Growing up, I was taught to look up to my elders, but there were only a few whom I considered to be ancient. I didn't really know my grandparents , so I had little opportunity to observe any close relatives who were well along in years. Perhaps the oldest person in our family I can remember seeing regularly was an uncle who often came to our house for Sunday dinner. As I recall, he was a janitor at the county courthouse in Charlotte, and I always looked forward to his visits because he usually had some interesting stories to tell about local politics and other happenings around the courthouse.
I loved the audio version so much that I ordered a hard copy to read, and re-read, and to mark up the comments at which I kept pressing "repeat" to hear over and over, in hopes of retaining it. I received this book for review from the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze program. At one time, seniors were honored, and now we think of them as useless.
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There Barzillai—at great sacrifice and life-threatening risk—provided food and shelter for King David and his men. Without Barzillai's assistance David and his men might well have perished. There is great comfort available, even to the aged, when we remember Him. In addition, he also received the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. Graham married Wheaton College classmate Ruth Bell Graham in 1943.
His reflections are filled with forward-looking anticipation, hope and blessed assurance that it leaps from the pages and captivates the readers. He remains straight to the point and realistic, and includes common concerns that growing older may bring to the table. He challenges readers to prepare for life, but encourages us to surrender our lives and hearts to the Lord.
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It is always great reading a book filled with wisdom from someone who lived a long full life. Graham wrote about topics we don't generally read about, death, retirement and aging. There are a lot of things to consider and Billy Graham brought all of these to the forefront in this book. Dr. Graham addressed the issue of our influence and the legacy we leave behind when we graduate to glory. He writes about how important it is to be godly yet relevant in our communications with the younger people we are going to leave behind when we go home to glory. Granted I'm pretty sure that all of Graham's books have been very evangelistic in nature, and I guess I just don't really enjoy that.
Rev. Graham has accomplished so much for the cause of Christ, but he is always humble in his demeanor and writing. With his years of public speaking and impassioned oratory, Graham writes simply and well. Much of the book comes from his own experience, while he also makes good use of news stories, anecdotes, and popular culture.
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It may be superfluous to say, but I am impressed with Graham's close knowledge of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. He quotes with ease, and his Scriptural references invariably are on point and illuminate what he is trying to say. If a senior knows the Lord, they have a long acquaintanceship with evangelism and Billy Graham.
Dr. Graham has sage wisdom about the last laps of the race for those who manage to survive all the stupid things they did when they were younger. He's who he is, so the reader should expect an altar call along with admonitions for a Christian life, however much of what Graham writes is valuable to all. In his time, Hesse was a popular and influential author in the German-speaking world; worldwide fame only came later.
He talks as a sage who has truly learned wisdom and the way of the wise in contrast to the way of the foolish of our day who have no regard for God or his Word, the faith, or anything sacred. In Nearing Home, Graham explores the challenges of aging while gleaning foundational truths from Scripture. “When granted many years of life, growing old in age is natural, but growing old with grace is a choice,” says Graham. In Chapter 1 Dr. Graham writes about "Running Toward Home" - home being Heaven.
Despite being a Christian since preschool, I've never actually read any of Billy Graham's books, or even heard an entire sermon in full. So I was excited for his latest , and I wasn't disappointed. He also argues that people advanced in years should not dread this season of life but seek God’s purpose.
Throughout his career, Graham preached to millions around the world. Billy Graham keeos his perspective simple and God based. To ask other readers questions aboutNearing Home,please sign up. To see what your friends thought of this book,please sign up.
Are you willing to be used by God regardless of being bound by physical ailments, financial constraints or the loneliness of growing old? As a grandma of five, I heard a repeated theme or call if you will, to invest the fruit of your experience in the lives of others. Billy Graham is passionate about legacy and leading other generations by example. Life is a journey of many steps and growing older is a gradual process. I love the book and plan to get copies for gift giving.
I think it can be an encouragement to those who are older and maybe feeling like they can't really do anything for God or be active in the body of Christ. However, the limited audience, tendency to veer into evangelism, and over focus on Heaven make it hard for me to really recommend it too much. I have no doubt that there would be people who would love this book, but I'm just not one of them. This is the third book that I've read by Billy Graham.
Rather, he asks them to follow seriously their own religious path. His teachings are valuable but the teachings of the Dalai Lama are probably closer to me. Join Billy Graham as he shares the challenges of fading strength but still standing strong in his commitment to finishing life well.
He encourages proactive growth and good choices and encourages us to look more than the here and now, and inspires us to live a life worthy of the calling we receive from Christ, who has given us this life we live. Graham uses this opportunity in his final book to reflect on life, old age, death and heaven with decades of experience behind him. One of his themes and best takeaways is that he was always prepared to die but never prepared to grow old, and therefore is seeking to help his readers with the latter. His thoughtful mixture of preaching truth, scripture and anecdote was Graham at his best, and certainly drew me to a deeper understanding of the gospel and faith.
Graham also spoke about preparing for death, and not just in the financial sense. Here Graham poses an important question to which he provides an excellent answer in his second sentence. He then pivots to explain his answer in Christian terms. A reader could accept the second sentence from Graham while offering his or her own spiritual understanding in a third sentence, which might or might not agree with Graham's. A secularist, Jewish person, or Buddhist, for example might want to put spiritual beliefs in their own terms.
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