250103 ALR Plenary Script Topic 2, “Becoming Servant Leaders of Character,” Draft v1, DCLM Global Leadership Strategy Congress 2025

Presented by Larry Ross, Founder & CEO

A. Larry Ross Communications

Deeper Life Global Leadership Strategy Congress 2025, The Deeper Life International Conference Center (DLICC),

Mowe, Ogun State, Nigeria, December 30, 2024 – January 4, 2025

Plenary Session Description:

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God,”

Revelation 3:2 (KJV)

“Leadership is NOT a lofty pillar, but rather a long embrace of knowing who we are in the love of God,” (Anon).

The calling and mission of Christian leaders and pastors is NOT to be successful, but rather to be faithful, allowing God to work in and through us. It is not our ability, but rather our availability that will determine our Kingdom impact.

A. Larry Ross has had a unique marketplace and ministry career spanning more than 49 years representing influential leaders such as evangelist Billy Graham, Pastor Rick Warren, Bishop T. D. Jakes, U.S. Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Tony Evans, Mel Gibson (“The Passion of The Christ”) and numerous other catalytic world changers.

Combining foundational precepts from Scripture with anecdotal observations of godly leaders exhibiting courage and character under fire, Mr. Ross will provide practical insights into the servant leadership example of Jesus; share transferable principles of Humility, Integrity, Authenticity and Transparency modeled by evangelist Billy Graham as a global ambassador peace, reconciliation and God’s love; and highlight lessons learned at the recent Lausanne IV Global Congress on Evangelization held in Seoul, Korea.

(INTRO SLIDE ) – ALRC LOGO

· Good morning.

· I want to express my deep appreciation to Dr. W. F. Kumuyi, and the leadership of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry Global Leadership Strategy Congress 2025 for the invitation to share with you today as fellow pastors, evangelists and Christian leaders.

· I thank the Lord for Dr. Kumuyi’s anointed vision and faithfulness over more than 50 years to encourage, engage, equip and empower leaders of this movement at this annual event that brings us together at this extraordinary DCLM Training Center this week.

(SLIDE 1) – ALR PHOTO AND ALRC LOGO

o My name is Larry Ross, founder and CEO of the eponymously named A. Larry Communications, which my wife and I started in 1994 to provide crossover communications emanating from or targeted to the Christian market.

In my first plenary message I mentioned that after starting my career in mainstream corporate and agency PR, for nearly 45 years I have been privileged to assist ministries in providing crossover communications and consultation at:

(Slide 2) – THE INTERSECTION OF FAITH AND CULTURE

o We are currently in the 30th Anniversary year since the founding of our Agency, our team of 15+ professionals based in Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte that has grown to be the oldest and one of the most respected firms in full-service Christian communications.

(SLIDE 4) – BILLY GRAHAM HEAD SHOT

o For nearly 34 years, I was privileged to serve as personal media spokesperson for evangelist Billy Graham and have a front row seat on all God did through more than half of his ministry of global evangelism spanning six decades, including more than 70 crusades.

During that time, Dr. Graham was not only a colleague, but became a close mentor and friend. Though his sermons were a blessing to me spirituall, more importantly he served as an example to me personally of what God can do through a life totally yielded to Him.

(SLIDE 5) – “Becoming Servant Leaders of Character”

“Leadership is NOT a lofty pillar, but rather a long embrace of knowing who we are in the love of God,”

Anon.

The calling and mission of Christian leaders and pastors is NOT to be successful, but rather to be faithful, allowing God to work in and through us.

It is not our ability, but rather our availability that will determine our Kingdom impact.

o “Developing Character in Leadership.

o I have been blessed to have been mentored by three great men in my life.

· My Father – a dedicated New Testament scholar with an earned doctorate from the University of Chicago, who for many years was a professor at the Faith Seminary, The Wheaton College Graduate School and Moody Bible Institute, before becoming a dual vocation pastor and hospital chaplain in his later years before his retirement well into his eighties.

· Evangelist Billy Graham – who over more than three decades became a close colleague, mentor and friend, whom I was able to observe up close and personal. During my 34-year tenure with Mr. Graham, his sermons were a blessing to me spiritually, but more importanty he was an example to me personally of what God can do through a life totally yielded to Him.

o My former pastor in Dallas defines success as, “When the people who know you best, love you most,” and that would apply to Mr. Graham.

o People have asked me to describe him in one word, and I have to use four: Integrity, Authenticity, Humility and Vision, by which he was able to exemplify “Leadership with Love.” And, of course, he was a man of prayer.

o Mr. Graham would often speak about Leadership when he traveled for crusades, and in addition to the traits of integrity and vision I already mentioned, he would add two more:

o A sense of priority – being able to separate the important from the urgent or unimportant, triage required of virtually every busy graduate candidate.

o Personal Security – to know who you are, where you are going and to find fulfillment in something other than your career, which for him was spiritual.

o I would also add that Mr. Graham was used by God less for his considerable ability, than his availability. I have often heard people say, “I can’t do that, I’m not Billy Graham.” But the evangelist I observed, particularly at the end of his ministry, often struggled with health and physical limitations, sometimes so ill or weak he could hardly walk without assistance. But when it came time to speak, he would be filled with a power, anointing and strength that could only come from the Lord, only to collapse at the end of his sermon.

· Doug Coe – longtime leader of the Fellowship and National Prayer Breakfast, whom the Lord took home on the same day as Billy Graham one year prior. I was privileged to write an obituary for both men in TIME magazine.

· As I shared in the tribute to Mr. Coe, I wrote that I never understood Billy Graham until I met Doug. Prior to that, I assumed that Mr. Graham was uniquely wired to boldly preach the Gospel in stadiums around the world, often feeling the weight and responsibility of the eternal destiny of the huge crowds was dependent on the words he spoke.

· But Doug helped me realize that was intentional, not intuitive, and an agreement they made together. As a result, whenever Mr. Graham was one-on-one with a President, world leader or famous celebrity, he never preached, was sometimes pastoral, but usually just loved them.

§ Buddy Hackett story (If time).

· That Trojan Horse approach to evangelism and faith, is something I learned from the Fellowship

§ Other thoughts on Leadership

§ Bold Witness –

.

· Stress relational leadership. Jesus emphasized relational integrity over intellectual honesty – Judas – gave him the purse.

· Mother Teresa – don’t judge people just because you don’t have time to love them.

· A fellowship colleague, former Minister of Finance for Kosovo, a Muslim, who is a follower of Jesus, once told me, “God will judge us not only for what we have done, but how much we love.

· I had lunch recently with a Dallas Pastor, who had a crisis of faith, and after a week alone with God, he realized that whomever he meets, he can only know two things for sure:

· That individual carries with them characteristics of God (we are made in His image); and

· God loves them as much as he loves me (so I can’t go “one up” on them, because of my faith.

· Focus on the Individual – Don’t be so enamored with who is onstage(and I am not talking about tonight), that you overlook a dozen people sitting in your row, who may go on to greatness and may be lifelong colleagues.

o In closing, as far as leadership goes, all of us are called to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, and can allow the love of God to shine through us.

o As such, we need to exhibit character even in the small things, and exhibit:

o Presence in the moment;

o Prayer in the moment; and for those who are parents,

o Patriarch of our families to the next generation

o Closing story – 26-year-old Millennial Stage manager at NBC affiliate in Jax – did something I had never seen anyone do with B.G. – tell story.

o Everyone needs prayer, they need a touch, and that can be all of our personal ministries.

o That day I committed I would never leave a meeting or phone call with Mr. Graham, when I didn’t ask how I could pray for him – and did it, recognizing that very few, if any people were doing so.

o God bless you.

A GLOBAL WITNESS

People often ask me what one word describes Billy Graham’s witness, but I have to use three: faithfulness (to his calling), authenticity (the same person on-on-one as in the pulpit), and integrity (doing the right thing, beyond doing things right).

I was reminded of that parallel paradigm by Dr. Jim Pleuddemann ’65, M.A. ’71, in his challenge to Wheaton Associates during my 35th class reunion in May 2011.

“The number one problem today is the disconnect between truth and life,” he said. “Knowing the truth is necessary, but not sufficient; neither is being able to discern culture.”

Recognizing Wheaton College exists to help build the church and serve society worldwide, Dr. Pleuddemann likened that mission to a split-rail fence, with the top bar representing the truth of theological orthodoxy and the bottom symbolizing cultural relevancy (to which I would add a middle rail of intellectual integrity, based on conversation with President Philip Ryken ’88). Since a fence must be joined by posts, he concluded a Wheaton education provides that connection between truth and life, preparing students to be whole and effective Christians in today’s world.

I immediately realized this as the legacy of Billy Graham, a man consistently reported to preach with a “Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” For him, the fence post that connects truth and cultural relevancy is the Word of God. Throughout his ministry, he has invoked his signature phrase, “The Bible says,” to emphasize and demonstrate how Scripture speaks to personal problems and societal issues.

Like the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, for decades Billy Graham faithfully traveled to the Areopagi of our day—the world’s arenas and stadiums. At each crusade he temporarily turned these temples to the gods of entertainment and sport into cathedrals, to make the previously unknown true God known to crowds seeking to quench a spiritual thirst far beyond my physical craving for something to drink at Soldier Field years ago.

A COMMITMENT TO THE GOSPEL

Mr. Graham considered every moment an opportunity to serve the Lord and share His gospel. One of my early encounters with his strength of character and commitment was in connection with the first network television interview I arranged for him on NBC’s Today. Assuming he would want to have a word of prayer before he went on the air, when we arrived, I informed his long-time traveling associate, Dr. T. W. Wilson, that I had pre-arranged a private area off the greenroom for us to commit the interview to the Lord.

“The first thing Billy did when he got up this morning was to start praying in his room,” Dr. Wilson replied graciously in what became an important teaching moment for me. “He prayed during breakfast and in the car on the way over from the hotel. He is praying right now and will continue to pray his way through this interview. Let’s just say Billy tries to keep himself prayed up all the time.”

I learned many such exemplary lessons about the responsibility and opportunities we have as followers of Christ to live lives pleasing to and effective for the Lord before a watching world. Another of these was Mr. Graham’s bold gospel witness through both word and deed whenever possible—including in every media situation—for which God honored his faithfulness.

While it is standard procedure for an interview subject to count to ten or recite what he had for breakfast during a microphone check before a broadcast, Mr. Graham would always quote John 3:16 from the New Testament. When I asked him why, he replied, “Every time I do an interview, I try to work the gospel into the conversation; but if for some reason I don’t have that opportunity, at least I know that the cameraman heard it.”

A PARTING CHALLENGE

On my last visit with Mr. Graham to the Wheaton campus for his 50th class reunion in 1993, he gave a special challenge to graduating seniors in his commencement address. “Your generation will bear the brunt of the future’s uncertainties,” he said. “You can count your days, but with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you can make your days count.”

Billy Graham—Wheaton’s favored son, America’s pastor, evangelist to the world and my mentor and friend—made his days count; and he finished well, remaining faithful to his calling to preach the transformational message of the gospel throughout his public ministry.

His influence was so broad and his impact so far-reaching, we won’t know this side of heaven the extent of his legacy, no matter how clearly defined. And it is not likely we will see another like him in our generation.

CT Obit

I have been reflecting on some of the defining characteristics I observed while serving as his personal media spokesperson for more than three decades.

Through the years, many reporters have asked me to sum up Billy Graham’s life and legacy in one word. But in response, I have to use four: humility, integrity, authenticity and love — each of which I have observed consistently in my travels with him.

Humility

In July 1999, I accompanied Mr. Graham to the local NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, where he did a remote interview with Katie Couric on Today. While waiting in the green room, the floor producer asked me if he would be willing to sign her copy of his recently published memoirs, Just As I Am.

Despite symptoms of Parkinson’s that made writing difficult, the evangelist was happy to oblige, which so touched the young woman that she asked Mr. Graham if she could pray for him. That moved me deeply, as it was the first time in my then-quarter century of traveling with him that someone took such an initiative, rather than asking him to offer a prayer on his or her behalf.

After the producer left the room, Mr. Graham turned to me and said genuinely, “I have never understood why in the world anyone would want my autograph.” At first, I thought he was joking, but then realized his puzzled sincerity was reflective of his self-identification as “a country boy called to preach,” who could not fathom why the Lord chose him to be blessed with such spiritual responsibility and global opportunity.

As best I could, I tried to clarify for Mr. Graham what his inscription in her book meant to that young woman and others who made similar requests through the years, explaining his obvious influence and the significant impact of his ministry on her, since she had made a faith commitment at one of his crusades as a teenager. To my surprise, he responded, somewhat matter-of-factly, “I have only asked for one autograph in my whole life.”

Now it was I who was flummoxed, as I sat in stunned silence trying to determine who that individual would have been, going over in my mind myriad celebrities, influencers and world changers Mr. Graham had met during his travels.

At first, I thought it was Babe Ruth, whom I knew he greeted after a ballgame when he was twelve years old. My second candidate was President Truman, whom he met on his first visit to the White House in the early 1950s. Or possibly it was Winston Churchill, who summoned the young evangelist to his chambers after his successful mission at Wembley Stadium in 1954 to ask him the secret of gathering such huge crowds (which Billy Graham explained was due to the Holy Spirit, not anything he had done).

