July 19, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Friday, July 19.
Bill Bright died on this day in 2003. Do you know the name? He did more, perhaps, than any other modern man to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, with the possible exception of his mentor... Billy Graham.
Bright was greatly influenced by Graham's evangelistic fervor and in 1951 he founded an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ on the campus of UCLA. What better group to target with the gospel, he thought, than college students, who were just beginning their adult lives, who were starting families - the Baby Boomer generation. This organization - now known as CRU - is still operating in 190 countries and has over 20,000 staffers.
In 1965, Bill Bright published a little booklet called The Four Spiritual Laws. I remember using this gospel tract as a teen in Houston as I learned how to share my faith. To date, it's been translated into over 200 languages. With 2.5 billion copies, The Four Spiritual Laws is among the most widely distributed religious material in world history - second only to the Bible.
In 1979, Bright produced a motion picture titled simply "Jesus." Unlike many Hollywood Bible movies, it features a script that is authentic to the Gospel story. Today it is available for download in almost 2000 different languages and has been screened over 8 billion times - making it the most viewed film of all time.
At Bill Bright's death, this was a quote from a friend. "He carried a burden on his heart as few men I have ever known, a burden for the evangelism of the world."
The friend's name was Billy Graham.
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
