Billy Graham - About Billy Graham

Life & Ministry of Billy Graham

About Billy Graham

The Rev. Dr. William Franklin Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918), commonly known as Billy Graham, is an American Christian evangelist who has preached the message of Christianity around the world, reaching live audiences of 210 million people in 185 countries. He has led hundreds of thousands of people to make personal decisions to "accept Jesus Christ into their lives", this being the main thrust of his ministry. Many of his sermons center on the topic "Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation." He has often advised U.S. presidents and continues to be listed as one of the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" in Gallup Polls.

Biography
He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. Raised as a Presbyterian, Billy Graham made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ in 1934 during a revival meeting conducted by Mordecai Ham. Graham was ordained in 1939 by a Southern Baptist church. He graduated from Florida Bible Institute, now called Trinity College of Florida, in 1940 and graduated from Wheaton College in 1943. It was during his time at Wheaton that Graham decided to take the Bible as the infallible "word of God." Henrietta Mears of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with the infallibility issue, which was settled at Forest Home Christian camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of the Big Bear area in Southern California. A simple memorial there still marks the site of Graham's decision. He also married Ruth Bell, whose parents were Christian missionary doctors in China. He and his wife have three daughters, two sons (including Franklin Graham, who now administers his organization), 19 grandchildren and many great grandchildren.

Graham joined Youth for Christ after graduating from Wheaton. He traveled throughout the United States and Europe as an evangelist. Graham scheduled a series of missions in Los Angeles in 1949. The missions went on for 8 weeks after being originally schedule for only 3 weeks. This happened on many other of his early missions. He had missions in London which lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City mission in Madison Square Garden in 1957 which ran nightly for 16 weeks.

Dr. Graham served as the President of Northwestern College in Minnesota from 1948 to 1952. He founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950, headquartered in Minneapolis. The Association later relocated to Charlotte, N.C. BGEA Ministries have included:
- Hour of Decision, a weekly radio program broadcast around the world for over 50 years
- Mission television specials which are regularly broadcast in prime time in almost every market in the U.S. and Canada
- A newspaper column, My Answer, carried by newspapers across the United States
- Decision magazine, the official publication of the Association
- passageway.org, the teen website of the BGEA
- World Wide Pictures, which has produced and distributed over 130 productions

Books
Billy Graham has written 24 books, many of which have been translated into 38 languages, including:
Peace With God (1953)
The Secret of Happiness (1955)
My Answer (1960)
World Aflame (1965)
The Challenge (1969)
The Jesus Generation (1971)
Angels: God's Secret Agents (1975)
How to Be Born Again (1977)
The Holy Spirit (1978)
Till Armageddon (1981)
Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1983)
Facing Death and the Life After (1987)
Hope for the Troubled Heart (1991)
Storm Warning (1992)
Just As I Am his autobiography (1997)

Awards and Honors
Billy Graham has received the Congressional Gold Medal; the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion; and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award for contributions to the cause of faith and freedom.

He has received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of the welfare of children. He has been cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He has also been recognized by the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith and the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his efforts to foster a better understanding among all faiths.

For providing a platform during his events for many Christian musical artists - many new to singing and songwriting and others not so new - Billy Graham was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Gospel Music Association.

On September 14, 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, Dr. Graham led a prayer and remembrance service at Washington National Cathedral attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders.

In December 2001 he was presented with an honorary knighthood, Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years.

Even though Graham has been the minister for presidents, he has spoken at only one presidential funeral. Graham presided over the graveside services for former president Lyndon Johnson in 1973 and took part in eulogizing the former president with former Texas Democratic governor John Connally, an LBJ protege and fellow Texan who was wounded in the assassination that made LBJ president. Graham was unable to officiate the state funeral of Ronald Reagan on June 11, 2004 due to recent double hip replacement surgery, something former President George H.W. Bush mentioned in his eulogy. Graham had been Reagan's first choice. Because he was in the hospital, Rev. John Danforth, Missouri Republican senator in Reagan's day, officiated the funeral.