{"id":2310,"date":"2021-06-10T17:03:18","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T21:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=2310"},"modified":"2021-06-10T17:08:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T21:08:26","slug":"greg-laurie-billy-graham-was-the-most-godly-man-i-ever-met","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2021\/06\/greg-laurie-billy-graham-was-the-most-godly-man-i-ever-met.html","title":{"rendered":"Greg Laurie: Billy Graham Was the Most Godly Man I Ever Met"},"content":{"rendered":"
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picryl.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the past, Billy Graham referred to Pastor Greg Laurie as a \u201cpersonal friend and one of the great communicators of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our generation.\u201d For Laurie, the feeling was mutual.<\/p>\n

Throughout the years, Laurie has acknowledged Graham for his discipleship, his leadership and his humility. Laurie also recognized him as a remarkable friend.<\/p>\n

In Laurie\u2019s new book \u201cBilly Graham: The Man I Knew,\u201d<\/a> he gives readers an insider\u2019s view of the world\u2019s best-known evangelist who was loved and admired by millions. For Laurie, the book is deeply personal.\u00a0 In an exclusive interview with Beliefnet, Laurie opened up about his friendship with Graham that spanned more than two decades, a relationship that transformed his life.<\/p>\n

Many people may be surprised to learn that Graham was a very down-to-earth, friendly, genuinely approachable man.<\/p>\n

Laurie recalls a time he went with Graham to a Red Lobster for lunch. There was an atheist convention going on in the same community where he was holding a crusade at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sitting there eating and Billy had a ball cap pulled down over his hair. I think he thought maybe it would disguise him, but it didn\u2019t do that great of a job because he had such a famous profile,\u201d Laurie said.<\/p>\n

People started coming up to Graham, asking him for his autograph, saying hello to him. Some of them were wearing badges for the atheist convention. What Laurie was most amazed by was Graham\u2019s grace in that moment. He took time for each one, Laurie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that [Graham] was a counselor to presidents. We know that he influenced world leaders. But he also had time for regular people,\u201d Laurie said. \u201cSometimes when you sit down with someone who\u2019s famous, they want to talk about themselves, but Billy was actually the opposite. He always wanted to talk about whoever he was with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie also recalls a time when he introduced a friend to Graham who really wanted to meet him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend said, \u2018Billy, thank you for all that you\u2019ve done and your faithfulness to the Lord all these years,\u2019 and Billy said, \u2018I wish I could have done more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie\u2019s first thought was, how could he have done more when he had done so much with his life. Yet, Graham always recognized that there was more to do.<\/p>\n

Several qualities made Graham not only a great disciple, but also a great friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took his message seriously but didn\u2019t take himself too seriously,\u201d Laurie said.<\/p>\n

He recalls being in awe of Graham when he first met him. Laurie called him \u2018Dr. Graham,\u2019 but he was quick to correct him. \u201cDon\u2019t call me Dr. Graham, call me Billy,\u201d Graham said. It took him a while to get used to calling him. Billy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was him,\u201d Laurie said. \u201cHe was an ordinary person. He understood that. But he also understood that he was called by God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham would often say, \u2018I\u2019m just a country preacher.\u2019 That wasn\u2019t the humility, that\u2019s really who Graham was, Laurie said.<\/p>\n

Graham was the son of a dairy farmer and as a young boy, he aspired to be a pro-baseball player. He never dreamed of becoming an orator, a preacher, but this was a call that God put on his life, Laurie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a great passion for the Gospel and never really wavered from that from the beginning to the end of his ministry,\u201d Laurie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps he mellowed with age, somewhat, and slowed down a bit in his cadence, but the fire in his heart never stopped burning. It burned brightly until the end and his message of the gospel was always front and center.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this day when many leaders have fallen to scandal, it\u2019s great to know that a man committed his life to Christ and made it to the end, faithful to the Lord without any scandals, Laurie said.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t tell the story of Billy Graham without telling the story of his wife, Ruth Graham, who was in every way his equal, Laurie said. In addition to telling the story of Graham, who was a passionate man of God, Laurie also writes a great deal about his wife, Ruth, who was a passionate woman of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly would often say [Ruth] was the real theologian of the family and that was actually true,\u201d Laurie said. \u201cShe was a real student of scripture. She would counsel Billy and tell him what she really thought about things.\u201d<\/p>\n

There wouldn\u2019t be a Billy Graham as we knew him without Ruth Graham, Laurie said.<\/p>\n

The book is the story of the two most godly people I ever met. Laurie spent time in their home and in other casual settings. He was privileged enough to sit with their family and be thought of as a friend. They were the real deal, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[In the book] I wanted to share, who are these people because they impacted the world,\u201d Laurie said.<\/p>\n

I think there are many things we can learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the closest book Laurie\u2019s written to a book on leadership. There are so many lessons we can learn about leadership directly from Graham\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that these are great principles that we can all learn from as we are leaders somewhere, influencing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past, Billy Graham referred to Pastor Greg Laurie as a \u201cpersonal friend and one of the great communicators of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our generation.\u201d For Laurie, the feeling was mutual. Throughout the years, Laurie has acknowledged Graham for his discipleship, his leadership and his humility. 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