My sweet grandmother had taken me with her to church services many times as I was growing up in Seattle, Washington. When Billy Graham came to town she took me on the city bus to the football stadium located near the area where the Space Needle now stands. That's where Billy Graham was holding his meetings.

I had a habit of leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and staring at the floor while my grandmother listened closely to whatever the preacher was saying. But as we were seated high up in the grandstand of that football stadium that day, she made a very stern statement that I will never forget: She said, "Sit up straight and pay attention!"

I had learned through experience that there were certain times that you DID NOT argue with my grandmother. And the tone of voice she used that day told me it was one of those times. So, I sat up and listened to what Billy Graham had to say that day.

He explained that I would someday come to the end of my life on this earth. He told how God had given me this body as a temporary home for my eternal soul. He pointed out that when my body died my soul would still live on. And he made it clear that there were only two places left where my soul could go to live for eternity: Heaven or hell.

He gave a brief but vivid description of each - Heaven is a wonderful place to spend eternity in the presence of a loving God. Hell exists as a lake of fire where I would burn forever in eternal pain.

Then he helped me to understand that I was, by nature, a sinful person. And he named some of the things I already knew I was doing wrong which were sinful. During all this time he was quoting verses from the Bible which confirmed what he was saying.

When he told me I could never get into heaven in my sinful condition he had my attention. For the first time in my life I understood that even if God loved me more than my grandmother loved me, he could never let me go to heaven. He is perfect and cannot even look upon sin and I am sinful by nature. That was NOT good news.

But then Billy Graham began telling me about what the Bible calls the GOOD NEWS. That's what the word Gospel means: Good news!

Because God loves Mister Kent so much, he sent Jesus to die for me and pay the price for ALL of my sins. Billy Graham explained that everything was paid in full and all I needed to do to receive it was to reach out and ask for it.

I wasn't the smartest kid in the world at age eleven but I knew where I wanted to go when I died. And it wasn't a lake of fire. So on that day, sitting high above the football field below, I reached out and took hold of the free gift of God's grace through Jesus Christ. Since that day I have experienced the love of God in my life and I know FOR SURE that I will go to heaven when I die.