Billy Graham’s Last Crusade
Although this
was not Billy Graham’s last appearance, I would have
to honestly say this was his last major crusade. The
following was taken from an email that was passing around,
but I verified the facts, and this is pretty much what happened. “In
what might prove to be the crowning achievement of an illustrious
career in ministry, the 87-year-old evangelist, Billy Graham
shocked the 16,300 in attendance at the Celebration of Hope
crusade in New Orleans Arena on Sunday Night [12 March 2006]. Touted
in advance as possibly his last Evangelistic Crusade, Graham
invited the packed house of evangelical Christians and the
hundreds of new converts to join him on the one mile walk
from the arena to New Orleans’ infamous Bourbon Street. “While we have seen God do tremendous
things here the past couple of evenings—yes, it is
true that a great healing and a great many salvations have
occurred within this auditorium—still yet, there lies
a great mountain in this city that needs to be conquered.” Then taking from the Biblical Book of
Joshua chapter 14 he read, “I am this day, eighty-five
years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the
day Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is
my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now
therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke
in that day,” his voice suddenly sounded more forceful
than during his 22 minute sermon. “I
last preached in the City of New Orleans in 1954 and I felt
then that there was some unfinished business. Tonight,
in what very well might be my last evangelistic service,
I aim to finish that business and lead as many of you that
would follow me to the multitude of lost souls that fill
Bourbon Street tonight. That
is my mountain! That
is where we shall see the harvest!” said Graham as
the stadium erupted in cheers that lasted for the next several
minutes. Utilizing
a waiting mobility scooter, the elder Graham joined his son
Franklin across the Arena floor and through the opened doors
leading towards the French Quarter. In a show of solidarity and determination
reminiscent of civil rights marches of the 1960’s,
nearly the entire capacity crowd joined in the 20 minute
trek while singing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” As
the march crossed Canal Street and headed northward towards
Bourbon Street, many onlookers stood in stunned silence as
the massive crowd of people began singing in unison the Christian
hymn, Amazing Grace.
Upon
entering the west end of Bourbon Street, Billy Graham
was soon recognized by partiers. Soon
those joining in the march began to approach those partying
on Bourbon Street with the Gospel message that they had heard
preached just a half hour before. Graham himself joined with a group of
local evangelists in ministering to a man who had survived
Hurricane Katrina in the lower 9th Ward. Within
30 minutes the entirety of Bourbon Street was packed with
Christians and the once blaring music of nightclubs and strip
joints had been replaced by weeping and worship as people
poured out their drinks and sought prayer from the Christians
who were now reaching out to them. “I
have never seen anything like this in my life,” said
20 year New Orleans Police Department veteran, Tom Phillips. “This
is unbelievable!” We
thought a riot was going to break out, but this looks more
like a Revival than a riot!”
Two
hours later, a glowing Graham sat back down on his scooter
and smiled. “Now I know how the Apostle Paul
must have felt at the end of his ministry. Do
the work of an evangelist; make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith.” Hours later hundreds of Christians remained
on the street ministering to the many people eagerly awaiting
to receive prayer and ministry. New
Orleans will never be the same.
And
the press remained mute on this “news item”? Did
anyone see it on TV? Hear
it on radio? Read
it in the paper? Why are we not surprised? Can’t have THAT just prior to a
major election, now can we? Well,
just on a whim, spread the news, anyway. It
cost our elder brother, Billy Graham, more than any of us
know to make that effort. The least we can do is publicize it…” That was a quote from an email that has
been making it’s rounds. I
did some research and verified it as being valid. The
campaign took place on Saturday, March 11, 7pm, and Sunday
March 12, at 4pm. Wikippedia
says Billy Graham is now not only suffering from Parkinson’s
Disease, but Prostate Cancer. So this effort on his part was immense,
considering. And
sadly, it is probably his last major appearance. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham for
his life’s accomplishments, and http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22745 for
an article relating to the planning of the New Orleans Campaign.)
