Goodbye to George and Pat

Two iconic figures left the world stage yesterday: George Beverly Shea and Pat Summerall.
I had the opportunity to meet both of them.
George or “Bev” as everyone called him was the longtime soloist of the Billy Graham Crusades. We all can recall Bev taking the stage before Billy would speak and singing with his beautiful baritone voice.
He introduced the song “How Great Thou Art” to the Christian world and it quickly became a standard sung in churches to this day.
On of my favorite George Beverly Shea songs though was “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
Among its lyrics,

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by his nail-pierced hands.
Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

George Beverly Shea was true to His holy name.
Bev lived to be 104 years old and was active almost to the very end.
And Bev is now in heaven with the Lord that he loved and served.

Pat Summerall

Pat was known to most people as “the voice of football” and he had a long and successful career as a sports announcer.
He had his struggles in life, especially with alcohol, and eventually became a Christian.
Pat would give his testimony of how Christ transformed him many times throughout his life.
He graciously agreed to be the narrator for my autobiographical film, Lost Boy, and he did a fantastic job.
Pat Summerall is now in heaven with Bev now and I thank God for both of them.
They will be missed.