RS003 Saturdays with Billy

Good friendships with Christians are life-changing, and you're going to hear about one of those friendships with Dr. Don Wilton today on The Encouraging Word. We are so excited to share with you a wonderful interview between Christy Henderson, a local news reporter, and Dr. Don Wilton about the brand new book Saturdays with Billy. It's a wonderful kind of look back on the past 25 years as Dr. Don Wilton has had the privilege of being the pastor to Reverend Billy Graham, also the privilege of preaching at his funeral. In the midst of all these experiences together, Dr. Don has made some notes and is going to be sharing that with us today as we gain insight on how friendships change us if they're friendships founded in Christ. If you want to know more information about the book or get a copy, you can find it on our website at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org, the source for many resources that help you grow in your faith. And now, Christy Henderson and Dr. Don Wilton. All right, well Dr. Wilton, thank you so much for taking time out to talk a little bit about your new book, Saturdays with Billy. I had a chance to read this book.

I love it. It's a collection of stories of memories and conversations you had with America's pastor, Billy Graham. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got acquainted with Billy Graham and got to become his pastor? Well thanks, Christy, and it's just wonderful to be able to talk about someone that I just love so very much, and I know that I share that feeling with people literally all around the world because of the life and impact of this man on so many people. You know, I, back in the 80s, I had been involved in the Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism teaching God's Word prior to Crusades in different places around the world, and, but ostensibly it was in 1993 when I became the pastor of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and my telephone rang after the first service that I preached, and I picked up the phone, and it was Mr. and Mrs. Graham on the line.

Of course, I didn't believe that at first. I was going to say, you probably thought it was some kind of prank call. I really did, and we got a lot of mileage out of that with Mr. Graham later on. But it was on that occasion that they called to welcome me to the upstate of South Carolina, and of course Mr. Graham, being so gracious, had a lot of nice things to say and invited me, asked me if I would consider coming up to Montreat to visit him. It's amazing how I was able to rearrange my schedule, but I did, and it just began an instant friendship that I think only God could have formulated between the two of us. On your way up to Montreat to see him, what was going through your mind? I mean, it had to have been, you know, this is Billy Graham that you're going to see. Obviously you had a lot of respect for him.

Did you, what kind of needs did you think you would be able to meet for him? Well, it was like, I must say that I was nervous in my system, wondered what it would be like. I drove up to the head office in Montreat and was taken up in a motor car, and when I drew up to the house, the door opened and there was this man and this beautiful lady, and it was, I couldn't really grasp that, and he walked up and opened my door for me, and from that instant moment everything was backwards. He was so gracious and Mrs. Graham was so loving and so gracious, and we went and sat outside for the longest time, and that's a story in itself. On that first occasion, on their beautiful front porch overlooking the beautiful Smoky Mountains that I'd seen on pictures in books for years, you know, and here I was sitting there and they made me feel like the honored guest in the room. That never stopped for all those years. Really?

Yeah. And he had been, he had traveled the world over. Did you get a chance to kind of hear his thoughts on all of those experiences and missions and crusades he had been on? Well, Christy, you know, as we, as our friendship deepened, and it really did, for the first 10, 12 years, I didn't talk about being up there because I just felt that that was a private matter, and I guarded that integrity, and we talked about everything, and as our friendship deepened, and then in 2005 he became, I became his pastor on top of that. That's another story that I have in the book as well, you know, but our conversation was very intimate. It was very personal, and I came to understand that God had afforded an opportunity for me to sit at the feet of one of God's peerless servants and listen to the depth of his heart related to all matters.

So yes, the answer is we spoke. He shared with me about crusades years ago, people that he had met, and encounters, and personalities, and things that he dealt with, and decisions that had to be made that had such a lasting impact, and I felt like I was sitting at the fountainhead of a gushing stream of fresh water that would just be poured into my soul spirit all the time, and it just constantly, in what he was asking me, one would think that we were having a dialogue, but I was just sitting there being filled to the brim with the riches of what God was doing and had been doing and would continue to do through Dr. Billy Graham. And through all this and your respect for him, at one point he wanted you to call him Billy.

