Thank You, Billy Graham by Jerushah Armfield

Author:Jerushah Armfield [Armfield, Jerushah; Tchividjian, Aram; Tchividjian, Boz;]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63058-015-5
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2014-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

NOT TOO DIRTY TO BE CLEAN

I was brought up in the church. My mother was a very prayerful woman, who was a powerful influence and witness in the lives of her five children, who all have now become ministers and pastors of the Gospel. Although I was brought up in the church, I somehow never felt accepted, nor could I ever seem to follow all the rules and regulations that would make me a “saint” according to my church’s teaching. So, after giving birth to a child at age sixteen and later marrying the father, I went on to have three more children in this abusive marriage. I later began to use drugs and drink and sell my body to support my children while attempting to get through college after my divorce.

It was during this time that some women from my mother’s church came to witness to me about giving my life to the Lord, but I simply expressed to them that I was not ready. The teaching at that time was that you “get ready,” stop sinning, and then come to the Lord. I had no power to clean myself up. A few days later, I was sitting in front of the television and there was Billy Graham preaching in one of his crusades. He was saying that you can “just come” to the Lord and that being a sinner qualifies you for an opportunity to be forgiven, if you would repent and ask Jesus to save you. I listened and doubted that it could be that simple. I prayed, and felt the tears roll down my face as the Lord embraced me with his love. I still remember the warmth that came into my heart. But I dared not tell others, who had told me I was “too dirty to be clean,” that I had been forgiven and accepted by Jesus. In listening to the teachings of my upbringing, I began to doubt that I had been saved and began to return to the ways of the world, but a seed had been planted, and about a year later, I gave my life totally to the Lord and allowed Him to clean up my life from drinking and the life I was living.

About five years later, I accepted a call into ministry, and cofounded a church in Hawaii. And because Billy Graham was one of my mentors in ministry, I thought I would conduct my altar call as he had. I began reading a book called The Effective Invitation and saw how people would come to the altar for salvation and prayer. Since then, I have been through many trials and now have relocated to Arkansas. My husband and I pastor a church here, and I always open the service with a reading from the devotional Hope for Each Day: Words of Wisdom and Faith, by Dr. Graham. I continue to hold Dr. Graham as my mentor. He and Ruth will truly have a soul-winner’s crown worth its weight in glory.

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