“I feel sorry for the man who has never known the bracing thrill of taking a stand and sticking to it fearlessly. Moral courage has rewards that timidity can never imagine. Like a shot of adrenaline, it floods the spirit with vitality.” (The Cross) Billy Graham knew this was true first hand. Growing up around a family that leaned upon the teachings of his, I knew early on that his absolutely inspirational sermons seen on television and live at crusades had inspired millions of people around the world by his love, respect, and devotion to God and mankind. Billy Graham has enjoyed a career that has spanned more than six decades from growing up in North Carolina after World War 1, barnstorming the country as a dynamic revivalist, touring the world …show more content…
So the question here is “Do I think that Billy Graham is a mere preacher or is he a 20th-21st century prophet like the prophets of the Old Testament?” Most people make a strong connection between the role of a prophet and the idea of telling the future. They believe that a prophet is someone who makes a lot of predictions about what 's going to happen. But telling the future was not the major role of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, their prophecies were more of a side effect of their main role and function. The primary role of the prophets in the Bible was to speak with the people about the words and will of God in their specific situations. They were God’s ambassadors, speaking not from their own authority, but were spokesmen for the God of Israel. The prophets served as God 's megaphones, declaring whatever God commanded them to say. Throughout Israel 's growth and regression as a nation, prophets arose at different times and spoke to the people in specific locations. For example, among the prophets who wrote books now found in the Bible, three ministered to Israel 's northern kingdom: Amos, Hosea, and …show more content…
All over the world, whenever I meet people face-to-face, I am made aware of this personal need among the famous and successful, as well as the lonely and obscure.” (God’s Ambassadors 1) Graham was even a spiritual adviser to American presidents; he was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. He insisted on integration for his revivals and crusades in 1953 and invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to preach jointly alongside him. Billy was pleased to count Martin Luther King, Jr. as a friend, and MLK gave an eloquent opening prayer at many of his services; he also came to his invitation at one of their team retreats during the Crusade to help people understand the racial situation in America more fully. (God’s Ambassador 2) In 1965, Mr. Graham canceled a tour of Europe to preach a series of crusades in Alabama praying that the Gospel would tear down walls of division between the races and seeing the importance of his work alongside Dr. King’s. Dr. King later stated, “Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful as it has been.” (God’s Ambassador 2) Billy’s commitment to live with integrity the message he preaches is what marks him as embodying a
It is no secret that Martin Luther King Jr. did great things. We have learned in school that he was a leader in the movement to desegregate the South. He has served as a role model for people across the globe. But even though Martin did change the world for the better, it was not without hardships. We gathered new information on Dr. King in the essay, “Heeding the Call” by Diana Childress. From his childhood to his last days, Martin faced massive opposition. Still, all of these challenges brought Martin the wisdom and idealism he used throughout his life.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at noon on January 15, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee to the Reverend Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. spent the first twelve years in the Auburn Avenue home that his parents shared with his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste Williams. When Reverend Williams passed away in 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. became the new pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and established himself as a major figure in both state and national Baptist groups. Martin Luther King Jr. later attended Atlanta’s Morehouse College from 1944 to 1948 during his undergraduate years. During this time, Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays had convinced Martin Luther King Jr. to accept his calling and to view Christianity as a “potential force for progressive social change. Martin Luther King Jr. was ordained during his last semester in Morehouse.” It was also around this time that Martin Luther King Jr. had begun his first steps towards political activism. In 1951, King Jr. began his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University’s School of Theology. In 1953, Martin Luther King Jr. married Coretta Scott on June 18 in a ceremony that took place i...
Lischer, Richard The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the word that moved America Oxford University Press: 1995. Print
Finally, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to article by eight Alabama Clergymen contains strong arguments that are logical, emotional, and credential. Dr. King introduces his position and his activities to audience, he states that his organization has connections with other organizations, and he uses emotional appeals and personal comparison to convince his reader that his activities are reasonable.
King had gained respect from some audience because of his soft tone. He established his ethos to readers, especially to the white, by saying, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.). To connect his idea to the real world, he used the image of Apostle Paul left the village to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ as it’s his duty to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his hometown.
Through Martin Luther King Jr.’s brilliant usage of sensible logos, thought-provoking rhetorical questions, and accentuating parallel structure in his persuasive letter, the white clergymen were influenced to at least alter their perspectives towards the treatment of blacks and promote supplementary equality rights for all. As a noble advocator of desegregation, social justice, and human dignity through diplomatic methods, he ignites a new social movement that brought about freedom from oppression and democratic reformation. With a long-standing desire for a peaceful community among all races, King encourages those he targets with the letter to achieve God’s will and overturn racial intolerance caused by misjudgment.
