Bill Bright
Posted by: henriqueps <henriqueps@...>
A
Conversation
with Bill
Bright
by Jim
Dailey
NOTE: Bill Bright went home to be
with the Lord on July 19, 2003.
Speaking of Mr. Bright, Billy Graham
has said, "Bill has carried a burden
on his heart as few men that I've
ever known -- a burden for the
evangelization of the world. In
international leadership circles,
[Bill and Vonette] have been the
hands who held high the Christian's
challenge to fulfill the Great
Commission. I do believe if that is
fulfilled, it will be due in
significant measure to the vision
and obedience of Bill Bright."
For more than 50 years Bill Bright,
founder and chairman of Campus
Crusade for Christ International,
has been on the forefront of
evangelism. His organization has
produced evangelistic tools such as
The "Jesus" Film and The "Four
Spiritual Laws." Recently he spoke
with "Decision" about his life and
his vision for helping to reach the
world with the good news of Jesus
Christ.
Q/ You have battled severe health
problems for some time now. How are
you doing?
A/ About two years ago I had a
biopsy following an extended period
of coughing that just wouldn't stop.
The biopsy confirmed that I had
pulmonary fibrosis. The doctors
didn't know what had caused it, and
they didn't know how to heal it.
There was no known cure, and they
wanted to put me on experimental
drugs that may not have helped and
were known to cause terrible side
effects. I chose not to use the
drugs.
I came home from the hospital just
before Easter, 2000, expecting not
to be around for very long. The
doctor had told me that eventually I
would die a horrible death by
choking. But I said, "Praise the
Lord. I've lived a full life." I was
78 years old at the time and was and
still am ready to go Home any time
that the Lord wants me.
I began to read in James and in
Romans about how to rejoice when you
have problems. Vonette and I praised
God persistently, and I felt the joy
of His presence. Christ promised in
John 14:21 that as we obey Him, He
makes Himself real to us. Of course,
I have walked with our Lord for 57
years, and I have known His
intimacy. But somehow, in that
wonderful promise of John 14:21, I
began to sense in a new way His
holy, wonderful, majestic presence.
He gave me creative ideas, and I
began to write books that have been
on my heart for a long time. I've
been writing books on basic
theology, such as the attributes of
God and the Ten Commandments, the
Holy Spirit and maintaining our
first love of God.
When the doctor told me that I was
dying, it was as if God said to me,
"Your best years are before you." I
couldn't figure out what that meant,
but now I know. Here I am, tethered
to an oxygen tank but full of
excitement and having fun as I
continue to write and do ministry. I
praise our great God and thank Him a
million times over. This may be the
greatest period of my life.
Q/ What personal spiritual habits
have sustained you over the years?
A/ I continually think back to a
decision that Vonette and I made in
the spring of 1951 to become slaves
of Jesus. This means a total,
absolute, irrevocable surrender to
the Person of Christ. We wrote and
signed over the "title deeds" of our
lives to Him, and 24 hours later God
gave Vonette and me the vision for
the ministry that we now call Campus
Crusade for Christ, and I am
convinced that the vision was a
result of that signed contract. I am
not my own. I have been bought with
a price: Christ's blood shed on the
cross for me. If God can create and
rule the universe, think about what
He can do for us and through us, if
we ask Him to do so. Christianity is
not what we do for Christ, though
that is important; Christianity is
what He does in and through us, by
invitation. We surrender our wills,
and He works His miracles.
"In that wonderful promise of John
14:21, I began to sense in a new
way His holy, wonderful, majestic
presence."
I get on my knees every morning and
night and give gratitude and praise
that Jesus is my Savior, my Lord, my
Master, my King. Every day I
acknowledge, "Lord Jesus, I want to
be close to You. Walk in my body,
think with my mind, love with my
heart, speak with my lips. Do
whatever You want in and through me.
Take my attitudes, my motives, my
words, my actions, my desires, and
orchestrate them by Your Holy
Spirit. Cleanse me from all sin on a
continuing basis." I practice
spiritual breathing by exhaling --
confessing my sins and receiving His
forgiving, cleansing, empowering
life. I claim 1 John1:9: "If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and
just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all
unrighteousness,"(1) and I live in
the fullness and the power of the
Holy Spirit all day long.
I read the Word of God morning and
evening. We can't walk in the Spirit
without the Word, and we can't
understand the Word without the Holy
Spirit. We make Christianity so
difficult when it is so simple. All
we need to do is relax and surrender
ownership to Christ and let Him live
in love through us. He works
miracles.
Q/ Campus Crusade has many
outreaches that have helped to
change lives around the world. How
did these outreaches begin?
A/ Billy Graham played an important
part in my life and in the early
days of Campus Crusade. He's kind of
my big brother, spiritually. When
Vonette and I first started the
ministry, we operated on our own
business income and savings. As the
staff grew, we ran out of savings.
Billy Graham gave us our first
$1,000. I have never forgotten that,
and I am so grateful to him.
When the Lord gave me the vision for
Campus Crusade, it was to help reach
the whole world for Christ. We had
to start somewhere, so we started
with students. Now we have more than
70 ministries under the umbrella of
Campus Crusade. The staff has grown
from my wife and me to more than a
half-million volunteer staff and
more than 25,000 full-time staff. We
have trained tens of millions of
people through training centers all
over the world, in different
cultures and languages, in 191
countries.
I was a brand-new Christian in 1945
when God first gave me a vision to
produce a film on the life of Jesus.
