Albert Mohler Jr. , president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, reviews the life of Billy Graham, who died today (February 21) at the age of 99 Billy Graham’s School of Missions, Evangelization and Ministry, the Southern Seminary is the only graduate school the famous evangelist has granted permission to use his name. The founding of Billy Graham School was announced in 1993 by Mohler, in which Graham spoke.
An epic era of evangelical history ended. Billy Graham was not only a titanic figure in evangelism, but in world history and perhaps the last of his kind. He dominated American evangelism in the 20th century and remained a major figure on the world stage for most of the 20th century, in a way that we cannot imagine any evangelical leader today.
- Billy Graham was an extremely talented man.
- He was a man of deep conviction.
- Whose heart was passionate about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; he was an evangelist and was not ashamed to be called that.
Billy Graham sitting with southern seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr.
In many ways, Billy Graham was not a pioneer in crowd evangelization and cross-evangelization; He perfected that. What others have done on a smaller scale and with little regularity has begun to do in a way that I do not think can be replicated or assimilated. Was he one of the first to recognize the importance of the media?first in radio and in the press, after television and even cinema. At the end of his life, his organization launched new ways to reach people with the gospel through digital and social media.
In addition to his role as an evangelist, Billy Graham was also the organizing centre of evangelization in the 20th century, having played a dominant role in the formation of important evangelical institutions. In addition to the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, a multi-ministry base was founded by Graham, perhaps more specifically, Christianity Today magazine. Looking at the list of major evangelical organizations, it’s hard to imagine what many of them would be today, if they existed today, without Billy Graham’s human agency.
Now, for a long time his identity as a Southern Baptist, he was for many years a member of the First Baptist Church in Dallas and had W. A. Criswell as a friend and pastor.
Billy Graham has a long and close relationship with the Southern Seminary, which dates back to the 1950s; he was a close friend of Dr. Duke McCall, who was the institution’s seventh president; during mcCall’s years of administration, it was a frequent In 1960, the seminar opened the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, and in 1965 the Billy Graham Chair in Evangelism was established and maintained successively to this day by teachers who have taught in honor of Dr. Graham.
In 1993, when I was elected president, Dr. Graham fervently encouraged me and the vision that led me to the Southern Seminary, speaking at my opening ceremony and allowing us to found the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelization and Growth, as it was called at the time. Graham has been very involved in helping me begin my presidency and throughout my presidency has been an active supporter and a constant partner in prayer for this task. In 2001, I had the privilege of presiding over the Billy Graham Crusade held in Louisville.
I am very grateful to have been able to introduce Dr. Graham to Dr. Graham as the new Dean of Billy Graham School on October 29, 2013 and report on the school’s progress.
At that meeting at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, I was very happy to have asked him what message he would like to convey to our students. Your advice on the importance of your devotional life and?Study more and talk less?take an amazing new stimulation. I had the very strong impression that this would be the last time I would see Dr. Graham on this earth. He said several times, “I am ready to be with Jesus. “his wife, Ruth, and knew that he had already run his career. It was wonderful to see a man who knew he had finished his work. He was not anxious to die, but he was anxious to see his Lord. even when it depended on oxygen at that time, at almost 95 years old, it was coming to an end on this earth.
Billy Graham must also be remembered as a man who protected the moral integrity of his ministry from start to finish, a man against which there has never been any trace of moral scandal and, as a result, needs to be recognized for completing his career. and have completed a journey in a way that inspires us all.
On behalf of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, we extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the family of Dr. Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association after the death of this great gospel ambassador. I have had the privilege of meeting Dr. Graham and having his personal mark in my life and ministry. We celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Billy Graham and are grateful to have met someone who has led his career and ended his journey with such dignity and courage.
By: Albert Mohler Jr. © Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Website: sbts. edu. Translated with permission. Source: Mohler on Graham: “An Epic Era of Evangelical History Is Over. “
Original: An epic era of evangelical history is over. © Return to the Gospel. Website: voltemosaoevangelho. com. All rights reserved. Translation: Camila Rebeca Teixeira. Review: William Teixeira.