‘You’re Going To Have To Choose’—What Billy Graham Told His Son, Franklin, 50 Years Ago

[Michie]

Billy Graham had a special exhortation for his son, Franklin Graham, 50 years ago in Lausanne, Switzerland, when Franklin turned 22. In a video posted to social media July 1, the president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said that his father’s challenge angered him at first.

“Fifty years ago I was right here on the shores of Lake Geneva, here in Lausanne, working for my father,” said Franklin, indicating the body of water to his left as he sat on a concrete wall with a boulevard to his right. “We were doing a conference. It was my birthday, and he said, ‘Franklin, let me take you to a restaurant.’”

Franklin Graham: ‘I Knew He Was Right’ ​

Franklin Graham said his father took him to a now-closed pizza joint and then suggested that they take a walk down the very boulevard where Franklin was filming his video. At first, what Billy Graham had to say was what any son might hope to hear from his father: “Franklin, I want you to know your mother and I are proud of you and we love you.”

Continued below.

‘You’re Going To Have To Choose’—What Billy Graham Told His Son, Franklin, 50 Years Ago

Franklin Graham said that his father’s challenge angered him at first.

churchleaders.com

 

[Pioneer3mm]

Interesting/informative story.
---
'The International Congress on World Evangelization' was held
in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974..50 years ago.
The gathering was called by a committee headed by Billy Graham.
---
I visited Lausanne, Switzerland..
- some years ago.

 

[Aaron112]

Interesting/informative story.

Informative? Interesting?
Misleading?
See if interested
many exposes of false teachers
if they are still available online (or elsewhere).

 

[Pioneer3mm]

Informative? Interesting?

The story (OP) is informative/interesting..
- my perspective.

 

[Bob Crowley]

My memory might be incorrect, but I think Billy Graham was at least once asked if he was interested in running for US Presidency. One offer is detailed here.

What Political Office Was Billy Graham Asked to Run for?

Billy Graham has said he did his best to stay out of partisan politics, but that doesn't mean people didn't inquire.

billygraham.org

I think he might have been asked again, possibly following the fallout after Nixon and Watergate. My Presbyterian pastor said "He most likely would have won " (due to political disillusionment in the US). He added "I wonder how we would have reacted if we were offered the most powerful office in the world?"

But another version I read somewhere indicated that when he was asked and he looked like conceding, his wife Ruth kicked him under the table. Billy Graham might have corrected his son Franklin, but I suspect his wife Ruth might have pulled him into line at least one occasion.

Billy Graham’s Legacy Includes a Loving, Faithful Marriage

Billy Graham, who passed away yesterday at age 99, was not only the world’s best-known evangelist and a spiritual advisor to U.S. presidents on both sides of the political aisle, he was also a faithful husband—married 63 years to Ruth Bell Graham with whom he raised five children. Duke...

ifstudies.org

Ruth Graham, Soulmate to Billy, Dies

Whenever he was asked how he came to be the greatest evangelist in history, Billy Graham always turned his eyes heavenward: "It was God who...

time.com

When rumors circulated in the winter of 1964 that Graham was considering running for the White House, she coolly informed him that “If you run, I don’t think the country will elect a divorced president.” A few months later she and Billy dined with Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson at the White House on the eve of the Democratic convention. Johnson began running down his list of possible running mates, wanting to know what Graham thought of them. Ruth kicked Billy hard under the table. “You shouldn’t answer questions like that,” said Ruth. “Your job is to give spiritual and moral advice to the President, not political.” But when Lady Bird and Ruth got up from the table and went into the living room, Graham recalled, Johnson got up, quietly closed the door, then turned to him and said, “Now, tell me, what do you really think?”