Preaching To People Who Hurt: An Interview With Anne Graham Lotz
Anne Graham Lotz, founder and president of AnGeL Ministries, has passionately carried the Word of God to people around the world for the past 25 years. The daughter of Billy and Ruth Bell Graham, Anne launched Just Give Me Jesus in the year 2000, a series of life-changing revivals held in arenas in cities across America as well as internationally with revivals held in England, Wales and Korea in 2003. Arena events scheduled for this year include San Juan, Puerto Rico, Chicago and Seattle. Anne is an award-winning and best-selling author of five books, including Just Give Me Jesus, Heaven: My Father's House and My Heart's Cry. She is the wife of Dr. Danny Lotz and the mother of three married children. Preaching editor Michael Duduit recently visited with Anne during a visit to the Nashville area.
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Preaching: You have a new book out, Why: Trusting God When You Don't Understand (W Publishing Group). Why were you interested in writing about the issue of pain and suffering?
Lotz: I've sort of been interested in that myself — why that would be on my heart. One obvious reason is what my parents are going through. Although my father is handsome and strong and has scheduled three more major meetings this year, and mother's mind is still bright and sharp and she's still positive, their bodies are just wearing out — mother's more obviously so than my father's. She's no longer able to walk and she's in a wheelchair. I think seeing some of the physical struggles they've gone through — and then piling on are some other struggles and problems that they've faced — and then in my own life, things that just don't make sense.
When it started, my mother — right now my younger brother has moved home, sort of off and on. He's in Seattle right now but he's been living upstairs in my parents' home and he's organized their nutrition, their medication, their healthcare and it's just made a huge difference. I feel like my mother has been resurrected under his care. She's still very weak and frail but she's not at all where she was two years ago when this book was being born in my heart and we were struggling so. She was in so many near death experiences. It was a rollercoaster ride for those around her. I just couldn't take it anymore; I know a lot of people my age who are going through that with their parents. It's huge. Right now the rollercoaster has leveled out a little bit. And I'm grateful to the Lord and grateful to my little brother, I can tell you.
For whatever reason, I feel that the Lord put John 11 (the foundation of the book) on my heart and I don't exactly know why. In fact, I've wondered if something was going to happen nationally or internationally that would cause the publication of it to make sense — you know, why it would come out now. I think some things are so personal — it can be national and international in scope but also can be such a personal thing that maybe there's just somebody out there who's going through something really difficult that doesn't understand and need some answers and it would be perfect timing. So I don't exactly know but I've just had it on my heart.