Rick quoted the apostle Paul’s statement, “When I am weak, then
I am strong,” as setting the basis for this strange mixture of strength
through weakness. Like Paul, Billy leaned into his weaknesses.
“Now think about it,” Rick said. “If anyone could have been
confident, it would have been Billy. But I never saw that. I saw
only humility and a bowed head. In fact, I made a point for the
last twenty campaigns to bring a team of pastors to pray with him
every night before he went into the pulpit. That, I think, became
for him one of the most important moments. It was his way, too,
of saying, ‘I don’t do this in my own strength.’”
■ ■ ■It has often been said, “No man is a hero to his butler.” Well, how
about to his photographer?
Russ Busby has been the eyes and memory of Billy Graham
ministries since the earliest days—he was one of the organiza-
tion’s first employees. We caught up with him by phone at his
Southern California home, following his commute that day from
the Graham offices in Charlotte. When asked about Billy’s suc-
cess, Russ immediately emphasized the same core dynamic. “It’s
his personal time he spends with the Word. He listens for what
God says to him; so when Billy says something, it comes out of
his own experience.”
As we explored various aspects of Billy’s leadership, Russ
always came back to Billy’s spiritual disciplines and the Bible. “His
ideas are uncanny. God has given him the most unusual vision in
almost every area of sharing the good news. It hasto be a gift from
God!” When we asked Russ how all that study of ancient Scrip-
tures connected with Billy staying relevant, he described Billy’s
connecting the Bible’s timeless principles with ever-changing real-
ities. “Let’s go back to what Jesus said. If you want to be the great-
est, you must be the servant of all. Not the leader, the servant.
Billy is a servant of all, including his team. It’s ‘What can I do for
you? What do you need? Where are you coming from?’ You are
back to Bible principles. That’s where he learned it all.”
Plugging into Continuous Voltage