5/7/2023 0 Comments Elmer townsBut he said that this is a life-changing opportunity. "Don't give up your education," I told Lyman. I remember my friend Lyman Coleman left seminary in our second year to move to London, England, to administer the follow-up program at Harringay Arena in London, England, because thousands were coming to church. I could feel the windows of heaven opening as God poured revival into that church (it became the biggest in America in the 1950s). The crowd on the street seemed to be as the one in the church. A few weeks later Billy Graham came to join the church. I remember joining First Baptist Church Dallas, Texas, in 1954, when I went to seminary. I remember thinking, "This is just like Pentecost." Almost every radio station covered it live and I remember turning the radio dial from one exciting interview to another. I went to Columbia Bible College and Billy Graham filled the Columbia South Carolina auditorium every night with city-stirring revival. On July 25, 1950, I was born again, and nothing has been the same. Little did I know that in just a few months mercy drops of revival would splash into a little Presbyterian church in Savannah, Georgia where I attended. As a 17-year-old boy I knew that God's power was all over that young evangelist named Billy Graham and I wanted what he offered. I will remember my senior high Sunday school class discussing the Billy Graham revival in Los Angeles where crowds filled the massive tent for eight weeks. Revival is when God pours out His presence on His people and both they and the church revives New Testament Christianity. I will remember revival-a true Holy Spirit revival. President since Truman, or that I graduated from Northwestern College, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Billy had been president. What will I remember when I view his body or be present when his wooden casket is lowered into the grave? I will not remember the vast crowds that came to hear him preach or the powerful sermons inviting people to come to Jesus, nor will I remember he was the pastor to every U.S. Also, I was a member of his foreign missions committee that planned Amsterdam 2000. Then I was reminded that I taught at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. Monday, I received a call inviting me to the private funeral of Billy Graham. Billy Graham before it leaves the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove on Saturday, Feb.
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