Best of 2020: Pastor Greg Laurie Then & Now: Making a Deal with God

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God, you want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me you can reach me at greg@harvest.org again that's Greg harvest.org and you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. Never try to make a deal with God. A very young pastor Greg Laurie recounts how he used a bargain with God to help it out of a jam.

We were driving along and it was raining and said our car started started losing control, and you know I remember right out of God help me out of this well. All you all this is a link God got me out of another fixed but I wasn't a servant like your joining special edition beginning pastor Greg Laurie is here with me in the studio Pastor Greg as part of our series of most requested messages of the year were going back into our archives.

In fact, this is not even going into our archives. It is actually coming from somebody else's archive from many years ago we would never even have a copy of this message. This goes back to the 70s I think when you were 24 years old. Yes you get this message and I like the first thing I gotta ask you is how do you feel about hearing your message from that long ago.

Do you agree with everything you said, you know that sex is a good question.

You know what this 66-year-old Greg Laurie likes the 24-year-old Greg Laurie I agree with what young Greg said. And you know he wasn't bad he hears what I like about them. His voice was very high. My voice is dropped a bit since then, he spoke very quickly. But what I like about them is he based it on the Bible and that's all I started out, and that's were I still am, because you know the power is in the word of God, Dave, but this is a very unusual message in that I gave my complete testimony and I was very interested. Listen to it because you know you go back in your memory, you wonder, do I remember thing exactly the way it happened. It sort of like I came across the Dead Sea Scrolls of Greg like this was very close to what it happened. It was only a few years after my conversion, and there were a few details in this story that you're about to hear that. I tell about my life that I had actually forgotten about you.

That's right. I didn't mention that my last telling of my testimony. So it was really fascinating to listen to. It's almost like it's another person but yet it is me and so working to play it for you. Now a 24-year-old me I was sharing my testimony of how I came to put my faith in Jesus Christ.

This is something I don't normally do because I don't like to dig up the past, but sometimes I think it's good to do for the point of just sharing what Christ can do in a life I want to just take a few minutes to go a little bit into my life before I knew the Lord in shipment of my own personal testimony and how I came to know Jesus Christ. Right now I'm 24 years old and I accept the Lord when I was 17 years old I was going to harbor high school I was born in Long Beach 1952 and my mom was married and divorced seven times and so I had a really lousy childhood. I never had a father that I could find security and I never had the family image you know Ozzie and Harriet type everything milk and cookies after school. I never had that I was brought up in an environment where I very quickly I believe matured a little quicker than most children my age because when most kids were out playing baseball with their buddies and stuff. I was getting an insight into the very adult world that I was soon to join and a lot of times they didn't have younger friends. I was around adults more than young kids and I watched them swap wives and drink their way around and try to have fun and wake up the next morning and and I just looked at the lives and saw the emptiness and it really quickly and I knew that I wanted something more. But I didn't know what I really wanted. So as a young boy and I got into school I went to military school because my mom didn't have time to watch me.

She had to work in. Believe it or not it was a straight a student on the honor roll. Good kid. Private Lori you know and as I was in military school. It got to a point where I was going to get out and so I transferred onto a public school and I was so used to the discipline and back in military school. You say yes sir to your teachers and the teachers were uniforms and you are uniforms that just like the Army except you're a bunch of little kids, you know it's really kind of a strange place and so I got out of military school to a public school, and there was absolutely no discipline any longer. I can do whatever I want.

So I totally reverted to my other nature. What I really wanted to be and just basically was a rotten kid in the sixth grade I caused a lot of trouble. I cost so much trouble and made so many enemies and I would write things on the blackboard when the teacher was going to yell things out of the middle of class and makeup jokes and draw weird pictures of the teacher in various environments doing strange things and so they would come into the office and tell me there were going to ask tell me my mom called him and said she would sue the school system if they expelled me so they decided to leave me in school and my teacher hated me so much that once when I was outside and the rest of the class was there. She said you know what I like to do the Greg Laurie I would like to bury him up to his neck in the sand. Let Red Hat has had I really teachers hated me, but I love that you know because they have teachers down on you is just like kind of an ego thing. One day my teacher really got me though I was in the sixth grade. I want say what I used to call them but I call them what I usually call them and he picked me up by the seat-of-the-pants and spanked me and had heard that everyone saw me get spanked was horrible. I couldn't believe it. And so I was really mad after that and I really set out to cause trouble.

