>> Martha: THE MESSAGE THAT
MANY FEAR IS ABSENT IS FUN THAT
REVEREND GRAHAM HAD BEEN
PREACHING SINCE HIS EARLY DAYS.
>> I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ANY
MAN, THAT ANY MAN CAN SOLVE THE
PROBLEMS OF LIFE WITHOUT
JESUS CHRIST.
>> I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR
RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND OR CULTURAL
BACKGROUND, IT MAKES NO
DIFFERENCE.
YOU COME AND STAND QUIETLY HERE
AND SAY, AS IT WERE, I GIVE MY
LIFE TO CHRIST TONIGHT.
JESUS DID NOT HAVE WHITE SKIN
LIKE MINE.
NOR DID HE HAVE BLACK SKIN LIKE
SOME OF YOU.
JESUS BELONGS TO ALL THE PEOPLE.
GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE.
HE LOVES YOU.
WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE TODAY, IT IS
THIS.
GOD LOVES YOU.
>> Martha: JOINING ME NOW, PAT
BOONE, THE LEGENDARY SINGER AND
ACTOR AND A FRIEND OF
REVEREND GRAHAM SINCE THE
1950s.
PAT, WELCOME.
VERY GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE
TONIGHT.
AS YOU LISTEN TO THOSE WORDS
FROM REVEREND GRAHAM, YOU THINK
ABOUT YOUR FRIENDSHIP, WHAT GOES
THROUGH YOUR MIND TONIGHT?
>> YEAH, I SURE DO, SO MANY
THOUGHTS, HARD TO PUT THEM ALL
INTO EXPRESSION.
BILLY AND RUTH WERE FRIENDS OF
MY WIFE AND MINE FOR MANY YEARS,
AND WE SPENT SOME TIME TOGETHER
IN HAWAII AT VARIOUS FUNCTIONS.
WE SUPPORTED THE SAME THINGS.
WE ATTENDED THE SAME THINGS.
THEY DAY THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN
CAME UP OUT OF THAT SPIDER HOLE
IN IRAQ, I SPENT THAT AFTERNOON,
A COLD AFTERNOON IN THE WINTER,
WITH BILLY AND RUTH AND FRANKLIN
OVER LUNCH, TALKED ABOUT THE WAY
THE WORLD WAS GOING, AND BILLY
HAD SAID, AND THEN RONALD REAGAN
REPEATED IT, PAT, THE PROBLEMS
THIS WORLD FACES ARE NOW BEYOND
HUMAN SOLUTION.
ONLY DIVINE SOLUTIONS EXIST FOR
US NOW.
WHAT THEY WERE SAYING IS, A
NATION FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLES
OF THE BIBLE AND ON GOD
HIMSELF -- AND THAT WAS PURELY
THE INTENT OF THE FOUNDERS WHEN
THEY CREATED THE CONSTITUTION,
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
EVEN THOMAS JEFFERSON, MAKING NO
LAW RESPECTING RELIGION NO
RESTRICTING THE FREE EXERCISE
THEREOF, ALL OF IT BASED ON
BIBLE PRINCIPLE.
NOW A NATION BUILT THAT WAY AND
GROWING THAT WAY WAS THE MOST
BLESSED NATION IN THE WORLD, AND
WE SEEMED TO HAVE THE ANSWERS TO
ALL THE WORLDS PROBLEMS.
THEN WE BEGAN TO TRY TO BE MORE
LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND
IT BECAME MORE.
SOMEBODY BECAME AFRAID THEY WERE
GOING TO BE OFFENDED, AND THEN
THE SCHOOL KIDS -- IMAGINE THIS
PARADOX.
WHERE THESE TRAGEDIES TOOK
PLACE, THEY HAD BEEN DENIED THE
RIGHT TO HAVE PRAYER AND BEGAN
THE SCHOOL DAY.
IN THE WRITINGS AND THE ESSAYS,
SOMEBODY MIGHT BE OFFENDED.
NOW, INSTEAD OF PRAYER AND
DRUGS, THERE’S GUNS, THIS
VIOLENCE, THERE IS A CONNECTION,
A CONNECTION BETWEEN WHAT
HAPPENED AND HE LISTENING THAT
PEOPLE ARE DOING NOW, AND BILLY
BILLY’S DEPARTURE TO HEAVEN
TODAY, THEY RESIDE WITH GOD WHO
CREATED US, SO I WAS AFRAID AS
BILLY WAS GETTING OLDER THAT THE
YOUNGER GENERATION JUST MIGHT
NEVER KNOW WHO BILLY GRAHAM WAS.
I WROTE A SONG ENDED A VIDEO OF
IT, VERY, VERY MOVING,
"THANK YOU, BILLY GRAHAM."
MANY STARS INCLUDING BONO JOINED
ME.
THEY JOINED ME IN PAYING TRIBUTE
TO THIS MAN WHO SPOKE THE TRUTH,
NEVER WORRIED ABOUT OFFENDING
ANYBODY ELSE, BECAUSE IT WAS TOO
IMPORTANT TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.
YOU DON’T WORRY ABOUT OFFENDING
SOMEBODY, IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT
LIFE OR DEATH.
NOW HE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING, AS
THEY SAY ABOUT ELVIS, AND THIS
BUILDING AND SONG, I’M HOPING
PEOPLE WILL TAKE IT INTO THEIR
HOMES AND GET IT -- IT’S NOT A
COMMERCIAL, BUT IT IS A TRIBUTE
TO BILLY FOR THE KIDS AND THE
GRANDKIDS OF THE NEAR FUTURE,
AND TIMES OF TRAGEDY, WE ARE
DRIVEN TO OUR KNEES.
I’M GOING TO ISRAEL IN MAY, A
CELEBRATION OF THE 70TH
ANNIVERSARY.
I WOULD LOVE FOR BILLY TO HAVE
GONE WITH ME AND LOVE EVERYBODY
ELSE TO GO.
THAT IS WHERE BILLY PREACHED ALL
OF HIS SERMONS, ON THE BIBLE.
>> Martha: THANK YOU SO MUCH,
PAT.
GREAT WORDS OF WISDOM.
>> Bret: