Happy Birthday, Billy Graham!

Today is Billy Graham’s 90th birthday! It has been my privilege to know Billy for around 20 years, and I can assure you that he is the same in private as he is in public.

I will be attending a birthday party for him, attended by his family and friends, and I have been asked to offer a prayer for him, which will be my honor.

There are so many things I could say about him, but I will simply let you see a letter I wrote to him personally that will be a part of a book with birthday greetings from many who have been impacted by his life and ministry over the years.

Dear Billy,

I remember watching you on our black and white television back in the ’50s with my grandparents. My life was in turmoil, as I was living there due to my Mom’s multiple marriages and divorces. But I remember being touched, even as a little boy, by your powerful words. You sowed a seed in my heart that would break ground in my teen years.

After I came to Christ, I came across a book of yours called The Jesus Generation. After reading it, I began to feel the call on my life to become an evangelist, just like my hero, Billy Graham.

Billy, you really are my hero in so many ways. Not just because of your faithful and bold public preaching of the gospel for all of these years, but also for who you are in private. You are the greatest Christian I have ever known, and the only one I have met who might surpass you was your wonderful wife Ruth.

Thank you for being a man of humility, integrity, and honesty. I am confident that God is pleased with you, and I know he will say to you one day in the future, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter now into the joy of the Lord.” There in heaven, you will be reunited with your parents, your brother, your friends, and your beloved Ruth.

May God bless you on this, your 90th birthday. The world is a much better place, and heaven a much fuller place because of William Franklin Graham II.