I got in the seventh and the eighth grade I I went to Harborview elementary school that I transferred to Lincoln junior high school that's local around here and I got in there and you know and I was starting to grow and that all noticing girls more and of course I noticed girls before that but beginning to aggressively go on dates and you know the Sadie Hawkins dance and all that kind of stuff, but I always had a problem with girls. I was scared of them I would get these big infatuations that see a girl and fall in love with her.

You know I was always into meeting the perfect girl that get around it and I would freeze up. I didn't know what to say I could talk to anybody you know make them laugh say lots of things that I get around a girl I like my heart would start beating in Iraq like a total jerk. You know, so I got in the high school and at that point I was starting to think about what direction I wanted taken my life, I was thinking know what I want to be really. I looked around at the different types of people. We had every kind of guy in our high school. We had bikers with athletes, windsurfers and we had the people who are into their study and all that I started looking over the athletes matter know about your schools but the school I went to this is Corona Delmar high school CAMHS. We had different sections where the athletes would stand in one section and the servers would stand in another, the athletes withstand one section where the letterman jacket put 1 foot up on the planner and the cheerleaders would stand around and drool you know Jennifer freshman went through Senior Square in my school, they can him headfirst in the trashcan and then they had the surfer section and this was this long letter all the servers that you know 22 may servers all at the same you know they got the blonde hair cut and hang 10 T-shirts and the sandals built to sit there. Points talk about that man you know so all the servers that went by and then there were these were people he hung around the vending machines you know I don't know what they were there they meant vending machines. You strange and then there were those who like to hang around in the library and study at lunchtime. I never could understand that at all and so I decided I wanted to go out for sports now as you can see I never was a great physically built person but I was always good at that track and running things like that and so I went out for football for a split end because I figured you know I don't have to sit around and get annihilated in the front line. I can run Opera passes and be a hero and all that and so I went for football I was doing pretty good and it was hard because you know you got a get out there and kick these bags not coaches really some sort of matter, something he wanted you to get to this thing, this big metal thing with these pads on it and hit and she started bleeding. So we did that. You know it was that big, macho image being an athlete and I worked in got the Butchart cotton went out and got all my football equipment and I was called into the office about a week before season started told I couldn't go out because my grades were too low. I really bummed me out because I work for months. You know in the training and after school and giving up my time at all men forget that.

And so we go to dances at night and drink a sixpack of colt 45 and that kind of thing and then a friend of mine told me about smoking marijuana.

Now I'd seen the movies you know in school that they show you that were made in 1934. The guy smokes it and turned into a raving maniac and runs out murders puppies and things like that so my friend told me said, men smoking grass is really good. You really don't like it and I said not bad, you know I and I had all these ideas in my mind and he said not good in doing so we sat down in this room and it was really dark. It was just like I thought it would be and I was expecting that you know the police to come bursting open with submachine guns Elliott Nacional. Nothing happened.

We got loaded and I kinda liked it… That's kind of fun. I think I'll get loaded and drink a little on the side and again I wasn't a big thing to me it was still just a social thing just going through the normal antics and I can walk across the campus and everyone would come up to me go to great hi Greg how you doing, I knew everybody.

I was popular but I didn't have any friends and I didn't have anybody that I really could sit down and open myself up to.

I always joke a lot and make fun of people and walk up and put them down and that was my big act in life, but I was really empty inside and I was trying to cover it over you listening to a new beginning today a special edition of the program and who is this guy that we've been listening to you kid using our airtime today. This 24-year-old weirdo talking has a very high voice, and he speaks too quickly. He always gets me hit me from 42 years ago.

Yes we mentioned in the beginning the program. Dave, we recently came across this old message that I did when I was 24 years old and in this particular message. I share my story of how I came to put my faith in Jesus Christ and so we thought our listeners might enjoy it. So were going to pick up or we left off.

Here's the rest of the story from a 24-year-old Greg Laurie hit rhymes I started getting into smoking grass little bit more and this was in the 60s and it was when the so-called hippie movement darted gaining popularity, you know, to an intern on dropout Timothy Larry and all his garbage that he gave out, and that kind of thing and I started seeing him on the news and hearing about these rock concerts and people coming into this hippie thing where you know you get natural with people and you love your brother and you love sisters and three loving loving that the park and I thought hey man, that is where it's at. They got the answer and so I was getting in trouble a lot of credit of our high school I was called into the office just about every other day for something or another.

So I decided to transfer to Newport Harbor high school because I heard that over Harbor high you could get loaded in the front lawn and normative and hassle you. So I transferred over. And you know it was mostly true. I started hanging around with a bunch of friends that were really into get loaded in. I started growing my hair long and doing the whole thing and really becoming a hippie. Now I was so proud of myself and it's a funny thing because someone that takes drugs, they often think a little bit better than you, especially someone that does it more than just a social thing. I walk around and thought, you know, as Jimi Hendrix would've put it. I was experienced. You know I'd come into a new dimension. It was like everyone else was lame but I was really into what was happening and I was into a different realm of thinking in a different realm of awareness and I really had an answer and I was really proud of myself and I started dropping LSD taking acid and I started doing it a regular basis and really enjoying it and thought I was coming into a whole new awareness of thought and I have drawn cartoons my whole life and I started doing my art and Johnny's little cosmic creek seen on paper and we started growing marijuana in our backyard and really get into, and I just thought this was so far out that run into some of my old friends. My old athlete, you know beer chugging buddies that see me and I knew what they were thinking that you get all Greg just become a pothead, but I knew that I was really turned on and they were just lame.

They didn't know. You know I had it together. I thought that so one day we went down to Laguna Beach where can I buy a kilo of grass and went down and got it put in the trunk of our car we drive back was a very rainy night and driving near Laguna Beach along the cliffs you know that you know if you got a cliff in trouble and we were driving along and it was raining and suddenly our car started fishtailing, we started losing control, and we slid into the other lane we were going right taken on traffic and my friends were freaking out that's in the backseat and I saw the headlines in the paper the next morning drug freaks killed on the freeway I could see the old lady guy next to you know that I don't want to go this way and I remember crying out God. If you get me out of this one all serve you all hope that you all do this and do that in word spinning out and all of a sudden I got back in the living wrench. Thanks a lot God you know God got me out of another fix, but I wasn't in the sermon reminds me of the story. The guy that was slipping down the house he was losing control.

We can get hold of himself is going.

God help me God help me was almost at the edge of the roof and all of a sudden his belt got caught in a nail.

He said it's okay, God, I got caught in a nail.

That's why was that whenever God would get me out of a jam, I would say you know all it's all right got it worked out, not realizing that he was the one that worked it out and so it got to a point where I started to get loaded up my friends for 56 times a day.

I had about a D average height.

I didn't care.

You know people say your grades are likely.

Who cares what good is an education.

What good is this life. I look at these people that tell me about an education and I saw that they had so little and they were so empty inside. Not that I was really getting a real education. You know I was learning about life the right way. I thought, and so you know, just getting into that and taking acid on the weekends and that was my whole life. You know I want in front of Chuck's missiles probably about five or 600 times before.

As a Christian and it's funny because they told me this later they used to look out the window and pray for us because we on the corner we use to deal drugs out of the sky's house in a big parties and get loaded and sit on the front you don't do well is spaced out. Nothing, and they used to drive my look at us and pray for us all the time and little did I know that you know later on that those people get to be a real major part of my life. Walk right back and forth to their house, never knew what they pray for us and you know, praise the Lord works sort of got still changing, and so things just began to progress in one time we were walking across the parking lot and we were holding a lot of drugs on us and I saw a cop parked over in the shadows. 90 was good about this. Any minute.

I looked in and I saw space and he was reputed around the Newport Beach area we call the Babyface because he had a face like a 17-year-old, but he was about 30 or so and he hated hippies he hated them and he would harass you to no end.

