c. 2007 Religion News Service
Graham Partners Gather One Last Time at Library Dedication
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS) The glory days of Billy Graham returned Thursday (May 31) in his old hometown.
Graham, 88 and barely able to see, hear or walk, came down the mountain from Montreat, N.C., to dedicate the Billy Graham Library, a rare public appearance for the legendary evangelist. In the audience were 1,500 dignitaries as well as donors whose money helped build the library filled with Graham memorabilia and memories.
On stage with the guest of honor was his son, Franklin, who leads his father’s ministry, and three former presidents _ George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton _ who took turns praising Billy Graham.
But it was Billy Graham’s long-time partners in faith who, all together again on a warm afternoon, stirred memories of a distant time when their fiery brand of evangelism electrified America.
There was Cliff Barrows, 84, the amiable song leader and emcee of all those crusades, welcoming the crowd at the start and leading them in the familiar “To God Be the Glory” at the end. Age crept in _ he forgot the name of a performer he was trying to praise on stage _ but Barrows’ spirit was as sunny as it’s been since the start.
There was also George Beverly Shea, at 98 having to grip the podium to get through two verses of the crusade anthem, “How Great Thou Art.” But he completed the hymn he introduced to the Christian world at Billy Graham’s 1957 crusade in New York, leaving time for a poignant exchange with old friend Barrows.
“It’s been a long journey, and wonderful,” Shea said.
“What a privilege it has been for me,” Barrows answered.
Then came the leader of modern Christianity’s longest-running trio, addressing an audience for perhaps the last time in his life. The spotlight turned again his way, he reminisced about all the years he, Barrows and Shea spent together praying, traveling and preaching.
Age and illness have softened Graham’s voice. He uses a walker on wheels to get where he’s going. But once he got to that pulpit, Graham summoned the power to raise up the past and, for one moment at least, express what this all has meant to the three partners in faith, together again.
“My whole life,” he said, “has been to please the Lord and honor Jesus.”
_ Ken Garfield
Christianity Today Chooses Top Books for 2007
(RNS) Christianity Today magazine has chosen its top books for 2007, awarding honors in 10 categories for work of interest to evangelical Christians.
“The evangelical book industry is often criticized for producing too much fluff. That’s true, but it also produces a great deal of good stuff,” said Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today, in a May 23 announcement.
“This contest is our attempt to reward good, thoughtful writing that addresses issues that concern evangelicals.”
Ten winners of the Christianity Today Book Award 2007 were chosen in the following categories:
_ Apologetics/Evangelism: “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Francis S. Collins (Free Press)
_ Biblical Studies: “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony” by Richard Bauckham (Eerdmans)
_ Christianity and Culture: “The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World” by Miroslav Volf (Eerdmans)
_ Christian Living: “Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference?” by Philip Yancey (Zondervan)
_ The Church/Pastoral Leadership: “Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples” by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger (B&H Publishing)
_ Fiction: “Dwelling Places” by Vinita Hampton Wright (HarperSanFrancisco)
_ History/Biography: “Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War” by Harry S. Stout (Viking)
_ Missions/Global Affairs: “The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative” by Christopher J.H. Wright (IVP Academic)
_ Spirituality: “The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life” by Robert E. Webber (Baker Books)
_ Theology/Ethics: “The Shadow of the Antichrist: Nietzsche’s Critique of Christianity” by Stephen N. Williams (Baker Academic)
_ Adelle M. Banks
Support Strong for Assisted Suicide as Kevorkian Leaves Prison
WASHINGTON (RNS) As Dr. Jack Kevorkian was released Friday (June 1) from a Michigan prison after serving eight years for second-degree murder in the assisted death of a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease, new polls suggest his cause retains strong support.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week showed that 53 percent of Americans believe Kevorkian never should have gone to jail for the assisted suicide campaign he championed in the 1990s; 40 percent supported Kevorkian’s imprisonment.
Just 30 percent of the 1,000 adults questioned agreed that doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save the life of a patient. More than two-thirds said there are circumstances where a patient should be allowed to die with help.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, and was conducted from interviews done between May 22 and May 24.
Religion had much to do with people’s answers, according to the AP. Only about one-third of those who attend religious services at least once a week said it should be legal for doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives. In contrast, 70 percent of those who never attend religious services say doctor-assisted suicide should be legal.
A plurality, 48 percent, said the law should not bar doctors from helping terminally ill patients end their own lives by giving them a prescription for lethal drugs; 44 percent said it should be illegal.
When asked if they would consider ending their own lives if ill with a terminal disease, 55 percent said no.
A Gallup Poll taken earlier this month yielded similar answers on the question of assisted suicide. A majority, 56 percent, of 1,003 adults nationally, said doctors should be allowed to legally assist a suffering, terminally ill patient in his or her death if the patient requests it; 49 percent of those surveyed said doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
Ned McGrath, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said the church fought Kevorkian’s campaign and would continue to do so.
“For 10 years, Jack Kevorkian’s actions resembled those of a pathological serial killer,” he said. “It will be truly regrettable if he’s now treated as a celebrity parolee instead of the convicted murderer he is.”
_ Philip Turner
Quote of the Day: Evangelist Billy Graham
(RNS) “I feel like I’ve been attending my own funeral.”
_ Evangelist Billy Graham, 88, jokingly reacting to the dedication ceremony of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday.
KRE/LF END RNS