When I sheepishly turned to Mr. Graham and asked if any of these individuals had been worthy of such a request, he said, “No.” Acknowledging I would probably never be able to guess, he explained, “It was John Glenn. He and I sat next to each other at the March 1998 TIME magazine 75th anniversary gala at Radio City Music Hall honoring all living cover subjects.

“As we got up to leave, John asked me for my autograph,” Mr. Graham continued. “I replied, ‘I’ve never asked anyone in my whole life to sign something. Could I have yours?’ And so, we swapped autographs!”

Integrity

Among the many examples of Mr. Graham’s personal, spiritual and financial integrity, I remember when he kicked off the twelve-week, six-city Mission England tour the summer of 1984 in Bristol, west of London. In their coverage of the opening service, local papers appealed to their readers’ British reserve through articles criticizing the “emotionalism” of the American evangelist’s meeting. Their evidence was the fact that the choir sang softly during his invitation for people to come forward to make a faith commitment.

So, for only the second time in the history of their ministry, before the start of the meeting the next evening, Mr. Graham told program director Cliff Barrows to refrain from having the choir sing during the invitation. But the next day, the headlines in the paper read, “The Emotionalism was in the Silence,” and Mr. Graham decided that if he was going to get criticized, they should at least do it right, and they went back to the choir accompaniment for the rest of the mission — and ever since.

Authenticity

In August 2005, just two months after he had preached his final crusade in New York City, I went to visit Mr. Graham at his log cabin home in western North Carolina. On the flight to Asheville, I reflected on an observation shared by a pastor friend that every individual needs three things in order to find fulfillment in life: someone to love, something to do and something to anticipate.

As I drove up the mountain to call on Mr. Graham, I realized that for the first time in more than six decades the evangelist had only two out of three of those elements. He still had Ruth, his marriage and ministry partner of then sixty-one years; he was working on a new book and remained regularly engaged with the ministry he founded; but he could not look forward to another crusade planned for the near future.

I knew that Billy Graham always believed and lived what he preached, but I wondered how that applied to his current life stage. What mindset would I encounter in the forward-thinking evangelist, who had always focused on the next thing and who had been a part of current events on the world stage since the Truman administration?

While sitting together on his back porch for several hours, eventually watching the sun start to set over his beloved Blue Ridge Mountains, I asked Mr. Graham how he felt. He replied, “I have never been more at peace in my life. My wife Ruth has been there for me as I traveled the world in itinerant ministry. But with her recent medical needs, it is now time for me to take care of her. God has enabled me to do that, and I am looking forward to spending more time together.” Ruth passed in 2007.

During my most recent visit to Mr. Graham’s home, despite physical limitations of his own, I found him once again filled with passion and purpose. As he sat in his favorite chair in the den, he told me how he felt called to deliver one more sermon about the need for renewal in the Church and revival across America.

It was obvious that, though his body might be physically weakened, the heart of the evangelist continued to beat. He had already selected his text, Galatians 6:14, which he had posted in big letters on the wall beside him and recited to me, “’May I never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…’” In his characteristic authenticity and transparency, he then stressed that when he got to heaven he was going to lay any awards and rewards received in this life at the feet of Jesus.

Leadership with Love

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to share the story about Mr. Graham and John Glenn at the TIME gala with a former bureau chief of the magazine. He smiled, acknowledging that he was at that event, and told me I needed to know “the rest of the story.”

He then informed me that the black-tie dinner in question was held in March 1998, during the period following President Bill Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives. Minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, organizers were in crisis mode, as iconic sports figure Joe DiMaggio had refused to sit next to the President at the head table.

Further, no other celebrity or marquee figure in attendance would accept that offer and they seemed reluctant to be photographed with him in the midst of the political kerfuffle. When Billy Graham was approached about the situation, he declared, “I’ll sit next to the President. He’s my friend!”

What mattered most to Mr. Graham was to faithfully lift up the name of Jesus with authenticity and integrity to the great and the low, the high and the humble. Though he never compromised the Gospel or the dimension of the reality of God’s judgment, unlike some other Christian leaders whose messages come across as condemning, in my experience Mr. Graham always functioned as a “paramedic,” rather than a “policeman,” for the Kingdom of God.

Billy Graham represented a balance of grace and truth. He was a man of humility, integrity, authenticity and an agent of God’s love, who despite his many gifts and ability, the Lord used more for his availability. He had an audience of One, and would consistently “suit up and show up,” leaving the results to the Lord he served, and giving all the glory and honor to God, knowing that he was operating with faith in His strength and power from above.

o Consider the leadership example faithfully modeled by Billy Graham that I would summarize in four words:

A. Humility –

B. Integrity – Bristol

C. Authenticity

· first visit to his mountain home after his last crusade

· Everyone needs someone to love, something to do, something to anticipate or look forward to

· Priority was caring for Ruth

· But despite physical limitations, the heart of the evangelist continued to beat (Dreaming of a global telecast)

· Galatians 6:14 – May I never boast in the Cross of Jesus Christ”, and he planned to lay all his awards and rewards at His feet.

D. Transparency

· There wasn’t two Billy Grahams

· Billy never compromised the Gospel – was a paramedic, not a policeman for the Kingdom

· Maintained a proper balance of Grace and Truth

E. Leadership with Love

· Time Gala

Summarizing Billy Graham’s Life and Legacy in Four Words

written by ANS Editor February 24, 2018

By A. Larry Ross, who served as Mr. Graham’s personal media spokesperson for more than three decades, Special to ASSIST News Service

DALLAS, TX (ANS – February 24, 2018) — As scholars determine the legacy of evangelist Billy Graham, who passed peacefully in his sleep the morning of Feb. 21, 2018, when he was called home by the Lord he so faithfully served for most of his 99 years, I have been reflecting on some of the defining characteristics I observed while serving as his personal media spokesperson for more than three decades.

Through the years, many reporters have asked me to sum up Billy Graham’s life and legacy in one word. But in response, I have to use four: humility, integrity, authenticity and love — each of which I have observed consistently in my travels with him.

Humility

In July 1999, I accompanied Mr. Graham to the local NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, where he did a remote interview with Katie Couric on Today. While waiting in the green room, the floor producer asked me if he would be willing to sign her copy of his recently published memoirs, Just As I Am.

Despite symptoms of Parkinson’s that made writing difficult, the evangelist was happy to oblige, which so touched the young woman that she asked Mr. Graham if she could pray for him. That moved me deeply, as it was the first time in my then-quarter century of traveling with him that someone took such an initiative, rather than asking him to offer a prayer on his or her behalf.

After the producer left the room, Mr. Graham turned to me and said genuinely, “I have never understood why in the world anyone would want my autograph.” At first, I thought he was joking, but then realized his puzzled sincerity was reflective of his self-identification as “a country boy called to preach,” who could not fathom why the Lord chose him to be blessed with such spiritual responsibility and global opportunity.

As best I could, I tried to clarify for Mr. Graham what his inscription in her book meant to that young woman and others who made similar requests through the years, explaining his obvious influence and the significant impact of his ministry on her, since she had made a faith commitment at one of his crusades as a teenager. To my surprise, he responded, somewhat matter-of-factly, “I have only asked for one autograph in my whole life.”

Now it was I who was flummoxed, as I sat in stunned silence trying to determine who that individual would have been, going over in my mind myriad celebrities, influencers and world changers Mr. Graham had met during his travels.

At first, I thought it was Babe Ruth, whom I knew he greeted after a ballgame when he was twelve years old. My second candidate was President Truman, whom he met on his first visit to the White House in the early 1950s. Or possibly it was Winston Churchill, who summoned the young evangelist to his chambers after his successful mission at Wembley Stadium in 1954 to ask him the secret of gathering such huge crowds (which Billy Graham explained was due to the Holy Spirit, not anything he had done).

When I sheepishly turned to Mr. Graham and asked if any of these individuals had been worthy of such a request, he said, “No.” Acknowledging I would probably never be able to guess, he explained, “It was John Glenn. He and I sat next to each other at the March 1998 TIME magazine 75th anniversary gala at Radio City Music Hall honoring all living cover subjects.

“As we got up to leave, John asked me for my autograph,” Mr. Graham continued. “I replied, ‘I’ve never asked anyone in my whole life to sign something. Could I have yours?’ And so, we swapped autographs!”

Integrity

Among the many examples of Mr. Graham’s personal, spiritual and financial integrity, I remember when he kicked off the twelve-week, six-city Mission England tour the summer of 1984 in Bristol, west of London. In their coverage of the opening service, local papers appealed to their readers’ British reserve through articles criticizing the “emotionalism” of the American evangelist’s meeting. Their evidence was the fact that the choir sang softly during his invitation for people to come forward to make a faith commitment.

So, for only the second time in the history of their ministry, before the start of the meeting the next evening, Mr. Graham told program director Cliff Barrows to refrain from having the choir sing during the invitation. But the next day, the headlines in the paper read, “The Emotionalism was in the Silence,” and Mr. Graham decided that if he was going to get criticized, they should at least do it right, and they went back to the choir accompaniment for the rest of the mission — and ever since.

Authenticity

In August 2005, just two months after he had preached his final crusade in New York City, I went to visit Mr. Graham at his log cabin home in western North Carolina. On the flight to Asheville, I reflected on an observation shared by a pastor friend that every individual needs three things in order to find fulfillment in life: someone to love, something to do and something to anticipate.

As I drove up the mountain to call on Mr. Graham, I realized that for the first time in more than six decades the evangelist had only two out of three of those elements. He still had Ruth, his marriage and ministry partner of then sixty-one years; he was working on a new book and remained regularly engaged with the ministry he founded; but he could not look forward to another crusade planned for the near future.

I knew that Billy Graham always believed and lived what he preached, but I wondered how that applied to his current life stage. What mindset would I encounter in the forward-thinking evangelist, who had always focused on the next thing and who had been a part of current events on the world stage since the Truman administration?

While sitting together on his back porch for several hours, eventually watching the sun start to set over his beloved Blue Ridge Mountains, I asked Mr. Graham how he felt. He replied, “I have never been more at peace in my life. My wife Ruth has been there for me as I traveled the world in itinerant ministry. But with her recent medical needs, it is now time for me to take care of her. God has enabled me to do that, and I am looking forward to spending more time together.” Ruth passed in 2007.

During my most recent visit to Mr. Graham’s home, despite physical limitations of his own, I found him once again filled with passion and purpose. As he sat in his favorite chair in the den, he told me how he felt called to deliver one more sermon about the need for renewal in the Church and revival across America.

It was obvious that, though his body might be physically weakened, the heart of the evangelist continued to beat. He had already selected his text, Galatians 6:14, which he had posted in big letters on the wall beside him and recited to me, “’May I never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…’” In his characteristic authenticity and transparency, he then stressed that when he got to heaven he was going to lay any awards and rewards received in this life at the feet of Jesus.

Leadership with Love

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to share the story about Mr. Graham and John Glenn at the TIME gala with a former bureau chief of the magazine. He smiled, acknowledging that he was at that event, and told me I needed to know “the rest of the story.”

He then informed me that the black-tie dinner in question was held in March 1998, during the period following President Bill Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives. Minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, organizers were in crisis mode, as iconic sports figure Joe DiMaggio had refused to sit next to the President at the head table.

Further, no other celebrity or marquee figure in attendance would accept that offer and they seemed reluctant to be photographed with him in the midst of the political kerfuffle. When Billy Graham was approached about the situation, he declared, “I’ll sit next to the President. He’s my friend!”

What mattered most to Mr. Graham was to faithfully lift up the name of Jesus with authenticity and integrity to the great and the low, the high and the humble. Though he never compromised the Gospel or the dimension of the reality of God’s judgment, unlike some other Christian leaders whose messages come across as condemning, in my experience Mr. Graham always functioned as a “paramedic,” rather than a “policeman,” for the Kingdom of God.

Billy Graham represented a balance of grace and truth. He was a man of humility, integrity, authenticity and an agent of God’s love, who despite his many gifts and ability, the Lord used more for his availability. He had an audience of One, and would consistently “suit up and show up,” leaving the results to the Lord he served, and giving all the glory and honor to God, knowing that he was operating with faith in His strength and power from above.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/billy-graham/how-billy-graham-got-mainstream-media-spread-gods-good-news.html

A GLOBAL WITNESS

People often ask me what one word describes Billy Graham’s witness, but I have to use three: faithfulness (to his calling), authenticity (the same person on-on-one as in the pulpit), and integrity (doing the right thing, beyond doing things right).

I was reminded of that parallel paradigm by Dr. Jim Pleuddemann ’65, M.A. ’71, in his challenge to Wheaton Associates during my 35th class reunion in May 2011.

“The number one problem today is the disconnect between truth and life,” he said. “Knowing the truth is necessary, but not sufficient; neither is being able to discern culture.”

Recognizing Wheaton College exists to help build the church and serve society worldwide, Dr. Pleuddemann likened that mission to a split-rail fence, with the top bar representing the truth of theological orthodoxy and the bottom symbolizing cultural relevancy (to which I would add a middle rail of intellectual integrity, based on conversation with President Philip Ryken ’88). Since a fence must be joined by posts, he concluded a Wheaton education provides that connection between truth and life, preparing students to be whole and effective Christians in today’s world.

