{"id":538,"date":"2018-02-27T06:34:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T13:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=538"},"modified":"2018-02-27T08:29:37","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T15:29:37","slug":"god-uses-small-things-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=538","title":{"rendered":"God Uses Small Things for His Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never underestimate God\u2019s ability to use small things for his purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the world reflects on the amazing life of Evangelist Billy Graham, I remember with a grateful heart how his life influenced mine.<\/p>\n

I had the honor of meeting this humble man who walked as comfortably with Presidents and royalty as with ordinary people.<\/p>\n

I landed my dream job writing for the local newspaper while attending college. Besides news and feature articles, I covered area religious events and crusades. In a weekly column I often shared my Christian convictions.<\/p>\n

Note from a friend, a small thing
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A friend sent a brief note along with a clipping from Decision<\/em> magazine about a Christian writing conference at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

The newspaper sent me to the conference where I met Dr. Sherwood Wirt, Decision<\/em> founding editor. He became a friend and mentor. A year later I covered Dr. Graham\u2019s crusade in Knoxville, Tennessee, which made national headlines with President Richard Nixon\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n

Vivid in my memory are those ten days in May, 1970 when Neyland Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus became an outdoor cathedral. I still recall the exhilaration of that young journalist, covering press conferences with Dr. Graham, interviewing his beloved wife Ruth and team members George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows, and meeting Graham\u2019s mother, Morrow Graham.<\/p>\n

First book at 24<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Through Dr. Wirt\u2019s influence I was chosen to write a commemorative book about the event, Billy Graham in Big Orange Country<\/em>\u2014my first book at twenty-four. Vietnam hero Clebe McClary, who\u2019d given his testimony at another Graham crusade, saw the book and asked me to write his story, Living Proof.<\/em><\/p>\n

While we worked on the book, Clebe learned his high-school friend, Harold Morris\u2014missing for five years\u2014had been found. He was serving a double-life sentence in Georgia State Penitentiary for armed robbery and murder after being convicted by the false testimony of two companions.<\/p>\n

Harold spent over nine years in prison before being miraculously paroled and later received a full pardon. I wrote his story, Twice<\/em> Pardoned<\/em>, first book for Focus on the Family Publishing, a #1 national Christian best-seller in 1986\u2026seventeen years after my friend\u2019s brief note.<\/p>\n

Looking back, seeing how one step led to another, fills me with awe.<\/p>\n

Never underestimate God\u2019s ability to do huge work with something very small.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Never underestimate God\u2019s ability to do huge work with something very small. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>What small thing is he asking you to do today?<\/p>\n

Take a moment to look back and make a list of the stepping-stone events God used in your life.<\/p>\n

I’d love to know how God has used something small to do a big work. Please leave a comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never underestimate God\u2019s ability to use small things for his purpose. As the world reflects on the amazing life of Evangelist Billy Graham, I remember with a grateful heart how his life influenced mine. I had the honor of meeting this humble man who walked as comfortably with Presidents and royalty as with ordinary people. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,9,29,31],"class_list":["post-538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-billy-graham","tag-dianne-barker","tag-god-uses-small-things-for-his-purpose","tag-knoxville-tennessee-crusade"],"yoast_head":"\nGod Uses Small Things for His Purpose - Dianne Barker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=538\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God Uses Small Things for His Purpose - Dianne Barker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Never underestimate God\u2019s ability to use small things for his purpose. 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