But
what can we learn from this event? What
has Billy Graham shown us? I’m
an avid history buff, and most of world history and United
States history is about war. We’re
in a huge spiritual war to evangelize the world. It
is often an unseen war against wicked spirits in high places. Paul said “For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.” The NIV calls “spiritual wickedness
in high places” “spiritual forces of evil in
heavenly realms.” What does Paul tell us next? “Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day…” (verse 13). Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds:) Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Where
is our spiritual warfare directed? Well,
for a new believer, and yes, even some of us old believers,
it is a personal war against internal sin. But
it is also a war of evangelism, bringing light into the darkness
of this world, just like Billy Graham did on Bourbon Street. Paul
identifies our spiritual target, our objective in 2 Corinthians
4:3-4, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them.” So
what has Billy Graham shown us? Brave
and inspiring leadership is what moves spiritual troops toward
a spiritual objective, where they can then spiritually conquer
the enemy, which is spiritual blindness. In my study of real warfare, wars are
basically won because of brave and inspiring leadership at
the top, a few brave generals up at the front lines leading
and inspiring their men. I’ll use a few real generals to
make my point, and these are from both sides of the Civil
War, and strangely enough, the ones I name all wanted to
see the slaves freed. General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson at the first battle of Bull Run,
Jackson and Lee and many others at Fredericksburg, General’s
Buford and Reynolds at Gettysburg, and also Colonial Chamberlain
at Little Round Top. What significance are individual Christians
in the great battle of evangelism? They
are like individual foot soldiers. They
can be deadly to the enemy. But
alone, leaderless, they are next to useless. In
an army though, commanded by a fearless and courageous “general”,
they can be very effective. Now
the South had some very effective and courageous generals,
almost all of them were. But it is a well known fact that they
bickered a lot amongst themselves, and they were not all
that cooperative with each other. Due
to this, communication between generals wasn’t all
that effective. It
wasn’t so with the North. The
body of Christ has just such a problem amongst its “generals” and
differing denominations. But
an army under a brave general who leads up front can be very
devastating to the enemy. Patton in WWII was just such a general. But what would have the individual soldiers
in Patton’s army been like without him or another like
him? What would the 1st Brigade
been like at Bull Run without Jackson? Or
Gettysburg without Buford or Caldwell or Chamberlain? It’s not just the men in real war,
it’s their leaders that spell the difference between
defeat and mediocrity or victory. Jesus
told all believers through the writers of three of the four
gospels that “this gospel of the kingdom would be preached
and published around the world, and then the end would come.” That “end” he
was talking about is the end of this evil age we live in,
marked by the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. So
this spiritual military assignment is for the end-time Church. Peter preached the gospel in his first
sermon. This “gospel” message
Peter preached, the very first gospel message preached by
an apostle of the first congregation of believers, had two
basic elements within it. It was both a warning (he actually quoted
an end-time prophecy from Joel in his first sermon), and
a call to salvation. The gospel can contain elements of a warning
about the evil conditions around us, and yes, now that we’re
in the end times, a prophetic warning of what’s to
come, and it also contains a call to save oneself from this
evil world, a call to salvation.
So
battles are won by “a few good men” leading a
bunch of other good men. Some of the biggest military efforts have
been decided by brave generals and the Company Commanders
under them. Chamberlain was the Company Commander
of the 20th Maine, a deciding factor in the victory
at Gettysburg. Who might be considered a Company Commander
in the Christian battle we fight? It
would be the pastor of a large church congregation. (We need a good example to make this point
clear.) Do most
pastors wage spiritual warfare in the evil parts of the community
their congregations dwell in? Who might we look at to see an example
of what Billy Graham did in New Orleans on Bourbon Street? It’s Pastor Jim Cymbala, leading
his Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation. Often
he or ones under him have led such “crusades”,
missions, down into the nasty sections of Brooklyn and New
York City, bringing blankets and soup, and Bibles to the
destitute prostitutes and street people, and inviting them
back for more warm food and a church service. Many,
as a result, have been successfully called out of that dark
evil environment. If you are a pastor, do you try
to model yourself and your congregation after successful ”Company
Commanders” like Jim Cymbala and his Brooklyn Tabernacle
congregation? You might want to take a look at his ministry
(see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prayer/congregation.htm). Jesus is calling us to the front lines,
and those front lines are all around us. And
Billy Graham has just demonstrated how a small army of ordinary
believers could be fielded onto this spiritual battlefield
on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Another thing you “Company
Commanders” need to do is strengthen and train your
“troops”, the ordinary foot solders under you. That
link above shows one element of this strengthening that needs doing, and I
highly recommend you not only buy the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, but have your members do so as well. The other thing you need to do is start
really nourishing the troops under you. Check
out http://www.unityinchrist.com/pom/philofmin.htm,
it explains a highly effective method of preaching, one I term the “connective
expository” method. And check
out such links that really nourish members, such as http://www.unityinchrist.com/romans/Romans6-1-5page1.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/1john/1john.htm.
(These two links contain connective expository sermons going through Romans
6-8 and 1st John 1-5.) If
you’re not effectively feeding the congregational members
under you, they won’t be effective soldiers. Remember what Paul said in 11 Corinthians
4 and 10 about the warfare we’re in. It’s
spiritual, not flesh and blood—it’s spiritual warfare. If your troops aren’t spiritually
strong, they won’t be effective.
For
some good sound teaching on spiritual warfare, log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/1.htm . This
is a whole work written on spiritual warfare.
Finally,
what can we all do, pastors and local members alike to support
our spiritual armies that are abroad, and support unified
evangelism across denominational lines, so that the body
of Christ can more function as one massive army? For some helpful ideas on that, log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/missionstatement.htm. You pastors should encourage this $5 a
week plan in your church, regardless of what denomination
you hail from. If you haven’t taken a look around
you, we are in the end times. I
don’t have to quote prophecy to you, just log onto
foxnews.com or CNN or read the paper. Look at the Middle East, global terrorism,
global warming. (I
have articles on all these things.) It’s
time to wake up and stop being the slumbering bridesmaids
Jesus spoke of in Matthew 25.
editor
UNITYINCHRIST.COM
PS, for a really
good and graphic picture of effective generals and Company
Commanders in action, rent “God and Generals” and “Gettysburg”,
and then apply what you have learned here. Now for a very interesting article that
was sent to me, titled Peacemaker Or Trucebreaker? It’s an article that helps
define unity in the body of Christ in a very unique way. It puts form and shape to the illusive
definition of unity between differing fellowships. It helps define how we can avoid being
like those excellent Southern civil war generals who could
never seem to sufficiently cooperate with each other. How
does a church,
a denomination become a unifying factor, and not a divisive
factor in the body of Christ? That’s what this article clarifies
and defines. Understanding
goes a long way in promoting unity, understanding Christian
brothers and sisters from other denominations, understanding
what makes them different doctrinally, while at the same
time accepting them. This
site provides some of that understanding. The
next article takes that a step further.
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