Today is a significant day. Today the world lost a one-of-a-kind man of God. Billy Graham has gone on to be with the Lord Jesus. This is a day of mourning and a day of rejoicing.
One thing that will live on for all of eternity is the legacy of Billy Graham. His name is a household name. He has built a powerful organization. Thousands of people have been touched by his life. What matters most, however, is that Billy Graham loved Jesus.
His daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, said that around sixty percent of her childhood, her father was not present. She felt as though she had been raised in a single-parent household. Way too many of our children can relate all too closely. For Anne, though, her father was out spreading a message of hope for the world. He was leveraging his life for something that was far more important than himself. Anne understood why her father was not there and it inspired her. She has become an outstanding evangelist herself and is rejoicing that her father is at home with the heavenly Father. His passing spurred her on to rededicate her life to sharing the good news of the Gospel just as he did.
One of the prevailing truths that Billy Graham consistently shared throughout his ministry was that of John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life, No one comes to the Father except through me.'" Graham believed with all of his heart that Jesus was the only way and he stopped at nothing to tell everyone he came in contact with this simple truth. In that message, Graham told of a Jesus who is passionate about his people. A Jesus who loves mightily. A Jesus who forgives a repentant heart unconditionally. A Jesus whose death paid for the redemption of sin for the whole world. A Jesus whose resurrection was the final death blow to death.
Our world is a dark place. Within the last week, we have heard the news of another unspeakable tragedy at a high school in Parkland, FL. It is easy to get entangled in the evil of the world and become despondent. Billy Graham spoke of a Jesus that was ready, willing, and able to redeem the world. One of the most publicized presidential scandals of my lifetime was that of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair. While most people that I knew then were ready to condemn Bill Clinton for what he had done in office, Billy Graham contacted him and told him of the hope found in Christ. Bill Clinton said that Billy Graham took sin seriously but that he took redemption even more seriously.
Sin must be taken seriously and the serious follower of Christ will stand against evil and darkness. However, what the world needs now more than ever is what Jesus came to give it...redemption. It is easy to cast stones at evil but Jesus challenged only those without sin to cast the stones. I am a sinner saved only by grace and I am thankful for Jesus who redeemed me and I am thankful for men like Billy Graham who spent their life reminding me and everyone else that God is "not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
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