Haynes: Graham to make Route 66 God Loves You Tour stop in Amarillo

Organizers of the Franklin Graham Route 66 God Loves You Tour had expected 4,000 to 5,000 people to attend last Sunday’s first stop of the two-week evangelistic effort in Joliet, Illinois. In Graham’s first, large public-speaking engagement in 18 months, some worried that the continuing pandemic might keep people away.

Apparently the offer of God’s hope was a strong lure. According to the ministry and WJOL radio, more than 8,700 showed up to hear Graham and some well-known musicians proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Most brought lawn chairs to sit in 90-degree heat on the asphalt parking lot of Chicagoland Speedway.

Amarillo and Texas Panhandle residents are invited to the fifth stop on the tour at 4 p.m. today at John Stiff Memorial Park near 45th Avenue and Bell Street in Amarillo. The temperature was expected to approach 90 here, too, but the park will provide grass instead of hot asphalt. Those attending are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets.

Knowing the parking congestion around the park during past Fourth of July fireworks events, I suggest getting there early. Even though it’s been 21 years, this son of Billy Graham, preaching the Christian message, drew big audiences for three nights to the Texas Panhandle Festival 2000 at Dick Bivins Stadium.

Graham said in a July telephone interview from Alaska that Amarillo and the other locations were chosen for the 2021 tour because Billy Graham Evangelistic Association leaders thought these cities would be receptive.

“Of course, we’ve been in Amarillo before, and we have contacts with the churches. So we felt that we had a good base to work with there,” he said.

Graham said he’s aware the nation isn’t out of the woods yet regarding COVID, and in Illinois a week ago, he addressed the issue.

“Many people are afraid. Many people are scared,” he said from the outdoor stage. “Many people don’t know what to do.

“Twenty years ago, 9/11 changed the world. In 2020, the pandemic changed the world.” But the ultimate answer, he said, is in the title of the tour.

“I’m here to tell you, ‘God loves you,’” he said.

Members of local churches have taken a Christian Life and Witness course in order to be counselors at today’s event, and they hope area church members will invite neighbors and friends to attend. A friend in Florida told me he hopes it won’t be just a rally of Christians but a time of change for people who haven’t given their lives to God.

That kind of effect was seen in Joliet, where the BGEA reported that “hundreds” made decisions for Christ in person and “hundreds more” did so through online and text responses in both English and Spanish. Plans are for all the tour stops to be streamed at https://godlovesyoutour.com/live.

After Joliet, the God Loves You Tour was to stop at St. Louis on Tuesday, Springfield, Missouri, on Thursday and Oklahoma City on Saturday before driving down I-40 for today’s Amarillo event. The tour will continue at Albuquerque next Tuesday and Flagstaff, Arizona, on Thursday before concluding Saturday at San Bernardino, California.

Graham is joined on the tour by Newsboys, who have had 33 No. 1 Christian radio hits; Marcos Witt, a Hispanic singer and pastor; and Dennis Agajanian, a longtime performer at BGEA events.

Graham said the event’s purpose absolutely is the basic evangelistic message of the Bible but that he also can’t ignore the current state of the nation and slide of our culture away from biblical values. He recalled recent conversations with former Vice President Mike Pence about the political and cultural crossroads that face America.

Graham and Pence were in Alaska in July supporting Operation Heal Our Patriots, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, which Graham heads along with leading the BGEA. The ministry offers guidance, marriage counseling and recreation to wounded veterans and their spouses.

“Every week we have couples that get saved,” Graham said from Alaska. “We baptize them right here, and the water’s cold; it’s like liquid ice. And so you get baptized here, they mean it; it’s the real deal.”

Jim McKee, a Bible teacher at Hillside Christian Church in Amarillo, believes now is a perfect time for Graham to bring Christ’s message to Amarillo and all along Route 66.

“Franklin Graham communicates so well how man has departed from the path of God,” McKee said. “But he tells us how to find the love and grace of Jesus and return to God’s straight way. He speaks scripture so clearly, showing God’s moral absolutes, but also God’s love to all who believe in his son Jesus.”

As Graham said on the phone, he and I have a little more gray hair than we did during his Amarillo festival in 2000. But with multiple ministries, he’s as active as ever. He’ll be at the park today.

So will I.

Mike Haynes taught journalism at Amarillo College from 1991 to 2016 and has written for the Faith section since 1997. He can be reached at haynescolumn@gmail.com. Go to www.haynescolumn.blogspot.com for other recent columns.