Billy Graham near death, ‘close to going home to be with the Lord’

The Rev. Billy Graham is near death, and it won’t be much longer before he succumbs to old age and goes “home to be with the Lord,” his grandson, Will Graham, said this week.

“I wish [God] would give him strength, but I don’t think he needs strength anymore,” Mr. Graham said, to the Christian news site, Assist News Service. “It’s time to go home.”

Mr. Graham, who’s spread the gospel around the world — and to the highest political offices in the nation — just turned 95 on Nov. 7, celebrating with a North Carolina party that included more than 1,000 notable guests, Newsmax reported. He’s been ill for years, fighting off Parkinson’s disease, pneumonia, prostate cancer and pulmonary problems, and has also been plagued by issues from his broken hips.

Now, “old age has caught up to him and is sucking the life out of him,” said Will Graham, who is also the son of Franklin Graham. Just this week, Franklin Graham appealed to the world to pray for his father, saying in an online post at Charismanews.com, that “our family would appreciate your prayers for him that the Lord would strengthen him.”

Meanwhile, grandson Will said God’s protected his grandfather throughout the years, giving him “supernatural strength and now, the only thing left is for him to come home. God has removed his hand of protection and old age has set in,” Newsmax reported.