World famous evangelist Billy Graham turns 99 years old on 7 November.
His son, Franklin Graham has said there will be special content on the Billy Graham website and in Decision Magazine for the next year, highlighting special Billy Graham events.
“My father always wants the focus to be on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not on him; and so we will point to the amazing ways God has worked in lives around the world, through the ministry of Billy Graham.” Franklin Graham said Wednesday.
“As a family, we are just so very grateful that he is still with us. His mind is good but he’s quieter these days. He can’t see or hear well, but his health is stable,” he continued.
“At the Billy Graham Library we’ll have a special celebration that day, as this year is also the 10th anniversary of the opening of the library. We’ll have birthday cake for everyone who comes by,” he explained.
Franklin Graham explained that as his father enters his 100th year, the BGEA will be marking the major moments from his eight decades of ministry.
The evangelist noted that his father is grateful for all the prayers and birthday wishes he has been receiving.
Graham has been related with preaching to more individuals than anyone else in history, not counting the additional millions he has addressed through radio, television and the written word.
In 1992, Graham announced that he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disease similar to Parkinson’s Disease. Billy and his wife Ruth (before passing on in 2007) eventually retired to their home in Montreat, North Carolina, in 2005. She is remembered by her husband, five children and 19 grandchildren. Franklin Graham III was chosen to take over BGEA.
Continuing a 50-plus year streak, Billy Graham was named one of the top 10 most admired men in the world by the Gallup poll released 2015.
Franklin Graham has been sharing updates and reflections about his 98-year-old father on Facebook as well.
In a post in October, he revealed that his father has one Bible verse in particular that he still has displayed in large letters around his house.
“Still today, my father Billy Graham has a Bible verse pinned up on the wall in his bedroom, printed in VERY large letters. In fact, it’s in the dining room, his bathroom, and several other spots around the house! Back before his 95th birthday, he was working on a sermon based on this key Scripture. It was his passion to memorize it, to saturate his heart and mind with it. He made it his life verse,” Franklin Graham said at the time.
He revealed that the verse is Galatians 6:14, which reads: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
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