I immediately realized this as the legacy of Billy Graham, a man consistently reported to preach with a “Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” For him, the fence post that connects truth and cultural relevancy is the Word of God. Throughout his ministry, he has invoked his signature phrase, “The Bible says,” to emphasize and demonstrate how Scripture speaks to personal problems and societal issues.

Like the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, for decades Billy Graham faithfully traveled to the Areopagi of our day—the world’s arenas and stadiums. At each crusade he temporarily turned these temples to the gods of entertainment and sport into cathedrals, to make the previously unknown true God known to crowds seeking to quench a spiritual thirst far beyond my physical craving for something to drink at Soldier Field years ago.

A COMMITMENT TO THE GOSPEL

Mr. Graham considered every moment an opportunity to serve the Lord and share His gospel. One of my early encounters with his strength of character and commitment was in connection with the first network television interview I arranged for him on NBC’s Today. Assuming he would want to have a word of prayer before he went on the air, when we arrived, I informed his long-time traveling associate, Dr. T. W. Wilson, that I had pre-arranged a private area off the greenroom for us to commit the interview to the Lord.

“The first thing Billy did when he got up this morning was to start praying in his room,” Dr. Wilson replied graciously in what became an important teaching moment for me. “He prayed during breakfast and in the car on the way over from the hotel. He is praying right now and will continue to pray his way through this interview. Let’s just say Billy tries to keep himself prayed up all the time.”

I learned many such exemplary lessons about the responsibility and opportunities we have as followers of Christ to live lives pleasing to and effective for the Lord before a watching world. Another of these was Mr. Graham’s bold gospel witness through both word and deed whenever possible—including in every media situation—for which God honored his faithfulness.

While it is standard procedure for an interview subject to count to ten or recite what he had for breakfast during a microphone check before a broadcast, Mr. Graham would always quote John 3:16 from the New Testament. When I asked him why, he replied, “Every time I do an interview, I try to work the gospel into the conversation; but if for some reason I don’t have that opportunity, at least I know that the cameraman heard it.”

A PARTING CHALLENGE

On my last visit with Mr. Graham to the Wheaton campus for his 50th class reunion in 1993, he gave a special challenge to graduating seniors in his commencement address. “Your generation will bear the brunt of the future’s uncertainties,” he said. “You can count your days, but with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you can make your days count.”

Billy Graham—Wheaton’s favored son, America’s pastor, evangelist to the world and my mentor and friend—made his days count; and he finished well, remaining faithful to his calling to preach the transformational message of the gospel throughout his public ministry.

His influence was so broad and his impact so far-reaching, we won’t know this side of heaven the extent of his legacy, no matter how clearly defined. And it is not likely we will see another like him in our generation.

WHEATON COLLEGE HOMECOMING CHAPEL ADDRESS

October 5, 2001 – 15 Minutes

A. Larry Ross

· Good morning. Thank you, Dave, for that introduction. It is a privilege to be with you today: first speaking at the Wheaton Homecoming Chapel, and secondly to be representing my graduating class of 1976.

· The theme for Homecoming 2001 is “Declaring God’s glory to the Nations.” When Marilee Melvin asked me to speak earlier this summer, my assignment was to address that topic from both a personal and professional perspective – specifically my role in representing Dr. Billy Graham for the past 21 years, and a personal testimony of God’s sustaining grace in my life.

· Since I left Wheaton, I have spent my career helping clients tell their stories through newshooks, or pegs, which leverage current issues or events.

· Several years ago “Time” magazine had a back page essay by Roger Rosenblatt entitled, “What Should We Lead With?” He wrote:

“Journalists put the question in practical terms: What should we lead with? The rest of the population asks more generally: What matters most? They come to the same puzzle: Survey events in a given period of time and try to come up with the single moment, the headline, by which the world may be characterized, stopped in its spin. What should we lead with? What matters most?

What we confront in making such choices is not the events alone, but ourselves; and it is ourselves we are not able to place in order. The question is not what the press decrees is this week’s news. The question is us. What should we lead with, what matters most?”

What Matters Most?

· For me, that is a difficult question that has been a lifelong struggle. I have had a performance orientation all of my life, often feeling valued for what I did, rather than who I was.

· Shortly after graduation, I hired on with General Motors, traveling nationally to represent the Corporation in the media.

After several years, I moved to New York City and worked for a Madison Avenue P. R. firm, where among other things I handled the media positioning for Joe DiMaggio.

Early in my career, I was striving for success, often measured by either the events in which I was involved, the resulting impact or extent to which we were able to influence public opinion.

· Since 1981, when God gave me a front row seat for what He was doing through various ministries around the world, my quest turned from success to significance. But unfortunately most of my significance was based on externals – what I did, and who I did it for. I didn’t have any time to focus on who I was, or my personal relationship with God.

My intensity in doing everything I could to help clients use every media opportunity to make positive points for the Gospel became toxic, to me and my family.

· I became a slave to the tyranny of the urgent, rather than choosing to do the important. Running from my personal pain kept me from seeing the truth. I was living on airplanes, and put my family on the altar of ministry. So much of what I proclaimed in my work for God, wasn’t really true for me.

· I was addicted to caffeine and adrenalin, the positive stress and exhilaration of my job and the nobleness of my calling -- I wasn’t using my time and expertise to merely sell soap, our product was now changed lives.

· I went on the sheer stamina of youth, pushing myself to the limit. I was the classic workaholic, with no balance in my life. If I had been working 100 hours a week in a secular vocation, people would have said, “You’re crazy.” Instead, because it was for ministry and people were coming to Christ, they said, “Praise God.”

· I became known for what I did, rather than for who I was. “He’s Billy Graham’s P.R. man – tell us, what is Billy really like?”

· I was working with the White House, leaders in business and government, virtually every major media outlet in the U.S. and many overseas, traveling and setting up press operations all over the world (in 180 countries.)

· I was involved in challenging, varied and creative projects, getting incredible experience and seeing tremendous results. But, I had no balance to my life. I was living the imposter syndrome… I was miserable.

· I HAD A DRIVE, BUT NO PURPOSE!

· I wasn’t doing God’s will; I was doing my will in His name.

· I was finding significance and self-worth in a job where I was:

- only as good as my last press conference

- only as capable as the coverage we received of our last crusade or media event

- only as important as what I could deliver on the next project

· I was the guy the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Chapter 50, when he wrote:

“Look, all you who kindle a fire,

Who encircle yourselves with sparks…

Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled –This youshall have from My hand:

You shall lay down in torment.”

· I was walking in the light of my own fire. I was carrying my own torch and riding in on my white horse. Deep down, I hoped God realized how lucky Hewas to have such a conscientious, hard-working guy on his team.

· But God had a different idea. He wanted to put out my torch, shoot that horse out from under me and get me to trust in Himagain, and Him alone. He knew I needed to put some margins – with Him in them – back into my life: (go to four points ->)

- He wasn’t impressed with my ability, He was concerned about my lack of availability.

- He wasn’t moved by my time in ministry, but by my lack of time for Him

- He didn’t care about how much I was trying, but how little I was trusting

- God says in His Word, “Be holy, because I am holy,” not, “Act holy so that others may come to Christ.” And I was an imposter.

· I was more of a “human doing” than a human being. I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· God’s Word speaks a lot about rest, balance and priorities. In Psalm 116:7-9, we read:

Return to your rest, oh my soul. For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For thou has rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord in the Land of the living.

· And so, five years ago next month, I had to take myself out of commission for a while and restructure my priorities. I turned myself in for work addiction and went away for a period of time to learn how to feel and to live in the moment again.

· When I started that process, I was “the Wizard of Oz” – the man behind the curtain, creating the smoke and mirrors. I was running scared. I sought clarity through intellectualization for the sake of control to give myself the illusion of security.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After working through my stuff (continuing in that Oz metaphor), I became the Tin Man-- who was able to think and feel with his heart.

· I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.

· I realized that God could use me far more effectively in my brokenness, than He could in my giftings or my grandiosity.

· I recognized that neither success or significance brought fulfillment to my soul – only the Savior can bring true satisfaction.

That’s not something I didn’t hear a thousand times in Sunday School, and right here in this chapel. But I knew it in my head, not my heart.

· I learned that saving the world becomes academic if it comes at the expense of one’s family, and that the most important thing I could do was to be a better husband a father to my three boys.

· Before I was running so hard that I wasn’t able to feel, and for the first time in a long while I was able to experience joy – not just the happiness that comes from doing a great job on something. But true joy – the joy of my family, the joy of my faith, the joy found in moments of life itself.

· The scripture says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Knowing that, I was able to be comfortable in my own skin, free at last to know and to love others and be known and loved by them.

· How about you? What matters most in your life – as a person, a student, a professor or a professional?

· Do you know Jesus, or are you just doingJesus?

· Are you merely going through the motions of cultural Christianity – where you know the lingo, can sing the latest praise songs without the words on the wall, and can pray a mean prayer in public – but don’t have a vital faith or resurrection power in your life?

· Is Jesus just a ticket to heaven, or do you allow His Holy Spirit to empower you to live for Him and compel others to know the Christ they see in you?

· Are you so overwhelmed by the pressures of school or maybe making enough money to pay for it you are not seizing the opportunity to trust Him?

· Are you going through life at “Mach Two with your hair on fire”, without a thought about rolling down the window or stopping to smell the roses?

· Sometime ago I heard a sermon, “Whatever happened to what happened to you?” To my fellow alumni, I ask it of you about your Wheaton experience -- “Whatever happened to what God did to you during your time here?” And to you who currently are students, I would ask, “What ishappening to you, your faith and your relationship to Christ, that will enable Him to use you in a more effective way when you leave here?

The word Christian is only mentioned twice in the whole Bible. But the words, “in Christ” are mentioned 175 times in the New Testament alone. I am not talking about becoming a Christian – I’d venture to guess most of us here are saved and going to heaven. I am talking about getting serious with God and going deeper in your personal relationship with Christ.

· Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way,

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, one trillion. Jesus Christ is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

· What matters most to you – is it something temporal, or something that will never change?

Are you motivated by the opportunity we have to influence a hurting world with issues of eternal significance, especially in the recent cultural shift of the past three weeks, when people are searching for answers, considering their own mortality and are more open to the Gospel than ever before?

· I am just learning about who God is, and who I am in Christ. In the process, He has shown me that every day is a gift from Him. We were all again reminded of that gift so vividly three weeks ago.

· On September 11, I was in Jordan, in the Middle East, of all places. The moment I heard the news of the attacks on New York and Washington, I was standing in the ancient ruins of Jerash, a Decapolis city where Jesus once preached.

That night on television I saw the damage to the two quintessential symbols of America’s military power and financial strength. By that time they were reduced to rubble, like the 2,000-year-old ruins of an earlier all-powerful civilization I had been tramping on that day.

· Jordan is a kingdom of peace and I was eminently safe. But how surreal, from a region of the world identified with tension and violence, to watch the unfolding horror on our home shores. And boy, did I feel far away from home.

· A concerned minister friend asked his congregation to pray while we were stuck in Jordan, commenting that when disaster strikes, and war is about to break out, it is a bad time to be away from home.

· He wasn’t just talking about our group, or referring only to geography. He spoke from a spiritual perspective – for our nation and its people – urging everyone to come home, back to God.

And he is right. This is no time for the prodigal son to be in the hog pen or the far country; it is no time for Jonah to be in the belly of the fish. After all we have been through the last three weeks, the last place we want to be is away from home – spiritually, in our hearts. It is time to go home, back to God.

The free world is up under attack -- both by a physical enemy and a spiritual one. If ever there was a time for us as Americans to get right with God, it is now.

· When late night talk show host Conan O’Brien returned to the air several nights after the tragedy, he described his deep response to the attacks. He said that he didn’t think he had ever been quite as affected by anything and found himself having to get away and clear his head.

Conan went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York just to think and pray, which he said helped him gain perspective. Then he looked into the camera and challenged his viewers, “Every young person watching tonight eeds to reexamine your relationship with God – whomever you perceive him to be.”

If this high priest of the Zeitgeist, who helps set the spirit of the times, is calling for this kind of shift, what does that mean for us?

· In the familiar passage of II Chronicles 20, Jehosaphat, King of Judah, found himself facing the armies of the Ammonites and the Moabites in the greatest external threat of his reign.

Against incredible odds, Jehosaphat admitted his inadequacy and God’s sufficiency, saying, “We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; NEITHER DO WE KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON YOU.”

· That is the place where many of us find ourselves today. “Neither do we know what to do. But we can go home; we can put our focus back on God. In the most vulnerable time in our history, God reminds us that He is our All.

· At the National Prayer breakfast several years ago, Chuck Colson quoted Alexander Solzhenitzen as giving the most profound sermon of the 20th Century when he left prison. “Bless you, prison,” he said. “Bless you for being in my life. For there, lying on that rolling prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity, as we are made to believe, but the making of the soul.”