How did that go over? Well, you can, you know, my upbringing, Kristi, there's not a month of Sundays I would ever have called Mr. Graham Billy. And from day one, we'd be talking and I'd say Mr. Graham, he'd say, Billy, splutter and stammer, and then ten minutes later he'd say, now call me Billy. And I just couldn't get myself to do it. I mean this was, I could not call Dr. Graham Billy.

I just... Even though you saw him every Saturday. Even though I saw him like this and we we laughed and ate food and chased the dogs and went on walks and we were doing everything together. I could not call him Billy. Well, a little while thereafter we were sitting down and I looked at him and I said to him, he said, please, now let's settle this. Call me Billy. I said, Mr. Graham, I've got a suggestion.

I've got something I'd like to share with you. And he said, well, what is it? I said, would would you allow me to call you Brother Billy? He said, Brother Billy? I said, yes, Brother Billy. He said, I love that.

I love that. Nobody calls me Brother Billy. He said, I just love it. Well, he became Brother Billy to me and I would arrive at the home almost every time. I'd walk through the door and say, I'm here Brother Billy. And he loved that. I remember the last time I saw him, which I write about in the book, you know, I was caught. He just became known as Brother Billy privately. But I always called him Mr. Graham or Dr. Graham in in front of other people. Now, describe what a typical Saturday visit was like.

Well... I'm sure they were all different in some form or fashion. They were all different, you know.

They all took on their own life depending on where he was and which Crusades he was in and how long he had been out and the circumstances, what he was facing. So I would arrive at the house and walk in. We invariably would have lunch together. That was kind of a standard thing because he loved food.

I love food. So we'd get in ribs and barbecue and all kinds of chicken and his favorite foods. And we had so many times of fellowship around the table.

I mean, and I can tell you some stories about stealing his yogurt and we would laugh together and just have the best time. But, you know, each occasion almost was a seminary experience or a moment or a period of time in and of itself that could have been marked up as a milestone in my spiritual development. Because every one of them took on its own life and it was related not just to questions. He peppered me with questions. I mean, he would ask me things about everything. We talked family, fun, fellowship, food.

Obviously endless hours on the Word of God. He just loved the Bible, the Word of God, prayer times together. And then preparing messages, going through speeches, talking about appointments that he had coming up with people all around the world. And he would ask me my opinion.

We would talk about the makeup of people, who they were. He considered it very important to know who he was speaking to, their frame of reference, their culture, their understanding, their language, their ways of doing things. He was very deeply engaged in that because he believed that just like the Lord Jesus, he wanted to really connect into their lives with the same message. The message never changed, but the methods and the places changed and he tapped into that and shared the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And do you think that's why so many world leaders, presidents, sports figures, celebrities sought him out for counsel? Because they knew that he was going to be trustworthy for one, but also that the message never changed and he really tried to know them, their frame of reference?

You know, I really do, Kristi. I really believe that that's a profound statement about him. Mr. Graham saw people on an equal footing. And now if you think about the Lord Jesus, you know when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, he had no color in his eyes. He didn't see gender.

He wasn't considering male, female. He wasn't looking at wealthy people and poor people. Jesus died for all people. And I always felt that when Mr. Graham spoke about people and when he shared with people that people recognized that. They tapped in not only because he spoke to all people on the same level as people and he respected all people and loved all people just like Jesus, but he treated people like that. And I can tell you so much about all the different people that we sat with and I want you to know that every person that sat at the feet of Mr. Graham, every person felt the same way as though they were the important person.

And so people responded to that whether they were presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, rich, poor, it didn't matter. He was the same with the same message with the same heart of grace. We'll be back with this special interview with Dr. Don about the book Saturdays with Billy in just a moment. Remember you can get it online at our website www.tewonline.org. You can also sign up for the daily encouraging word email. It's a devotion from Dr. Don that will bless you.

Sign up today online at www.tewonline.org and while you're there check out this wonderful is this the end message from Dr. Don Wilton. Believers around the world are asking these questions. Is Jesus about to come back?

Is this the end of the world? Join Dr. Wilton as he answers these questions straight from God's Word in his message is this the end. Also as a bonus you will receive The King is Coming by Erwin Lutzer renowned theologian and friend. Both of these ministry resources will greatly bless, motivate, and encourage you in anticipation of our Lord Jesus's return. Be assured God has everything under control.

