Billy Graham’s eight minute sermon (and other good tales)

Local author releases book on ‘Influential Christians’

Hard to believe, but did you know that Billy Graham’s first sermon lasted but eight minutes? And that included portions from two or three others thrown in for good measure because he didn’t think he’d talked long enough.

That’s but one of several nuggets local author and Walters State history professor Tim Holder shares in his new book, “Influential Christians,” which profiles 16 men and women Holder identified as having a major impact on the faith.

Some, such as Graham, are familiar. Others, like Bill Hybels, may not be. Hybels is senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill. Holder said he chose Hybels because the pastor’s congregation rose from modest beginnings in a theater to a weekend average of 16,000.

Holder said he also wanted to “do the professor thing” and cast an objective eye over each person, examining criticism that each may have encountered and how they responded to it.

Surprises linger even among the familiar.

Holder said he didn’t know that Graham was often criticized during the early portion of his career, either for being too old-fashioned or being too willing to embrace new things, like appearing on TV talk shows.

Another selection that might surprise the reader at first glance is Charles Colson, former counsel to President Richard M. Nixon who served jail time for his role in the Watergate scandal.

Colson pondered his future while incarcerated, became a self-described “born again Christian” and founded the nonprofit Prison Fellowship ministry.

“He discovered that the inmates weren’t being ‘fixed’ by their time in prison,” Holder said. “A lot of people were initially cynical about Colson, but he’s been involved now for several decades.”

Other chapters are devoted to singer Amy Grant (“she was the first really big crossover success story”), “Left Behind” authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Southern Gospel music pioneers Bill and Gloria Gaither, and evangelist Beth Moore, who founded Living Proof Ministries, a biblically-based organization for women.

He also included a piece on Christian singer Russ Taff, who is a personal favorite. Holder said that Taff stuck to his dream of becoming a Christian recording artist even though a lot of people began telling him to, “find a real job.” 

“His music meant a lot to me and it was neat for me to tell part of his story.”

Holder has previously authored a book on Nixon and Watergate and is the co-author of the “Ask the Professor” series, which gives advice to first-year college students. He and his family attend Wallace Memorial Baptist Church.

“This is my seventh book and it’s the book I’m most proud of,” Holder says. “What these people have done is remarkable and I’m glad to tell their stories. On a more personal level, I feel I’m growing as a writer.”

Holder says that the story of Billy Graham’s eight minute sermon provides a lesson for all of us.

“Success sometimes requires us to overcome big obstacles.”

“Influential Christians” is available at Amazon.com, through special order at most bookstores or at Tim Holder’s Web site, www.tdhcommunications.com.