Billy Graham: A Biography of America's Greatest Evangelist

Debs Dozen: Billy Graham: An Evangelist, A Legend. Above allfaithful servant of God.

Billy Graham is a name known by almost any person living today throughout the world. No other man has had the impact on souls finding life in Christ than he. Terry Whalen has been diligent to present Graham honestly, straightforwardly, and to show us the man behind the legend.

William Franklin Graham, Jr., was born November 7, 1918, near Charlotte, North Carolina. Called Billy Frank by his mother, he grew up like most farm boys of the era did. The family had a three-hundred acre dairy farm and expected all members of the family to pitch in and help. Billy told Terry that hed get up at 2:30 a.m. to start his chores and milk the twenty cows under his care. Around 5:30 a.m., theyd all head in for breakfast. Prayer and Bible-reading were a part of every days activities as his parents were deeply devout.

Billy, perhaps because of fatigue, was a middle-of-the-road student in high school, carrying a C average. However, he loved sports and was an avid baseball fanone of the high points of his life was meeting Babe Ruth. He started college at Bob Jones College, but transferred to the Florida Bible Institute after his first semester.

Providentially, at FBI, he met and listened to some of the great pastors of the erafrom a multitude of denominations. The lesson he learned was that people could come together in unity around the Bible and Jesus Christ rather than dwelling on a specific denomination or theology. After attending FBI, he went to Wheaton College outside Chicago for further education. There he met Ruth Bell, the beautiful woman who would later become his wife.

Terry Whalin leads us through Grahams growth from gangly farm boy to student to preacher to evangelist par excellence. Through vignettes and stories he heard from Graham himself, Terry lets us see the mischievous boy and man behind the legend. Billy Grahams life has been God-driven as hes dedicated himself to reach the masses with the love and redemption available from Jesus Christ. If youd like to learn more about the boy and man and his journey, youll want to read this book.

W. Terry Whalin is an editor and author of over sixty books who has also written for more than fifty magazines. Hes a former editor of Decision, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associations magazine. Terry and his wife live in Colorado.

Terry graciously gave me a copy of Billy Graham: A Biography of Americas Greatest Evangelist in exchange for my candid review.

I grew up on a farm and found Terry Whalin's account of Graham's early life nostalgic and captivating. The evangelist became human. Whalin provides intimate details throughout his subject's life, from how many cows he had to milk on the farm; how he loved sports, sometimes at the expense of his studies; how he met key individuals and heeded their advise; how God brought Ruth into his life; how he influenced not only the poor and humble, but the rich and famous. I highly recommend this stimulating biography.