe that genuine decisions for Christ impact a person’s eternal destiny.  You do, too, don’t you?  So, this was a time of hope, encouragement and true joy!  It really was a great moment and a wonderful evening.

The Harvest Crusade was a blessing.

  

P.S.  On the drive home, Paul let me play with his fancy phone that has Internet access.  It was pretty cool but I think I may have inadvertently messed up some aspect of my Facebook account.  Now, I keep getting a message that says: “Ha! Your pathetic instructions mean nothing to us, you weak, analogue, life form!” 

That’s not a typical error message, is it?

Oh well, that’s the price one pays for exploring new technological frontiers.

This is some of our group standing on line outside the

 arena waiting for the doors to open.