Billy Graham Was Not a Hero
But he spent his life telling the Gospel story of a man who is
America’s pastor died today.
William Franklin Graham was born four days before the end of World War I. He died today, almost a hundred years later. The world changed a lot in those hundred years, for better and for worse. Graham was part of some of those changes — for better and for worse.
Just about everyone knows who Billy Graham is. Which is a pretty remarkable thing, considering how unremarkable Graham was. Billy was the oldest of four and spent his childhood on the family dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. He was a farm boy, and he looked the part at 6'2" with a rugged handsomeness, but he grew up to become a voice known to generations.
During his lifetime, Billy Graham preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to more than 215 million people in 80 countries across every continent. He led more than 400 crusades and rallies, with messages broadcast across 185 countries and territories.
Graham spoke before a still-record Los Angeles Coliseum crowd in 1963. He preached in front of 250,000 at Central Park. In 1973 Graham spoke before his biggest crowd ever, over 1.1 million in Seoul. That same year he led the first integrated crusade in South Africa.
