Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 760
Printing Date: May 20, 1997
Publishing house: Harper
Sale Popularity Level: 607052
Studio: Harper
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Billy Graham has touched the hearts and souls of millions with his message of faith. Now, for the very first time ever, Dr. Graham tells his life story in a momentous work of insight. Hailed as the world's preacher, his calling as an Evangelist has taken him to every nation, from Europe to Asia, from major capitals to the most remote outposts. His Crusades have spanned fifty years and he has been part of history in the making, and friend to every president since Eisenhower. A pioneer in social issues (he refused to preach to segregated audiences in the South), he has led by his extraordinary example of integrity.
In Just As I Am, Billy Graham looks back at it all with down-to-earth warmth and candor -- remembering his dairy farm upbringing, his early preaching experiences, and the overwhelming international response to his public ministry based on his unshakable belief in Christ. This is an inspiring story of how a man of god grew into a man of great influence. Just As I Am is an unforgettable portrait that will be treasured by listeners everywhere.
Amazon.com Review:
Every year a Billy Graham crusade comes to a stadium or a television station near you, the message unchangingly passionate, though the messenger is grayer than he once was. The Reverend Billy Graham is more than just another television evangelist; he is as much a part of this country's collective consciousness as F.D.R. or the Vietnam War. Whether you subscribe to Graham's brand of ecumenical evangelism or not, Just As I Am reveals the man behind the crusade to be forthright, deeply religious, and driven to spread the Word at all costs, even his relationships with his family. Graham is characteristically honest about his failings as a husband and father, admitting that he didn't recognize his own children at a family gathering.
In Just As I Am Graham discusses the beginnings of his career, his struggle to subsume intellect to faith, and, of course, the many famous--and infamous--people he has met over the years, everyone from the Shah of Iran to the Queen Mother to mobster Mickey Cohen. Graham's ministry has extended his influence to many quarters of the world, a fact that should make his autobiography interesting reading for believers and non-believers alike.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I was sorry to be reminded, on page 787 of this long and often interesting autobiography, that my famed arch-rival, the Rev. Billy Graham, has retired from the ministry, with full pay. Having helped so many for so long to be forgiven for so much, and to obtain for themselves so great a promised reward in Heaven, Dr. Graham has said that he will soon be called home to meet his Maker.
(Billy, piece of advice: Don't go. I've already met your Maker and He's not worth the trip.)
I've known quite a few evangelists in my day. Billy Graham was the best of the lot, both as a preacher and as a human being, Lord, how I loved to hear Billy in his heyday, years ago, before he became a billionaire. How he thundered out the gospel in those days, to the lost sheep of the world! Come the Final Judgment, thousands of forgiven ne'er-do-wells will settle forever in Heaven, a gated community, in private mansions on five-acre lots, along boulevards of transparent gold, with Crystal River frontage out back. They'll have the Rev. Billy Graham to thank for the everlasting real estate. And if the projected housing shortage never materializes down there in my own maximum-security neighbourhood, well, I guess we can thank Billy for that, too.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell has explained to his television audience, loud and often, that the "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America." Don't take that complaint too literally. Rival evangelists ever since saints Peter and Paul have engaged in Jerry's brand of gentle teasing. Nor would I call Jerry Falwell or Billy Graham my "servants." I would just call them valued allies in my Coalition of the Willing. The exact truth is that Billy never worked for me. I actually owe more to Jerry, whose TV show, The 700 Club, has done me a world of good.
It is true, however, that I used to be one of Billy's biggest fans. I actually attended several of his Greater World Evangelistic Crusades over the years; and I found them all quite entertaining, spiritually speaking. It wasn't just me: back in the 1950s, everyone on the planet wanted to see Billy! hear Billy! talk Billy! By my own lowball estimate there were some 2.4 million women in the U.K. alone who wanted to DO Billy! (but he was not that kind of evangelist).
Most of you won't remember the final meeting of the 1954 Greater London Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade; but I do, I was there. England, in those days, was still a Christian nation and this was the single largest Christian gathering in British history, dwarfing the previous record-setting event, the domestic crusades of 1264-1290 CE, when tens of thousands of English Christians united as one man to kill English Jews, or drive them into the sea.
So to Wembley Stadium they came, 25 May 1954, from every white Anglican-Saxon Protestant corner of Britain. Winston Churchill said that he and Marilyn Monroe, combined, could not draw a big enough crowd to fill Wembley Stadium (Graham, p. 253); but Billy and the Lord were able to do it. And they DID do it.
What a day! What a night! Billy Graham preached the gospel that night, in a cold, soaking rain, to 120,000 Brits at Wembley, and to a spill-over crowd of 65,000--all 185,000 of whom came voluntarily, most of whom would not have paid tuppence to see the Archbishop of Canterbury on the sunniest day of the year. But at Billy's invitation, they came, they saw, they heard, they believed. And they got drenched to their knickers.
