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I wasn’t going to write anything about Billy Graham’s passing simply because I don’t have anything new or interesting to say about him. I never met him, although my grandmother went to hear him out of curiosity at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam in 1955 with a fellow nurse. I attend a conservative Reformed church, and so our theology runs to the George Whitefield tradition as opposed to the more Wesleyan tradition of Billy Graham, who apparently preached directly to more than 210 million people—the largest number of anyone in human history. But the response to Graham’s death was interesting,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The body of evangelist Billy Graham will lie in honor under the U.S. Capitol rotunda next week as Congress pays tribute to a clergyman who counseled presidents and preached the Gospel to millions worldwide, House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday. Graham, who died at his home near Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday at age 99, will arrive at the white-domed Capitol on Feb. 28 and lie in honor there until the following day, Ryan said in a statement. “Members of the public and Capitol Hill community are invited to pay their respects to the late reverend...

In July 1945, Evangelicals declared ideological cold war against world communism and began planning a spiritual invasion of Europe to restore Christianity and stop communism there. Billy Graham was among the young ministers sent to Europe, and he built upon his experience there to emerge as a major spokesman of American messianism. The popularity of Graham's anticommunism, a regular feature in his sermons, helped propel him to national fame. By 1950 his message was reaching much of the nation in a weekly radio broadcast, and by 1952 he was serving as a spiritual advisor to presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower. As...

Sometimes he was more expansive, as in June 2005, when, at age 86, after 60 years of preaching on the road and in diminishing health (primarily from advanced Parkinson’s disease), he reluctantly “retired” from public “crusade” evangelism. It was at a final three-day campaign that attracted a cumulative total of some 230,000 people to Flushing Meadows in New York City. In an interview during that event, a Charisma magazine reporter popped the same remembrance question. Replied Graham quietly: “I want to be remembered as a person who was faithful to God, faithful to my family, faithful to the Scriptures, and...

“Teen Vogue” Columnist Lauren Duca responded to news of Rev. Billy Graham’s death by telling him to, “Have fun in hell, bitch.” Taking to Twitter after news broke that the world-renowned and beloved evangelist had died Wednesday at age 99, Duca mocked Graham’s longevity and hurled her insult: “The big news today is that Billy Graham was still alive this whole time. Anyway, have fun in hell, bitch.” After receiving backlash on Twitter for her hateful irreverence, Duca doubled-down on her comment, declaring that “Respecting the dead” only applies to people who weren’t evil pieces of sh*t while they were...

Billy Graham was part of the conservative movement in 20th Century Protestantism as 'fundamentalist' and 'modernist' divisions split up the major denominations and led to independent churches and para-church organizations sprouting up across the country. Dr. Graham spent the 1940's as a touring evangelist for Youth for Christ. Graham preached from town to town. Tents were erected for evangelistic meetings and he went here, there and everywhere from coast to coast. A series of meetings were held in my area (York,PA) in 1948. Then one day a famous man, a wealthy wan and a man with a media empire walked...

Acquaintances from the early years remember that the Graham youngsters were less than models of decorum in their behavior at church and other public gatherings, but Ruth did her best to exercise a rather stern and consistent discipline at home. She claimed to have obtained some of her most effective child-rearing techniques from a dog-training manual whose directives included keeping commands simple and at a minimum, seeing to it that they were obeyed, rewarding obedience with praise and being consistent. Three of the five Graham children have divorced. Ruth was the first. When she discovered that her husband had been...

Fifty years ago, in the wake of the hard-fought 1968 presidential election, the nation faced what many assumed would be a turbulent transition. But it did not turn out that way. Whatever happened later, the country moved from what had been one of the most divisive campaigns in our history, to a comparatively calm and remarkably orderly (considering the times) transfer of power. This was due, in large part, to the combined and concerted efforts of two savvy politicians and a preacher. His name is Billy Graham, and he was born just four days before the guns fell silent ending...

At nearly 100 years old, famed evangelist Billy Graham has a difficult time hearing, seeing, and moving around — yet his mind is still clear as ever, his daughter Anne Graham Lotz has revealed.The 69-year-old Lotz, the founder of AnGeL Ministries, gave an update on the health of her legendary father during a devotional delivered at Founder's Week, a week-long Bible conference on Moody Bible Institute's Chicago campus."I'd be remiss if I didn't bring you greetings from my father," she said. "I'm not sure he knows that I'm here. He doesn't track like he used to, but his mind is still clear.""He...

Rev. Billy Graham has died.

Prominent evangelical leader and pastor Billy Graham has died at the age of 99. He passed away from natural causes at his home in Montreat, N.C, Fox News confirmed Wednesday. BREAKING NEWS: Billy Graham has died at age 99. pic.twitter.com/oZbmCUwOU5— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 21, 2018 Graham, one of "the most admired men in the world," according to polls, held over 400 "Christian crusades," or evangelistic campaigns, between 1947 and 2005.His influence was vast. He preached to an estimated 250 million people and offered spiritual guidance to several U.S. presidents. During his life-long ministry, Reverend Billy Graham preached in person...

Billy Graham has often said, “Whether the story of Christ is told in a huge stadium, across the desk of a powerful leader, or shared with a golfing companion, it satisfies a common hunger. All over the world, whenever I meet people face-to-face, I am made aware of this personal need among the famous and successful, as well as the lonely and obscure.” Every U.S. President since World War II has met with Billy Graham. Both Johnson and Nixon, the two who probably sought him the most, offered him high positions in government — which he quickly and politely refused....

President Donald Trump paid tribute to iconic Christian evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, who passed away Wednesday at age 99 at his home in Montreat, N.C. Trump took to Twitter to call Graham a great and very special man who will be missed by people of all faiths. The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018 Graham, whose worldwide crusades and role as adviser to decades of U.S. presidents made him one of the best known religious...