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Out of that discussion emerged the "Modesto Manifesto," as it came to be known, a set of practical guidelines for maintaining moral purity and avoiding even "the appearance of evil" amid the lures of money, sex, and power. Realizing that such rigorous standards would be impossible to keep without God's help, they joined together in fervent prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guard them from those dangers. The fact that Graham's ministry has been so miraculously preserved from even the whisper of immorality is clear evidence, I am convinced, that their precautions have been honored and their prayers have been answered. Christians around the world have been blessed as a result.

The importance of this principle for Graham was underscored once again in the "Amsterdam Affirmation," the 15-point document to which over four thousand evangelists from every continent of the world gave enthusiastic assent at the close of the International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and held during 1983 in Holland. As Dad and I sat together at that session, I could not help being impressed at the clarity of Affirmations VIII and X in pointing to the continued need for moral purity: "We acknowledge our obligation, as servants of God, to lead lives of holiness and moral purity, knowing that we exemplify Christ to the church and to the world"; and "[we pledge, moreover, to be] faithful stewards of all that God gives us [and] to be accountable to others in the finances of our ministry" and to be "honest in reporting our statistics."

We "must study as hard how to live well," Baxter once wrote, "as how to preach well." Many a "tailor goes in rags, that maketh costly clothes for others; and many a cook scarcely licks his fingers, when he hath dressed for others the most costly dishes." God never saved anyone for being "an able preacher," but because the preacher was "justified," "sanctified," and "faithful" in the Master's work. Therefore, "we must take heed," Baxter concluded in a warning that Billy Graham has echoed many times, lest we "mar the work of God by our weakness."

While eager to learn all he can from his critics, Billy Graham's ultimate authority is always the Bible. Early in his ministry, among the pines of the Forest Home conference grounds in California, he came to the rock solid belief that the Bible is the very Word of God. Questions about the authority of Scripture had been troubling the young preacher for weeks. Knowing that the matter must be settled in his mind if he ever hoped to preach with authority and power, he wrestled with his doubts until he was able to pray: "Oh God, I cannot prove certain things. I cannot answer some of the questions my friends are asking. [Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God."

That simple prayer transformed Graham's ministry—and convinced him, once for all, of the Bible's absolute authority. Since that special moment at Forest Home, no conviction has marked his ministry more deeply. Across the years, the Bible has remained the foundation for his preaching and the ultimate standard by which he judges both his relationships and the conduct of his evangelistic work.

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November 13 1995, Vol. 39, No. 13