Billy Graham – A tribute from Bishop Harold
Billy Graham was perhaps the most influential Christian preacher in the second half of the Twentieth Century. He conducted 417 crusades in 185 countries across the globe. Some of the most significant were in the UK. Indeed, the Church of England was greatly influenced by the 1954 Harringay Crusade in particular, where many of those who were to be clergy in the post–war era came to a decision of faith.
My own first experience of hearing Billy Graham preach was in his UK–wide crusade in the late 1960s, which was beamed in to the old Grosvenor Hall, and no doubt many other venues. It had a profound impact on me because I had only recently been converted. Before that rally, people were trained up as ‘counsellors’, to be able to lead others to faith in Christ. I was one, and it was probably my first experience of that privilege of seeing others give their lives over to the Lord. Ever since, my very greatest privilege in ministry has been the joy of seeing another person come to know Jesus Christ.
Billy Graham’s message was a simple but profound one – one which never really changes, but is fresh in every generation. He was influential right across the board, from royalty to the most ordinary person. He was given to us for a generation, and served the Lord faithfully in what he was called to do. Now he is in the closer presence of his Lord and Saviour, having finished the course and remained true to Christ right to the end – an example for all Christians.
When asked in an interview with CNN about how he would like to be remembered, Billy Graham said: ‘That I was faithful to the message that he gave and faithful to the calling that he gave me to go into the world and preach the Gospel. That’s how I would like to be remembered.’
He enters eternity in the wonderful assurance of the hymn which, above all other hymns, is associated with his crusades:
Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidd’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come.