“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” Matthew 24:14
It began in a large revival tent in 1949 in Los Angeles. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst sent out the memo to all his newspapers...."Puff Graham"....or in effect....'put this guy on your front pages.' I wonder where he got that idea? It was to be a three week effort but turned into eight weeks.The young evangelist from North Carolina took London by storm in 1954....with revival services for three solid months.....culminating with a private message by invitation given in Buckingham Palace's chapel to Queen Elizabeth....and a somewhat secretive meeting with Winston Churchill. Three years later it was New York City where it was to be a six week crusade but turned into three months. Two million heard Billy Graham.....face to face....in various settings including Times Square.....which looked like New Years....and Yankee Stadium....filled in 105 degree heat.....and thirty thousand surrounding him as he preached from steps of the New York Stock Exchange Building.
Out of curiosity I trended the years of the hundreds of crusades that lasted until 2005....just to see if they were evenly split up or if certain years were dominant. 1960 and 1980....with two or three years before or after.... dominated heavily. I came into the faith in 1982 and remember watching his crusades on the UHF channel. Over the years enormous crowds overflowed stadiums all over the world as Billy Graham preached this “gospel of the kingdom” in 185 countries and territories.
Looking back now on these pictures....and reading of the crusades primarily from the TIME/LIFE book Billy Graham, God's Ambassador....and reading Graham's comments on the physical difficulties of three month crusades....and seeing the multitudes gather in all kinds of settings and under all kinds of conditions....and seeing photos of him with every president....and celebrities....and looking at America over the years....all the while knowing full well that walking forward at a crusade or any altar call....or showing interest or even respect for the solemnity of hearing the gospel of salvation preached....is an indication of what people want more than what may have happened in their soul....and having almost forty years of my own life to look back upon....seeing how the key element is this pilgrimage....that no matter what....you go forward....and you do not stop....for fear of falling asleep....knowing all of this....and also that it is not our free will....it is not our choice that instigates this great and wonderful regeneration and salvation....but God's grace alone....I still look at these crusades in rapt attention and thankfulness that the Word of God....the salvation offered in faith in Jesus Christ....went forth to so many people all over this world! The requirement seems to be that everyone will have heard the gospel. We in America have heard. That in itself should unnerve some who know that they have heard....but nothing happened out of the ordinary.
This is what we need most in America right now....not economic stimulus packages....or patriotic motivation....or even encouragement....but who will bring it to us? John MacArthur....(gty.org).... or even Ligonier Ministries....(ligonier.org)....or any of the other wonderful ministries out there cannot do it alone. Our pulpits must awaken! We must awaken! God choose 1949 to set those crusades in motion. He had also in the past chosen the timing for Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to appear. He opened Martin Luther's eyes....and prepared John Calvin....and raised up those Puritan pastors....and dragged that young English lad Charles Spurgeon to a small church in a snowstorm....and changed the calling of the British physician Martyn Lloyd-Jones....and planted R. C. Sproul in Western Pennsylvania....and He had mercy on someone as low as me....to tell you that it could therefore happen to you....so that you could then say the same thing to your neighbor.
Lord we need this. We don't deserve it....but we need it. Do this if it be Thy will....move upon our people once again....for Thy name sake alone.....and Thy glory alone!
It began in a large revival tent in 1949 in Los Angeles. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst sent out the memo to all his newspapers...."Puff Graham"....or in effect....'put this guy on your front pages.' I wonder where he got that idea? It was to be a three week effort but turned into eight weeks.The young evangelist from North Carolina took London by storm in 1954....with revival services for three solid months.....culminating with a private message by invitation given in Buckingham Palace's chapel to Queen Elizabeth....and a somewhat secretive meeting with Winston Churchill. Three years later it was New York City where it was to be a six week crusade but turned into three months. Two million heard Billy Graham.....face to face....in various settings including Times Square.....which looked like New Years....and Yankee Stadium....filled in 105 degree heat.....and thirty thousand surrounding him as he preached from steps of the New York Stock Exchange Building.
Out of curiosity I trended the years of the hundreds of crusades that lasted until 2005....just to see if they were evenly split up or if certain years were dominant. 1960 and 1980....with two or three years before or after.... dominated heavily. I came into the faith in 1982 and remember watching his crusades on the UHF channel. Over the years enormous crowds overflowed stadiums all over the world as Billy Graham preached this “gospel of the kingdom” in 185 countries and territories.
Looking back now on these pictures....and reading of the crusades primarily from the TIME/LIFE book Billy Graham, God's Ambassador....and reading Graham's comments on the physical difficulties of three month crusades....and seeing the multitudes gather in all kinds of settings and under all kinds of conditions....and seeing photos of him with every president....and celebrities....and looking at America over the years....all the while knowing full well that walking forward at a crusade or any altar call....or showing interest or even respect for the solemnity of hearing the gospel of salvation preached....is an indication of what people want more than what may have happened in their soul....and having almost forty years of my own life to look back upon....seeing how the key element is this pilgrimage....that no matter what....you go forward....and you do not stop....for fear of falling asleep....knowing all of this....and also that it is not our free will....it is not our choice that instigates this great and wonderful regeneration and salvation....but God's grace alone....I still look at these crusades in rapt attention and thankfulness that the Word of God....the salvation offered in faith in Jesus Christ....went forth to so many people all over this world! The requirement seems to be that everyone will have heard the gospel. We in America have heard. That in itself should unnerve some who know that they have heard....but nothing happened out of the ordinary.
This is what we need most in America right now....not economic stimulus packages....or patriotic motivation....or even encouragement....but who will bring it to us? John MacArthur....(gty.org).... or even Ligonier Ministries....(ligonier.org)....or any of the other wonderful ministries out there cannot do it alone. Our pulpits must awaken! We must awaken! God choose 1949 to set those crusades in motion. He had also in the past chosen the timing for Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to appear. He opened Martin Luther's eyes....and prepared John Calvin....and raised up those Puritan pastors....and dragged that young English lad Charles Spurgeon to a small church in a snowstorm....and changed the calling of the British physician Martyn Lloyd-Jones....and planted R. C. Sproul in Western Pennsylvania....and He had mercy on someone as low as me....to tell you that it could therefore happen to you....so that you could then say the same thing to your neighbor.
Lord we need this. We don't deserve it....but we need it. Do this if it be Thy will....move upon our people once again....for Thy name sake alone.....and Thy glory alone!
