What a Man, What a Man, What a Mighty Good Man

William Franklin Graham was born in 1918 into a fundamentalist home. He attended a fundamentalist college and began a preaching ministry at an early age. In 1944 he became actively involved in the Youth for Christ movement. But, it was in 1949 in Los Angles, California that Billy Graham burst onto the scene of modern revivalism. Through the assistance of William Randolph Hearst, crowds packed his "Canvas Cathedral" for twelve weeks. Graham's charisma and spirit of freedom combined with his basic gospel message of God's grace to produce a true spokesman for God.

It was when Graham enlisted support from mainline denominations that the separatist fundamentalists wrote him off as a supporter of liberals. He has sought help from the Roman Catholics and pioneered for the integration of blacks and whites. Every president since Truman has made Graham their guest at the presidential table. Though he learned the hard way, he based his ministry on being nonpartisan and more circumspect in approach. Today, he is a strong advocate of world peace and nuclear disarmament, and he has never forsaken the gospel of Jesus Christ. He took a risk; he would help the most he could instead of becoming the toy of a minority, power hungry group. Let us learn from Billy Graham that the gospel is lived as well as preached and that doctrinal strength is not compromised when cooperating with groups outside of ourselves! We are all One in Christ and all belong to Him.