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In Billy, Sherwood Eliot Wirt, a friend of Graham's for 40 years, reveals from an insider's point of view what exactly makes him such a rare man. Wirt calls Billy Graham a born leader, a refined southern gentleman, a Christian, and an evangelist. "But all attempts to explain Billy Graham fail unless they begin at the cross. . . . He has made a lifetime career of loving God and loving people. That's the note the media fail to catch. They see the hype and the crowds, but they miss the love of the Spirit and the joy of the Lord."
It's the influence of the Holy Spirit, Wirt says, that makes Graham unique. He received Jesus Christ in 1934 at an evangelistic service in Charlotte, North Carolina. But it was in 1946, while visiting Britain that Graham became "filled with the Spirit," under the prayerful direction of preacher Stephen Olford. "This is the turning point of my life," Graham said then. "This will revolutionize my ministry." And it did.
Billy tells the story of Graham's remarkable career, and the book is at its best when Wirt tells how he and Graham met at the San Francisco crusades in 1958, and how he came to work for Graham afterward.
Attending the San Francisco crusades as minister of the Hillside Church in Oakland and covering the crusades as a reporter for Graham's magazine, Wirt caught the attention of the evangelist and was asked to help start a new evangelism newspaper. "While it was true that I loved the Lord and had years of journalistic training and a classical background in English literature, I was not aware that he (Graham) knew of that. But then, could I do the job? The only answer to my prayer that made sense were the words, 'Go for it!'"
Wirt, like the good journalist he is, takes the reader through 50 years of evangelism, giving highlights of crusades, conferences, and team meetings and yet still catches the awesome fire that God has stirred through Graham.
Much has been written about and by Billy Graham. Wirt's Billy is a wonderful addition to the library of information about a great man of God.
Todd O. Ross is a freelance writer from Nashville, TN.
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