Something Heartwarming.....
Billy Graham is now 92 years old with Parkinson's disease.
In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, 'We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.' So he agreed...
After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger.
When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.
The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.' Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.' Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.''
Having said that Billy Graham continued, 'See the suit I'm wearing?
It's a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious.
So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing.
I want you to remember this:
*I not only know who I am ... I also know where I'm going*
"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point"
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is an American evangelical Christian, as of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, he has been a spiritual adviser to twelve United States presidents going back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for the 20th century. He is a Southern Baptist. He rose to celebrity status as his sermons were broadcast on radio and television.
It is said that Graham has preached in person to more people around the world than any other preacher in history. According to his staff, as of 1993 more than 2.5 million people had "stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior". As of 2008, Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.
39 quotes by Billy Graham:
- A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.
- A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.
- Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.
- Believers, look up - take courage. The angels are nearer than you think.
- Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.
- Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
- Everybody has a little bit of Watergate in him.
- Give me five minutes with a person's checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.
- God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.
- God is more interested in your future and your relationships than you are.
- God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, "I love you."
- God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there.
- God's angels often protect his servants from potential enemies.
- I just want to lobby for God.
- I think when a person has been found guilty of rape he should be castrated. That would stop him pretty quick.
- I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right.
- If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.
- If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.
- It is not the body's posture, but the heart's attitude that counts when we pray.
- Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.
- My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world.
- Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love.
- Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.
- Only those who want everything done for them are bored.
- Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.
- Read the Bible. Work hard and honestly. And don't complain.
- Suppose you could gain everything in the whole world, and lost your soul. Was it worth it?
- Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.
- The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'
- The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
- The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.
- The men who followed Him were unique in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their hearts had been turned right side up. The world has never been the same.
- The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal and bless.
- The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.
- The word 'romance,' according to the dictionary, means excitement, adventure, and something extremely real. Romance should last a lifetime.
- There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.
- We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.
- When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
- You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole.
