Charlotte, N.C.’s Billy Graham passed this morning at the age of 99. Graham characterized the face of all things Spiritual in America during the T.V. age of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. His crusades’ closing anthem, heard just below, brought tens of thousands into a living relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as, Jesus Christ.
He was well known for his sermons, however in the last years of his life, Graham was best known for becoming the testimony of all things he spoke.
Sadly, the era he lead will be more remembered as a time of a great erosion in faith and ethics. The 1980’s have now been famously defined as the decade of greed.
Graham believed a relationship with Christ came through a surrender of one’s self and one’s will to the leadership of God prompted by the inner dwelling of God’s Holy Spirit invited into the leadership role of one’s own body. He believed this was possible because of the blood sacrifice made by Christ on the cross at Calvary.
A humble man, Graham was larger than the times he lived.
With current ethical challenges nation-wide and state-wide, many South Carolinians long for such a man to take a leadership role in our country again.
During Graham’s life, the South (American South) remained religious in action, but lost many of the deep Spiritual connections to God that defined Graham’s own personal experiences.