3 Other Billy Graham Rules, Pillar #4 of Alzheimer’s Prevention, It Might Seem Egotistical…
Business
The Other 3 Billy Graham Rules
As we discussed in our last post, the “Billy Graham Rule” is most known for its rule on avoiding even the appearance of sexual immorality. But, there are three other very important parts of the Billy Graham Rule, also known as the Modesto Manifesto. Let’s look at each of these lesser known rules.
Operate with Financial Transparency – At the time all traveling preachers were funded by love offerings taken up at their events. Plenty of those preachers would just pocket the offering. That led to a common belief that all traveling preachers were just in it for the money. Instead, Graham put all of the offerings into the ministry and he drew a salary that was set by a board of directors.
Avoid Criticizing Other Pastors and Churches – Graham’s ministry always worked to cooperate with local churches when setting up their evangelistic crusades. They knew that criticizing other churches or pastors was counterproductive to their mission and the Bible.
Be Painstakingly Honest in all Publicity – It can seem that many ministries are marketed by their attendance or the number of salvations. These metrics matter, but it can be very tempting to inflate them. Instead, Graham’s ministry was scrupulous about reporting attendance figures. They would rely on data from turnstiles or on reports from local officials. They would always round the number down to be safe.
These are great rules that can apply to all of us, whether we are in ministry or not. And they work. Billy Graham and his ministry have been scandal free throughout their history. Transparency works.
In our next post, we’ll hit the hot topic – how the Billy Graham rule applies to sexual immorality.
Health
Pillar #4 of Alzheimer’s Prevention
We’ve covered Pillar #1 – Diet & Supplements, Pillar #2 – Stress Management and Pillar #3 – Exercise. This week lets focus on the final pillar, Spiritual Fitness.
Spiritual Fitness? I have never heard of that term before. Let’s see how the ARPF defines it and how we can become more “spiritually fit.” The ARPF states that spiritual fitness has the following benefits:
- Reversal of amyloid plaque, which may increase risk of Alzheimer’s
- Improvement in your genes via healthier telomeres
- Slowing of Alzheimer’s progress
- Improved overall brain health
- Defense against Mild Cognitive Impairment.
But what is spiritual fitness? Here are some of the attributes of spiritual fitness:
- Contentment (Phil. 4:12) & socialization
- Having a purpose or mission in life
- Service to others
- Peace of mind
- Acceptance and forgiveness of yourself and others
This spiritual fitness thing sounds straight out of the Bible! Service, community, contentment, peace, forgiveness – all Biblical.
From a natural viewpoint, have you seen people deteriorate substantially after they retire from their work? What about after the death of a spouse? Have you seen people thrive after either of those situations?
What did the thrivers have? In my experience, they all had a purpose for their lives. They had a calling they pursued after retirement or the loss of a loved one. We are on this earth to serve a purpose. If we are not doing that, it makes sense that our body and mind would begin to deteriorate.
Great stuff. I love it when secular research backs up what I read in the Bible!
Life, Fun, Whatever…
It might seem egotistical at first but think about it. Would it be better to walk into a room focused on yourself or on the others in the room?
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