It must have taken all of his willpower to brush off their ignorance and viciousness like dust from his tailored suit and walked off with his dignity in tact. It was then that I began to think of him as a modern day hero instead of just a speaker that I had to listen to for class
Prophets began to travel in packs receiving the presence of God through trace like states. The prophet Elijah emerges out of these traveling prophets around 886 BCE and begins to speak publicly. Elijah had a big problem with the King. The Kings lady was from a pagan religion and had brought about the worship of other Gods. Elijah addresses the King publicly and challenges the other Gods to make fire. They of course can’t match the Big Guy and Elijah triumphs and rides away into the sky leaving behind his robe passing on the power of prophecy. So ends the spoken prophets.
The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In modern society, a prophet is a visionary, telling people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the prophet is a peaceful lad, Simon. He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery. Through these truths Simon represents a Christ figure paralleling Christ's misunderstood message and Christ's death.
Lischer, Richard The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the word that moved America Oxford University Press: 1995. Print
"This is the Hour of Decision with Billy Graham, coming to you from Minneapolis Minnesota" Billy Graham, has preached to more than 210 million people through a live audience, more than anyone else in history. Not only that, but Mr. Graham has reached millions more through live televison, video and film. This has led Billy to be on the "Ten Most Admired Men in the World" from the Gallup Poll since 1955 a total of thirty-nine times. This includes thirty-two consecutive more than any other individual in the world, placing him as the most popular American for about forty years. This essay is going to talk about Graham's personal life, and what kind of family he grew up in and im also going to talk in detail about how he became an evangelist, because I feel it is very important yet interesting. His accomplishments in the fifties are uncomparable, so I will be including a considerable amount of information concerning that topic. Finally I will be talking about his personal achievements, books written, and how he has been a companion to some of the American Presidents. William Franklin Graham Jr. was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 17, 1918. Graham was raised on a dairy farm by William Franklin (deceased 1962) and Morrow Coffey Graham (deceased 1981). In 1943 he married his wife Ruth McCue Bell, and had four children Virginia 1945, Anne Morrow 1948, Ruth Bell 1950, William Franklin, Jr. 1952, and Nelson Edman 1958. At age eighty, he keeps fit by swimming, playing with is nineteen grand children, and from aerobic walking, in the mountains of North Carolina, where he currently lives. (Billy Graham Best Sellers, 1999) Billy Graham told Time Magazine in one article about his life before becoming a preacher. "I lived on a farm. The only difference was I had to get up early in the morning and go milk cows. When I came back from school that day, I had to milk those same cows. There were about twenty cows I had to milk. By hand. That was before they had those machines. I loved being a farmer. But God called me to this work that I'm in now. I knew it was God calling. I said, "Yes. I will follow what God wants me to do." And so I went to two or three schools to get education.
In an attempt to sway his opponents Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail essay argues his point of view with passion and conviction as he respectfully appeals to the logical, emotional and spiritual psyche of his critics. King begins his letter by addressing his “opponents” as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. The formality of his greeting seeks to build trust and establish a common ground with his audience. He credits the clergymen with being “men of genuine good will,” whose arguments “are sincerely set forth.” He does not attack their character but instead emphasizes that they all share a common profession and a common goal of ending prejudice and racism.
Consequently, proof of this occurred by the time he retired in 2005; reportedly he had preached to 215 million inhabitants in more than 185 countries, and Graham likely addressed different people face-to-face than anyone in history. He set multiple attendance records, including 1,120,000 in Seoul in 1973 (at that time, possibly the largest religious gathering on record (Evans,
Robert Clinton states “The central task of leadership is influencing God’s people toward God’s purposes” (Clinton, 1988). George Barna defines a Christain Leader as “someone who is called by God to lead; leads with and through Christlike character; and demonstrates the functional competencies that permit effective leadership to take place” (Barna, 1997). It is a shame we as Christians fail to recognize that Christ would have us be leaders in more than the church.
This came for America at the end of World War II, and as a result evangelical Christianity returned to prominence. At this time, a young preacher from North Carolina named Billy Graham started his ascent to notoriety in the renewed evangelical movement. Billy Graham, serving as an evangelist, led massive crusades to bring lost souls to the church. More than an introducing people to an ideology or a denomination, Graham was most interested in evangelizing and leading people to Jesus Christ, God’s sacrificial lamb for mankind. Through his work in this area, he was able to assist in uniting the two largest evangelical organizations, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the American Council of Christian Churches. The Continuation Committee for World Evangelism was created. Their goal was, “to encourage and assist where necessary in the formation of regional and national committees to advance world evangelism in every area (Shelley