Sunday, January 4, 2009

Billy Graham - Number 7

Southern Baptist, Evangelical Christian, and spiritual adviser to multiple U.S. presidents, Billy Graham has preached to more people around the globe than any Protestant in history. Number seven on Gallup’s list of admired people for the 20th century, the 90-year-old Graham is currently front page news simply for moving his church membership from First Baptist Dallas to First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, about 85 miles from his current home in Montreat, North Carolina. (...and Thinkwriter will add more about Billy Graham in the days to come.)

For now, let’s take a look at Graham’s earliest memories to determine the worldview of the man who first made America safe for public testimonies of faith. What follows are three of Graham's earliest memories in his own words. Please vote for the worldview that best fits Billy Graham, and thank you for participating!

Billy Graham remembers...

1. When Grandmother Coffey died, I was in elementary school, and my sister Catherine and I were called out of school. [I learned] Grandmother had sat up in the bed and almost laughingly said, “I see Jesus. He has his arms outstretched to me. And there’s Ben! He has both of his eyes and both of his legs!”
(Ben Coffey was her husband. He had been badly wounded in the Civil War, ultimately losing his left leg and sight in his right eye.)

2. We always had a collie – at least one – and what would any farm be without plenty of cats? Not knowing any better, I once took a cat and shut it in the doghouse with the dog. They hated each other with some ancient instinct when they went in, but after spending the night inside they came out as friends forever.

3. I had one narrow brush with death as a child. Once when I was sick, Mother thought she was giving me cough medicine but she gave me iodine instead. If it had not been for a quick call to Aunt Jennie, who suggested some thick cream from the dairy to counteract the iodine, I might have died.

Billy Graham’s worldview is…. (Please select the best answer and vote in the poll to the right.) [Poll is now closed. See correct answer in red.]

1. Life is an experiment. (25%)
2. Life is a contest. (8%)
3. Life is a magazine. (0%)
4. Life isn’t everything. (66%)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought I would be the only one who voted for life isn't everything, and I see this is the majority at this time.

annie said...

I'm voting for that one too, Jennie. What else could it be? But then again, that seems too easy. What else would you expect from a man who has spent all his life trying to get people prepared for life after death?