Billy Graham's Life on Display Like Never Before at Museum of the Bible - CBN News John Jessup

Billy Graham's Life on Display Like Never Before at 

Museum of the Bible

08-05-2018

CBN News John Jessup

WASHINGTON – Billy Graham is arguably the most well-known preacher, familiar to people both 

inside and outside of the Christian church.

Yet still, five months after his death, a more intimate picture of the prominent pastor is coming into 

focus through a new exhibit at the Museum of the Bible called Pilgrim Preacher: Billy Graham, the 

Bible, and the Challenges of the Modern World.

While the evangelist's influence is difficult to measure, his presence looms large in the exhibit space 

with dramatic black and white floor-to-ceiling murals and quotations sprinkled throughout the 

fifth-floor room.

Related


Franklin Graham on the Loss of His Father: Feels Like 'the Armor Is Missing'


Anne Graham Lotz on Life After Billy Graham, and the Message He Wrote to Her 40 Years Ago 

that She Just Found


Billy Graham's Last Crusade: 'The Greatest Tribute...Is to Do What Billy Did'


This Was Billy Graham's Final Prayer for the World on His 99th Birthday

"We really wanted to explore how Billy Graham understood and interpreted the Bible and then how 

that shaped his ministry," explained Anthony Schmidt, an associate curator at the Museum of the Bible 

and the exhibit's designer. "But then we wanted people to better understand culturally how he shaped 

post-war America in terms of his use of the media and the reach that he had around the globe."

In his more than 60 years as a preacher, Graham pioneered the use of radio, television, film, and mass 

crusades to teach from the holy scriptures.

"Very early on, he embraced technology and media, and that's what set him apart," Schmidt said.

It was when he was a little boy watching television with his parents that Schmidt first recalls seeing 

Graham. Then in college, he attended the evangelist's last crusade before retiring. The museum 

contains the pulpit used from that New York City revival in 2005 in addition to one from one of his 

first crusades.

As overseer of the exhibit, Schmidt has helped to collect more than a hundred of Graham's books, 

Bibles, and other personal belongings, which display the "pilgrim preacher's" journey from a boy born 

in Charlotte, North Carolina to a man who reached millions around the world.

From now until January 2019, the exhibit shows never-before-seen items on loan from the 

Billy Graham Library, where visitors can see his handwritten class notes from Bible school and a 

personal inscription he wrote in his father's Bible. There's even a pair of war-issue military boots that 

he wore during a trip to Korea in 1952 in sub-zero temperatures.

Collectively, the displays show his wide-ranging reach, which extended beyond the confines of the 

church and affected both culture and politics.

Still, Graham's son and ministry successor told CBN News earlier this year despite his father's 

prominence, he always understood his calling.

"My father never wanted to be a celebrity," insisted Franklin Graham. "Maybe that's why God used 

him."

Watch video here: Billy Graham

Franklin Graham on the Loss of His Father: Feels Like 'the Armor Is Missing' - CBN News John Jessup

Franklin Graham on the Loss of His Father: Feels Like 'the Armor Is Missing'

05-02-2018

CBN News John Jessup

NEW YORK – As his father's namesake and ministry successor, Franklin Graham carries the legacy 

of the late Rev. Billy Graham perhaps more than anyone else.

He also benefited from a bird's eye view of how his father conducted himself as a husband and family 

man, an evangelist, and in his personal relationship with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Franklin writes about all of that and more in his new book, Through My Father's Eyes, released 

Tuesday. In an interview with CBN News at the New York headquarters of publisher HarperCollins, 

he described the 12-year project as a labor of love.

"I want this book to be about not Billy Graham," he explained. "I want people to see that it wasn't 

Billy Graham that made the place in history. It was God behind Billy Graham that put him there, 

and it's because Billy Graham believed God. Billy Graham believed the Word of God."

Franklin Graham's explanation mirrors his father's own words, which reflected a deep yet sincere 

humility he maintained even into death. Two months after the evangelist died, some still ponder 

who will be the next Billy Graham? Franklin shared his take with CBN News.

"You know, I don't know? I'm not an evangelical leader," he said. "I'm just going to continue 

preaching the Gospel; keep giving an invitation to lost people to put their faith and trust in 

Jesus Christ."

"I guess the question some people ask is, 'Who is the next celebrity evangelist?'" he continued. 

"I have no clue. My father never wanted to be a celebrity. Maybe that's why God used him."

Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, believes 

Christians should be singularly focused on winning souls for Christ.

Yet, he also sees the need for confrontation, especially in what he describes as today's anti-Christian 

culture. Graham recently targeted GQ Magazine for dismissing the Bible as a book not worth reading 

and comedienne Michelle Wolf for her crass jokes at the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

"I want Christians not to be seduced by this culture in which we are living and not to be led astray,"

 he explained. "And I think there needs to be a voice that speaks out because there aren't many people

who speak out."

Graham told CBN News he speaks out because others are too afraid: "I think when you speak up, 

God is going to honor that."

