Posted on 06/26/2005 9:17:36 AM PDT by AZConcervative
As his final American revival meeting continued Saturday, a fragile Billy Graham was met onstage by former President Clinton, who honored the evangelist, calling him "a man I love."
Clinton spoke briefly before Graham's sermon and recalled how the man known as America's pastor had refused to preach before a segregated audience in Arkansas decades ago when that state was in a bitter fight over school desegregation.
"I was just a little boy and I'll never forget it," said Clinton, who was joined by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "I've loved him ever since. God bless you, friend."
Graham called the Clintons "wonderful friends" and "a great couple," quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."
Graham, 86, then launched into a short sermon that was interrupted by applause five times. Organizers estimated 80,000 people had come to the crusade at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens — about 20,000 more than the opening night Friday. The rally ends Sunday.
The evangelist is suffering from fluid on the brain, prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. He uses the walker due to a pelvic fracture and is largely confined to his home in Montreat, N.C. He had said previously that the rally "will be the last in America, I'm sure."
Despite his many ailments, he spoke strongly for about 15 minutes, in an address meant to appeal to young people. He peppered his speech with pop-culture references from Madonna to Bono to MTV. He wove a parable about bad decision-making from the plot of "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," in which Anakin Skywalker becomes the villain Darth Vader.
"The decisions you make tonight will effect your whole future and your eternal future," he said, before inviting people forward to accept Christ.
Graham's son and successor, the Rev. Franklin Graham, sat nearby, ready to finish the speech in case his father could not. But Franklin Graham was needed only to help his father move onstage.
Seats began filling hours before the event began, as temperatures reached into the 90s. Speakers repeatedly encouraged people in the audience to drink water to avoid fainting. Graham waited to go on in an air-conditioned tent, with aides nearby in case of a medical emergency, and the stage was shaded by a massive canopy.
Graham's pulpit has a movable seat hidden from view, so he can sit if he feels unsteady. He used the seat Saturday only after he finished his sermon.
Graham is considering a request to hold a rally in November in London, but Franklin Graham said his father no longer adjusts well to time zone changes and does not like to be away from his wife, Ruth, who is also in ill health.
Graham has preached to more than 210 million people in 185 countries. He has been sought out by U.S. presidents and leaders worldwide and, more than any other religious figure, has come to represent the American evangelical movement.
Marie St. Louis, 34, who came to the event hours early Saturday with friends and family from her New York church, called the rally "bittersweet" because it was Graham's last in the United States.
"It's sad because he's such a legend," St. Louis said. "When you think of Billy Graham, you think of a lot of things a Christian
"I think that they are a misrepresentation of Grahams effort to stay away from the political, while still ministering to people who truly need the message."
Your screen name is appropos. Unfortunately Graham has a long history of this type of behaviour. This is no "misrepresentation" but a sad continuation of Grahams friendship with the world. And BTW I can think of few people who "truly need the message" more than Bill & Hil.
James 4:4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
It's explained in the article.
Graham called the Clintons "wonderful friends" and "a great couple," quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."...The evangelist is suffering from fluid on the brain,
That told me all I needed to know.
The evangelist is suffering from fluid on the brain......
Gee, what was your FIRST clue?
Graham's statement about the Clinton's was offensive in the extreme.
I guess this is a draw. The Dems got Graham and we got Tony Blair's son choosing to do an internship with a Republican.
Its a bizarro world.
It's pretty clear that electing a Democrat would be a step toward theocracy.
You know the truth, and I know the truth, but most of the people of NY do not know the truth. I do think Graham thought what he was doing was perfectly acceptable in God's eyes to reach uninformed sinful people. But John the Baptist did not treat Herod as Billy treats the Clintons, did he?
Not to excuse his poor choice of company, but I didn't read this as Graham's endorsement for Hillary 2008.
Some words just don't go together...like "Clinton" and "honor."
Yea, Graham was elevating Clinton to a personal pedestal high above that of the Hebrew Joseph, who fled from the wicked wife of Potiphar when confronted by aggressive women.
..."quipping that the former president should become an evangelist and allow "his wife to run the country."
I am assuming he means that she should be president.The president does not "run the country".At best,he runs the executive branch of the government.Hardly the same thing.But when taken with his remark that Clinton should become an evangelist,the whole thing begins to smack of sarcasm.
Remember, NY had "real" Clintons, George and DeWitt, before these charlatan interlopers.
Billy also publicly advised his close friend LBJ in 1968 or 1969 to become an evangelist. LBJ instead just retired to his ranch and turnd even more liberal in retirement.
No, no, no no, no, no, no, no...
The Lord does not compromise like that, weak people do.
You are basically saying that God would say, when speaking to a group of abortion proponents, tell them I think abortion is o. k. so that they will accept me and hear "the rest" of My message...
..Graham's sermon never stopped him from belonging to the ALL WHITE prestigious Little Rock Country Club the whole time he was Governor.
sw
The idea of the President "running the country" began, I assume, with popular NY Democrat FDR. Or was it later?
Graham should not have allowed his picutre to be used for such potentially evil purposes (Hillary 2008). However, most approaching that stage in life have a change of perspective.
Good point, hypocrisy flourishes among the American people and their intelligentsia as well. The Apostle Paul would have confronted the hypocrisy directly, and of course he was beheaded. Wickedness does not invite reproof.
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