The good Lord supplied the guest speaker from America. I supplied the weather.
Weirdly, Billy doesn't seem to blame me for that 1954 tempest. But I sure get blamed for everything else. At a Crusade in Altoona, a grey woman in the all-volunteer choir kept shouting "HALLELUJAH!" and "PRAISE JESUS!", right in the middle of Billy's sermons. Bouncers evicted her, "but she kept coming back. We could not help but sense that Satan was on the attack" (p. 134).
--But I had nothing to do with it! In fact, I was in Kathmandu that week!
In the course of this book I get blamed for Billy's travel glitches (p. 207), kidney stone (244), a satirical newspaper cartoon (312), a Hippie demonstration ("400 Satan-worshippers," p. 370), and I even get blamed for "all [Billy's] sins going all the way back to childhood" (742). Is that fair?
But hey, I forgive the man. I'm just glad he didn't blame me for those 1972 Nixon tapes, released in 2002, in which Billy flames the Jews for their "stranglehold" on the nation, a monopoly that "has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain!"
"Oh, boy," said Nixon. "I can't ever say that, but I believe it!"
"No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to DO something," replied Billy--and he didn't just mean let's bomb Cambodia, or let's scrap the U.S. Constitution. ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
I really enjoyed this autobiography by Billy Graham. It was a very pleasant read. In this autobiography, Graham shared his life struggles and victories. He tells of his childhood experiences on the farm, and how he grew up in a christian home without atually accepting it. He then explained how his life was changed once he dedicated his life to Christ. As the book continues, the reader discovers Graham's world-wide experiences, and how he helped to bring millions to the Lord.
Although the book was enjoyable overall, some parts of the book seemed a little drawn out and uneccesary. Some events seemed to be a little too insignificant to include in the book. He could have also opened up a little bit, and shared more of his personal feelings. Since it is an autobiography, Graham could have personalized the events a little bit more. But despite its flaws, this book was very inspirational, and I recommend it to all who are interested in learning more about this great christian icon.
Rated by buyers 
-
Unless Billy did a fantastic job in hiding all of the difficult and trying times of his life (as I suspect in the case of his troubled relationship with his son Franklin), WHAT A LIFE this man had!!! Who would not want to have what he had: travels; meetings with the rich, the famous, the wise; success; financial stability; a loving wife; great kids; and most of all, the honor and privilege to lead millions to Christ. Can you imagine the party they'll throw in heaven when he gets there? However, the book was very mediocre in my view. Very seldom the author opened his heart and expressed his true feelings...Lots of anecdotes, details, insignificant (to the reader) stuff; it was not a total waste of time, because you always get the feeling that this man loves his Lord and truly wants to serve Him. Not much to say against that...I just wish he could have made deeper remarks about people and events in general.
Rated by buyers -
i'm very excited with this purchase. I received the product in very well condition and in good time.
Rated by buyers 
-
Let me very first preface this by saying that I've never actually heard a Billy Graham message but was curious to learn about him given his wide influence both in the religious and political realm. It's obvious why he is so popular he has a great sense of humour and a way of telling storys that while amazingly simple does not insult the intellegience of the listner. Also the fact that his life was good material to work with didn't hurt at all. He's a fascinating character while on one hand he is a throw back to the old school evangelists like Billy Sunday who preached with exuberant energy and strength against the evils of such things as alcohol and secularism but on the other hand he hurdled christianity into the future in the way he worked with several different church denominations and revolutionized evangelism through mass media a feat that has never been equaled sense. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Billy Graham is how such an immedeatly plain spoken individual made such headway with the secular media and goverment heirarchy this is something Billy Graham himself admits belwilderment to on the back cover of the book. His popularity would explain somewhat his influence in government it's clear that politicians thought and rightfully so that his views represented those of a lot of Americans. However there is never really any explanation as to why or how for example he became the very first minister to speak at the London School of Business he himself admitted that he wasn't the most intellectual of his peers. Perhaps it is as Billy Graham claims the power of the gospel.
A couple of the things I admired were Billy Grahams honesty when it came to dealing with such things as money and women. I also personally liked the fact that he didn't try to pretend he was more pompous than he really was he's open about experiences that some ministers would no doubt be embarassed by such as going to movies with a lot of nudity at young age, being hit on by a girl in high school, and acting like a bumbling fool around presidents Truman and Eisenhower. As some people on here have alluded to already it does sort of seem like he was an absintee father. I was a bit disturbed by this as a Christian I think God calls married men to be husbands and fathers very first and foremost. I have to admit though I think a lesser man wouldn't have disclosed such details as his young daughter not being able to recognize her mother.
Find other books like this one:
