Premier Radio Thought on Billy Graham

Billy Graham was once asked, “Where is Heaven?” He replied, “Heaven is where Jesus is and I am going to Him soon!” 

Now the great Evangelist has passed to Jesus.

His words about Heaven remind me how the person of Jesus Christ continues to intrigue people, drawing them from earthbound pursuits towards what’s ultimate and eternal. Although he taught and healed in the days of his flesh what’s distinctive about Christ is the transformation of his flesh at the resurrection. Jesus is bigger than death and he invites us to expand our own lives through death into his resurrection.

Reflecting on Billy Graham’s death last month Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby wrote: ‘He was one who met presidents and preachers, monarchs and musicians, the poor and the rich, the young and the old, face to face. Yet now he is face to face with Jesus Christ, his saviour and ours. It is the meeting he has been looking forward to for the whole of his life.’

How do you see Jesus? How do you see Heaven? In Jesus Christ we see by faith one who points us beyond the grave to ‘the fulfillment of all desires, the joy that knows no ending, gladness unalloyed and perfect bliss’. 

Such is Christian faith - and faith will one day vanish into sight, the sight of Jesus face to face! As John writes in his first letter: Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Christ is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 

Listen again on Premier Christian Radio’s inspirational breakfast show at https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Weekday/Inspirational-Breakfast

Thought of the Day on Premier Radio about Praying the Rosary

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. 

For many Premier listeners the Rosary will be a hidden treasure if it is a treasure at all! 

Why do I, as a Bible-believing Christian, pray the Rosary?

I do so because Christians I respect, who love the Lord, have taught me to pray it. It’s actually such a popular Christian prayer that it must go on all the time. 

The prayer is centred on the joys and sorrows in the life of Jesus recorded in scripture. Groups of meditations upon these are constructed out of the basic unit or Decade of: one Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s and one Glory be to the Father. 

As it says in Hebrews about our being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, I believe Mary and the Saints are alive and surround us in prayer all the time. I don’t have a problem with asking their prayer to God though I realise others do.

The way I pray the Rosary is as I go about my life. If I see someone joyful I think of the joy of Jesus and say a decade for them. If I hear of someone in trouble I will think of the crucifixion, and, looking to Jesus with Mary say the Rosary for them. 

The great thing about this traditional prayer is that you can pray for a length of time on behalf of others to God without needing to find your own words.

Lord we thank you for all our aids to prayer and especially for the Rosary. Amen.