I am sure you have heard that earlier this week evangelist Billy Graham passed away at the age of 99. One does not need to be a believer of Jesus, or agree with everything Dr. Graham said, to know the name and appreciate the influence this faithful man had over the course of his lifetime.

Billy Graham is a household name. Long before I became a Christian, I had heard of this man who would speak to thousands of people at a time, about a God who he knew with great conviction could save and redeem.

As a kid, I even saw him on television. I would watch with curiosity how at the end of he sermon people would rise from their seats and maneuver their way down to the stadium floor to the hymn “Just As I Am”. What were they doing? Why were they going?

It was years later that I understood the significance of their actions. (If, by the way, you are wondering about such things, let’s chat! I would love to meet you for coffee and share my experience.)

When I was a very young Christian in university, the College and Careers group at the church I attended took a road trip to Urbana, Illinois to attend a missionary conference. It was at this conference that I heard Billy Graham in person for the first time. The man, the legend, the servant. To this day I remember the simple yet penetrating question he asked the thousands of university students that gathered in the stadium.

What will you be like, as a Christian, 10 years from now?

If you have some time take a listen to the sermon I heard in 1984. https://urbana.org/urbana-84

What do you think? Are his words relevant today? Does it change how you think about your faith? Maybe more importantly, What will you be like, as a Christian, 10 years from now?