Franklin Graham.
Saved by Jesus Christ.
Billy Graham
Franklin Graham.
Saved by Jesus Christ.
|
Sunday, November 13, 2005
While Franklin Graham proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ during the last
day of the Ark-La-Tex 2005 Franklin Graham Festival, dozens of volunteers sat in
the on-site prayer room and prayed for a harvest of souls. Their prayers were
answered as more than 340 of the 10,000-plus who attended that day made
decisions for Jesus Christ. Throughout the course of the three days in
Shreveport’s CenturyTel Center, more than 27,000 attended, and over 1,100
committed their lives to Christ.
Among those in the prayer room Sunday afternoon was Crystal Shaw, who prayed
that God would draw many men, women, boys, and girls to faith in Christ, as He
had during the previous two days’ meetings.
“It has been life-changing,” she said of the training she received in
preparation for the weekend’s meetings. “I’m grateful. It put a fire in me. And
I see the souls coming to Jesus, and that’s what it’s really all about.”
That fire has spread throughout this hurting region, as more than 270
participating churches preparing for the Festival have worked to respond to
Hurricane Katrina's victims with physical and spiritual warmth. Shaw was one of
many Christians who had been praying for months for the Festival—and who had
gone through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Christian Life and
Witness Course. On this final evening she was rejoicing in what God had already
done in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.
In preparing for this Festival, BGEA has worked to show the
love of Christ to the region, which faced a unique set of challenges very
different than most areas preparing for an evangelistic Crusade. When Franklin
Graham arrived in Shreveport this weekend, his first mission was to give
struggling hurricane evacuees a new home. Leisa Cole-Johnson, her four children,
and her brother were given keys to a new home and a chance to rebuild their
lives.
“Hurricane evacuees have been through some harrowing times. The first step to
helping these families return to some degree of normalcy is to give them a home
and let these compassionate churches embrace them in the community,” said
Graham.
On Sunday Franklin Graham told the story from Luke 19 of Zacchaeus, a hated tax
collector in Jericho who cheated the people as he worked for the Roman
government. Jesus called him, and he answered, putting his faith in Christ and
repaying those he had cheated.
“Deep down inside, something was missing in Zacchaeus’ life, and he knew it,”
said Graham. “Something was wrong. ... Something is wrong in your life, and you
know it. Oh, you may put on the happy face. You may smile and tell everybody
that everything’s OK, things are good, but deep down inside, you know something
is missing. And that is a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
One of the hundreds that came forward to establish that relationship was a
62-year-old woman. In Graham’s words she had heard a challenge. “I was convicted
that I haven’t been living right,” she said. She prayed then and there to
rededicate her life to Jesus.
Nearby, a 14-year-old girl prayed to receive Christ for the first time, unsure
of herself, but sure of the new hope she had discovered. “I’ve never done this
before, but I feel free,” she told her counselor.
Kelvin Cochran, Fire Chief of the City of Shreveport and executive chair of the
Festival, has been on the forefront of seeing to the region’s physical and
spiritual needs in the wake of Katrina. Even as his career has prepared him to
douse blazes threatening the lives and property of those he is sworn to protect,
Cochran’s calling of faith has led him to fan the spiritual flames of revival in
the Ark-La-Tech region. According to him, it is the spiritual need that has been
greatest—and God has answered that need.
As Cochran said to the crowd on Sunday afternoon, “[We] have been praying for
many years that a mighty move of God would converge upon our region. It is a
certainty that He has answered our prayers in a mighty way.”
Saturday, November 12, 2005
CenturyTel Center was filled with excitement Saturday—and not only because of
the S.O.A.R. slam dunk team’s high-flying basketball exhibition and the
high-energy music of Dennis Agajanian, Salvador, the Katinas, Alfie Silas, Linda
McCrary, and the Tommy Coomes Band.
Much of the excitement came from Christians throughout the arena sharing stories
of what God is doing in the Ark-La-Tex region through the Franklin Graham
Festival.
One man said that he had invited his nephew, niece, and another relative to come
from Houston, more than 240 miles away, to attend the Festival. The nephew, 17,
had been very concerned about his 16-year-old sister’s spiritual condition. They
arrived late, but they heard the message, and at the invitation the nephew led
his sister in a prayer to accept Christ. Then the girl went down to find a
Festival counselor. As it so happened, the counselor also lives in Houston.
Earlier in the day, more than 3,400 people had attended KidzFest, featuring
Bibleman, who encouraged children to become friends of Jesus. Then, in the
afternoon, on the parking lot of the CenturyTel Center, 10 teams competed in the
semifinals and finals of a three-on-three basketball tournament held in
conjunction with the Festival. The teams had made it through two previous
weekends of competition. Each competition included a presentation of the Gospel.
On Saturday evening, Franklin Graham began his message by asking, “Is your name
written in the Lamb’s book of life?” He explained that everyone who becomes a
follower of Christ has his or her name written there.
The message struck a responsive chord in many, as more than 320 people came
forward at the invitation. Among them was a freshman at Centenary College. He
had come with a group invited by friend who works with athletes on campus. The
friend described what happened at the invitation:
“All of a sudden, I heard him start sniffling. He got up in front of everyone
and started walking down. He’s a big, tall basketball player. I asked him about
it later, and he said, ‘I was battling myself. I knew I wasn’t a Christian; my
name wasn’t in that book.’ I started to bawl, because this is a guy I’ve grown
to love so much. And then a girl to my left, also a basketball player, started
to cry. She asked me, ‘Do I have to go down?’ I said, ‘Well, you don’t have to,
but I’ll go with you.’ So we walked down.” Afterward, the group went to the
friend’s house to celebrate new lives in Christ.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Bettye Ann McQueen was a senior at Byrd High School when Billy Graham came to
Shreveport, La., for a Crusade in April 1951. McQueen attended church regularly
and sang in her church’s youth choir, so she decided to sing in the Crusade
choir as well. But as the Crusade progressed, she realized that she had never
committed her life to Christ.
“I was embarrassed to be in the choir when God was leading me to make a
decision,” McQueen said. “I was thinking, ‘All my friends think I’m a Christian.
I can’t do it. God, You’ll have to call me by name.’”
McQueen recalls that Mr. Graham addressed people in the crowd who were holding
back from making a decision. He pointed to a section of seats and said, “There
is a John.” He pointed to another section and said, “There is a Mary.”
And then he called the name Betty. “The Lord used it,” McQueen says, “and I made
my way down.”
|
This article was taken from
Billy Graham.org
To go back to Latest info
Franklin
Graham proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ
during this weekend's Ark-La-Tex Festival in
Shreveport, La.—and more than 1,100 committed their
lives to Christ.