In my spirit I know God has called us to do this, and I pray He will stir

“In my spirit I know God
has called us to do this,
and I pray He will stir
your heart to join us.”
—billy graham
Our neighbors—and our nation—need Jesus Christ.
Working together with local churches and Christians
like you, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
is coordinating a grass-roots nationwide outreach.
Called My Hope America with Billy Graham,
it will culminate with a new message from him in
November 2013. Will you join us? You can start today.
©2013 BGEA
54102
d:
F I N D I N G
PUBLISHED 11 TIMES A YEAR BY THE
J E S U S
DECISION
VOLUME 54,
NUMBER 7-8
JULY-AUGUST 2013
1 Billy Graham Parkway
Charlotte, North Carolina 28201-0001 U.S.A.
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Billy Graham,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Jim Dailey
Franklin Graham
ED I T O R I A L
EDITOR: Bob Paulson
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Charles Chandler,
Richard Greene
COPY EDITOR: Jerri Menges
P R O D U CTI ON & GRA PHI C S
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Peter Taylor
ART DIRECTOR: Steve Mast
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jamie Jenkins Adamson
ED I G TTO R E ME RI TI
Sherwood E. Wirt (1960-1976)
Roger C. Palms (1976-1997)
Kersten Beckstrom (1998-2002)
INTE R N A T I ON A L MA I L
20 Hopewell Way NE, Calgary, Alberta T35 5H5.
P.O. Box 2032, Woodford Green IG9 5AP, England.
Box 4807 G.P.O., Sydney, New South Wales, 2001.
NEW ZEALAND: Box 870, Auckland.
GERMANY: BGEA Dtld. e.V., Haynauer Str. 72a, 12249 Berlin.
CANADA:
GREAT BRITAIN:
6
CHAPLAINS HELP TORNADORAVAGED OKLAHOMA
The Billy Graham Rapid Response
Team arrived quickly in central
Oklahoma to offer emotional and
spiritual care to residents in the
aftermath of violent tornadoes.
BY RICHARD GREENE
AUSTRALIA:
2
S U B S C R I PTI ON S
$15.00 per year. Make all checks
and money orders payable to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
P.O. Box 668886, Charlotte, North Carolina 28266-8886, U.S.A.
For subscriptions in North Carolina, add $1.16 sales tax.
IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND $AUST40.00/$NZ45.00 per year.
Make all cheques and money orders payable to Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association Ltd., Box 4807 G.P.O., Sydney, N.S.W., 2001,
Australia, or Box 870, Auckland, New Zealand.
IN THE U.K. write to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
P.O. Box 2032, Woodford Green IG9 5AP, England.
IN THE U.S.A.
A MESSAGE BY BILLY GRAHAM
THE MYSTERY OF EVIL
As perplexing as it is to
understand the prevalence
of lawlessness in the
world, the Gospel provides
the ultimate answer.
IN POSTAL ZONES OUTSIDE U.S.A., AUST., N.Z. AND U.K.,
12
WAR ON GOD’S WORD
INTOLERANCE
RUNS RAMPANT
Society increasingly rejects
biblical positions on sin
and morality.
C AN C E L L ATI ON S
Refunds for cancelled subscriptions must be requested. If a subscription
is cancelled after six issues have been received, no refund will be given.
BY CHARLES CHANDLER, JOHN
MACARTHUR AND JERRY FALWELL JR.
P E R M I SS I ON S
All material in this issue is subject to U.S. and international copyright
laws and may not be reproduced without prior written approval.
Permission to reproduce may be obtained by writing the Editor.
©2013 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. All Rights reserved.
Bible verses marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New
International Version®, © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Bible verses marked NKJV are taken by permission from The
Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982
Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, Nashville, Tenn.
Bible verses marked KJV are taken from The Holy Bible,
King James Version.
34
COVER PHOTO: LEE LOVE/GENESIS PHOTOS/©2013 BGEA
C O M M E N TS ?
