What Can You Do?

https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/videos/1842764069113099/

Maybe, like me, you were touched by the inevitable tributes to Billy Graham these past few days.  Comments frequently heard were, "There'll never be another like him."

People like the Rev. Dr. Graham ... and Ruth and Boaz for that matter, whom we've been studying together ... seem to have a grand destiny that escapes the rest of us "mere mortals".

But, is that accurate?  Is that in line with what the Bible teaches?  I submit to you that, no, it most certainly is not.

When our reaction to a life like Billy Graham's is to say, "Well, that's good enough for him, but I'm basically a nobody", we have given the devil ground to which he is most certainly not entitled.

One of the men who most inspired Billy Graham was an evangelist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Dwight L. Moody, for whom the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago is named. 

Moody was over in England preaching in 1873, when a fellow evangelist of much lesser fame said the following to him after a revival meeting.1

"Moody, the world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him."

Have you ever had words spoken to you that permeated to the depths of your soul, took up residence there and tenaciously put down roots?  That is what happened with these words.  Moody was about to leave for America when this conversation took place.  All across the ocean and as he walked the streets of America this statement haunted him.  He eventually returned to England, found his evangelist friend, and told him the impression those words had made on him.  By the grace of God, Moody determined to be that fully-consecrated man of God.  He went on to have a legendary ministry, with long-lasting influence.

As you watched the Graham coverage, you may have heard Dr. Graham's recorded voice saying something to the effect - - One day you will hear I have died.  Don't be fooled.  I am more alive than I have ever been....alive in Heaven with Jesus.
Would you believe he more or less copied these sentiments from Dwight L. Moody?  Here is the original Moody quote:

“Someday you will read in the papers that Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit shall live forever.”2

Now look:
Henry Varley made the famous statement to Moody.
Moody determined to be that "man fully consecrated to God".
Moody, Chapman, Sunday and Hamm were 19th century evangelists all of whom heavily influenced the life of Billy Graham who, it is plain, also determined in his heart to, by the grace of God, "be that man".

All of us, male and female, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, can make that same determination in our own hearts.  We may never be "the next Billy Graham".   In fact, 99.99% of us won't!  However, that is not the point.

Ned Graham, one of Graham's sons, said this in the clip I posted at the top of this blog entry.
Dr. Billy Graham was three things in service to God:  "faithful, available, teachable".

Dwight L. Moody also said this:
"There are many of us who are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things."

Whoa....that bites, doesn't it?
Jesus said this to us through the parable of the "talents" (pieces of money) in Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

21“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. 

One of my childhood friends researched the early ministry of Dr. Graham and found that in 1941 he preached in my hometown of Cornelia GA on two separate occasions and that my mother's uncle, the Rev. A.C. Carpenter, led the singing for those meetings.  Dr. Graham had a tremendous influence on my mother's family, an influence which has extended down the generations to me. 

Bless the Lord, oh my soul.  Let all that is within me bless His holy name.

Psalm 103:1

Do you want to do great things for God?  Then, be faithful and obedient in the small. 
Faithful, available and teachable....

What can you do?
Ask the Holy Spirit, the living God who resides in your heart of hearts.  And, when He tells you what to do, say "yes".  You will never know this side of Heaven the eternal impact of your obedience.  (2 Cor. 4:18)


Sources:

1    http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-25/world-has-yet-to-see.html 

2    http://www.kevinhalloran.net/d-l-moody-quotes/