· Perhaps through this national crisis God is remaking the American soul, individually and collectively – even here on this great campus. I pray that Ground Zero will become a symbol of America’s true strength and power – not financial, but spiritual -- and the epicenter of a revival that will shake the world.

· May it start here, with us, this Homecoming weekend, because each of us has chosen to come home in our hearts, back to God and back to His purpose and will for our lives.

· I’d like to end with a prayer which the Apostle Paul prayed over the Ephesians, in chapter 3, beginning with verse 16:

· Will you bow with me to pray:

“I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power, through His spirit in your inner being. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts, through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and how long and highand deep is the love of Christ,

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations – forever and ever, Amen.

WHEATON CHAPEL ADDRESS EXCERPT

· Since 1981, when God gave me a front row seat for what He was doing through various ministries around the world, my quest turned from success to significance. But unfortunately, most of my significance was based on externals – what I did, and who I did it for. I didn’t have any time to focus on who Iwas, or my personal relationship with God.

My intensity in doing everything I could to help clients use every media opportunity to make positive points for the Gospel became toxic, to me and my family.

· I became a slave to the tyranny of the urgent, rather than choosing to do the important. Running from my personal pain kept me from seeing the truth. I was living on airplanes, and put my family on the altar of ministry. So much of what I proclaimed in my work for God, wasn’t really true for me.

· I was addicted to caffeine and adrenalin, the positive stress and exhilaration of my job and the nobleness of my calling -- I wasn’t using my time and expertise to merely sell soap, our product was now changed lives.

· I went on the sheer stamina of youth, pushing myself to the limit. I was the classic workaholic, with no balance in my life. If I had been working 100 hours a week in a secular vocation, people would have said, “You’re crazy.” Instead, because it was for ministry and people were coming to Christ, they said, “Praise God.”

· I became known for what I did, rather than for who I was. “He’s Billy Graham’s P.R. man – tell us, what is Billy really like?”

· I was working with the White House, leaders in business and government, virtually every major media outlet in the U.S. and many overseas, traveling and setting up press operations all over the world (in 180 countries.)

· I was involved in challenging, varied and creative projects, getting incredible experience and seeing tremendous results. But I had no balance to my life. I was living the imposter syndrome… I was miserable.

· I HAD A DRIVE, BUT NO PURPOSE!

· I wasn’t doing God’s will; I was doing my will in His name.

· I was finding significance and self-worth in a job where I was:

- only as good as my last press conference

- only as capable as the coverage we received of our last crusade or media event

- only as important as what I could deliver on the next project

· I was the guy the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Chapter 50, when he wrote:

“Look, all you who kindle a fire,

Who encircle yourselves with sparks…

Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled –This youshall have from My hand:

Youshall lay down in torment.”

· I was walking in the light of my own fire. I was carrying my own torch and riding in on my white horse. Deep down, I hoped God realized how lucky He was to have such a conscientious, hard-working guy on his team.

· But God had a different idea. He wanted to put out my torch, shoot that horse out from under me and get me to trust in Him again, and Him alone. He knew I needed to put some margins – with Him in them – back into my life: (go to four points ->)

- He wasn’t impressed with my ability; He was concerned about my lack of availability.

- He wasn’t moved by my time inministry, but by my lack of time for Him.

- He didn’t care about how much I was trying, but how little I was trusting.

- God says in His Word, “Be holy, because I am holy,” not, “Act holy so that others may come to Christ.” And I was an imposter.

· I was more of a “human doing” than a human being. I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· God’s Word speaks a lot about rest, balance and priorities. In Psalm 116:7-9, we read:

Return to your rest, oh my soul. For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For thou have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord in the Land of the living.

· And so, five years ago next month, I had to take myself out of commission for a while and restructure my priorities. I turned myself in for work addiction and went away for a period of time to learn how to feel and to live in the moment again.

· When I started that process, I was “the Wizard of Oz” – the man behind the curtain, creating the smoke and mirrors. I was running scared. I sought clarity through intellectualization for the sake of control to give myself the illusion of security.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After working through my stuff (continuing in that Oz metaphor), I became the Tin Man -- who was able to think and feel with his heart.

· I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.

· I realized that God could use me far more effectively in my brokenness, than He could in my giftingsor my grandiosity.

· I recognized that neither success nor significance brought fulfillment to my soul – only the Savior can bring true satisfaction.

That’s not something I didn’t hear a thousand times in Sunday School, and right here in this chapel. But I knew it in my head, not my heart.

· I learned that saving the world becomes academic if it comes at the expense of one’s family, and that the most important thing I could do was to be a better husband a father to my three boys.

· Before I was running so hard that I wasn’t able to feel, and for the first time in a long while I was able to experience joy – not just the happiness that comes from doing a great job on something. But true joy – the joy of my family, the joy of my faith, the joy found in moments of life itself.

· The scripture says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Knowing that, I was able to be comfortable in my own skin, free at last to know and to love others and be known and loved by them.

o Three Questions:

A. What do you know for Sure?

· For me, it is that “God will never call you where He can’t use you.”

B. Who do you Trust?

· Life is lived forward but learned backwards – our future is in God’s hands.

· Powerfully impressed on me in two epiphanies as I returned to two places I hadn’t been in 20 years that hadn’t changed, but enabled me to see how much I had:

o Deerfoot Lodge – Chastising letter from President of Wheaton College after walking across graduation stage to receive diploma with a flashing bowtie.

o Hotel across from my General Motors Century City office, before I took Billy Graham to meet DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg to preview their first animated feature, “Prince of Egypt.”

C. What Matters Most

· Several years ago, “Time” magazine had a back page essay by Roger Rosenblatt entitled, “What Should We Lead With?”:

“Journalists put the question in practical terms: What should we lead with? The rest of the population asks more generally: What matters most? They come to the same puzzle: Survey events in a given period of time and try to come up with the single moment, the headline, by which the world may be characterized, stopped in its spin. What should we lead with? What matters most?

What we confront in making such choices is not the events alone, but ourselves; and it is ourselves we are not able to place in order. The question is not what the press decrees is this week’s news. The question is us. What should we lead with, what matters most?”

· What matters most? For me, that was a difficult question that has been a lifelong struggle. I have had a performance orientation all of my life, often feeling valued for what I did, rather than who I was.

Early in my career, I was striving for significance, often measured by either the events in which I was involved, the resulting impact or extent to which we were able to influence public opinion.

As I shifted into the ministry arena, I became intense, doing everything I could to help clients use every media opportunity to make positive points for the Gospel.

· I was addicted to caffeine and adrenalin, the positive stress and exhilaration of my job and the nobleness of my calling -- I wasn’t using my time and expertise to merely sell soap, our product was now changed lives.

· I went on the sheer stamina of youth, pushing myself to the limit. I was the classic workaholic, with no balance in my life. If I had been working 100 hours a week selling vacuum cleaners people would have said, “You’re crazy.” Instead, because it was for ministry and people were coming to Christ, they said, “Praise God.”

· I became known not for who I was, but for what I did. “He’s Billy Graham’s P.R. man – tell us, what is Billy really like?”

· I was working with the White House, leaders in business and government, virtually every major media outlet in the U.S. and many overseas, traveling and setting up press operations all over the world (in 180 countries.)

· I was involved in challenging, varied and creative projects, getting incredible experience and seeing tremendous results. But I had no balance to my life. I was living the imposter syndrome. I was miserable.

· I HAD A DRIVE, BUT NO PURPOSE!

· I wasn’t doing God’s will, as Mike Warnke used to say, I was doing my will in His name.

· I was finding significance and self-worth in a job where I was:

- only as good as my last press conference

- only as capable as the coverage we received of our last crusade

- only as important as what I could deliver on the next project.

· I was the guy the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Chapter 50:

“Look, all you who kindle a fire,

Who encircle yourselves with sparks:

Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled –

This you shall have from My hand:

You shall lay down in torment.”

· I was walking in the light of my own fire. I was carrying my own torch and riding in on my white horse and just hoped God realized how lucky he was to have such a conscientious, hard-working guy on his team.

· But God had a different idea. He wanted to put out my torch and shoot that horse out from under me and get me to trust again in him, and him alone, and put some margins – with Him in them – back into my life:

- He wasn’t impressed with my ability; He was concerned about my lack of availability;

- He wasn’t moved by my time in ministry, but by my lack of time for Him;

- He didn’t care about how much I was trying, but how little I was trusting;

- God says in His Word, “Be holy, because I am holy,” not, “Act holy so that others may come to Christ.” And I was an imposter.

· I was more of a “human doing” than a human being. I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After a series of events and people the Lord brought into my life to help me work through my stuff, I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.

· And so, nearly 25 years ago, I had to take myself out of commission for a while and restructure my priorities. I turned myself in for work addiction and went away for five weeks to learn how to feel and to live in the moment again.

· (When I started that process, I was “the Wizard of Oz” – the man behind the curtain, working the smoke and mirrors. I was an imposter, running scared. I sought clarity through intellectualization for the sake of control to give myself the illusion of security.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After working through my stuff (continuing in that Oz metaphor), I became the Tin Man -- who was able to think and feel with his heart. I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.)

· God’s Word speaks a lot about rest, balance and priorities. But I was more of a “human doing” rather than a human being. But I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· I realized that God could use me far more effectively in my brokenness, than He can in my giftings or my grandiosity.

· I recognized that neither success nor significance brought fulfillment to my soul – only the savior can bring true satisfaction.

· How about you? What matters most in your life – as a person, a student, a homemaker or a professional?

· Do you know Jesus, or are you just doing Jesus?

· Are you merely going through the motions of cultural Christianity – where you know the lingo, can sing the latest praise songs without the words on the wall, and can pray a mean prayer in public – but don’t have a vital faith or resurrection power in your life?

· Is Jesus just a ticket to heaven, or do you allow His Holy Spirit to empower you to live for Him and compel others to know the Christ they see in you?

· Are you so overwhelmed by the pressures of school or maybe making enough money to pay for it you are not seizing the opportunity to trust Him?

· Are you going through life at “Mach Two with your hair on fire”, without a thought about rolling down the window or stopping to smell the roses?

· What matters most in your life – as a person, as a student, or a professional?

· Are you so overwhelmed by the pressures of life, school or vocation that you are not seizing the opportunity to trust Him?

What matters most to you – is it something temporal, or something that will never change?

Are you motivated by the opportunity we have to influence a hurting world with issues of eternal significance, especially in the recent cultural shift of the unprecedented pandemic over the past year ,when people are searching for answers, considering their own morality and more open to the Gospel than ever before?

· Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way,

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, one trillion. Jesus Christ is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

· I am just learning about who God is, and in the process, He has shown me that every day is a gift from Him,

·

o assigned topic is “Developing Character in Leadership.

o I have been blessed to have been mentored by three great men in my life:

· My Father – a dedicated New Testament scholarwith an earned doctorate from the University of Chicago, who for many years was a professor at the Faith Seminary, The Wheaton College Graduate School and Moody Bible Institute, before becoming a dual vocation pastor and hospital chaplain in his later years before his retirement well into his eighties.

o On a personal note, it took my dad 17 years to obtain his doctorate, as he was rarely a full-time student. But it became his obsession and priority, and was something with which I competed my whole life,precluding him from ever coming to ball games or activity, which I came to resent as the eldest child, who often had to serve as surrogate father for my two brothers.

o It also became the foundation for our family becoming a “performance driven household,” whereby we were loved not for who we were, but for what we achieved – or how we made the family look. So, becoming Billy Graham’s PR guy, was actually a “set-up” for me, by which he would often ask me on phone calls, “How’s Billy,” to obtain bragging rights for his academic friends, but rarely inquire about me.

· Evangelist Billy Graham – who over more than three decades became a close colleague, mentor and friend, whom I was able to observe up close and personal, during which time I observed he was the same person in private as he was in public.

o My Pastor defines success as “When the people who know you best, love you most,” and that would apply to Mr. Graham

o People have asked me to describe him in one word, and I have to use four: Integrity, Authenticity, Humility and Vision, by which he was able to exemplify “Leadership with Love.” And, of course, he was a man of prayer.

o Mr. Graham would often speak about Leadership when he traveled for crusades, and in addition to the traits of integrity and vision I already mentioned, he would add two more:

o A sense of priority – being able to separate the important from the urgent or unimportant, triage required of virtually every busy graduate candidate.

o Personal Security – to know who you are, where you are going and to find fulfillment in something other than your career, which for him was spiritual. That is something that many graduate students lack in their drive for success in their field.

o I would also add that Mr. Graham was used by God less for his considerable ability, than his availability. I have often heard people say, “I can’t do that, I’m not Billy Graham.” But the evangelist I observed, particularly at the end of his ministry, often struggled with health and physical limitations, sometimes so ill or weak he could hardly walk without assistance. But when it came time to speak, he would be filled with a power, anointing and strength that could only come from the Lord, only to collapse at the end of his sermon.

· Doug Coe – longtime leader of the Fellowship and National Prayer Breakfast, whom the Lord took home on the same day as Billy Graham one year prior. I was privileged to write an obituary for both men in TIME magazine.

· As I shared in the tribute to Mr. Coe, I wrote that I never understood Billy Graham until I met Doug. Prior to that, I assumed that Mr. Graham was uniquely wired to boldly preach the Gospel in stadiums around the world, often feeling the weight and responsibility of the eternal destiny of the huge crowds was dependent on the words he spoke.

