At the grand old age of 86, Billy Graham is said to be conducting his last American crusade in the city of New York.
The format appears to have changed little. The build up to the evangelistic message now includes more modern contemporary music from the likes of Jars of Clay, but George Beverly Shea (now, amazingly, 96) still sings immediately previous to Billy Graham?s sermon and the altar call is heralded with, of course, a full rendering of ?Just as I am?.
Billy Graham has had many detractors over the years. In the early days he was said to be a firebrand stoking up emotion to create mass hysteria as the only explanation for his fantastic numerical success. Later on conservative evangelicals of great renown, even including the likes of Lloyd-Jones, criticised him for some of his techniques; and, in particular, his willingness to share the platform with Roman Catholic leaders was irksome to many.
