"Just As I Am," Billy Graham's signature hymn, embodied his style as an evangelist
Graham's altar calls never featured much fire-and-brimstone rhetoric. Neither does Charlotte Elliott's positive, gentle song.
Billy Graham (far right) with June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash at a Billy Graham Crusade in Asheville, North Carolina (date unknown). RNS file photo.
(RNS) — For evangelist Billy Graham, it all came down to the "invitation," the climactic point at the end of his crusades when he invited people to leave their seats and "make a decision for Christ."
And it wouldn't be a Billy Graham invitation without "Just As I Am," the slow-moving, soul-moving hymn that accompanied millions down the aisle and became Graham's signature anthem and title of his 1997 autobiography.
"Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me," the hymn's familiar first verse goes. "And that thou bidd'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come."