WEBSITE: billygraham.org/decision EMAIL:
TELEPHONE:
decision@bgea.org
1-877-247-2426 (Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.;
Q&A
MY HOPE ADDRESSES
URGENT NEED FOR
EVANGELISM
Greg Laurie implores
believers to be intentional
about sharing Christ.
DEVOTIONAL
BY BILLY GRAHAM
You are holding a light.
Let it shine in the
darkness!
BY BOB PAULSON
S U B M I SS I ON S
Articles submitted to Decision should be accompanied by selfaddressed envelopes and return postage. Publisher assumes no
responsibility for return of unsolicited material and assumes no
financial responsibility for the safety of unsolicited original transparencies or photographs. Responsibility for accuracy in articles rests
solely on the author and/or the source of information.
Extras
iPad
$32.00 in U.S. currency per year. Make all checks and money orders
payable to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, P.O. Box 668886,
Charlotte, North Carolina 28266-8886, U.S.A. Please register postal
orders and bank notes.
To pay by credit card in the U.S.A., call 1-877-247-2426 or visit
billygraham.org/subscribe.
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE GERMAN-LANGUAGE EDITION, write to BGEA
Dtld. E.V., Haynauer Str. 72a, 12249 Berlin.
DEPARTMENTS
24 Ten Commandments
26 Growing In Christ
37 Quiet Heart
38 Bible Study
40 To the Point
BC Ruth’s Attic
F.B. MEYER ON
THE LOVE THAT
BOUND CHRIST TO
THE CROSS
Why we can trust
His love.
Sat. 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Eastern Time)
22
Follow us on Facebook:
Facebook.com/Decisionmagazine
DECISION
Good News
B I L LY G R A H A m m E S S A G E
The Mystery
of Lawlessness
and the
Tide of Evil
BY BILLY GRAHAM
P
eople have always been bewildered and confused by things
that are beyond their understanding. primitive man, like
modern man, probed the universe for its secrets and looked
up at the night sky in awe and wonder at the mystery of the black
space with its myriad inexplicable lights.
of gravitation that challenged Sir Isaac
Newton in 1685 to explore the
reasons why objects heavier than
air were attracted to the center of
the earth.
It was the mystery of the shape
of the world that inspired Columbus to set sail over an uncharted
sea in an attempt to see what was
beyond the far horizons.
It was the mystery of lightning
that prompted Benjamin Franklin to attach a key to the tail of
a kite during a thunderstorm, to
prove the identity of lightning
and electricity.
It was the mystery of the
latent power of the atom that
challenged Einstein, Fermi and
others to probe into the dormant
energy in matter.
Some mysteries have been
IT WAS THE MYSTERY
2
DE C ISIO N
fathomed by science. Others still
bewilder mankind. This fact remains: All of the garnered wisdom of the ages is only a scratch
on the surface of humanity’s
search for the knowledge of the
universe. For the most part,
God retains His secrets, and
man standing on his intellectual
tiptoes can comprehend only a
small fraction of the Lord’s doings. As the Bible says, “Oh, the
depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding
out!” (Romans 11:33).
This inability to fully comprehend the mysteries of God
does not in any way curtail the
Christian faith. On the contrary,
it enhances our belief. We do not
understand the intricate pattern
J U LY/AUGUST 2013
HIGH TIDE
Our world
seems to be
falling apart as
people choose
sin and evil
over saving
faith and
righteousness.
of the stars in their courses, but
we know that He who created
them does, and that just as surely
as He guides them, He is charting
a safe course for us.
We do not understand what
processes combine to create life,
but we know that He who ordained physical life can amply
fulfill His promise to give us eternal life.
Logical people do not reject
that which they cannot comprehend. One need not be an electronics wizard to enjoy radio and
television. One need not be an
astronomer to enjoy the beauty
of the night sky. One need not
be a dietitian to enjoy a sumptuous meal.
But the most fascinating and
intriguing of all mysteries are
those in the spiritual realm.
The word mystery is used many
times in Scripture. A mystery in
Scripture is a previously hidden
truth now divinely revealed, but
in which there is still a supernatural element that remains
unknown despite the revelation.