This film later became what we call
the "Jesus" film. In 1953 God
impressed me to write "God's Plan
for Your Life." I asked the staff to
memorize this 20-minute
presentation, into which they would
work their own personal testimonies.
Thousands of people came to know
Christ as Savior through this
approach. It revolutionized people's
lives and our ministry. One day I
felt impressed to outline it, and
the outline resulted in the booklet
called the "Four Spiritual Laws."
Q/ How has your faith affected your
management style at Campus Crusade?
A/ In the beginning I controlled
everything. I wrote everything. I
did all the teaching and speaking.
And God showed me one day that the
way He wanted me to do things was
totally different. He wanted me to
decentralize. I began to give a lot
of the authority and the
responsibility of this ministry to
mature staff whom I had trained.
Sometimes they weren't so mature and
trained as I would have liked, but
all over the world today we have
thousands of people who have been
discipled. We have many leaders who
have been with the ministry for more
than 35 years, and they have been
given freedom along with the
responsibility. The only way to
train leaders is to help them
succeed and also to let them fail.
Let them grow, and stand by to
encourage them.
"If God can create and rule the
universe, think about what He can
do for us and through us, if we ask
Him to do so."
This ministry has not been a one-man
show -- it has been God's doing. I
can't claim credit even for the
idea. My management style has been
to build leaders and give them
responsibility. Most of our leaders
worldwide are nationals, people born
and reared in the country in which
they now minister.
Q/ How do you view the state of
evangelism today?
A/ I personally think that Billy
Graham and Franklin Graham, and
others who are anointed by God, can
continue to hold large Crusades. The
day of big meetings is not over.
There aren't any other people on the
scene like Billy, and I think
Franklin is being used by God in a
wonderful way. And there are others
worldwide whom God is using. A lot
of nationals are involved in
evangelism, and I am thrilled about
that. The key to world evangelism
and the fulfillment of the Great
Commission is the training of
nationals who will win and train
others.
Q/ What would you say to someone who
wants to tell others about Jesus?
A/ Be assured of your own salvation.
Be sure that there is no sin in your
life. Be sure that you are filled
with the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord
to use your lips to speak and your
heart to love. Ask Him to direct you
to the people He has prepared. Then
give a simple word of testimony.
Write and memorize a three-minute
personal testimony and a five-minute
Gospel presentation.
I used to spend a lot of time trying
to establish rapport. But now people
seem to be more open than at any
other time in my 57 years of walking
with God. I simply ask, "Are you a
believer?" And people are seldom
offended.
When it comes to evangelism, the
biggest problem that Christians have
is fear. How do you overcome fear?
Just say to Jesus, "I am scared to
death. Please help me, take over and
do what You came to do 2,000 years
ago. Keep on doing that through me."
Pray: "Lord, lead me to someone
today." And go with the Spirit,
asking God as you meet someone if
that person is the one He wants you
to talk with. When you know that
someone is hurting, go out of your
way to pray with that person. Almost
all believers and nonbelievers alike
will accept an offer to pray for
them.
Second Timothy 1:7 says, "God did
not give us a spirit of timidity,
but a spirit of power, of love and
of self-discipline."(2) That power,
of course, is the indwelling of
Christ and the enabling of the Holy
Spirit.
Q/ When we see Bill Bright, we
usually see Vonette Bright
alongside. Have you always been a
team?
A/ Long before Campus Crusade was
born, God was using Vonette, and her
walk with the Lord became so
attractive. God showed her what
being filled with the Holy Spirit
would enable her to do.
I am motivated by the Apostle Paul's
words to the Church in Ephesus:
"Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her."(3) That's
sacrificial love. My goal is to be a
loving husband who helps. I love her
sacrificially, and in turn she
responds voluntarily to my
leadership. No wife will turn away
from a husband who loves her
sacrificially. The real
responsibility of a marriage is on
the shoulders of the husband.
Unfortunately, I was not a good
husband in the beginning. Vonette
became just a part of my life
instead of becoming the most
important person in my life. Then
God showed me that I was not
following the scriptural admonition.
We've worked at it all these years,
and He has blessed us abundantly.
Our love for God and for each other
continues to grow.
Q/ How did you come to know Jesus as
Savior?
A/ My mother's prayers had more to
do with my salvation than did
anything else. I arrived in
California from Oklahoma in 1944 and
wanted to go to The Pasadena
Playhouse because I was interested
in drama. I had picked up a
hitchhiker, which in those days was
just common courtesy. He asked me
where I was going to spend the
evening, and since it was my first
night in California, I didn't know.
He asked me to come and spend the
night at the home of Dawson Trotman,
the founder of The Navigators.
I had dinner there, and after dinner
I learned that Dan Fuller, son of
Charles E. Fuller of the
Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, was
going to be there to celebrate his
birthday. We had a great time, and I
began to think about Christ and His
claims. A year later, through the
influence of Henrietta Mears and
Louis Evans, I prayed, "Lord, what
would You have me do?" That night I
received the Lord Jesus as my
Savior. I believed the Gospel. God
had heard my mother's prayers, and
He patiently waited for me.
(1) 1 John 1:9, NIV. (2) 2 Timothy
1:7, NIV. (3) Ephesians 5:25, NIV.
Jim Dailey
Jim Dailey is the executive editor
of "Decision" magazine.
©2002 Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association. Bible verses marked NIV
are taken by permission from The
Holy Bible, New International
Version, copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984
International Bible Society,
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
from the April 2002 issue of
"Decision" magazine