|PIC1|Legendary US evangelist Billy Graham has recently stated that as he gets older, he is focusing more on God and less on politics.

The 87-year-old preacher told US magazine Newsweek that his free time seems to have made him focus more on God and His love, and less on political and social issues.

“The older I get, the more important the eternal becomes to me personally,” he says.

The preacher now thinks that both left- and right-wing movers and shakers have gone too far by blowing minor issues out of all proportion.

He feels they have ignored the core issues of the gospel such as making the love for God and for other people a priority.

|QUOTE|This is a far cry from Graham who in 1963 said that only Christ’s return would restore racial equality, while later he dismissed people protesting for peace in Vietnam as attention-seeking. Ten years ago he told the St Paul Pioneer Press: “I don’t think there is a single social issue I haven’t spoken on.”

Graham believes politics is secondary to the Gospel but also that in some cases it is necessary to engage. He told Newsweek: “I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I’m sure, but I think you have some — like communism, or segregation — on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out.”

|TOP|But while Graham may be pulling further away from politics, his son Franklin, 54, is fully engaged with it: “My father certainly has views on politics. There are moral issues that do find their way into politics,” said Franklin, founder of global relief project Samaritan’s Purse.

The nearly 60-year service of Graham, who has preached the Gospel in more than 185 countries and territories, was honoured in April by former US President George H.W. Bush, who called the reverend the "conscience of our nation."

Graham accepted the 2006 George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service as a pastor who has given guidance to people of all faiths throughout the nation and overseas.

In other news, the construction of the Billy Graham Library, a new evangelistic outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is slated to open early 2007.

"As I travelled around the world, people tell me how much they wish my father could preach the Gospel forever," stated Franklin. "Through this library, long after he, Cliff Barrows, and George Beverly Shea are in Heaven, their evangelistic ministry will continue to touch lives with the message of salvation in Jesus Christ."