Franklin Graham writing book about lessons from father

Franklin Graham is writing a book about the lessons, most of them spiritual, that he learned from his famous father, Charlotte-born evangelist Billy Graham.

The younger Graham said Thursday that he started “Through My Father's Eyes” just after his mother, Ruth Bell Graham, died in 2007 and hopes to finish the book in time to have it published in late 2014 or early 2015.

Billy Graham, now 95 and in fragile health, has written many books himself over the years, including an autobiography (“Just As I Am”) and a 2011 meditation on growing old in faith (”Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well”).

With the elder Graham’s public career over – his last crusade was in 2005 – and now part of American history, several books about his life and legacy are expected soon from scholars and biographers.

Franklin Graham said he saw the value of a more personal book, one by a son about his father.

“I think it’s important that there be a book from the son who worked closely with his father, day in and day out, for the last 30 years,” said Graham, who heads both the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, an international charity headquartered in Boone. “It’ll be about a life of things that I have learned watching my father.”

For starters, he said, his time sitting on the BGEA board while Billy Graham was still active gave him a road map of how to organize Samaritan’s Purse. “When God gave me Samaritan’s Purse, I didn’t have a lot to go on,” he said. “But sitting on the (BGEA) board and watching my father, I learned lessons from the boardroom.”

But most of the lessons in the book will be spiritual ones that he hopes will help pastors and churches.

“I showed what I have written to one gentleman (to check for accuracy), and he gave a very large check, telling me, ‘I want this to go to every seminary student in America,'” Graham said.

Graham said he has also discussed “Through My Father’s Eyes” with his dad. Billy Graham’s reaction: “Aw shucks.”

The book will be published by the W Publishing Group, which is part of Thomas Nelson Inc., a leading publisher of evangelical Christian books.

Franklin Graham has written several books, including one about his life called “Rebel With a Cause.”

-- Tim Funk

Elevation pastor to interview Panther Steve Smith

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith (89) glances back at Elevation Church pastor Steven Furtick as he heads to practice on Thursday, January 9, 2013. At left is Steven Drummond.

Steve Smith, the Carolina Panthers' star wide receiver, will join Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick on the church's stage this weekend (January 18-19).

Their Q&A will be live at Elevation's Blakeney campus Saturday at 5 p.m. and then again Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. On Saturday, it'll be live on screens at the church's Matthews and Lake Norman locations; on Sunday, it'll be live at Blakeney and on screens at all the other locations.

Smith attends the fast-growing evangelical church, according to Elevation spokeswoman Tonia Bendickson.

And Pastor Furtick is apparently a big Panthers fan: He was spotted at the team's pre-playoff game practice last week.

The guest spot by Smith, 34, was announced by Furtick, 33, via Twitter and Instagram. He said the duo will talk about "Passionate People." 

And maybe, we're guessing, they'll bring up Smith's now-famous quote: "Ice up, son."

Here's Furtick's post, accompanied by a photo of #89 in action. (Click on the photo to see a bigger version.)

Interfaith group to introduce new director

Mecklenburg Ministries will sponsor a reception Thursday night (Jan. 9) to introduce its new executive director, Danny Trapp, to the public.

The event, 6-8 p.m., will be in Oxford Hall at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, 2501 Oxford Place.

The official program will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature remarks by Adrian Bird, professor of Christian history at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte.

The South Carolina-born Trapp, 55, is a recent graduate of that seminary and had worked for nonprofits in Charlotte's criminal justice community, helping those who have been incarcerated.

 At Mecklenburg Ministries, an interfaith group with 100 member congregations, Trapp succeeds Maria Hanlin, who left the post last year to become CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Greensboro.

-- Tim Funk 

Societies can commit sin, too

Let’s talk about sin.

Not the garden-variety kind: Personal violations of the 10 Commandments get plenty of attention in sermons and confessionals.

No, I’m referring to what’s been called social sin – perfectly legal societal systems that tend to dehumanize and abuse the poor, minorities and others.

This kind of sin has been very much in the news.

When Nelson Mandela died Dec. 5, we were reminded of his lifelong battle against apartheid in South Africa. His struggle against laws that enshrined racial discrimination was also dramatized in "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," a powerful new film now playing in Charlotte.

Most white South Africans went to church and considered themselves good people. But they accepted a sickeningly sinful system that relegated the black majority to second-class citizenship and resorted to state-sponsored brutality to enforce inequality and racial separation.

If that example seems foreign, replace “apartheid” with “segregation” and “South Africa” with “the United States,” and you should get an idea what social sin can look like.

Because of the bravery of many people – black and white – apartheid and legal segregation have joined Nazism and Soviet Communism (other deeply sinful systems) on the ash heap of history.

So, are we now free of social sin? Pope Francis doesn’t think so. In recent writings, he discussed the ways an unrestrained market economy put money ahead of people, the environment – and God.

The pope, Time magazine’s choice as Person of the Year, lamented the growing gap between the rich and everybody else. And, he wrote, “in this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile … is defenseless before the interests of a deified market.”

When you take on social sin, you get critics. Rush Limbaugh accused the pope of mouthing Marxism. That charge reminded me of what another Catholic leader, Archbishop Helder Camara of Brazil, one said: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a Communist."

Is Pope Francis overstating things? I leave you with the case of Doretha Johnson, who was evicted from the Charlotte home she'd rented for four years by a Wall Street-backed investment firm.

“The house’s new owner, Invitation Homes, raised the rent by a third, beyond what she said her fixed income could afford,” the Observer reported in November.

