MY DEBT TO BILLY GRAHAM
Billy Graham was on TV for the first time in 1957 during his New York City crusade. My parents turned it on and I watched. I was 11 years old but remember it like it was yesterday. My life totally changed that day as I listened to him speak and gave my heart to Jesus. I had been trying to be good enough to connect with God but it wasn’t happening. God used Billy Graham to change my life as well as many others. Has Billy Graham been instrumental in your salvation? If so I’d really like to hear from you.
Howard G. Hendricks was instrumental in my spiritual growth. He taught over 13,000 students during his 60 years of teaching at Dallas Theological Seminary. I was one of them. He was my main prof for both my ThM and DMin degrees. For 7 years I say in his classrooms. Here are some of his most famous quotes:
“You are free to make choices. You are not free to escape the consequences.”
“The measure of you as a leader is not what you do, but what others do because of what you do.”
“When God measures a man he puts the tape around the heart, not the head.”
“God is not looking for more stars; He’s looking for more servants.”
“It’s a sin to bore people with the Bible.”
“You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.”
“You can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close.”
“You never graduate from the school of discipleship.”
“Your strengths develop your confidence; your weaknesses develop your faith.”
“If you’re just like someone else, we don’t need you.”
“How big is your God? The size of your God determines the size of everything.”
“You cannot impart what you do not possess.”
“God moves into our lives by divine design, to periodically disturb our equilibrium. That’s how he develops us.”
“Every disciple needs three types of relationships in his life. He needs a ‘Paul’ who can mentor him and challenge him. He needs a ‘Barnabas’ who can come along side and encourage him. And he needs a ‘Timothy,’ someone that he can pour his life into.” (March 5, 2018 Doylestown, PA)
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
Proverbs 1:8-9 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
Who has God used to bring you to Himself and then to grow in Him? Think of them this day. Thank God for them. Thank them if they are still alive. And remember God is using you to impact others as you faithfully live for Him.
by Rev. Dr. Jerry Schmoyer, Christian Training Organization