The Bible talks about the
PHOTOGRAPH: ©BGEA
Good News
DECISION
“Have you ever
wondered about the
TUMULTUOUS TIDE of evil
in the world?
How it overwhelms
society, how it
ENGULFS NATIONS, how
it infiltrates all races,
how it devastates
the individual, how it
RUINS THE FAMILY and
destroys the home?”
J U L Y / AU GU S T 2 013
DE C IS ION
3
E n g Ag i n g C u lt u r E
Tolerance
and Academic
Freedom
A Conversation with
Jerry Falwell Jr.
22
de c isio n
J u ly/august 2013
Q: Why does the Gospel of Jesus Christ
seem to bring out intolerance among
people who generally consider themselves
tolerant of opposing views?
A: My father, throughout his whole career—
because of the stand he took for Christ and for
family values—was constantly maligned and
vilified by the mainstream media and others.
Jesus had the same problem. The Gospel is
revolutionary; it makes people uncomfortable,
and for that reason it evokes the reaction it
does.
Liberty University is known as the world’s
largest Christian university, and we encounter
intolerance at every stage. When we first became an accredited school, there was a movement to keep our education graduates from
teaching biology in public schools because
photograph:
photograph: Courtesy of Liberty university
T
he name Jerry Falwell sTill
evokes sTrong Feelings among
many people, six years aFTer
his passing. mainsTream
media Typically porTrayed him in
an unFavorable lighT; Those who
saw him close-up knew him as a
compassionaTe, caring man who
believed and TaughT ThaT The bible is
The word oF god. recenTly Decision
spoke wiTh his son Jerry Falwell Jr.,
chancellor oF liberTy universiTy,
abouT The concepTs oF Tolerance,
inTolerance and academic Freedom.
of the belief in creation. We had to
spend a year or two convincing the
powers that be that you can be openminded and you can teach both
sides of every issue. Teach evolution
and creation; let the students decide
for themselves.
Today, people try to say Liberty
is homophobic, that Liberty doesn’t
allow homosexuals. What our rules
actually say is that no student can
have sex outside marriage while a
student at Liberty. That’s always
been our policy. If a homosexual student comes to us and asks for help,
we counsel them. But we don’t kick
anyone out because of weaknesses
they have. We’re all sinners saved by
grace, and we treat heterosexuals and
homosexuals just the same.
But because we take that position,
which is consistent with Scripture,
we’re called homophobic.
Q: Many of those people would
accuse Christians of being
intolerant. How would you
respond to that charge?
A: Brandon Ambrosino wrote an
article in the Atlantic Monthly about
his experience as a gay student at
Liberty. He talked about how loving
the professors were, and he said that
while he never told my father he was
gay, he wouldn’t have been afraid of
his response if he had, because of the
loving spirit here.
My father always said, “love the
sinner, hate the sin,” and that’s the
way he lived his life. He often said
if he learned that any of his children
were homosexual, he would not
disown them but would continue to
love them like a son or a daughter.
That’s just like in the Bible, how the
prodigal son was treated by his father
after the son came home. That spirit
filters down to the faculty and staff
here at Liberty. We try to restore students and bring them up instead of
kicking them out and throwing them
to the wolves.
PHOTOGRAPH:
But as far as the people who hate
Christianity most, after a Christian leader makes a statement, you
would not believe the hatred that is
spewed out on the atheists’ websites
and blogs. It seems like the people
who preach tolerance the most are
the most intolerant. It’s because the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive to
those who don’t believe it.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those
who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). So it is
something He knew would happen.
Q: What other examples do you
see of supposedly tolerant people
being intolerant?
A: The articles in the Wall Street
Journal recently about Bowdoin
College, a liberal arts school in
Brunswick, Maine, make it clear
that many secular universities talk
about academic freedom, but they
don’t allow anyone to say anything
that’s not politically correct, anything
that is conservative, anything that
is Christian. At Liberty, we pride
ourselves in looking at both sides of
every issue in true academic freedom.