He is our living hope. Call us at 866-899-WORD that's 866-899-9673 and request is this the end in the bonus book The King is Coming for yourself or your friend today. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting the encouraging word. Now it's time to spread the gospel.

I hope you'll call about that resource 866-899-WORD is our number but that's available for prayer as well 24 hours a day 866-899-9673. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. That's amazing and no there's a whole chapter called Billy's Eyes and that really grabbed me because there was so much that you said he would express through his eyes and then you mentioned that sometimes he would look out the window but he wasn't necessarily just looking at the mountains there was a lot that he was contemplating and thinking about. Well he really was he had very penetrating piercing eyes when he looked at you he wasn't looking through you in the sense that he was looking past you but you always felt with Mr. Graham that in his eyes was a worldview where I always felt when he was speaking to me that I was looking at the stadiums of the world that he was seeing things that I could not see beginning with the vastness of who God is the majesty of God I could see God in all of his brilliance in the eyes of Dr. Billy Graham and then in that context the people of the world for whom Christ died. So let me give you an example when we were taping My Hope America that incredible opportunity that Mr. Graham had to share the gospel and so many thousands of people around the world came I had the privilege to be the person like we are to sit there and he was speaking to me the whole time with all the cameras there was one occasion and I think I'll write about this but there was one occasion at which he was just struggling to get a concept and all that and he suddenly took off and he began to speak and it's as though all of a sudden I could see and feel the presence of millions of people and the stadiums and the places and the countries and the nations and the nationalities and the groups of people and the cultures you could see that whirling up within him as the Spirit of Living God began to move through him and we were all just transfixed by this and when he got through I sat there and I looked at him didn't know what to say and then I said would you like another cup of coffee brother Billy? Yeah you did write about that you said nobody wanted to say a word because you knew that he he was just connected you know he was like you said he could see all those millions of people and the message. You're exactly right Christy and he you know we often use a phrase that a man or a woman is a person of a thousand words he could say one word and it would invoke a thousand words he could he sometimes would just contemplate sometimes he would just utter a phrase or he would make one comment but it would be accompanied by a thousand words and the rich framework of this incredible world in which we live with people right at the center of this he was in the people business because Jesus Christ died for all people God loves you and you and you and you that was what he said he said I'm here to tell you that Jesus loves you give your life to him. That was the unchanging message throughout his life and his main focus and he he kind of helped you in your spiritual journey and as a pastor too because he could watch you on TV and there was one occasion where he asked you to preach to a tree well that was very early in our relationship and we were walking way up on the mountain together and he just it was a Saturday and he said he said what are you preaching on now that gives the average person a heart attack let me tell you right now and it certainly did me and I told him and he said well why don't you preach and I you know when Mr. Graham asked me to do something I did it I was inclined to do it and so after a few little stutterings and stammerings I started he stopped me almost immediately and he said he said do you believe what you are reading from the Word of God and what you are saying about the Lord Jesus and I said yes sir I do he said well why don't you preach like you believe it well I began to preach on that mountaintop and I say tongue-in-cheek all of a sudden with Mr. Graham standing behind me I'm convinced the wonderful people of Black Mountain North Carolina and Montreat all the way to the Cove and Asheville I I just felt in my heart everybody was listening to me because I was bellowing forth the wonderful truth of God well he stopped me after about five minutes and he just went walking on never said a word oh well I just followed him we were just having a lovely time he stopped he turned around he said to me now Don he said I want you to know and I want you always to remember that if you cannot preach with absolute conviction that God is who he says he is and that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this world because he loves everybody and that he died and by the power of God was raised from the dead and is alive and if you cannot preach that to every single person like you believe it and you cannot preach it with nobody there why do you suppose God would ever bother to put people in front of you you know Christie I never forgot that and he told me how when he was a young man in Florida he would go and preach to tree stumps and he did you can read that in the many wonderful biographies written about mr. Graham will fast forward COVID arrived in 2020 all of us know about that and I'll never forget that first Sunday March 15th 2020 when I stood up in front of my own congregation and there was only TV cameras out there and not a single person in front of me and all of a sudden I remembered what he said and I said open your Bible and I remember with no one sitting in front of me how that God all of a sudden gave me an understanding that I'm preaching God's truth because it is truth and that if only one person was listening I would speak with the same conviction because Jesus