From the dysfunction in politics to the division across America, which has even seeped into Christian 

churches, he believes the only key to turning things around is prayer.

"If churches pray — and I mean real prayer — God will hear those prayers, and I think God will 

answer those prayers," he said. "Prayer can mean change. Prayer can move mountains. It can 

drain swamps."

Graham described the hole the loss of his mother, Ruth, caused in his life — spiritually and emotionally.

"I felt there was a covering with the prayers of my mother, and I don't have that covering anymore. 

I don't feel that protection," Graham explained.

He told CBN News the loss of his father – who prayed fervently for the family in the final years as 

his health declined — has created another chasm.

"And now that my father is gone, I feel like there is an exposure. It's not a mantle, but it's like an 

armor. A little bit of the armor is missing, so it makes me pray even harder – not only for myself 

but for my family, for my children and my grandchildren," he said.

"The prayer burden has shifted to me as it relates to my family, and I think for the last 10 years, 

he was the prayer warrior in the family," Graham said.

READ: Why Billy Graham Was a Modern Moses: Anne Graham Lotz Points to Powerful Prophetic 
Significance of His Death

Watch interview: Franklin Graham

Billy Graham's Last Crusade: 'The Greatest Tribute...Is to Do What Billy Did' - CBN News John Jessup

Billy Graham's Last Crusade: 'The Greatest Tribute...Is to Do What Billy Did'

03-02-2018

CBN News John Jessup

CHARLOTTE, NC – In a final farewell on Friday morning, the family of Billy Graham honors the man known as America's pastor. They're calling it the evangelist's last crusade.

After a week of reflecting in his home state of North Carolina and the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, family, friends, and fellow ministers of the gospel are in Charlotte to say goodbye to the Rev. Billy Graham.

On the grounds of his library, more than 2,000 guests will honor Graham in a service he helped plan himself, featuring songs from Michael W. Smith and the Gaither Vocal Band, tributes from his family, and a sermon from his son, Franklin.

Related

---

Ministry in Life and Death: Why Billy Graham Is Being Buried in a Casket Made by Prisoners

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'Someday You Will Hear Billy Graham Is Dead. Don't Believe a Word of It': His 7 Best Quotes About Heaven

This Was Billy Graham's Final Prayer for the World on His 99th Birthday

---

Often called "counselor to the presidents," Billy Graham was also a simple man with a family left to mourn his death.

Boz Tchividjian – one of Graham's grandchildren – called him "Daddy Bill."

"That's what we all called him, and we all called grandma "Tete" which means old woman in Chinese," he explained. 

As a teenager, Tchividjian says he learned about faith and humility when he found his grandfather alone in a New Orleans hotel room after praying at a political convention.

"I knocked on the door. Daddy Bill is in his pajamas, and I never will forget looking out of the corner of my eye on his bed and there you could tell he had been sitting and his Bible was open," he remembered.

He says that's just who his grandfather really was.

"It was a glimpse of the authentic Billy Graham, that when left alone, if he had the choice of spending time with Jesus or going out spending time with the influential politicians, he chose Jesus. And that memory has always stuck to me, because I left that night feeling a bit convicted but remember leaving going, 'Man, that's the real deal. Lord, help me to know and love you in that way,'" he said.

It's a quality also noted by scholars.

Prof. Anne Blue Wills of North Carolina's Davidson College said, "He wasn't in it for himself. He was in it to build Christ's kingdom."

Anne Blue Wills edited the book Billy Graham: American Pilgrim and points to his ministry's constant work with the local church.

"He did contribute to – and even create – modern evangelical Christianity in the US and contributed to this global Christian movement that we are seeing," she said.

He did it using media to promote the gospel while he also promoted others, like Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship.

"We became friends in the early 90s and I helped him with sermon prep," Laurie said. 

Pastor Laurie believes even as people say farewell and celebrate his homegoing, every Christian believer can honor the legacy of the greatest evangelist of our time.

"To me, the greatest tribute we could pay to Billy Graham is to do what Billy did. What did Billy do? Billy proclaimed the gospel," he said. "That's the greatest tribute we could give to a man who dedicated his entire life to doing that."

D.C.'s Museum of the Bible Officially Opens This Week - CBN News John Jessup

D.C.'s Museum of the Bible Officially Opens This Week

11-11-2017

CBN News John Jessup

The new Museum of the Bible – a project seven years in the making – officially opens its doors this week.

Blocks away from the U.S. Capitol and in the heart of Washington, D.C., it's the first museum solely dedicated to God's holy word.

CBN News got an early sneak peek of the 430,000 square foot, eight-story building. Click on the video below for a personalized tour.

Once past the bronze Gutenberg Gates and security, the very first thing visitors will see is a 140-foot long digital LED display, which boasts a series of breathtaking colorful scenes in a pictorial canopy.

It's the first glimpse at the museum's technological edge, but the museum has much more to beyond the latest gadgets and gizmos.

