Local pastors reflect on Graham's influence, inspiration

Rev. Billy Graham, who touched the lives of millions worldwide and helped shape the ministries of several local pastors, died Wednesday at the age of 99.

Mark Anderson, the pastor of Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, said Graham influenced him in several ways. He met the evangelical legend at the age of 12 in Dallas.

"It was in September of 1971 when they had built the stadium for the Dallas Cowboys," Anderson said. "My dad was on the steering committee for the Billy Graham Crusade, which was actually the first event in that stadium; it was not a Dallas Cowboys football game, but it was the crusade."

Anderson visited the new stadium and also met Billy Graham.

"I was a big-time Dallas Cowboys fan, and I got to see the stadium. My dad took me over and I got to meet Billy Graham and Tom Landry, who was the head coach at the time. It was a small gathering."

Anderson said.

He described Graham as "just a very impressive man, very humble man," and that he "always admired his passion for evangelism, and getting the message of Christ out."

Anderson said Graham possessed a gift.

"The best thing I can say is that [Graham] was simply anointed in his preaching. It's not sophisticated; it was a rather simple message, but many, many people all around the world responded to that message and that was, I think, the hallmark of him," Anderson said. "I think also he was very relevant at the time, whether it was having musicians from the area where he would have a crusade that were more relevant of the day, or celebrities who had faith in Christ, he would always have them on the platform."

Anderson also noted Graham was a spiritual adviser to many presidents, regardless of party.

"He was just a great model for young preachers like me, just how to live right, how to do it right, how to live with integrity and don't compromise your message," he said.

Anderson said, "Those who are not of faith respected Billy Graham because he was not perfect, but he was true to who he was," and that "it would be very hard to find any criticism about [Graham], particularly from a moral position."

Graham became a rising star in the late 1940s, and more than 210 million people worldwide personally heard his message by his final crusade in 2005.

Pastor Billy Garner of The Church of the Rescued and Redeemed in Cape Girardeau attended one of Graham's crusades, and has "never forgotten."

"Personally, I went to one of his crusades in St. Louis not too long after I had gotten saved," Garner said. "It was probably one of the most incredible moments of my life in ministry, and it was an incredible encouragement to see so many people who came to receive some kind of hope, and of course Billy Graham had the key to hope, and of course that was the message of Jesus Christ. I remember thinking to myself, this is just not any communicator, this is a very gifted man."

Garner said, "you could really tell that God was working through [Graham]" at the crusade.

"So many people responded, there was such a strong emotion inside the building, and the Spirit of God had just seemed to fill the place up. That impacted me in such a way, it impacted my thinking," Garner said. "This is what I want to spend my life doing, sharing the gospel, at every opportunity that I can get, because I saw the evidence that people do respond," Garner said.

Tyler Tankersley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, saw Graham speak as well. Tankersley said more than anything else, Billy Graham helped define what it means to be a pastor who can work with people different from him.

"One of the things, especially evangelicals don't realize, is Billy Graham was one of the first major leaders to partner with Catholics, mainline Protestants and with evangelicals altogether. That had not really been done before," Tankersley said. "He was close with political leaders, yet was never partisan. I really, really wish we saw more of that from other Christian leaders today, including his son, by the way. I really wish we saw more of that."

Tankersley said as a pastor, he sees that partly as his role.

"I have a very diverse congregation, politically," Tankersley said. "My job is to be pastor to people regardless of how they vote. Well, Billy Graham is a model for that, because what united his message was not all of the doctrinally or political issues that divide us, it was the gospel of Jesus Christ, first and foremost."

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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