· But Doug helped me realize that was intentional, not intuitive, and an agreement they made together. As a result, whenever Mr. Graham was one-on-one with a President, world leader or famous celebrity, he never preached, was sometimes pastoral, but usually just loved them.

§ Buddy Hackett story (If time).

· That Trojan Horse approach to evangelism and faith, is something I learned from the Fellowship

§ Other thoughts on Leadership

§ Bold Witness –

.

· Stress relational leadership. Jesus emphasized relational integrity over intellectual honesty – Judas – gave him the purse.

· Mother Teresa – don’t judge people just because you don’t have time to love them.

· A fellowship colleague, former Minister of Finance for Kosovo, a Muslim, who is a follower of Jesus, once told me, “God will judge us not only for what we have done, but how much we love.

· I had lunch recently with a Dallas Pastor, who had a crisis of faith, and after a week alone with God, he realized that whomever he meets, he can only know two things for sure:

· That individual carries with them characteristics of God (we are made in His image); and

· God loves them as much as he loves me (so I can’t go “one up” on them, because of my faith.

· Focus on the Individual – Don’t be so enamored with who is onstage(and I am not talking about tonight), that you overlook a dozen people sitting in your row, who may go on to greatness and may be lifelong colleagues.

o In closing, as far as leadership goes, all of us are called to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, and can allow the love of God to shine through us.

o As such, we need to exhibit character even in the small things, and exhibit:

o Presence in the moment;

o Prayer in the moment; and for those who are parents,

o Patriarch of our families to the next generation

o Closing story – 26-year-old Millennial Stage manager at NBC affiliate in Jax – did something I had never seen anyone do with B.G. – tell story.

o Everyone needs prayer, they need a touch, and that can be all of our personal ministries.

o That day I committed I would never leave a meeting or phone call with Mr. Graham, when I didn’t ask how I could pray for him – and did it, recognizing that very few, if any people were doing so.

o God bless you.

A GLOBAL WITNESS

People often ask me what one word describes Billy Graham’s witness, but I have to use three: faithfulness (to his calling), authenticity (the same person on-on-one as in the pulpit), and integrity (doing the right thing, beyond doing things right).

I was reminded of that parallel paradigm by Dr. Jim Pleuddemann ’65, M.A. ’71, in his challenge to Wheaton Associates during my 35th class reunion in May 2011.

“The number one problem today is the disconnect between truth and life,” he said. “Knowing the truth is necessary, but not sufficient; neither is being able to discern culture.”

Recognizing Wheaton College exists to help build the church and serve society worldwide, Dr. Pleuddemann likened that mission to a split-rail fence, with the top bar representing the truth of theological orthodoxy and the bottom symbolizing cultural relevancy (to which I would add a middle rail of intellectual integrity, based on conversation with President Philip Ryken ’88). Since a fence must be joined by posts, he concluded a Wheaton education provides that connection between truth and life, preparing students to be whole and effective Christians in today’s world.

I immediately realized this as the legacy of Billy Graham, a man consistently reported to preach with a “Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” For him, the fence post that connects truth and cultural relevancy is the Word of God. Throughout his ministry, he has invoked his signature phrase, “The Bible says,” to emphasize and demonstrate how Scripture speaks to personal problems and societal issues.

Like the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, for decades Billy Graham faithfully traveled to the Areopagi of our day—the world’s arenas and stadiums. At each crusade he temporarily turned these temples to the gods of entertainment and sport into cathedrals, to make the previously unknown true God known to crowds seeking to quench a spiritual thirst far beyond my physical craving for something to drink at Soldier Field years ago.

A COMMITMENT TO THE GOSPEL

Mr. Graham considered every moment an opportunity to serve the Lord and share His gospel. One of my early encounters with his strength of character and commitment was in connection with the first network television interview I arranged for him on NBC’s Today. Assuming he would want to have a word of prayer before he went on the air, when we arrived, I informed his long-time traveling associate, Dr. T. W. Wilson, that I had pre-arranged a private area off the greenroom for us to commit the interview to the Lord.

“The first thing Billy did when he got up this morning was to start praying in his room,” Dr. Wilson replied graciously in what became an important teaching moment for me. “He prayed during breakfast and in the car on the way over from the hotel. He is praying right now and will continue to pray his way through this interview. Let’s just say Billy tries to keep himself prayed up all the time.”

I learned many such exemplary lessons about the responsibility and opportunities we have as followers of Christ to live lives pleasing to and effective for the Lord before a watching world. Another of these was Mr. Graham’s bold gospel witness through both word and deed whenever possible—including in every media situation—for which God honored his faithfulness.

While it is standard procedure for an interview subject to count to ten or recite what he had for breakfast during a microphone check before a broadcast, Mr. Graham would always quote John 3:16 from the New Testament. When I asked him why, he replied, “Every time I do an interview, I try to work the gospel into the conversation; but if for some reason I don’t have that opportunity, at least I know that the cameraman heard it.”

A PARTING CHALLENGE

On my last visit with Mr. Graham to the Wheaton campus for his 50th class reunion in 1993, he gave a special challenge to graduating seniors in his commencement address. “Your generation will bear the brunt of the future’s uncertainties,” he said. “You can count your days, but with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you can make your days count.”

Billy Graham—Wheaton’s favored son, America’s pastor, evangelist to the world and my mentor and friend—made his days count; and he finished well, remaining faithful to his calling to preach the transformational message of the gospel throughout his public ministry.

His influence was so broad and his impact so far-reaching, we won’t know this side of heaven the extent of his legacy, no matter how clearly defined. And it is not likely we will see another like him in our generation.

ALR REMARKS Quarterly Dallas Business Luncheon

February 13, 2019

In the Bible, we read in Proverbs 3: 5.6, “As a Man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” So let me tell you what I think about.

The past several years has been a journey for me. I am a “recovering Evangelical who:

Raised in a Christian home

Made a faith commitment at a very early age, recommitted in high school

The house I was raised in had to be moved to build the Billy Graham Center

Attended his alma mater, Wheaton College, well-known Christian school in Mid-west

Like many of us, I was trained in the paradigm, “My religion can beat your religion…”

Have worked in a professional capacity in ministry with evangelist Billy Graham for more than three decades

But four years ago, I met Jesus

One of the friends in this fellowship challenged me that the Gospel is a person – Jesus.

As John Stott famously put it:

What distinguishes the true followers of Jesus is neither their creed, nor their code of ethics, nor their ceremonies, nor their culture but Christ. What is often mistakenly called “Christianity” is, in essence, neither a religion nor a system, but a person, Jesus of Nazareth.

Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way:

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, and one trillion. Jesus Christ is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

Last night, someone asked me how I made the transition from evangelism to the Jesus paradigm that you have and will be hearing about this week.

I shared that I no longer self-identify as a Christian, but rather as a follower of Jesus, who calls us to lift up His name.

I still believe that there is only one way to God – through Jesus – but what I have learned is that there are many ways to Jesus. And only the Holy Spirit, whom He left us, can convince someone He can be “The Christ” in their life.

This past year, I have also learned that the Gospel is love, because Jesus himself is love.

We were all reminded of that at the International Luncheon at NPB last year, by Ahmet Shala, who shared the words of Mother Teresa:

“Don’t judge people because you don’t have time to love them.”

Ahmet added, God will judge us not only for what we have done, but how much we love

Ahmet, an Albanian Muslim, and his friend and colleague, Slobodan, Serbian Orthodox, model that every day

I had lunch recently with a pastor friend, who had a crisis of faith years ago. Came to realize that everyone he meets, he can only know two things for sure:

Carry characteristics of God

God loves them as much as he loves me

Don’t get me wrong, in many ways, throughout my career, I have been “The Poster Child for Evangelicalism:”

Grew up in Wheaton, IL,

My boyhood home had to be raised to build The Billy Graham Center

I went to Wheaton College, Mr. Graham’s alma mater

And for more than 33 years, I was privileged to serve as his personal media spokesperson

Won't find anybody who drank more of the Kool-aid than me

But for more than 30 years as a professional working in ministry, I was “doing Jesus,” commoditizing the Gospel, writing news releases read by millions of people but not having any relational ministry.

Seven years ago, through the group that puts on the National Prayer Breakfast, I “found Jesus,” through a personal reformation that enabled me to follow Him.

But six weeks ago through my “Drop Zone” experience, the mission for which is to Rescue, Rebuild and Restore, I underwent a transformation, through which Jesus is now “doing me…"

And as a result, I was able to:

Transition from being a child of the father, to his son, with Jesus as my brother

Put a bullet in “the poser”and come against Satan’s long and sustained “Triple A” (Accusation, Assault, Agreement) that began at an early age, including generational curses and agreements that I had made as a result of Father wounds and other lies, and find new life and love in Jesus.

Learn that God truly loves me and thought of me (and you) before he created the world, including the beautiful mountains of Colorado, which he made for us to enjoy

Find my identity in Christ and receive a new name reflective of my true self, not the false self I had been projecting most of my life

Submit to the rescue process and break the power of the “script” and messages set against my life, to restore me heart and find my place in the larger story. I think it was Kevin who said:

“Our lives are like a book mark that someone has thrown on the ground, stomped on and abused – but Jesus picks it up and puts it back in place in the larger story of what He is doing in the world.”

Several years ago “Time” magazine had a back page essay by Roger Rosenblatt entitled, “What Should We Lead With?” He wrote:

“Journalists put the question in practical terms: What should we lead with? The rest of the population asks more generally: What matters most? They come to the same puzzle: Survey events in a given period of time and try to come up with the single moment, the headline, by which the world may be characterized, stopped in its spin. What should we lead with? What matters most?

What we confront in making such choices is not the events alone, but ourselves; and it is ourselves we are not able to place in order. The question is not what the press decrees is this week’s news. The question is us. What should we lead with, what matters most?”

What Matters Most

• For me, that is a difficult question that has been a lifelong struggle. I have had a performance orientation all of my life. I have found that answer in Jesus.

The word Christian is only mentioned twice in the whole Bible. But the words, “in Christ” are mentioned 175 times in the New Testament alone. I am not talking about becoming a Christian – I am talking about getting serious with God and going deeper in A personal relationship with Jesus.

-------

• Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way,

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, one trillion. Jesus is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

• What matters most to you – is it something temporal, or something that will never change?

Are you motivated by the opportunity we have to influence a hurting world with issues of eternal significance, especially in the wake of conflict in this region or shifts in the Middle East in the past month as people are searching for answers?

In the movie, City Slickers - actor Billy Crystal's character, Mitch, meets Curly at a dude ranch, who tells him, "The secret to life is focusing on one thing."

Mitch asks, "What is it?". Curly replied, "That is for you to figure out."

For our spiritual lives, the Gospel of Mark gives us a clue, of all the commandments, of the one on which we are to focus, "Hear oh Israel, the Lord is one; love God and love others" (Mark 12:8).

In the NT, the Apostle Paul tells us how to live the life Jesus called us to live, and also reminds us of the one thing, "For in Christ Jesus... the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Gal. 5:6). That is the powered from the Spirit at work in us.

My paraphrase of what Paul is saying: "TRUST JESUS AND LET LOVE HAPPEN.". That is a thought on which we can dwell and let the Lord reveal how that applies to us.

---

This morning, we gather around the person and teachings of Jesus, in a spirit of love as He commanded us to do.

The Bible says we are to pray for those in authority, that they will live Godly, productive lives – and come to love one another and believe God and His Son, Jesus.

We are here to pray with and encourage you as fellow brothers and sisters. We pray with leaders not because you are better than others or the people you serve, but because you have the power to do something for evil or for good, including turning their hearts for the poor in your country.

Jesus Himself said, "Make it your goal to be one in the spirit. Then you will be at peace with one another."

I know that we have different faiths represented here this morning, and some of no faith. We are not here to tell you what to do, nor what to believe. We’re here to say we love you and encourage you in your love for each other.

As a public relations professional, I am aware of the old PR adage that, “The largest number of people focused on the smallest point of agreement gives the greatest impact.”

For this international network of friends, that common denominator is the person and teachings of Jesus. One thing I have learned in recent years, is that people of every religion, race and background can agree on, or relate to, is Jesus of Nazareth.

Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way:

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, and one trillion. Jesus Christ is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

I was reminded of that last year, by my friend and brother, Ahmet Shala, who shared the words of Mother Teresa:

“Don’t judge people because you don’t have time to love them.” Ahmet added, God will judge us not only for what we have done, but how much we love.

There is a story in the Gospels, where Jesus sent out 70 disciples, 2 x 2, in the power of his name, but one thing they couldn’t do was to get people to love one another.

Only Jesus can do that. I have learned that the Gospel is a person, Jesus. Love is a person, Jesus. And unity can be summed up in a person, Jesus.

Jesus imparts the freedom to liberate people of all faiths from the burden of religion, and to demonstrate a great faith in God’s love.

He also empowers us to love ourselves, and to love our enemies, or at least those with whom we may disagree. When people with opposing views get together to pray, miracles happen.

