Last Friday (Mar 2), I turned on the TV to watch some US news on Fox News. Unexpectedly, I happened to turn it on just as the funeral of Billy Graham was beginning. What a remembrance and a celebration of a life and death given whole-heartedly to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God! What I witnessed on American TV is something that we would never see here in unbelieving Israel: a joyful funeral and the free-flowing testimony in songs and eulogies confessing and proclaiming Jesus! I don’t know how many avowed unbelievers or nominal Christians watched the whole funeral ceremony on TV; I expect for some who might have, it could have been uncomfortable, maybe even annoying. But let the Holy Spirit deal with them about that, if so! Despite some of the controversy surrounding Billy’s evangelicalism, his legacy was heard upon his death and burial.
This could be a watershed for the USA, hearing nationwide — and even around the world — the call to repent and to believe the everlasting gospel of salvation and of God’s Kingdom. As Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, clearly spoke out to all, including to herself: Wake up, Church; the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again!
Though most believers seem to ignore it, the reestablishment of the Jewish people in the land promised them by God is a time-mark sign which Yeshua gave to His disciples when they asked Him about the end of the age and the fulfillment of all the things He was telling them, leading up to His return. The figtree is blossoming now for 70 years, and we are the generation that is witness to it.