In 1953, Robert Jeffress’ mother, Judy, got saved at a Billy Graham crusade at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl.

After the crusade, Graham — the world-famous evangelist who died Wednesday (Feb. 21) at age 99 — gave a guest sermon at First Baptist Dallas.

“The day he preached, he also joined the church,” said Robert Jeffress, who grew up in the historic Dallas congregation — which will celebrate its 150th anniversary this year — and has served as its senior pastor since 2007.

Graham formally placed membership at First Baptist Dallas — where the late Rev. W.A. Criswell was the longtime pastor — even though he didn’t live in Texas. He never would. But Graham maintained that membership for more than 54 years.

On the day of Graham’s passing, Jeffress remembered his mother’s reasons for choosing First Baptist.

“My mom looked at my dad and said, ‘If it’s good enough for Billy Graham, it’s good enough for me,’” Jeffress told Religion News Service in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

“And that’s the day she joined the church,” added Jeffress, who is one of President Trump’s evangelical advisers and part of a delegation of Christian leaders visiting Israel this week.

“A year later, I was born and grew up at First Baptist Dallas. So, in many ways, I’m a Christian — and I’m the pastor of my church — because of…

In Kathie Lee Gifford’s interview yesterday on Megyn Kelly TODAY, the actress, singer, and talk-show host shared memories of her beloved friend. Amid personal anecdotes and expressing gratitude for his ministry and how it impacted her family’s faith, Gifford also shared from the heart about her faith in Jesus. Looking directly at the audience at times, she said that we have hope, as Christians, when we die. She also said that our world really needs peace right now, no doubt a nod to recent tragedies. Not holding back, she continued: “If you had the cure for cancer, would you keep it quiet? I know the cure for malignancy of the soul, and He has a name, it’s Jesus.”

In the wake of Billy Graham’s death, Gifford has been given a platform to share the Gospel message to countless viewers. Not only did she share on this show, but on her own show, TODAY with Kathie Lee and Hoda. Since this significant interview, The TODAY Show has continued to report on Rev. Graham’s passing, featuring other interview segments, including one this morning with Rev. Graham’s son, Franklin Graham.

Commenting on Rev. Graham’s roles as both father and preacher, Franklin Graham said they were one in the same: “He spent his life telling people about Heaven, how to get to Heaven. He wrote books on Heaven. Now he’s in Heaven.” He continued, “And he would want me to tell…

In the wake of the death of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, controversial faith-healing televangelist Benny Hinn, who has often been criticized for his endorsement of the prosperity gospel, said in a stunning confession Wednesday that sometimes he has taken the erroneous gospel too far.

“We get attacked for preaching prosperity, well it’s in the Bible, but I think some have gone to the extreme with it sadly, and it’s not God’s word what is taught and I think I’m as guilty as others. Sometimes you go a little farther than you really need to go and then God brings you back to normality and reality,” Hinn, 65, said as he reflected on Graham’s death with a ministry colleague in a Facebook Live broadcast.

He admitted that as he has grown older and come to understand the Bible more, he now realizes that some of the things he learned from preachers when he was growing up aren’t biblical and the popular interpretation of the prosperity gospel — the teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the “sowing of seeds” through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings — is one of those things.

“The more you know the Bible…

President Donald Trump says arming teachers could help stop school shootings.

Teachers with concealed guns could stop shootings “very quickly,” he said.

The proposal is supported by the NRA lobby and comes after the Valentine’s Day shooting at a Florida school that killed 17 people.

“It’s not going to be talk like it’s been in the past,” Trump said of background checks on gun buyers.

This week, President Trump welcomed about 40 students, teachers and families into the White House’s state dining room, where he listened to them discuss gun reform.

Outside the White House, hundreds of area Washington, D.C. teenagers rallied for support to arm teachers.

Andrew Pollack, whose daughter died in the Florida school shooting, told Trump that current gun laws aren’t working.

“We, as a country, failed our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mark Barden, whose son was killed in the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut, said he didn’t believe more guns were the answer.

“Schoolteachers have more than enough responsibilities right now, than to have to have the awesome responsibility of lethal force to take a life,” he said.

A 2013 poll by the National Education Association found that only 22 percent of teachers said they liked the idea of arming staff. Nearly 70 percent opposed the idea.

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