In 1990, Christian History Magazine asked historians and theologians to list the 100 most important moments in Christianity, outside of biblical events. And among the turning points -- like Luther's protests and Gutenberg's Bible -- they included a surprising moment from our own era:
Billy Graham's 1949 Los Angeles crusade.The event changed religion in America. It ushered in "media evangelism" and made Billy Graham pastor of the nation.
This week is the silver anniversary of that crusade. Fifty years ago today, Graham asked the nation to "Look to Jesus."
And for six crazy weeks, it did.
There are dozens of accounts of the event, but none more engaging than Graham's own version. In his memoir, "Just As I Am," in a chapter titled "Watershed," he writes of the L.A. campaign." And he begins with a wink:
"If the amount of advance press coverage was any indication," Graham writes, "the Los Angeles Campaign was going to be a failure . . . our most ambitious evangelistic effort to date was going to be a nonevent."
Over the next few weeks, however, the spiritual blitz would leave Graham "exhausted," "grateful" and "afraid."
His first "media move" was to go on the radio show of songwriter Stuart Hamblen. Hamblen, according to Graham, was "rough, strong, loud and earthy." But Graham won him over. Hamblen told his listeners to "go on down to Billy Graham's tent and hear the preaching."
They did.
It was the first crack in a dam that was about to burst. With Hamblen on board, the campaign was extended.
And then, out of nowhere, the dam gave way.
Graham arrived at the tent one night to find a swarm of reporters and photographers. When he asked what was afoot, he was told "you've just been kissed by William Randolph Hearst."
The old newspaper baron had caught wind of the crusade and ordered his newspapers to "puff Graham."
The next day, Graham says, the headlines were stunning. Within days stories about Graham were filling "Hearst papers" in San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago and New York. Time magazine upped the ante, calling Graham "blond" and "trumpet-lunged" and telling how he would "pace the platform as he talks, rising to his toes to drive home a point, clenching his fists, stabbing his finger at the sky."
Who could resist such a spectacle?
Certainly not L.A and Hollywood.
America was fascinated.
"God may have used Mr. Hearst to promote the meetings, as Ruth (his wife) said, but the credit belonged solely to God," Graham writes.
The next few weeks, the outpouring of spirit must have felt like Noah's flood. Graham sneaked off to preach to mobsters in the dead of night. He extended the tent, then extended the campaign again. Movie stars hovered around him.
Driven, weak and hoarse, Graham preached on.
The dam had burst.
Religion in America would never be the same.
And neither would Billy Graham.
That was 50 years ago. Today Billy Graham is just as much in demand. And for his followers, the reason is obvious. Graham's ministry may have gushed into America in 1949, but it has stayed because he's never lost sight of the "living waters."
As he arrived in Minneapolis, a little girl ran up to him and said, "Uncle Billy, we prayed for you."
"And of course, I had my own two little daughters praying for me every night," he writes. "That put it all in perspective. That was the whole secret of everything that had happened: God had answered prayers."
In a world of "wannabes" and television "McMinisters," Billy Graham remains a real McCoy.