Call to
Action
MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Philippians
2:15 says we are to shine as
lights in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation. Too
often, Christians only spend time
with other Christians, so they have
little impact on those who don’t
know Jesus. Find ways to become
involved in your neighborhood,
your community, your workplace
or your child’s school. Live your
faith boldly, speak up for Christ
at every opportunity, and let your
light shine.
We have students who transfer here
all the time and tell stories about how
they were ridiculed in the classroom
for having views that went against
their secular professors. We just don’t
see the same tolerance toward us that
we are told we should display toward
everyone else.
Q: Your father’s Moral Majority
was able to galvanize Christians
and other conservatives to
make a big impact on society.
Today, Christians seem to be
a marginalized minority. What
suggestions do you have for those
who want to stand for biblical
values today?
A: We are teaching students to go
into every field, every profession—we
train champions for Christ. When
Jesus said, “Render therefore to
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”
(Matthew 22:21), we think that
means we should be good citizens:
We should pay taxes, we should vote,
we should use our brains and decide
where we stand on the political
issues. We are the salt of the earth
and the light of the world. We shine
a light on the right course of action in
human affairs, and as the salt of the
earth we help preserve what is good.
That’s what we teach here at Liberty. Don’t be afraid to roll up your
sleeves and get dirty getting the work
of Christ done in society. We teach
our students to become engaged at
every level, to help the poor and to
make a difference in public affairs.
I think if Christians continue to
do that in big numbers, we’ll see a
revival like we have seen at several
points in our history. And I think
that’s what America needs at this
point. D ©2013 BGEA
INTERVIEWED BY BOB PAULSON, EDITOR, DECISION MAGAZINE.
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS ARE TAKEN FROM THE
HOLY BIBLE, NEW KING JAMES VERSION.
J U L Y / AU GU S T 2 013
DE C IS ION
23
decision
The Ten Commandments
The 4Th CommandmenT
Remember
S i x t h i n a Ye a r - l o n g S e r i e s
the
Sabbath Day
By Don Wilton
Special days are nothing new. Not by any means, when
one considers the need most of us have to celebrate
and commemorate—yes, and even to vegetate!
our children’s birthdays and those of our
friends and loved ones. What
would childhood be without balloons, candles and plenty of gifts
to unwrap? We also commemorate
heroic people, events and happenings. So many have done so much
to ensure the safety and well-being
of our nation. Many have paid the
ultimate sacrifice and have laid
down their lives with gallantry. We
honor them and miss them, so we
set aside days to enter into a spirit
of national pride and thanksgiving
in a gesture of united patriotism.
We love to celebrate
24
de c isio n
J u ly/august 2013
And where would we be were it
not for the men and women who
have forged new pathways of hope
for future generations? Men like
Martin Luther King Jr., who defied great resistance because he had
a dream that all people are equal
in the eyes of God. Little wonder
our nation consecrated a day in
his honor—a day to remember. A
day to give thanks. A day to listen
and learn. A day, perhaps, to refocus, reanalyze and rejuvenate what
ought to be.
God told us to “Remember the
Sabbath day” (Exodus 20:8), not
because He needed a break from
the work of creation but, rather,
because He had us in mind. I think
He wanted us to know that our
worship of Him is not a suggestion.
God created us to be unique and
purposeful. And the issue of worship lay at the heart of His divine
purpose for us.
This commandment brings
God, Jesus, Moses and man into
focus. God occupies our prime
consideration because He did what
only He could do in the very act of
creation. The Book of Genesis rolls
out God’s sequence of creation and
The Ten Commandments
provides the first clue concerning His divine order. God is the
God of order. And out of this
order comes the need for people
to stop and consider all that He
has done. This “consideration”
is the very act of worship itself.
And just as the Lord Jesus led
us in every way through His example on Earth, so the Father
leads us by stipulating a definite
time and day to stop and worship Him.
God’s command to keep the
Sabbath was not in any way
meant to suggest that worship
should be relegated to one day
a week. Every day is God’s day.
Every minute is God’s minute,
because there is never a moment
when God is not fully engaged
in the lives of those for whom
Christ died.
But as God looked on the
people Moses was leading, He
knew them intimately. After all,
He had created them in intricate
detail. He had “woven” them
and “knit” them together—each
individual, one stitch at a time.