And so we walked along we started dropping the drugstore pants legs and everything try to get rid of mouse that he got scratch that. You know the siren and the whole thing is only about 20 feet away was around. Take this out of the car. All right you happy Frakes goes down starts risking that you didn't find anything. And I remember saying all God you get me out of this one.

Lord, you know. Well, he got me out of it and I was happy and shined it on again and so we went over and we would get loaded with our friends and just kept doing it doing it and then one day I think the thing that probably every person that takes drugs. Maybe fears happen to me.

I took acid one night and I had a bad trip. Get me wrong I went to my bloodstream.

I started to panic and made a rush and I just started going wacko right there in the room. The room started spinning. I started seeing all these strange faces and I kept hearing this voice yell out to me you're going to die, you're going to hell.

You're going to hell and I just freaked out and I started screaming my friends at the physically hold me in the room because I just totally gone overboard.

I just thought sure I was dying and then one of my friends came in and and you know I remember crying out all God help me God help me, and it just got worse and worse and everything just got more wiped out in more. I couldn't see anything and everything was just horrible. It just so much of Satan you know.

That's why so many people were into drugs often go off into mystical type things because there's no doubt about it, it opens you up. I did not believe in the spiritual realm, but as I took drugs by not achieving it drugs. I'm just saying it open me up and I got more in the Satan himself, and saw that there really was an evil force but fortunately by God's grace, he was able to get hold of me before I went too far and so I came down that day off it nice and I'm never taking LSD again in my life. That's it.

That scared me and I'll just smoke weed. Forget the asset but in my friends Taken and I really want to get you know turned on again acid so we had a English class and we're supposed to go watch West side story and Romeo and Juliet for our class. I loved Romeo and Juliet.

That was one of my favorite movies because again I always had the thing meeting the perfect girl and falling in love and so I love that movie and I went and my friend say let's take LSD all he that'll really be good so we took acid and sat in the movie was sit there watching the movie I can watching the wall for that fact you know just end this girl was sitting in front of us and she turned around for a minute to turn back and I just looked at the girl.

The elk I was stoned watching Romeo and Juliet. I see this girl and I start going there she is. I've met are finally here, and I knew that this was the one and so I really wanted to meet this girl.

So the next day, Monday at school. I was walking across the campus and Isar all right. She was talking to a friend of mine. I just walk right up there and I looked down and she had a black book with gold edges on it and I went. She said Jesus free if you want to be popular in school. You don't become a Jesus free.

I just looked at her and you know wow what a bummer. And so I started watching and I want to go across the campus. I do like the Christians because the Christians would walk across the campus Monday morning at 8 o'clock first. And saying you know might not not Friday fifth. Monday first. And anyone that can be happier that time was a little wacko as far as that's concerned. And I would be singing about Jesus and carry in their Bibles, and I just couldn't identify with that and so I saw this girl and one that is that not the front lawn and the friends that he there's a guy on campus.

Many selling orange sunshine that LSD case is whether to get all right, you know, for the weekend and so I won't walking across the campus looking for this guy. I started hearing his you know keys and I look over and here's the about 50 of these Christians sitting love that the way Christians began.

Then they'll point out to this guy pointing out so I just looked at him and I saw that girl. Her name was Chris and I saw that there she is in. And then I saw this guy talking with sit down and he had long hair and a beard. While he can look like sort of a turndown guy maybe has some good things the same. If you listen to this guys I set down close enough to hear what they were saying but not too close up. You would think I become one you going to do that. So I sat down and listened and I kept looking at Christian again all man I'd sure like to get the north. Listening to this guy and he said that just shook me off. He said Jesus said you either for me or against me that what he said. Jesus said you're either walking with me are your scattering against me in opposition to me.

I some thought that mean that if I'm not, like one of these Christians that I'm against God. I thought, I'm not against God and God got me out of a lot of jams I believe in God not called upon Elise help me out but yet I am not like one of these people began to realize that either.

