As someone who was alive all during the ministry of Dr. Graham, I was asked to recall the memories I have of him.  I remember as a youngster listening with my parents to his radio program “Hour of Decision.”  Then, my parents purchased their first TV in 1952, and I recall seeing his “crusades” on TV.  The year I graduated from high school, my friend Dale and I decided to attend “A Youth for Christ” camp at Winona Lake, Indiana.  Dr. Graham (who was one of the founders of Youth for Christ), Cliff Barrows, and George Beverly Shea were there for the entire week.  As a special guest, Ethel Waters was there.  It was certainly a blessing I’ve never forgotten. We’re talking sixty-four years ago, so Dr. Graham was 35 years old, and I was 17.  You might say it had a lasting impression on me.

    The next time I attended a crusade was around 1968 in Hartford, CN.  By that time, I had spent four years in the Air Force, was married with children, and was working at a bank in Hartford.  I had drifted away from the Lord but hearing there was a Billy Graham Crusade in town, I felt compelled to go.  On that occasion, I felt very convicted, but stubbornly refused to admit my guilt and condition.

    In the year 2000, the Billy Graham Crusade came to St. Louis.  I had totally given my heart to the Lord in 1982, so this time I wanted to really be a part of it.  A friend of mine here in this church decided we would not only sing in the choir, but we would also volunteer to be “counselors.”  I learned what really went into one of these “crusades.”  The crusade asked churches in the community to form groups who would pray for the crusade weeks before it started.  They sent people to have choir rehearsals and train counselors.  They also had people committed to follow up with those who made “decisions” during the crusade.  A lot of prayer, work, and cooperation went into the effort.  It always amazed me to see the number of people who came forward at each invitation, but now I was beginning to understand why.  The Holy Spirit was asked to be there, to touch hearts and lives, and the Bible says, “When you ask, you shall receive”.  I remember hearing Kurt Warner, the quarterback for the St Louis Rams, give his testimony of faith. I remember music by Charlie Daniels, Michael W. Smith, and of course, George Beverly Shea. 

    When Dr. Graham gave his message, people would listen.  I believe most people considered him a “Man of God.”  He always spoke with a passion and conviction, and his message never deviated.  He would emphasize that “God Loves You,” whoever you are, whatever you’ve done. He always included the “Gospel” as it says in I Corinthians 15:3-4: “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures”.  Dr. Graham didn’t hesitate to say that heaven and hell were real places and people were given a choice.  “Now” is always the time to make that choice.  There was no guarantee of a “tomorrow.”  Although there were thousands of people attending the crusade, you felt like he was speaking directly to you.  How many came to know Jesus because of Billy Graham—only God knows.  But, looking back on his life, no one can say he was not faithful in “planting the seed,” and praying for the Holy Spirit to do His work. 

    One other thing I remember, Dr. Graham always wanted the same Invitational Hymn…. “Just as I am, without one plea, but that His blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come!  I come!”

    Yes, Dr. Graham had an impact on my life, and continues to have an impact.  He was a humble, devoted, disciplined, passionate servant of Jesus. He was a rare “Evangelist” who “walked the talk.”  The media thinks we should “mourn,” but I rejoice for Billy Graham.  I know he is having a great reunion with his wife, Ruth, and her parents (who were missionaries in China), with George Beverly Shea, Cliff Barrows, and thousands, perhaps millions, of saints who are there because they heard his message.  If you are a believer, you have the promise of joining that group someday—praising, rejoicing, and fellowshipping with all the saints of heaven.

    By the way, “the Graham Team” (Billy, Cliff, and George B. Shea) were blessed with long lives.  Cliff Barrows (92 years), Billy (99 years) and George Beverly Shea (104 years).  It pays to follow God’s will!!

It's that time of year around here.  Life seems to be stagnant.  We say we have the blahs or are in the doldrums.  We look forward to spring, when things will be different, but in the meantime,  it is more of the same:  cold, barren, dirty, and nothing seems to change.  We long for adventure, for variety, for diversity - anything to get us out of the stale pit we find ourselves in.  We remember other seasons longingly - the thrill of summer with it's sunny skies and BBQ, the lush green of springtime.  (Funny how we forget the complaints about pollen and excessive heat from this perspective!)

In Numbers chapter 11, God's people were in a similar season.   “They remembered the good things of Egypt and craved them; the fish, the cucumbers, the melons....verse 6  But now our appetites are gone.  All we ever see is this manna!"    Tired of the same old thing every day, they longed for something different, some variety. 

The funny thing is, we humans don't typically choose to have much diversity in our lives.  We go to the same restaurants and order the same things.  We sit in the same pew at church or the same chair in class.  We wear the same clothes over and over - even when we have a closet full of other things.  We find comfort and security in the sameness of things, I suppose.  In routine.  In not dealing with the unexpected.

In fact, we tend to do the same thing when it comes to our relationships, our interactions with other people.  For the most part, our friends are like us.  They look like us, act like us, think like us.   We hang with those who make us feel that security that comes from sameness.  We are comfortable with those whose lives mirror ours as much as possible.

That's not all bad.  The manna was a provision from God, a good thing!  The same every day, but a good thing nonetheless.  Winter is a good thing, too.  A season that has a lot going on behind the scenes in nature that is preparing for the next season of growth.   Our relationships with those who are like us are good as well, we can encourage each other and help each other as we walk through this life together.   

Too much interaction with only those mirror images is not a good thing, however.   As Beth Moore recently tweeted, "Ick.  What a lame way to live."  She's right!  God has created mankind in such enormous variety.   I believe He longs for us to grow and learn and be stretched by one another and be blessed by the diversity of His creation.  Honestly, it can be scary sometimes.  For some of us, the opportunities to come in contact with those of a different race, religion, socio-economic status, culture, educational choice, or those who sin differently than we do are pretty rare.   Some of us have had interactions with those who have points of view that aren't just different from ours but are in opposition to God's as we find in His Word.  That can be really intimidating.  In other cases, we just don't have a perspective to understand the cares and concerns of those so different from our own.

I believe that we are called to get over those fears and get to know folks that aren't like us.  Expand our circles of interaction.  Speaking of circles, the we can have so many opportunities for gospel centered "Three Circles" conversations, sharing Jesus, when we step out of our comfort zones and interact with those that are not so familiar to us.  We are missing out on a whole incredible world of humanity when we close ourselves off, and we are missing our calling to share the gospel and make disciples as well.  We were made for more than this! 

I am challenging myself, and you, to be intentional about having conversations with those who are different from us.    I am making a goal to have at least one interaction a week for the rest of 2018 with someone who is not "like me".  Yes, I will have to seek out the opportunities.  Yes, I'm kind of scared.  But what better way to escape the doldrums than to experience more of God's pinnacle of creation:  people?!?  So, I'm seeking them out, and I'm going to be prepared to listen to them first.  Really listen to their stories, to their experiences, to their hearts.   And I'm going to be ready to share Jesus.

A reminder as tweeted by Beth:

1. We don't have to agree with people to LIKE them.
2. We don't have to agree with people to LEARN from them.
3. We don't have to agree on all things to agree on SOME things.

I'd like to invite you to add some variety to your own life this year.  Let's not be like the little child who never wants to eat anything but chicken nuggets.  Let's be like Phillip in Acts 8, willing to initiate a conversation with the Ethiopian.   Let's sit in a different chair, eat at a different restaurant, and celebrate the potpourri of humanity as we live this adventure!