At a recent National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Hollywood Screenwriter and producer, Randall Wallace (wrote Braveheart, among others,) referenced the scene where Mel Gibson challenges his men to fight for freedom, lest years from now, lying in their beds, they wonder if the battle could have been won.

He closed with this challenge, “Some of you lead nations. Some of you lead the world. But each of us has but one heart beating in our chest, and that is where the battle is won.”

“Wouldn’t it be great if years from now, you lie in your bed and know that here, you guarded your heart, and prayed to God to give you a heart of love?

That is my prayer for you today. God bless you. and God bless the Balkan region and the great nation of Kosovo.

As was mentioned in the introduction, for nearly two decades, I have headed up a Dallas-based Public Relations firm founded in 1994 to help restore “faith in the media,” by helping churches and parachurch ministries tell their story in context of traditional news values that reporters need to communicate with their audiences.

In the process, hopefully we have been able to give Christian messages relevance and meaning in mainstream media.

The Agency regularly operates at the intersection of faith and culture, through crossover communications efforts emanating from or targeted to the Christian market.

For more than 32 years, I have had the opportunity and privilege to handle media and public relations for evangelist Billy Graham.

Because of that relationship, we have represented numerous other individual organizations in the Christian arena.

Our mission is to extend the influence of Mr. Graham, Pastor Rick Warren (and other Christian leaders) and the impact of their ministries to a broadened group of target audiences, with minimal demands on the principle’s time.

Whenever possible, we try to speak to reporters as well, to let them know the reality of the Gospel in our own lives.

Some people assume there is a media conspiracy against people of faith, but I have not found that to be the case; rather, any miscommunication usually stems from Colliding Worldviews between Ministry and Media:

They represent Zeitgeist – Spirit of the Times; we represent the Holy Spirit; sometimes the media can’t hear what we say because of these colliding world views

They say that for something to exist or be true, it needs to be visible and measurable; we, as people of faith say that we don’t live in the here and now, and that there is a larger meaning and purpose to who we are and what we do

I have found it very fulfilling to place positive news and feature stories about faith in an often hostile media environment.

In the context of our session today, our work with evangelist Billy Graham and Pastor Rick Warren reflect two men who regularly share biblical truth – without compromise – to and through mainstream media who often don’t share their views.

For nearly seven years, I have had the opportunity to of directing a media public relations emphasis for Mr. Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association worldwide. I thank the Lord for the privilege of having a small part in that great ministry.

Some of you might well be asking, “What does a guy like Billy Graham doing with a PR man or a press operation?”

Our job is to tell the story of Mr. Graham’s ministry in the context of traditional news values, thereby extending the influence of Dr. Graham and the impact of his ministry through the media to a broadened group of target audiences.

Whenever possible, we try to speak to those reporters as well, to let them know the reality of the gospel in our own lives.

Sometimes our role is reactive

Some times it is proactive.

Though my e-mail is Mr. Spinmeister, we never try to provide spin on his behalf. However, we often do have to reframe the picture for reporters, clarifying facts which may have been represented in their first attempt at a religion story.

Occasionally, we kick into damage control or crisis PR as the need arises.

The encouraging thing to me is that our intent is not to promote a man or a ministry, but to be partners in ministry by using every possible means to create awareness of the Gospel message being proclaimed.

Whether it is Dr. Graham or any of the other clients we serve, we are cognizant of the fact that we are not trying to manufacture an image. Rather, we are projecting an identity – which already exists – to a broadened group of targeted audiences.

For Dr. Graham, our goal is to extend his influence, and the impact of his ministry with minimal demands on his time. This has been particularly critical in recent years as age and health factors have increasingly made him a limited resource.

Interestingly, I mentioned crisis PR. Over the past few years, there have been a few opportunities t – related to Mr. Graham’s health, a goal line stand we did with Zondervan in protecting the NIV against charges of gender inclusive language.

But perhaps you are not aware that crisis PR is first mentioned in the Bible, practiced during the time of Moses.

MOSES JOKE:

Engineer: Build a bridge – six months

Lawyer: -- Lease fishing boats – six weeks

PR Man: If it works I can guarantee you two pages in the Old Testament

During the past 20 years, not only have Mr. Graham’s sermons been a blessing to me, spiritually, but he has also an example to me personally, of what God can do through a life totally yielded to Him.

In the process of handling his personal public relations, his publicity for his crusades and corporate communications, I have had opportunity to sit in on thousands of interviews which Mr. Graham has done, ranging from church newsletters to national networks.

In my opinion, one of the distinctives of his ministry is his ability to make positive points for the Gospel in any media situation. He can asked how he gets his suits dry cleaned on the road, and he will inevitably turn it around to a gospel witness.

In fact, where most people will say what they had for breakfast at a television studio sound check, Mr. Graham will often quote John3:16. The reason being, if he doesn’t get a chance to present the gospel in the interview, at least he knows the soundman heard it.

For the past nearly 31 years, I have had the challenge and privilege to restore “faith in the media” by providing cross-over communications at the intersection of faith and culture.

A. Larry Ross Communications was founded in 1994 to help restore “faith in the media,” by helping churches and parachurch ministries tell their story in context of traditional news values that reporters need to communicate with their audiences.

In the process, hopefully we have been able to give Christian messages relevance and meaning in mainstream media.

We define our function as, “Values-added PR that defines values and gives Christian messages relevance and meaning in mainstream media.

We measure success not in terms of “pounds of press clippings,” but rather the extent to which we can influence public opinion.

SLIDE 9 (ALRC CLIENT LOGOS)

Since 1981, I have had the opportunity and privilege to handle media and public relations for evangelist Billy Graham.

Because of that relationship, we have represented numerous other individual organizations in the Christian arena.

But, we have also operated in the reverse direction, representing individuals and organizations with a vital message targeting the Christian community.

That includes working with Mel Gibson and Icon Productions on publicity for “The Passion of The Christ.” More recently, we have been helping The Discovery Channel position their stunning series, “Planet Earth” among faith audiences.

Our job is to extend the influence of Christian leaders and the impact of their ministries to a broadened group of target audiences, with minimal demands on the principle’s time.

Whenever possible, we try to speak to reporters as well, to let them know the reality of the Gospel in our own lives:

Sometimes our role is reactive

Sometimes it is pro-active

Occasionally, we kick into damage control or crisis PR as the need arises

While the methods we use in dealing with high profile clients or national media may be different than the typical activities of your day, they are based on the same principles.

While the high profile examples are perhaps the most interesting, we represent 28 clients currently, some small projects and some ministries that started out as unknown to the media – Dallas Theological Seminary, formerly Bishop TD Jakes.

WOW Factor Interview

o Three Questions:

1. What do you know for Sure?

· For me, it is that “God will never call you where He can’t use you.”

2. Who do you Trust?

· Life is lived forward but learned backwards – our future is in God’s hands.

· Powerfully impressed on me in two epiphanies as I returned to two places I hadn’t been in 20 years that hadn’t changed, but enabled me to see how much I had:

o Deerfoot Lodge – Chastising letter from President of Wheaton College after walking across graduation stage to receive diploma with a flashing bowtie.

o Hotel across from my General Motors Century City office, before I took Billy Graham to meet Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenburg to preview their first animated feature, “Prince of Egypt.”

3. What Matters Most

· Several years ago “Time” magazine had a back page essay by Roger Rosenblatt entitled, “What Should We Lead With?”:

“Journalists put the question in practical terms: What should we lead with? The rest of the population asks more generally: What matters most? They come to the same puzzle: Survey events in a given period of time and try to come up with the single moment, the headline, by which the world may be characterized, stopped in its spin. What should we lead with? What matters most?

What we confront in making such choices is not the events alone, but ourselves; and it is ourselves we are not able to place in order. The question is not what the press decrees is this week’s news. The question is us. What should we lead with, what matters most?”

· What matters most? For me, that was a difficult question that has been a lifelong struggle. I have had a performance orientation all of my life, often feeling valued for what I did, rather than who I was.

Early in my career, I was striving for significance, often measured by either the events in which I was involved, the resulting impact or extent to which we were able to influence public opinion.

As I shifted into the ministry arena, I became intense, doing everything I could to help clients use every media opportunity to make positive points for the Gospel.

· I was addicted to caffeine and adrenalin, the positive stress and exhilaration of my job and the nobleness of my calling -- I wasn’t using my time and expertise to merely sell soap, our product was now changed lives.

· I went on the sheer stamina of youth, pushing myself to the limit. I was the classic workaholic, with no balance in my life. If I had been working 100 hours a week selling vacuum cleaners people would have said, “You’re crazy.” Instead, because it was for ministry and people were coming to Christ, they said, “Praise God.”

· I became known not for who I was, but for what I did. “He’s Billy Graham’s P.R. man – tell us, what is Billy really like?”

· I was working with the White House, leaders in business and government, virtually every major media outlet in the U.S. and many overseas, traveling and setting up press operations all over the world (in 180 countries.)

· I was involved in challenging, varied and creative projects, getting incredible experience and seeing tremendous results. But, I had no balance to my life. I was living the imposter syndrome. I was miserable.

· I HAD A DRIVE, BUT NO PURPOSE!

· I wasn’t doing God’s will, as Mike Warnke used to say, I was doing my will in His name.

· I was finding significance and self-worth in a job where I was:

- only as good as my last press conference

- only as capable as the coverage we received of our last crusade

- only as important as what I could deliver on the next project

· I was the guy the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Chapter 50:

“Look, all you who kindle a fire,

Who encircle yourselves with sparks:

Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled –

This you shall have from My hand:

You shall lay down in torment.”

· I was walking in the light of my own fire. I was carrying my own torch and riding in on my white horse and just hoped God realized how lucky he was to have such a conscientious, hard-working guy on his team.

· But God had a different idea. He wanted to put out my torch and shoot that horse out from under me and get me to trust again in him, and him alone, and put some margins – with Him in them – back into my life:

- He wasn’t impressed with my ability, He was concerned about my lack of availability.

- He wasn’t moved by my time in ministry, but by my lack of time for Him

- He didn’t care about how much I was trying, but how little I was trusting

- God says in His Word, “Be holy, because I am holy,” not, “Act holy so that others may come to Christ.” And I was an imposter.

· I was more of a “human doing” than a human being. I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After a series of events and people the Lord brought into my life to help me work through my stuff, I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.

· And so, nearly 25 years ago, I had to take myself out of commission for while and restructure my priorities. I turned myself in for work addiction and went away for five weeks to learn how to feel and to live in the moment again.

· (When I started that process, I was “the Wizard of Oz” – the man behind the curtain, working the smoke and mirrors. I was an imposter, running scared.. I sought clarity through intellectualization for the sake of control to give myself the illusion of security.

· But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. After working through my stuff (continuing in that Oz metaphor), I became the Tin Man -- who was able to think and feel with his heart. I learned to accept life as an unfolding series of gifts we cannot control, rather than a challenge to be met and manipulated.)

· God’s Word speaks a lot about rest, balance and priorities. But I was more of a “human doing” rather than a human being. But I had gotten to the point where I was so busy being caught up in what I was doing for the Lord, that I missed out on His blessing for my life.

· I realized that God could use me far more effectively in my brokenness, than He can in my giftings or my grandiosity.

· I recognized that neither success or significance brought fulfillment to my soul – only the savior can bring true satisfaction.

· How about you? What matters most in your life – as a person, a student, a homemaker or a professional?

· Do you know Jesus, or are you just doing Jesus?

· Are you merely going through the motions of cultural Christianity – where you know the lingo, can sing the latest praise songs without the words on the wall, and can pray a mean prayer in public – but don’t have a vital faith or resurrection power in your life?

· Is Jesus just a ticket to heaven, or do you allow His Holy Spirit to empower you to live for Him and compel others to know the Christ they see in you?

· Are you so overwhelmed by the pressures of school or maybe making enough money to pay for it you are not seizing the opportunity to trust Him?

· Are you going through life at “Mach Two with your hair on fire”, without a thought about rolling down the window or stopping to smell the roses?

· What matters most in your life – as a person, as a student, or a professional?

· Are you so overwhelmed by the pressures of life, school or vocation that you are not seizing the opportunity to trust Him?

What matters most to you – is it something temporal, or something that will never change?

Are you motivated by the opportunity we have to influence a hurting world with issues of eternal significance, especially in the recent cultural shift of the unprecedented pandemic over the past year ,when people are searching for answers, considering their own morality and more open to the Gospel than ever before?

· Former Senate Chaplain, Dick Halverson put it this way,

“You’ve got to treat yourself as a zero. If you stretch out many zeros in a row, you still have zero. But, if you put a one in front of it, there is no limit to what you can have – one million, one billion, one trillion. Jesus Christ is the one. He can multiply your power and efficiencies many times. He can give us meaning to the zero of our lives.”

