After visiting the Billy Graham Library/Museum in North Carolina, I read 6 books to learn more about his life. The books were the following: Billy Graham by David Frost; Billy Graham by David Aikman; Thank You, Billy Graham by Jerusha Armfield; Billy Graham by Janet and Geoff Benge; Billy Graham by Catherine MacKenzie; Legacy of Faith by Ruth Graham
- He was saved at an evangelist Crusade where Evangelist Mordecai Hamm was preaching.
- He went to Bob Jones University but got several demerits and didn’t like the rules. After leaving Bob Jones, he went to Bible college in Florida and enjoyed it. • He later went to Wheaton College and that’s where he met his wife, Ruth. • Ruth was raised as a missionary kid in China with the Presbyterian Church. • He took the pastorate in Chicago area for one year and started preaching on the radio while there.
- He was asked to go full-time as the first evangelist for youth for Christ. • He began preaching in meetings all over with youth for Christ.
- Two men asked him if he wanted a spot on TV, but it would cost him a lot of money. He somewhat sarcastically said he would take it as a sign from God if he could raise $25,000 by the next day. He ended up raising it, and God used that radio program.
- When preaching a crusade in Los Angeles, William Randolph Hurst, a millionaire and owner of 20 newspapers and 18 magazines, told all media to “puff Billy Graham.” The media showed up saying he was kissed by William Randolph Hurst,” and all kinds of media started showing up to put Billy Graham in the spot light. This caused his name and ministry to go to a national level, and soon international level.
- Billy Graham’s team made movies, got on TV, in newspapers, and did anything they could to further the gospel.
- He said he will go anywhere, invited by anyone, as long as there were no limits on what he preached.
- He was criticized for going to the Soviet union and other places to preach, but he made preaching salvation his goal.
- His wife, Ruth, was opinionated, but a big help for him. It was her that took a loan to buy the 150-200 acres in North Carolina to build their house.
- At one point, he was told he should run for president. He heavily considered it, until he got a phone call from his wife. She told him that the American people would not vote for a divorced man, and that’s exactly what he would be if he tried to run for president.
- His wife taught their children to love God, love their dad, and respect what their dad did in ministry. He was gone for long periods of time, but his children did not become bitter largely due to their mom.
- When asked on more than one occasion who the best Christian he knew was, his response was that it was Ruth, his wife.
- His daughter asked him about their marriage and he said that his wife was married to God before married to him.
- He frequently said that a good marriage requires three people: husband, wife, and God.
- His daughter said that even though her dad would travel and be gone, the kids knew he loved them and always made time for them.
- He was preaching on the radio and wanted to get a well known singer to help him, so he went and found the best one he knew and got him on board. • He didn’t want to fall into sin, so he asked his friends to go off for an hour and write down what caused godly men in the past to fall — they came up with a list of four things and they became the guiding principles for the rest of their lives:
- 1. Always have accountability with finances
- 2.Not to be alone with opposite sex
- 3.Not to talk bad about other pastors
- 4.Not to exaggerate numbers of attendees or conversions
- Whether in an interview on TV, speaking to news reporters, or on the road, he turned every conversation back to the Gospel.
- His consistent and constant message was about God’s love and man’s need for God.
- His family said he would try to never speak badly of others, and when he heard someone say something bad about another, he would tell them that they didn’t know the other person’s intentions.