In the shuffle of ownership, Johnson went ahead and paid the old rate of $650 when the rent was due. She got an eviction notice. When she then offered to pay $875, the new rate, for a month or two while she looked for a new place to live, the answer was no and she was forced to leave.

“They don’t care about people,” she said. “They just care about money.”

-- Tim Funk

Graham makes 'Most Admired' list for 57th time

At 95 years old, evangelist Billy Graham is still one of the 10 men most admired by Americans.

So say the folks at the Gallup Poll, whose latest annual ranking of the "Most Admired" men and women was released this week.

In 2013, the Charlotte-born Graham actually finished in the Top 5, along with President Barack Obama (No. 1, mentioned by 16 percent); former President George W. Bush and Pope Francis (both mentioned by 4 percent); and former President Bill Clinton (like Graham, he was mentioned by 2 percent).

It's the 57th time that Graham has made the list. That is, by far, more times than any other man -- or any woman -- since Gallup began asking Americans the "Most Admired" question in 1948.

The woman with the most Top 10 finishes over the years: Queen Elizabeth II of England, who made the list for the 46th time in 2013.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the woman Americans said they admired most in 2013, according to Gallup. The former first lady and U.S. senator was mentioned by 14 percent of those surveyed.

Clinton, who's a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has now made the list 22 times, and was No. 1 the last 12 years in a row. Obama has been the most admired man every year since 2008, when he was elected the country's 44th president.

The closest runners-up in Gallup's 2013 "Most Admired Women" list: TV host-actress Oprah Winfrey (No. 2, mentioned by 6 percent); and First Lady Michelle Obama and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (both mentioned by 5 percent).

In the poll, taken in early December, former South African president Nelson Mandela was mentioned by 7 percent of those surveyed. That would have landed him in the No. 2 spot among the men most admired by Americans. But Gallup only lists living men and women, so Mandela, who died Dec. 5, was not included in the Top 10 released by the polling organization.

Here is a complete list of the men and women most admired by Americans as 2013 drew to a close.

-- Tim Funk

Franklin Graham asks prayers for father's recovery

Franklin Graham is asking for prayers that his father, Billy Graham, regain the strength he's lost since his 95th birthday party last month.

In a letter posted Tuesday on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Website, the younger Graham said a recent bout with a respiratory infection has left the Charlotte-born evangelist "extremely weak but his vitals are good. Our family would appreciate your prayers for him that the Lord would strengthen him."

Though Billy Graham spent two days in the hospital late last month, he is now resting in his Montreat home.

Franklin Graham also wrote in his letter that his father was encouraged by the release of his recent book, "The Reason for My Hope -- Salvation," and has already begun work on another one "about a subject that he feels that God has laid on his heart."

Here is the full letter.

-- Tim Funk 

Pittenger gives Billy Graham video to reps, senators

Just in time for Christmas, each member of Congress has received a gift from U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C.

Namely, a copy of "The Cross," a widely televised video featuring what may well be 95-year-old Billy Graham's final public message.

The 9th District Republican asked the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to send him 535 copies of "The Cross" DVD -- one for every House member and every senator.

Pittenger "more than covered the costs with a generous contribution to the ministry," the BGEA's Ken Barun said in an email.

In the video, much of it filmed at Graham's mountaintop home in Montreat, the Charlotte-born evangelist speaks into a camera. He calls for a spiritual reawakening in America and says that the cross of Jesus Christ "demands . . . a new lifestyle in all of us."

"With all my heart, I want to leave you with the truth," the elderly Graham says about God. "He loves you, willing to forgive you of all your sins."

Pittenger was among the guests at Graham's private 95th birthday party last month at Asheville's Omni Grove Park Inn, where the video was shown to the 800 or so guests.

"After watching the video, Congressman Pittenger felt Dr. Graham's timely, powerful message would be helpful and relevant for his colleagues, as well as of interest to many of their constituents," said Pittenger spokesman Jamie Bowers. "Washington is a tough town. Just (recently), a member of Congress (Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla.) was charged with cocaine possession."

Bowers said non-Christian House members and senators got a copy of the video because they, too, have many constituents who may have seen and been talking about Graham in "The Cross." It's been televised on Fox News and on many local TV stations.

The video gift, Bowers said, came with a note from Pittenger to his colleagues that "The Cross" was of interest to many of their constituents, "so I thought you'd like to see it for yourself."

Bowers said Pittenger has already heard "many positive comments and 'Thanks'" from members of Congress.

At Graham's Nov. 7 birthday party, Pittenger told reporters he first met Graham when he was 22 and caddying for the evangelist at the 1971 Byron Nelson Golf Classic. "He was playing with Bob Hope and Arnold Palmer, and there were golf balls flying everywhere," Pittenger said.

Years before embarking on a political career, Pittenger was a Christian activist. After college, he went to work for Campus Crusade for Christ, serving for 10 years as an assistant and advance man for Bill Bright, the group's founder. In that capacity, the young Pittenger also helped launch a ministry for elected officials and staff on Capitol Hill.

He also traveled to several Eastern European countries, including the Soviet Union, to support persecuted Christians and underground churches.

And over the years, Bowers said, Pittenger has gone on mission trips to Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, India, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Guatemala.

Pittenger was in China on a mission trip in February 2012 when then-U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., announced she would not run that year for a 10th term. Pittenger, who got the news even though he was halfway around the world, was subsequently elected to succeed Myrick.

He has attended Central Church of God, a Pentecostal church in Charlotte, for 17 years. But because of frequent Sunday obligations, Pittenger and his wife now regularly attend Saturday evening services at Forest Hill Church, a non-denominational evangelical church that's also in Charlotte.

-- Tim Funk