Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham, said this week she is preparing to meet Jesus — and every other Christian should, too.
At 75, Mrs. Lotz told The Washington Times the next transition in her life would be on her mind because “I believe our world events and the things that are happening are falling in line with the signs Jesus gave that would be characteristic of the very last generation. I believe that’s my generation.”
But being a breast cancer survivor and having buried her husband Daniel Lotz, in 2015, and her father three years later, Mrs. Lotz said life now has a way of placing the prospect of eternity in front of her.
“I just came from the funeral of a guy that was one of my son’s dearest friends. They went to high school together, he’s 53 years old, and he went to bed one night, and the next morning he woke up in heaven,” she said. “You just never know when you’re going to step into eternity. And at that moment, you don’t have time to get ready, you have to be ready.”
Being ready, she said, is the theme of “Preparing to Meet Jesus: A 21-Day Challenge to Move from Salvation to Transformation,” which Multnomah releases on Tuesday. Co-authored with her daughter, Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright, the book offers Bible readings and devotional thoughts designed to help believers move from the basics of accepting Christ as Savior to a deeper spiritual encounter.
Teaching the Bible is a Graham family enterprise. Mrs. Lotz’s brother Franklin heads up the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which continues the public outreach meetings made famous by the group’s namesake.
For her part, Anne Graham Lotz has long had a public role as a Bible teacher, authoring best-selling titles such as “Just Give Me Jesus” and “The Daniel Prayer.” Her nonprofit AnGeL Ministries, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, offers videos and other resources for Bible study groups.
Billy Graham said Mrs. Lotz was “the best preacher in the family,” but she and her daughter demure when reminded of that statement.
“Nobody was a better preacher, not only in my family, but in the whole world of his day than Billy Graham. There’s no question about that,” Mrs. Lotz said. “Make it all human history except for the Apostle Paul.”
Ms. Wright, 48, said a lack of good spiritual information for new believers helped fuel the need for the book.
“In some of these churches, even one that I’m attending right now, [they’re] so big that people can just come and go and not be noticed and not get involved,” she said. “There’s the music and great preaching and then they leave and I just think ‘Is it making a difference in their everyday life?’”
Mrs. Lotz agreed and said, “One reason for the trouble we’re in as a nation is because the church has not been the church, and people who call themselves by God’s name are not living it out in an authentic relationship” with Jesus.
She drew an analogy to her 49-year marriage to Daniel Lotz and how that relationship grew over the decades.
“I knew enough about him that I was in love with him,” Mrs. Lotz recalled. “I wanted to get married. I said my vows of commitment” in 1966, she said.
“He went to heaven right before our anniversary and at that point, I knew so much more because it was a lifetime of living with him,” Mrs. Lotz said.
“Our relationship with Jesus is the same way,” she said. “We commit ourselves to live for him, to obey him, and then we need to grow in that so that you can look back and see the difference your relationship makes.”
But, she added, “We’ll never know Jesus completely” until that heavenly encounter. “When that moment comes, I don’t want to be ashamed.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.