Baseball, Rebellion, and the Making of Billy Graham

It's good to have you here with me today , and today I want to talk about our children and our grandchildren . When we see what's happening around us in our world every day , it's really not unexpected that we would find ourselves being concerned about what the world will be like for them .

How can they ever build a relationship with God and stay on track with it in the world that they face today , which is in so many ways anti-God ?

But let me encourage you this morning that , instead of being overwhelmed with the fear of what might happen , let's take a hold of what God's Word encourages us with , and that's to teach our children , to raise them up in the way that they should go , because when they get old , they will not depart from it .

I want to tell you a story today about a young man who experienced that he was brought up in the way that he should go , and he rebelled against it so strongly , and yet in the end it's the way that saved him . Listen , you will enjoy it . It seems there was once a young man by the name of Will Franklin .

He grew up hating church and absolutely everything about church . He loved almost everything else in life , but to him church was nothing that he wanted to be a part of . His earliest memories were filled with the torture of going to church every Sunday , having to sit there quietly and behaving through the service .

He just couldn't stand it and he hated everything about it . He hated the preaching , he hated the music , he hated sitting there and he hated not being able to go and play baseball with his friends , because that was one of his favorite things to do . In fact , will wanted to be a professional baseball player .

It's been said about him that , until he discovered girls , baseball was Will's entire life . Apparently , will's childhood would have been completely carefree if it wasn't for one thing , and that was his mother always wanting him to go to church . Will's mother went to church every time the doors were open and she expected him to come with her .

She wanted him to build a relationship with the pastor and with the other people of the church , but Will would have nothing to do with it . Will's family grew concerned about him so they decided to send him to a summer Bible camp . Will didn't want to go . In fact he did everything possible to keep from going , but finally his father laid down the law .

Will was going to the Bible camp , so he reluctantly agreed to go , but he made it very clear that he was not going to like it . To relieve his boredom while at camp , will would often gather friends around him and mock the preachers who had been speaking . He would make fun of their styles and their tone of voice and how they would thump on the pulpit .

He often said that there were two occupations that he would never fulfill . One was being a preacher and the other was a mortician . Both seemed to be pushing everybody into the next life and there was too much in this life to enjoy , like drag racing his father's car , which he did one night for a total of 300 miles . And then there was baseball .

He absolutely loved baseball . Everybody said what a shame . He was basically a nice young man but so defined when it came to the important things like church . Will absolutely hated church and anything to do with the ministry .

You know , it's really kind of funny how the Lord doesn't seem to care about our background , because if he wants you , he's got you , and for the rest of his life . Will would certainly agree that as a boy , he was really nothing special . He was just one of thousands of youngsters at the time who were trying to race Babe Ruth into the Hall of Fame .

He was a youngster who'd made up his mind that he would do anything but preach . He was just an average young fellow who knew exactly what he wanted . He wanted to be a baseball player and , by the way , this baseball player's full name is William Franklin Graham , better known to most of us as Billy Graham . Yes , that , billy Graham .

The verse I referred to at the beginning of this podcast is found in Proverbs , chapter 22 and verse 6 . It says direct your child onto the right path , and when they are older , they will not leave it . One of the things that we need to remember is that there may be a time between when they are our children and when they get older .

There may be a time of rebellion or a time of wandering or just simply a time when we are very afraid for them and what's happening in their lives .

But God's promise is that if we teach them , if we direct them , if we pour into their lives when they're young , that when they get older they'll realize the truth and they will come back to him , and then God can do some amazing things in their life .

Maybe not to the scale of public impact of Billy Graham , but certainly to the scale of the change within the heart and the life of the person . That's what truth planted into children can do person . That's what truth planted into children can do .

Don't live in fear for what your children will face , but give them boldness and strength to hang on to the truth , no matter what they face , and God will be with them . Have a great day , my friends . We will talk again tomorrow .

Thank you for joining us today , and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right , with Danny Mac .