And He knows the heart of man.
Moses was simply the mediator between God and His creation—and God knew full well
that people could never live up
to this commandment to keep
the Sabbath holy.
And so, when Jesus Christ
came to Earth, He came not to
replace this law, but rather to fulfill
it. Moses does not run the believer’s life. If he did, then the believer
would be subject to the legal interpretation of the law and would, in
fact, fail to meet God’s standards
and would sin in His sight.
Jesus is the One to whom we
must look for a clear understanding of this commandment. If Jesus
came to fulfill the law, consider
what He did. On Thursday, He
went to the garden of His betrayal.
In complete obedience to the Father, Jesus drank the cup of His
suffering and went to the cross—
thereby taking on Himself the sin
of the world. On Friday, He hung
on the cross. Satan must have been
“licking his chops” with satisfaction at the thought of having killed
the Messiah. On Saturday, Jesus
lay in the grave.
But on Sunday, everything came
to life. The stone was rolled away
and our Savior stepped forth in
majestic glory, having been raised
from the dead by the power of God.
That same day, believers came to
the tomb with the intention of
anointing His body with spices.
On that day they saw the empty
tomb and heard Jesus speak. On
decision
There are varying viewpoints regarding specifically when the Sabbath should be observed. Messianic
Jews and some other believers observe the traditional Jewish “Shabbat”—sundown Friday to sundown
Saturday. A majority of evangelicals
regard Sunday as “the Lord’s Day,”
on which churches hold their primary worship services, in keeping
with the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
And others believe the point is to
set aside one day per week—any
day—to rest and focus on the Lord.
We must be careful about this
special day. Yes, indeed, every day
with Jesus is sweeter than the day
“God told us to ‘RemembeR the Sabbath day’ not because
He needed a break from the work of creation but, rather,
because he had uS in mind. I think He wanted us to know
that our worship of Him is not a suggestion. God created
uS to be unique and purposeful. And the issue of worship
lay at the heaRt of His divine purpose for us.”
that day Jesus presented Himself
to them. On that day they ran and
shared the Good News with others. On that day they brought their
friends to see this for themselves.
On that day Jesus appeared to His
friends on the road to Emmaus.
On that day He talked with them
and walked with them. On that
day their eyes were opened and
they knew that He was “the way,
the truth, and the life.” On that
day they cooked food and ate with
Him. On that day He taught them,
and they went on their way rejoicing because they had been in the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
and had worshiped Him.
What a day! A day of worship.
A day of remembrance. A day of
witness. A day of giving. A day of
identification. A day of instruction
and learning. A day of rejoicing.
Jesus showed us what to do about
this special day. He showed us what
to expect and how to act.
before. Every day is cause for worship, just as every day is another
opportunity for someone to place
their faith and trust in Jesus Christ
and be saved.
Here’s the bottom line. God
took time out from His labor and
He told us to do the same thing. He
also instructed us to “keep this day
holy.” Perhaps some serious reflection is in order. D ©2013 Don Wilton
Scripture quotationS are taken from
the holy BiBle, new king JameS VerSion.
Don wilton iS Senior paStor of the firSt
BaptiSt church of SpartanBurg, S.c., anD
preSiDent of “the encouraging worD”
BroaDcaSt miniStry. he iS a frequent
Speaker at the coVe, where he iS ScheDuleD to leaD a Seminar thiS noVemBer.
for more information aBout the Seminar, ViSit thecoVe.org or call 1-800-9502092 or 828-298-2092 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
et, monDay through friDay.
j u l y / au gu s t 2 013
de c is ion
25
decision
Following Him
DurinG a Devotion
with staff of the Billy
Graham Evangelistic
Association, Stormie
Omartian thanked
BGEA and Samaritan’s
Purse for their
ministry after historic
floods devastated her
home city of Nashville,
Tenn., in May, 2010.