· I am just learning about who God is, and in the process, He has shown me that every day is a gift from Him,

o My assigned topic is “Developing Character in Leadership.

o I have been blessed to have been mentored by three great men in my life:

· My Father – a dedicated New Testament scholar with an earned doctorate from the University of Chicago, who for many years was a professor at the Faith Seminary, The Wheaton College Graduate School and Moody Bible Institute, before becoming a dual vocation pastor and hospital chaplain in his later years before his retirement well into his eighties.

o On a personal note, it took my dad 17 years to obtain his doctorate, as he was rarely a full-time student. But it became his obsession and priority, and was something with which I competed my whole life, precluding him from ever coming to ball games or activity, which I came to resent as the eldest child, who often had to serve as surrogate fatherfor my two brothers.

o It also became the foundation for our family becoming a “performance driven household,” whereby we were loved not for who we were, but for what we achieved – or how we made the family look. So, becoming Billy Graham’s PR guy, was actually a “set-up” for me, by which he would often ask me on phone calls, “How’s Billy,” to obtain bragging rights for his academic friends, but rarely inquire about me.

· Evangelist Billy Graham – who over more than three decades became a close colleague, mentor and friend, whom I was able to observe up close and personal, during which time I observed he was the same person in private as he was in public.

o My Pastor defines success as “When the people who know you best, love you most,” and that would apply to Mr. Graham

o People have asked me to describe him in one word, and I have to use four: Integrity, Authenticity, Humility and Vision, by which he was able to exemplify “Leadership with Love.” And, of course, he was a man of prayer.

o Mr. Graham would often speak about Leadership when he traveled for crusades, and in addition to the traits of integrity and vision I already mentioned, he would add two more:

o A sense of priority – being able to separate the important from the urgent or unimportant, triage required of virtually every busy graduate candidate

o Personal Security – to know who you are, where you are going and to find fulfillment in something other than your career, which for him was spiritual. That is something that many graduate students lack in their drive for success in their field.

o I would also add that Mr. Graham was used by God less for his considerable ability, than his availability. I have often heard people say, “I can’t do that, I’m not Billy Graham.” But the evangelist I observed, particularly at the end of his ministry, often struggled with health and physical limitations, sometimes so ill or weak he could hardly walk without assistance. But when it came time to speak, he would be filled with a power, anointing and strength that could only come from the Lord, only to collapse at the end of his sermon.

· Doug Coe – longtime leader of the Fellowship and National Prayer Breakfast, whom the Lord took home on the same day as Billy Graham one year prior. I was privileged to write an obituary for both men in TIME magazine.

· As I shared in the tribute to Mr. Coe, I wrote that I never understood Billy Graham until I met Doug. Prior to that, I assumed that Mr. Graham was uniquely wired to boldly preach the Gospel in stadiums around the world, often feeling the weight and responsibility of the eternal destiny of the huge crowds was dependent on the words he spoke.

· But Doug helped me realize that was intentional, not intuitive, and an agreement they made together. As a result, whenever Mr. Graham was one-on-one with a President, world leader or famous celebrity, he never preached, was sometimes pastoral, but usually just loved them.

§ Buddy Hackett story (If time).

· That Trojan Horse approach to evangelism and faith, is something I learned from the Fellowship

§ Other thoughts on Leadership

§ Bold Witness –

.

· Stress relational leadership. Jesus emphasized relational integrity over intellectual honesty – Judas – gave him the purse.

· Mother Teresa – don’t judge people just because you don’t have time to love them.

· A fellowship colleague, former Minister of Finance for Kosovo, a Muslim, who is a follower of Jesus, once told me, “God will judge us not only for what we have done, but how much we love.

· I had lunch recently with a Dallas Pastor, who had a crisis of faith, and after a week alone with God, he realized that whomever he meets, he can only know two things for sure:

· That individual carries with them characteristics of God (we are made in His image); and

· God loves them as much as he loves me (so I can’t go “one up” on them, because of my faith.

· Focus on the Individual – Don’t be so enamored with who is onstage(and I am not talking about tonight), that you overlook a dozen people sitting in your row, who may go on to greatness and may be lifelong colleagues.

o In closing, as far as leadership goes, all of us are called to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, and can allow the love of God to shine through us.

o As such, we need to exhibit character even in the small things, and exhibit:

o Presence in the moment;

o Prayer in the moment; and for those who are parents,

o Patriarch of our families to the next generation

o Closing story – 26 year-old Millennial Stage manager at NBC affiliate in Jax – did something I had never seen anyone do with B.G. – tell story.

o Everyone needs prayer, they need a touch, and that can be all of our personal ministries.

o That day I committed I would never leave a meeting or phone call with Mr. Graham, when I didn’t ask how I could pray for him – and did it, recognizing that very few, if any people were doing so.

o God bless you.

COGITO ERGO TRITTILO (I THINK, THEREFORE I TWEET)

Conveying "Servant Thinkmanship" Ideas in the Twitter Age

In a recent Dallas Morning News editorial, “The Elusive Big Idea,” columnist Neal Gabler observed that burgeoning information has replaced bold ideas as the intellectual currency of our time. In the past “we sought not just to apprehend the world but to truly comprehend it, which is the primary function of ideas,” he wrote. “Great ideas explain the world and one another to us.

“But if information was once grist for ideas, over the past decade it has become competition for them,” Gabler concluded. “We prefer knowing to thinking because knowing has more immediate value. It keeps us in the loop, keeps us connected to our friends and our cohorts…While these ideas may change the way we live, they rarely transform the way we think.”

Questions of Jesus

All of us would agree that the primary purpose for instruction is to convey information. But that wasn’t the way Jesus led or taught. Instead He asked questions

“But who do you say that I am?” “Why does this generation seek a sign?” “Do you love Me?”

For Jesus, it was less the answers given, than the questions asked as He challenged followers on their faith journey and stretched seekers in their quest for Truth.

While connecting with individuals, He stayed focused on the big picture, casting vision by creating ownership among disciples, the downtrodden – even detractors – of ideas on His mind or that they needed to consider. Their “aha” came in the discovery -- which took longer -- but stuck, once it sank in.

The Query on Twitter

As veteran Twitterati know, until recently the primary question to which Twitter users respond in 140-character status updates was “What are you doing now?” The focus is on activity, rather than being – or thinking – which, in turn, scratches our collective societal itch to keep informed, even if it is only to know our friends’ or colleagues’ movie preferences or what they had for lunch. But from a leadership perspective, perhaps it begs the wrong question.

In many ways social media have changed the communications industry, in that we no longer publish primarily through traditional gatekeepers in the press, but directly to key audiences. In some respects, Twitter is a classic expression of Christian charity, in that one ultimately receives by giving. Though not the motivation, I am constantly amazed that when I share of myself in a tweet, I immediately acquire new followers.

The same is true for any leader already communicating via social media, or for those that aren’t, who connect with colleagues or constituency through other communications platforms. However, considering the biblical injunction from Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” rather than tweeting what one is thinking, Christian leaders today have unprecedented opportunity to share what they are thinking, or to pose a question to get followers thinking or executing in that direction.

Jordan’s High School Graduation Speech

(What Do You Know for Sure?)

Becky, the wife of a colleague of mine, recently told me that over the past few months, talk show host Oprah Winfrey has been asking all of her guests the same question, “What do you know for sure?”

I reflected on the many timeless Truths outlined for us in God’s Word, and I quickly tried to distill them into a sound bite if that question were posed to me. When I asked Becky how she would respond, she replied, “What I know for sure is that God is never going to send you where He can’t use you.”

As I pondered that statement in the days following, I realized how much that was true of my life and career that has unfolded over the nearly 33 years since I graduated from high school.

Like perhaps many of you, I was clueless about what I wanted to do with my life. I had been accepted to Wheaton College, but I couldn’t even figure out what I wanted to major in until my senior year.

When asked, “How do you know God’s will for your life?” Elizabeth Elliot replied, “Just do the next thing.” And that is what I did. Without a long-range plan, my mantra became, “Suit up and Show up,” and God took care of the rest.

Though I did end up with a double major in Biology and Economics, I used neither. I have never actually applied for any job I have ever had – they have just hit me in the head. And it has been a wild ride, allowing me to have a front row seat to what God is doing through some of his great servants and ministries.

A client of mine told me recently, “You live life forwards, but you learn life backwards.” On two occasions over the years, God has provided me with watershed experiences that have reminded me of his faithfulness in my life, even though undeserved.

The first was when I first returned to Deerfoot Lodge in Speculator New York, the camp where I was a counselor the summer after college. Following the church service, while the campers were eating Sunday dinner in the dining hall, I sat on the porch of the administration buildingand wept.

Sixteen years earlier, I had sat on that same step, reading a letter from the college president chastising me for wearing a flashing bowtie as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma during commencement.

If anyone had told me then that nearly two decades later I would have had opportunity to represent baseball great Joe DiMaggio, or the privilege and responsibility of handling media and public relations for evangelist Billy Graham, I never would have believed it.

Though I had no idea where I would be sixteen years in the future, it didn’t matter, because like my past, my future is in God’s hands.

The second “aha” experience happened a few years ago, when I accompanied Mr. Graham to Hollywood to meet privately with Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks to screen a rough cut of their first animated feature, “Prince of Egypt.”

Due to a serendipitous promotional windfall, the hotel comped an upgrade to a suite overlooking the Century City office where I had been an intern with the General MotorsPublic Relations staff more than 20 years before.

Like the first epiphany, I broke down and wept at his faithfulness when I realized all He had done in my life in the ensuing time. No one could have made me believe early on that I would be facilitating a meeting between a cultural and spiritual icon, or go on to help Mel Gibson promote “The Passion of The Christ” – another powerful film that has made the Gospel unavoidable in our society.

Many times growing up I heard my father, who is a Greek scholar, preach on the Great Commission – “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.” I always thought that meant if you weren’t called to missions, you were off the hook.

But he would emphasize that the tense in the original language – the pluperfect subjunctive or something like that – was “while going.” All of us are going somewhere – and wherever that is, wherever He sends you, we are to proclaim him to the world.

(Who do You Trust?)

But yours is a generation understandably has lost faith in a lot of the institutions and individuals that were trustworthy – or at least perceived to be worthy of trust when my generation was walking across the commencement stage.

But the Bible has a lot to say about trust, and in Whom we are to place our trust:

· Psalm 37: 3, 5 – “Trust in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land, and lean on His faithfulness…

Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

· And finally, Proverbs 28: 25, 26 – He who trusts in the Lord will be prospered… He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.

(What Matters Most)

(FROM THE BOTTOM OF WOW FACTOR NOTES)

Summarizing Billy Graham’s Life and Legacy in Four Words

written by ANS Editor February 24, 2018

By A. Larry Ross, who served as Mr. Graham’s personal media spokesperson for more than three decades, Special to ASSIST News Service

DALLAS, TX (ANS – February 24, 2018) — As scholars determine the legacy of evangelist Billy Graham, who passed peacefully in his sleep the morning of Feb. 21, 2018, when he was called home by the Lord he so faithfully served for most of his 99 years, I have been reflecting on some of the defining characteristics I observed while serving as his personal media spokesperson for more than three decades.

Through the years, many reporters have asked me to sum up Billy Graham’s life and legacy in one word. But in response, I have to use four: humility, integrity, authenticity and love — each of which I have observed consistently in my travels with him.

Humility

In July 1999, I accompanied Mr. Graham to the local NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, where he did a remote interview with Katie Couric on Today. While waiting in the green room, the floor producer asked me if he would be willing to sign her copy of his recently published memoirs, Just As I Am.

Despite symptoms of Parkinson’s that made writing difficult, the evangelist was happy to oblige, which so touched the young woman that she asked Mr. Graham if she could pray for him. That moved me deeply, as it was the first time in my then-quarter century of traveling with him that someone took such an initiative, rather than asking him to offer a prayer on his or her behalf.

After the producer left the room, Mr. Graham turned to me and said genuinely, “I have never understood why in the world anyone would want my autograph.” At first, I thought he was joking, but then realized his puzzled sincerity was reflective of his self-identification as “a country boy called to preach,” who could not fathom why the Lord chose him to be blessed with such spiritual responsibility and global opportunity.

As best I could, I tried to clarify for Mr. Graham what his inscription in her book meant to that young woman and others who made similar requests through the years, explaining his obvious influence and the significant impact of his ministry on her, since she had made a faith commitment at one of his crusades as a teenager. To my surprise, he responded, somewhat matter-of-factly, “I have only asked for one autograph in my whole life.”

Now it was I who was flummoxed, as I sat in stunned silence trying to determine who that individual would have been, going over in my mind myriad celebrities, influencers and world changers Mr. Graham had met during his travels.

At first, I thought it was Babe Ruth, whom I knew he greeted after a ballgame when he was twelve years old. My second candidate was President Truman, whom he met on his first visit to the White House in the early 1950s. Or possibly it was Winston Churchill, who summoned the young evangelist to his chambers after his successful mission at Wembley Stadium in 1954 to ask him the secret of gathering such huge crowds (which Billy Graham explained was due to the Holy Spirit, not anything he had done).

When I sheepishly turned to Mr. Graham and asked if any of these individuals had been worthy of such a request, he said, “No.” Acknowledging I would probably never be able to guess, he explained, “It was John Glenn. He and I sat next to each other at the March 1998 TIME magazine 75th anniversary gala at Radio City Music Hall honoring all living cover subjects.

“As we got up to leave, John asked me for my autograph,” Mr. Graham continued. “I replied, ‘I’ve never asked anyone in my whole life to sign something. Could I have yours?’ And so, we swapped autographs!”

