By MAD21
As I was growing up, my family occasionally watched Billy Graham when he was on TV. I've never been much for watching 'televangelists.' Not that some of them aren't genuinely doing amazing things to bring people to Christ. Just that it wasn't very personal for me as an individual. Plus, there were too many other distractions watching it from my living room.
But it was somehow different when Mr. Graham was on. He had such an amazing way of presenting the gospel. It was real. And it spoke to me. It probably wasn't until I was older that I really began to fully understand the message he was preaching. He had a passion for Christ that I longed to have. That was the kind of Christian I longed to be. The kind that when people met you, they knew something was different about you, and they wanted to know more about who this Christ was that has had such an impact on your life. I'm nowhere near the person I was made to be. But I sure strive for becoming the woman that God designed.
Mr. Graham's legacy will live on long after he has gone Home. Which is a true testament to him and his ministry. I'm sure he is in no way perfect, and nor is his ministry. But he had a passion for making sure that the ministry was run with integrity and first and foremost, to only further the Kingdom of God. I once heard Mr. Graham give an interview with someone (no idea who it was with or when, it was a long time ago). He was talking about how in the beginning he had set a standard for how he wanted to handle the money that would come into the ministry.
In a quote from his daughter Millie in the book, "Billy Graham, A Tribute From Friends," (page 54) she tells about a situation when someone wanted to give him a monetary gift. He told her, "I made a commitment to the Lord when I went into full-time ministry that I would always operate on the salary determined for me or income from an outside project that I worked on, such as my books. I would take no extra gifts or income from an individual nor anything personal from an individual... It may not be fair to you but it is fair to the world who is waiting and watching for anyone visible in God's family to take gifts for themselves. I want to honor the Lord at all times, thereby turning over to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association every gift that is given to me personally. And I will do so until I die."
Have you ever considered setting a salary cap for yourself, including financial gifts? How many people do that?? Not just ministry leaders, but ALL of us. Think about that. Seriously. How important is it to us as believers, really, to use our resources to further the Kingdom of God and take care of His people? And I'm talking outside of regular tithing.
One of the things that stands out to me when God gives us his expectations for how we are to live, is how we can 'rate' a good man. Which is to look at his family. When God tells us how to choose the leaders of our churches, one of the things we are called to do is look at his family (1 Timothy 3:1-7). Now, we all know that even in the best of families, children can and do choose to fall away, through no fault of the parents. But I think there is a lot of truth in this idea of looking at a person from the perspective of their families. After all, they spend the most time with them.
Mr. Graham is a great example of a church leader in regards to being able to look at his family as a reflection of Mr. Graham himself. All of his children have had struggles in their lives, just like everyone else. But they are successful at what they have chosen to do with their lives.
His son Franklin Graham, had apparently no intention of continuing in his dad's footsteps (an example of his struggles as well as some of his siblings is discussed in this CNN interview transcript). But God had other plans. He met a man named Bob Pierce who showed him first hand the needs of people in our world. Mr. Pierce had started an organization called, "Samaritan's Purse" providing "international relief." You can go read about the path that led Mr. Pierce to start this organization here. This organization provides relief and development for nations around the world, along with medical missions, AIDS/HIV support, Children's Heart Projects, as well as a whole lot of work in Sudan rebuilding churches and the nation's people. In my opinion, it is one of the most amazing ministries God has in the world today.
Samaritan's Purse has one of the best programs set up for financial accountability, and are one of the few that consistently has a very high percentage of donations actually going to support the ministry's work and not administrative costs and salaries (check out their Charity Rating). Our family has supported them for years. One of the best things about supporting them is how they involve us in their ministry by keeping us updated on the progress of their ministry and it's work. Not to mention, I think they are the only ministry we have ever financially supported, who had a real person call to thank us, and ask if we have any prayer needs.
One of the Samaritan's Purse ministries our family LOVES is, "Operation Christmas Child." In the fall, individuals and groups put together shoeboxes full of items for designated ages to give to girls and boys all over the world during the Christmas holiday. As a family, we LOVE to do this. Having two young children who don't yet understand the value of money, just giving money to an organization for Christmas doesn't mean much to them. But give them a shoebox and have them help pick things out for another child that's just like them opens up a world of excitement and teaches them the joy of giving to someone who is less fortunate than them.
It's obvious to me that Franklin Graham is running this ministry with the same integrity and intention that his father ran his ministry. And the legacy lives on. Praise God!