KicKer Goes Here
GrowinG in cHrist
Drawing
Strength From
God’s Presence
by RichaRd GReeNe
26
D e c isio n
J uly/ AuG uST 2013
photograph:
photograph:
Noted author Stormie Omartian
learns valuable lessons about
how God answers prayer
Following Him
down the steps of Adelphia
Coliseum. When they reached
the grass field, where thousands
of men, women, boys and girls
were gathering, they turned
around and there were Derek and
Matt. No, they weren’t disobeying their mother’s instructions.
They were obeying the leading
of the Holy Spirit. They wanted
to give their hearts to Jesus and
follow Him.
“We had prayed for them, but
to be honest we weren’t expecting them to receive the Lord that
night,” Stormie says. “It was so
great. I loved how God answered
our prayers in His timing.”
Stormie’s popular “Power of
a Praying …” book series was an
outgrowth of specially targeted
prayer groups that began back in
California after she surrendered
her life to Christ in October
1970 at the age of 28. She and
Michael hosted a small-group
study at their home, where Michael taught the Scriptures and
Stormie led the prayer time afterward. Group members shared
their requests, then they prayed
for each one.
The group started with 18
people but grew to 75. The
Omartian home was bulging
at the seams. With prayer time
easily extending past midnight,
Stormie added an extra meeting
once a month just for prayer.
That meeting was so well attended—and the requests so
numerous—that people prayed
till 1 a.m., or longer.
That’s when Stormie devised
a new strategy. She formed specialty prayer groups—one where
people prayed just for their children, another to pray for their
marriages, still another to focus
on their ministries.
“Out of these groups came
all of those books on prayer,”
Stormie explains. “As I was writing them, I was really surprised
to find out how prayer is so dif28
de c isio n
stormie
omartian
signs one of
her books for
a reader at the
Billy Graham
library.
ficult for so many people, how
they feel overwhelmed by it or
intimidated by it.
“Many feel like they can’t pray
well enough or long enough or
right enough or loud enough,”
she adds. “I wrote those books
to help people understand that
prayer is simply communicating
with God.”
Whether in her hometown
or on the road, Stormie keeps
praying throughout the day, as
1 Thessalonians 5:17 instructs.
“God has been teaching me that
I can’t take a step without Him,”
she says. “He doesn’t want us to
just turn to Him in a crisis, He
wants us to turn to Him every
moment. That’s why it’s easy to
“Many feel like they can’t pray well enough or long enough or
right enough or loud enough. I wrote those books to help people
understand that prayer is simply communicating with God.”
J u ly/august 2013
Stormie and Michael’s bedroom has a sitting area with two
couches, one facing a window.
That’s where she sits for morning
devotions and reads her Bible and
prays. She keeps an ongoing list
of specific prayer requests that
she marks off as God answers.
But she also asks the Holy Spirit
to lead her in prayer, bringing to
mind needs of people that she
may have read about in a Christian magazine or seen on a TV
news program.
“There’s always so much to
pray about that I’m never at a
loss to pray about something or
someone,” she says.
pray without ceasing because I
can’t get from point A to point
B without Him.”
Stormie encourages Christians
to recruit a prayer partner or join
a prayer group. “I believe in private time with the Lord, but the
Bible [also] teaches in Matthew
18:19-20 to pray with one another,” she explains.
“The Scriptures say that when
just two or three Christians are
gathered together in God’s name,
He’s there in their midst,” Stormie says. “What better reason do
we have to pray with each other?
He’s present with us.” D ©2013
BGEA
photograph: tommy berry/2013 bgea
decision
MICHAEL A. BAUGHEN
GOTTFRIED OSEI-MENSAH
J.I. PACKER
JOHN STOTT
Online training with BILLY GRAHAM
RAVI ZACHARIAS
ROBERT COLEMAN
FRANKLIN GRAHAM
WILL GRAHAM
Train. Motivate. Mobilize. Online.
Through 60 years of ministry in cultures across the globe, God has
blessed Billy Graham and his team with practical and effective strategies
for evangelism. Now these time-tested principles are clickable—
anytime, anywhere—in the Billy Graham School of Evangelism Online.
Enroll yourself today and study under leaders God has used to take His
glorious Gospel message to the ends of the earth—or give it as a gift to
your pastor or ministry team.
