North Carolina

World renowned preacher Billy Graham is spending the weekend receiving several family members at his home in North Carolina to celebrate his 91st birthday.

"I've experienced God's gracious love in a personal way all these years," Graham said in his reflection. "Today my heart is filled with gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for me, and for all the prayers from so many people over the years."

According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Graham is still in good health though dealing with various age-related conditions such as macular degeneration and hearing loss. more >>

The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., is hosting a special two-month tribute to the late Ruth Graham that will display items from her personal life the public has never seen.

Items range in the time period from Graham’s childhood in China as the daughter of missionaries to her years of raising five children in the mountains of North Carolina.

Among the memorabilia on display beginning Monday are: her wedding dress, entries from her personal journals, correspondence between her husband Billy Graham and herself during their early years of marriage, photos from her trips to China, her early artworks, and a handwritten letter from a young Ruth to Santa Claus. more >>

Evangelist Franklin Graham will deliver a 30-minute message next week during the pre-race festivities of the Coca-Cola 600, one of the nation's most prestigious motorsports events.

The head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will also deliver the invocation just ahead of the memorial weekend event at Lowe’s Motor Sweedway in Concord, N.C.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to speak to these race fans," said Graham in an announcement Monday. "I've been a race fan most of my life, so to have this chance to speak about God's love and to present the Gospel is a real privilege."
As the longest continuous race sponsorship in NASCAR, the Coca-Cola 600 attracts approximately 180,000 fans to Lowe's Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. more >>

One of the fastest growing churches in the country hosted former evangelical leader Ted Haggard and his wife on Sunday in a "no-holds-barred" interview.

Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., knew inviting the disgraced pastor who was involved in a sex and drugs scandal was controversial. But he said he wanted the 5,000-member congregation to hear the whole story of Haggard's "fall from grace" – as many label it – first hand and let the story speak for itself.

"I want you to see what it looks like when a man deceives and lies and then his sin is found out," Furtick told Elevation attendees earlier this month during the church's "Healer" sermon series. "And then I want you to see what it looks like when a family stands by someone and forgives him." more >>

A 61-year-old mission group that assists in Bible translation installed their eighth president Saturday morning and later dedicated a special aircraft.

JAARS, Inc., which provides technical support services and resources to Wycliffe Bible Translators, SIL International and related organizations, officially installed David Reeves as its new president Saturday at the JAARS Center in Waxhaw, N.C., outside of Charlotte.

Reeves is a 24-year veteran of the Wycliffe Bible Translators family of organizations, which JAARS is a part of. more >>