Here is a floor-by-floor preview of the museum's exhibits and galleries:

• First floor: Lobby, atrium, media wall, gift shop, children's gallery (Courageous Pages), coffee shop
• Second floor:  Impact of the Bible gallery, featuring a 20 to 40-foot long scratchboard panel chronicling how the Bible shaped America's founding and still reverberates today.
• Third floor: History of the Bible gallery to trace the origins and evolution of the Bible
• Fourth floor:  Narrative of the Bible gallery
• Exhibit space for international museum galleries including more than 700 artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority currently on display, performing arts hall, research library
• Sixth floor: Biblical garden, viewing gallery, restaurant

Dr. Tony Ziess is the museum's executive director. He told CBN News the goal is to expose people to the Bible and help them engage with the holy book.

"No other book has had such an impact on civilization, particularly western civilization," Zeiss said. "It's exciting to know that we're a part of exposing this book and getting people engaged in all walks of life — whether they come from a faith-based perspective or a non-faith based perspective. Whether they're Hebrew or whether they're Protestant or Catholic or Ethiopian. Whatever they happen to be."

The museum has taken a decidedly non-sectarian approach, saying its mission is to help people engage with the Bible and bring its rich stories to life.

With a $500 million investment and global cultural and scholastic partnerships, the Museum of the Bible hopes that its mission translates into more people reading and appreciating the best-selling book of all time.

Watch tour here: Museum of the Bible

Did you know?

CBN is a global nonprofit ministry demonstrating the love of God and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through media evangelism and humanitarian aid. Explore the life-changing work of CBN.

Charismatic Catholics Find Ally in Pope Francis

John Jessup, CBN News

Charismatic Catholics Find Ally in 

Pope Francis

By John Jessup

CBN News Anchor

Monday, September 28, 2015

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PHILADELPHIA-- In the same arena where the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers play on ice, thousands of worshippers met to pray for the fire of the Holy Spirit.

On the surface, it appeared to be a typical charismatic worship service. But this gathering was entirely unique. It consisted wholly of charismatic Catholics.

"We need the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is here," said Mary Cruz, who traveled 13 hours from Toronto, Canada for Mass at the Gathering of the Renewal. "Charismatics are here to set the world on fire."

Once seen as peculiar, even among fellow Catholics, charismatic Catholics have found an ally in Pope Francis. He has even invited them to the Vatican to celebrate Pentecost in 2017, which also marks the 50th anniversary of this spirit-filled movement, called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

However, traditional Catholics have criticized the pope's work among Evangelicals. Some have even accused him of apostasy for allowing a group of Pentecostal pastors to pray for him at a prayer gathering in Buenos Aires not long before he was elected pontiff.

Spirit-filled church leaders say his aim is to build bridges with a movement that "bears good fruit" -- at a time when the family and traditional values are under attack.

"When the Pentecostals laid hands on him, that wasn't anything to do with what we think of as sacrilegious, it was just a fraternal brotherly gesture," explained Michelle Moran, president of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services. "I think it's part of his prophetic nature that he challenges the boundaries with us because he always gets us to think outside the box. It's one of the gifts of his pontificate."

Christine de Vollmer is a leader in the Catholic Church whose work promoting families has led her to build strong ties with evangelicals across Latin America and the United States. She views the intersection of their Christian faith and work as a supernatural alliance.

"We're all brothers and sisters in this fight," de Vollmer told CBN News. "To see the Catholic Church really understand that these are our allies, that [is] beautiful."

The reach across denominational lines includes CBN, which was invited by Vatican officials to share Superbook at an exhibit at the World Meeting of Families.

Justin Murff, who serves as an envoy to the Vatican for CBN, believes the burgeoning interest is opening new doors to work with the Catholic Church by providing Superbook as a tool for religious education for young Catholic children.

So far, it appears to be a hit. Murff and his team handed out a thousand free DVD's of "The Last Supper" to attendees within 20 minutes.

"These were priests, these were nuns, these were religious education teachers, teachers in public schools who said I want to give them to my kids and took five, ten, fifteen of them. So, it's amazing to see the impact that [Superbook] had."

It is that kind of impact Catholics and Christian charismatics hope will strengthen families and change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Blood Moons: Is God's Billboard Delivering a Message? - Erick Stakelbeck

CBN's Erick Stakelbeck is telling readers to fasten their seat belts for the last of the four blood moons. (Reuters)

 9/21/2015 JENNIFER WISHON AND JOHN JESSUP/CBN  charisma news

Have you had a chance to see any of the blood moons that have decorated the heavens over the past year?

Blood moons are a somewhat common. What's rare is so many of them appearing so close together forming what's called a tetrad.

CBN's Erick Stakelbeck first reported on blood moons more than a year ago and his story went viral. It's been viewed more than a million times.

We wondered why Erick decided to cover blood moons andwhy he thinks so many people are interested.

Historically blood moon tetrads have coincided with major events for Israel and the Jewish people.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Erick says. "Fasten your seat belts."

Don't miss this Beltway Buzz Video Short with Erick Stakelbeck discussing blood moons.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!