Integrity

Among the many examples of Mr. Graham’s personal, spiritual and financial integrity, I remember when he kicked off the twelve-week, six-city Mission England tour the summer of 1984 in Bristol, west of London. In their coverage of the opening service, local papers appealed to their readers’ British reserve through articles criticizing the “emotionalism” of the American evangelist’s meeting. Their evidence was the fact that the choir sang softly during his invitation for people to come forward to make a faith commitment.

So, for only the second time in the history of their ministry, before the start of the meeting the next evening, Mr. Graham told program director Cliff Barrows to refrain from having the choir sing during the invitation. But the next day, the headlines in the paper read, “The Emotionalism was in the Silence,” and Mr. Graham decided that if he was going to get criticized, they should at least do it right, and they went back to the choir accompaniment for the rest of the mission — and ever since.

Authenticity

In August 2005, just two months after he had preached his final crusade in New York City, I went to visit Mr. Graham at his log cabin home in western North Carolina. On the flight to Asheville, I reflected on an observation shared by a pastor friend that every individual needs three things in order to find fulfillment in life: someone to love, something to do and something to anticipate.

As I drove up the mountain to call on Mr. Graham, I realized that for the first time in more than six decades the evangelist had only two out of three of those elements. He still had Ruth, his marriage and ministry partner of then sixty-one years; he was working on a new book and remained regularly engaged with the ministry he founded; but he could not look forward to another crusade planned for the near future.

I knew that Billy Graham always believed and lived what he preached, but I wondered how that applied to his current life stage. What mindset would I encounter in the forward-thinking evangelist, who had always focused on the next thing and who had been a part of current events on the world stage since the Truman administration?

While sitting together on his back porch for several hours, eventually watching the sun start to set over his beloved Blue Ridge Mountains, I asked Mr. Graham how he felt. He replied, “I have never been more at peace in my life. My wife Ruth has been there for me as I traveled the world in itinerant ministry. But with her recent medical needs, it is now time for me to take care of her. God has enabled me to do that, and I am looking forward to spending more time together.” Ruth passed in 2007.

During my most recent visit to Mr. Graham’s home, despite physical limitations of his own, I found him once again filled with passion and purpose. As he sat in his favorite chair in the den, he told me how he felt called to deliver one more sermon about the need for renewal in the Church and revival across America.

It was obvious that, though his body might be physically weakened, the heart of the evangelist continued to beat. He had already selected his text, Galatians 6:14, which he had posted in big letters on the wall beside him and recited to me, “’May I never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…’” In his characteristic authenticity and transparency, he then stressed that when he got to heaven he was going to lay any awards and rewards received in this life at the feet of Jesus.

Leadership with Love

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to share the story about Mr. Graham and John Glenn at the TIME gala with a former bureau chief of the magazine. He smiled, acknowledging that he was at that event, and told me I needed to know “the rest of the story.”

He then informed me that the black-tie dinner in question was held in March 1998, during the period following President Bill Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives. Minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, organizers were in crisis mode, as iconic sports figure Joe DiMaggio had refused to sit next to the President at the head table.

Further, no other celebrity or marquee figure in attendance would accept that offer and they seemed reluctant to be photographed with him in the midst of the political kerfuffle. When Billy Graham was approached about the situation, he declared, “I’ll sit next to the President. He’s my friend!”

What mattered most to Mr. Graham was to faithfully lift up the name of Jesus with authenticity and integrity to the great and the low, the high and the humble. Though he never compromised the Gospel or the dimension of the reality of God’s judgment, unlike some other Christian leaders whose messages come across as condemning, in my experience Mr. Graham always functioned as a “paramedic,” rather than a “policeman,” for the Kingdom of God.

Billy Graham represented a balance of grace and truth. He was a man of humility, integrity, authenticity and an agent of God’s love, who despite his many gifts and ability, the Lord used more for his availability. He had an audience of One, and would consistently “suit up and show up,” leaving the results to the Lord he served, and giving all the glory and honor to God, knowing that he was operating with faith in His strength and power from above.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/billy-graham/how-billy-graham-got-mainstream-media-spread-gods-good-news.html

The Preacher and the Press

How Billy Graham got the mainstream media to broadcast God's message to the world.

A. LARRY ROSS

Billy Graham's ministry spanned more than six decades. He preached the gospel to more live audiences than anyone in history—nearly 215 million individuals in more than 185 countries and territories. Billions more were reached by media outlets around the world.

Preaching with “a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other” constantly put Graham at the intersection of faith and culture. He always contextualized his message, showing how the Word of God speaks to personal and societal problems in every era. He sought every means possible to reach as many as possible and had a progressive use of technology in all its forms: radio, television, film, satellite transmission, and the internet.

One of the distinctives of Graham's ministry was his ability to make positive points for the gospel in any media situation. He always had a policy of engagement with the press, which greatly increased his influence beyond crusade audiences.

Numerous and unique news opportunities provided print and electronic forums for Graham's message. In the absence of an official spokesman for evangelical Christianity, Graham was long perceived as a senior statesman and the perennial go-to authority for the media on issues regarding evangelism and the Christian faith.

“I've never believed the success of our work depends on or is a result of publicity,” reads a wall plaque at the Billy Graham Center quoting the preacher. “However, I am convinced that God has used the press in our work, and that it has been one of the most effective factors in sustaining public interest through the years.”

It's been said that an individual's reputation is how he is perceived today, while his legacy is how he will be viewed by future generations. My own involvement in handling media relations for Graham since 1981 reflected that continuum: from responsive media liaison to proactive reputation management to a focus in recent years on codifying his unique ministry into the media of the future.

Our objective was to tell the story of Graham's ministry in the context of traditional news values, thereby extending the impact of Graham's crusades through the media to a broader audience. We weren't out to promote a man or publicize a ministry; we were out to create greater awareness of the message. Our task didn't involve manufacturing an image, but projecting an already-existing identity to convey what God can do through a life totally yielded to him.

While working closely with Graham, I've observed three unifying principles that defined his unique approach to media.

First, he approached every media encounter as a ministry opportunity, seeking platforms for his message rather than for publicity, and doing so out of the priority of relationship, never losing sight of reporters' spiritual needs.

He once told me while discussing an interview request, “I have had more cover stories than anyone deserves in a lifetime, but if it will give me a platform for the gospel, I'll do it.” At a TV studio sound check, many interviewees will count to 10 or describe what they had for breakfast. Graham always quoted John 3:16, so that if he didn't get a chance to present the gospel in the interview, at least the soundman heard it.

Second, in all media situations, Graham remained pastoral rather than political. He often said, “I'm not for the left wing or the right wing—I'm for the whole bird.” But he never hesitated to address issues people perceive as political (or economic or social) from a spiritual perspective, speaking directly to matters of the heart.

Third, as many ministries have become more “activist” in recent years, Graham remained the “voice of moderation,” serving as an advocate for the Christian faith, stressing the centrality of the gospel and the importance of personal faith and religious freedom. He always strove to find common ground with every reporter, but without compromise, realizing that like him, they were in the news business. While a journalist seeks to give his audience the “hard news,” Graham emphasized the Good News.

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/billy-graham-kings-pawn-to-queens-knight-checkmate.html

Billy Graham: King's Pawn to Queen's Knight – Checkmate

In assessing Billy Graham's legacy of world evangelization for future generations, what if the Church took the 'chess challenge,' and applied the same logarithms of this historic board game to evangelism?

By A. Larry Ross, CP Guest Contributor FOLLOW| Wednesday, February 21, 2018

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Billy Graham with Queen Elizabeth II in 1989. | BGEA

In "The Oxford Companion to Chess," the chapter on 'Opening Moves' explains that White and Black each have 21 possible first moves, resulting in 420 board combinations after the initial round of play. This rises to 71,852 possible board placements after each side has made their second moves.

Incredibly, after three respective turns, the number of possible combinations of playing pieces on the 64 squares of the chessboard grows to more than nine million. To comprehend the number of potential legal positions after four moves – which calculates to 2 x 1023 – at the rate of one per second, it would take 600,000 years to compute. And after five moves, the possibilities become a staggering 25 x 10115 – far greater than the number of electrons in the universe.

Years ago, Billy Graham realized that Jesus' Great Commission applied not only to him individually, but to the global Church. That motivated him to preach 417 crusades all over the world – both in-person and through a progressive use of media. But it also led him to reassert the priority of evangelism and to train 10 of thousands of future evangelists through a series of evangelism schools and international conferences.

Now that he is gone, the vision of one of the most significant evangelists in the history of the Church lives on through these committed individuals and countless pastors and lay persons who have been similarly trained as a result of their participation in one or more of his evangelistic outreaches or training forums.

In assessing Billy Graham's legacy of world evangelization for future generations, what if the Church took the 'chess challenge,' and applied the same logarithms of this historic board game to evangelism?

The 21 opening moves could be 21 churches with 21 members each sharing their faith or bringing a lost or seeking friend to an evangelistic outreach, with a Kingdom impact totaling 420. Do the math – it wouldn't take too many more combinations of churches and individuals before we could seriously impact families, communities, our nation and the world with the transformative Gospel message.

Sixteen years ago, at the age of 83, Billy Graham – the King's Pawn – moved to Queen's Knight, and since held another seven crusades before being sidelined by age and health three and one-half years later. Now the Church faces the long-coming reality that this Knight is no longer on the board.

Perhaps of late the Church has been lax in mission or lifestyle evangelism because, unlike the Queen's Knight, we have not put on our armor. Will we now become pawns for our King in the public square of culture and put on our spiritual armor, or remain enamored by the shining, yet temporal treasures and titles of this world?

Graham's unique influence and impact came about in large part because he entered into battle donned and polished with his shining armor – the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, Gospel shoes, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit. It is my prayer that his Gospel faithfulness will serve as a catalytic model we and future generations can follow as we continue to share the light of Jesus in a dark world, fully armed, laying everything else at our King's feet.

What a legacy – King's Pawn to Queen's Knight inspires King's Bishop (or pastor) to seize other pawns and capture all of the Black Castles in our communities with the Gospel – Checkmate.

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/billy-graham-kings-pawn-to-queens-knight-checkmate.html

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Billy Graham: King's Pawn to Queen's Knight – Checkmate

‌

In assessing Billy Graham's legacy of world evangelization for future generations, what if the Church took the 'chess challenge,' and applied the same logarithms of this historic board game to evangelism?

‌

By A. Larry Ross, CP Guest Contributor FOLLOW| Wednesday, February 21, 2018

‌

Facebook Twitter Email Menu Comment

‌

Billy Graham with Queen Elizabeth II in 1989. | BGEA

‌

‌

In "The Oxford Companion to Chess," the chapter on 'Opening Moves' explains that White and Black each have 21 possible first moves, resulting in 420 board combinations after the initial round of play. This rises to 71,852 possible board placements after each side has made their second moves.

‌

Incredibly, after three respective turns, the number of possible combinations of playing pieces on the 64 squares of the chessboard grows to more than nine million. To comprehend the number of potential legal positions after four moves – which calculates to 2 x 1023 – at the rate of one per second, it would take 600,000 years to compute. And after five moves, the possibilities become a staggering 25 x 10115 – far greater than the number of electrons in the universe.

‌

Years ago, Billy Graham realized that Jesus' Great Commission applied not only to him individually, but to the global Church. That motivated him to preach 417 crusades all over the world – both in-person and through a progressive use of media. But it also led him to reassert the priority of evangelism and to train 10 of thousands of future evangelists through a series of evangelism schools and international conferences.

‌

Now that he is gone, the vision of one of the most significant evangelists in the history of the Church lives on through these committed individuals and countless pastors and lay persons who have been similarly trained as a result of their participation in one or more of his evangelistic outreaches or training forums.

‌

In assessing Billy Graham's legacy of world evangelization for future generations, what if the Church took the 'chess challenge,' and applied the same logarithms of this historic board game to evangelism?

‌

The 21 opening moves could be 21 churches with 21 members each sharing their faith or bringing a lost or seeking friend to an evangelistic outreach, with a Kingdom impact totaling 420. Do the math – it wouldn't take too many more combinations of churches and individuals before we could seriously impact families, communities, our nation and the world with the transformative Gospel message.

‌

Sixteen years ago, at the age of 83, Billy Graham – the King's Pawn – moved to Queen's Knight, and since held another seven crusades before being sidelined by age and health three and one-half years later. Now the Church faces the long-coming reality that this Knight is no longer on the board.

‌

Perhaps of late the Church has been lax in mission or lifestyle evangelism because, unlike the Queen's Knight, we have not put on our armor. Will we now become pawns for our King in the public square of culture and put on our spiritual armor, or remain enamored by the shining, yet temporal treasures and titles of this world?

‌

Graham's unique influence and impact came about in large part because he entered into battle donned and polished with his shining armor – the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, Gospel shoes, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit. It is my prayer that his Gospel faithfulness will serve as a catalytic model we and future generations can follow as we continue to share the light of Jesus in a dark world, fully armed, laying everything else at our King's feet.

‌

What a legacy – King's Pawn to Queen's Knight inspires King's Bishop (or pastor) to seize other pawns and capture all of the Black Castles in our communities with the Gospel – Checkmate.

‌