Thousands Attend Jersey Shore Will Graham Celebration

When Billy Graham preached at Ocean Grove's Great Auditorium in 1955, he was 36 years old. Last weekend, his grandson  preached three messages in the same venue at what the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) called the Jersey Shore Will Graham Celebration.

At 36 years old, the younger Graham's vocal tone, delivery, and message reverberate with his grandfather's influence.

Graham made the most of media hype over  that the Christian rapture would take place Saturday evening at 6 p.m., mentioning it in all three messages, but saving his strongest statements on the topic for Sunday afternoon.

There is increasing interest in the "end of days" theme, Graham told 4135 people Sunday. He's heard Muslims and Hindus talk about it, he said, and the topic permeates pop culture and movies.

"There is nothing left to be fulfilled for the rapture to take place," said Graham.

"Today, you can know for sure where you'll spend eternity," he said, as he invited people to come forward.

The front center section of seats was removed from the auditorium to accommodate the BGEA style of evangelism. At each session the floor filled with potential converts and with counselors .

13, 871 people attended the Celebration and 860 responded to Graham's invitation to "make a decision for Jesus," the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assocation (BGEA) reported Monday.

Before he preached Saturday night, Graham said he was encouraged by the feedback he had received from local pastors.

"What we've heard is there's been answered prayer. We've seen church unity. Those are the two big things we look for and it's gotten even stronger since we've been here," said Graham. He described the number of "decisions" that were made throughout the weekend as "cherries on top."

"We've seen God do work in this community already and lives are being changed. Before the event even started, people were coming to know Christ. It's not really about Will Graham. ... The churches have been doing all the work. ...Tonight we just get to see it all at one time," he said.

The Celebration cost $520, 000, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association Chief Administrative Officer Scott Hoffman told each audience before asking for donations. 75 percent of the budget was raised in advance, he said, noting that Will Graham receives no compensation from these funds. An audit will be published in the Asbury Park Press, said Hoffman. 

Four-time Grammy Award winning vocalist Michael Tait sang with the Grammy nominated Newsboys Saturday night. Tait was a member of DC Talk, which The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music named "the most popular overtly Christian band of all time." The band has been on hiatus since 2000 and Tait became lead singer of The Newsboys in 2010. 

Born Again, Newsboys' first album with Tait at the helm, entered the Billboard charts in 2010 at number four, one spot above pop star Justin Beiber's release, Tait told an overflow crowd Saturday night. The group performed an energetic set that included songs from their new CD as well as the Newsboys hit "Shine" and the DC Talk hit "Jesus Freak."

Singer-songwriter Matthew West sang and played guitar throughout the weekend. West has written songs for Rascal Flatts, Mandisa, and Billy Ray Cyrus, but has faced potentially career ending vocal challenges in recent years and a hand injury that threatened his ability to continue playing guitar.

Seeing the scar on his arm as he plays reminds West that he shouldn't physically be able to do what he is doing, he said Saturday night.

"God is so faithful. He has brought me to this place where I can be in New Jersey and minister like this. It's just an honor," said West. 

Grammy Award nominated hip hop artist Flame warmed up the crowd Saturday and newcomers Chasen did so on Sunday. 

God Rocks entertained 1216 children at Saturday morning's Kidzfest and 161 of them made "decisions for Christ," said BGEA staffer Wanda McCurdy.

McCurdy and other BGEA staff will remain engaged in the area for about six weeks to ensure that new converts get established in participating churches, said McCurdy.