For more information, visit BillyGrahamOnlineTraining.org.
©2013 BGEA
A ministry of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
ONLINE EVANGELISM TRAINING
DIVINELY
Braves’
Hudson
Uses
Baseball
Platform
to Glorify
God
30
De C ISIo N
POSITIONED
J U LY/AUGUST 2013
BY CHARLES CHANDLER
On the baseball mound, Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson
hurls his trademark sinkerballs to keep opposing batters
from getting hits. Off the field, he’s all about serving up the
tender love and compassion of Christ to underprivileged,
ailing children—like hosting a young boy’s dream visit
to the Braves’ clubhouse and joining kids with various
afflictions on Christmas shopping sprees.
THIS IN aN eRa when many professional
sports figures dismiss their opportunity to be
role models. Hudson embraces it as a Godordained mantle for living out the Gospel.
“When you’re blessed and you’ve been given
things, a lot is expected in return,” said Hudson,
who recently won his 200th career game to earn
a place in Major League Baseball history. “You
don’t want to lose perspective of the platform
you have, and you need to understand that you
can do good with it.”
Hudson, who has a $9 million salary this
season, and his wife, Kim, say their life Scripture passage is the mandate given by Jesus in
Luke 12:48—“For everyone to whom much is
given, from him much will be required; and to
whom much has been committed, of him they
will ask the more” (NKJV).
“That’s something we kind of use as our
family motto,” Tim said.
Tim and Kim established the Hudson Family Foundation four years ago to help meet the
needs of children and families who reside in
Georgia and Alabama. The foundation provides
individual and family grants and scholarships,
supports nonprofit organizations, and gives
away children’s books and Braves’ tickets.
“God definitely put children on our hearts,”
Kim said. “[He] opened our eyes to so many
needs. It became very obvious that was where
we needed to plug in.
“A lot of people look for their purpose and
don’t always know. God made it crystal clear
for us.”
Kim and Tim, who have a son (8) and two
daughters (9 and 11), were moved by families
with ailing children who were struggling to pay
household bills, and parents who couldn’t afford
high gas prices to drive to a far-away hospital
every day to see their children.
“We couldn’t pretend we didn’t know what
was going on,” she said.
Even more important to the Hudsons than
the impact they’re making is their personal relationship with the Lord.
LeFT: Back in high
school, Hudson
never expected
a major league
career, but believes
God gave it to
him for eternal
purposes.
BeLoW: Hudson
responds to home
fans after gaining
his 200th career
win on April 30.
photograph: Left, bruce aLDer/ai wire/newscom; right, eriK s. Lesser/epa/newscom
“Jesus is everything to me and my family,”
Tim said. “Just knowing that somebody loves
you that much, to do what He did on the cross
for you and your sins. I always think about my
relationship with my kids, and how much I
love them and absolutely would do anything
for them. It’s overwhelming to know somebody
loves me more than I love my kids. That’s mindboggling to me.”
Hudson’s 15-year baseball career has been a
statement in consistency and under-recognized
excellence. He’s hardly a household name outside of the sport’s most loyal fan base, yet already
he has earned a place among baseball’s elite.
Upon winning his 200th game on April 30,
he had the seventh-best winning percentage
(.656) among the 110 pitchers with 200 or more
career victories, trailing only Hall of Famers
Whitey Ford, Lefty Grove and Christy Mathewson, and more contemporary stars Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Roy Halladay.
Hudson has appeared in three All-Star
games, and has won 15 or more games in eight
seasons, including one year with 20 wins.
“When you start putting it in a historical
context, his numbers are pretty impressive,”
said Braves general manager Frank Wren.
Hudson, who turns 38 on July 14, turned in
a dream performance when he won his 200th
game, 8-1 over the Washington Nationals. He
allowed only three hits in seven innings and excelled as a batter, hitting a home run—only the
third of his career—and a double. He became
only the second pitcher to homer while getting
win No. 200. The other occurred 56 years ago
(Cleveland’s Bob Lemon).
J U L Y / AU GU S T 2 013
De C IS IoN
31