loves you it was always about Jesus it was never about Billy Graham and that was the case when he asked you to preach at his funeral he said he said don't mention his name oh I tell you we were sitting this was 10 years before he went to heaven at least and we were sitting on the front lawn and he looked at me and he said Don he said I want to talk to you about my funeral and we talked a lot about about his funeral and a lot about that he he it was very important to him and and that's when he said to me he said I just want to say to you that I've asked you to preach my funeral message and because I trust you and I know you're going to preach Jesus he said I know you're going to preach Jesus and then he said I just want you to know that I do not want you to mention my name when you preach my funeral message well my whole life began to go in front of me I thought now how do I preach the funeral service of Dr. Billy Graham and never mention him so in my absolute brilliance we opened the Bible and I took him back to the life of Moses and Joshua and Isaiah and we went to Ezekiel and then we went to Paul and Timothy and finally he stopped me he said I know what you're doing he said he said I get it yeah he said okay I'll tell you I said well Mr. Graham I said you know God's always used people he just does he uses people he said I I realized that he said okay he said you can talk about me at my funeral but only just a little bit now when he became a member of First Baptist Spartanburg he really wanted to be in church didn't he oh one of my chapters in Saturdays with Billy is entitled Billy's Church this is profound Christy because at the end of every message he preached in Crusades across the world after he had invited people to give their lives to Christ when he was concluding when he was sending everyone home he always said be sure to go to church on Sunday why did he say that well we talked endlessly about that at the very heart of everything that he believed he understood God's plan for people and in that plan he understood that Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against my church now he understood that the church is God's people it's not a building but the Bible says do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together and Mr. Graham would talk to me about the natural propensity of a lot of people to paddle their own canoe to go it alone as believers and he would say to me Don the local church is God's plan the pastor the people the leaders the elders the deacons the servant leaders the Sunday school teachers he said it's part of God's plan it's the family of God do not forsake that and he had a profound belief in that even for himself and he told me time without number he was a longtime member of First Baptist Church Dallas Texas and loved every minute of it but he could never be there right and so during the last 15 20 years of his life it was such a joy to him to be part of a local group of believers and so we often talk we talked Sunday school we talked life groups we talked the family together we had him on prayerless and of course our people just loved having him part of a local church like that that's amazing and Billy Graham would not want us to talk about any book about him without you making sure that people knew how to know Jesus well there's no doubt about that and I could write 10 books but he would say to me Don it's about Jesus in fact in the book in Saturdays with Billy I make the statement in in the forward and dr. Charles Stanley who wrote a beautiful foreword for me in this book because we were all such friends together Jesus it's about Jesus do you know Jesus have you trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Lord you know that's the most important thing in the world you know one great person one said there's only one life to live and that will soon be promised it's only what's done for the Lord Jesus Christ that the last mr. Graham was a famous man really I tell people all over if you saw mr. Graham and myself talking together here's what you'd see you'd see a nobody who thought he was a somebody talking with a somebody who thought he was a nobody I tell you mr. Graham as great as he was thought he was no one because of Jesus servant of all would you like to give your heart to Jesus why don't you pray this pray with me dear God I know that you love me and I know that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for me and just as dr. Billy Graham gave his life to Christ I give my life to Christ today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart my friend of you given your life to Christ today that's so wonderful Saturdays with Billy this incredible experience not a biography it's just two friends talking together that's what Jesus has done for us he brings you together and forgives you for yourself get connected into church become part of the family of God God bless you my friend and be sure to go to church on Sunday what a great day of discussion but more importantly moments ago as dr. Wilton was leading out in that prayer did you pray that in your heart did you give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life to Jesus if so we would love to walk with you in the next steps we'd love to rejoice with you celebrate with you and dr. Don has free materials he wants you to have if you'll just call us and let us know that eight six six eight nine nine word that's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three we'd love to talk you through what would be the next steps plugging into small groups in a church near you maybe plugging into some of our online Bible studies and most certainly drawing close to God where the daily devotional dr. Don would love to put in your hands again that's just one of the many resources available if you just gave your life to Jesus or rededicated your life once you call us at eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three or meet us online at TEW online.org we would love to connect with you that's TEW online.org