I was for Christ or against, and I was always considered to be neutral to myself you in between. But I realize that to be undecided at that point was to be decided really touched my heart. But of course he and I would become a Christian. It is touch my heart is interesting thing is just no way I would become a Christian.

And so the guy said another. Some of you don't want to give your lives to Christ. Today I want you to stand up right now in the front of a high-scoring there's hundreds of kids. They went eating sandwiches and get out to stand a very good Jesus money that is crazy and he people got out and started going up there and I looked out the ground and I started feeling this funny since patient something I've never known before, and it was a very alien sensation and it was something just drawing me and calling me. Now I know it was the Holy Spirit. I looked out the ground.

I said I'd like to do and I really would like to see if it's real.

I tried everything else. Why can I try that, but I just can't do it and then about a moment later I was up there I don't know what happened but I got up there and the people put their arms around me, which worried me a little bit and they prayed a prayer I don't even remember what I pray I don't remember what happened but I remember it was after we were done praying that girl came running up to me and said brother. That girl Chris.

I like and threw her arms around me and hug me and then I thought maybe this Christians that you got an idea.

Again, my motivation for going in hearing the meeting.

That time was totally wrong. I wanted to meet a girl with the Holy Spirit had different plans for me. That's Pastor Greg Laurie Young Pastor Greg Laurie just 24 years old giving us his testimony of how a troubled kid ended up coming to the Lord, and serving the Lord and he is more to share. Next time you're on a new beginning. Now we title this trip back in time. Pastor Greg Laurie then and now it's one of the earliest recordings we come across Pastor Greg's teaching. It was one of the most requested presentations of this past year and if you missed any part of today's program order a permanent copy on CD by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 yesterday. We each have people in our lives that need to meet Jesus personally. Our hearts ache for them to enter into that relationship and we have a resource actually an entertaining movie that very well could play a role in them meeting the Lord is not right yet is it's called a rush of hope. How do we describe it we can call it avenge attainment. I just created a new word. It's entertaining but it's evangelistic. It seems like the two are mutually exclusive and it's entertaining but there's no real message in it or if it's evangelistic will that's on entertaining. I think this is both because it is cinematic it was shot by filmmakers that know what they're doing kingdom studios directed by John and Andy Irwin, directed by Ben small bone it shot beautiful locations in Colorado and Montana and it includes scenes from films that you've probably seen before like I can only imagine. I still believe in Woodlawn, and we told these compelling true stories of life that were changed by Jesus Christ, and then I bring a message at the end where I share the gospel in a very understandable way and I extend an opportunity for a person to accept Christ, and I even leave them in a prayer. And guess what we've seen thousands of people pray that prayer and asked Jesus to come and live their life and now for the first time ever, it's available for you on DVD to show to your friends to show to your family to show to anyone you want to show it to and will also give you a special code where you can stream it to show it on a phone or a tablet or send a link to someone else to watch.

So if you want your own copy of our cinematic crusade called a rush of hope. Contact us and will send you one for your gift of any size sure we could have charge for this, but we thought let's get it to people we want more people, not less people to got it and so will give it to you for whatever you can send out some may only be able to send a little some concern a little bit more. Some of you can be generous and help us out, but will take those resources use and I will use them to continue to develop projects like the Russell Pope and continue to bring the gospel to our generation because I think you would agree with me when I say America needs the gospel.

Let me expand that the world needs the gospel. This radio broadcast of certain different parts of the world and this film can go all over the globe. With your help. Order your copy of a rush of hope and will send it to you as quickly as possible in advance. Thank you for whatever you can do to help us financially in the world is never needed to hope for the gospel more than it does right now and it's a strategic time to put your investment to work through a new beginning to write us today for your copy of our rush of hope along with the DVD will include some resources to help you host a watch party in your home and will include that special digital download codes you can watch the movie on your tablet or smart phone or computer to write us today at a new beginning. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 and we can take your call anytime or go online to harvest.org Greg Laurie here personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study.

It's a worship service church in your home. You're able to get out your church right now. If so, join us for Harvest at Home people are listening this from around the world listen to this. We have seen thousands of people commitments the fall of Troy. Join us this weekend Harvest at Home.oh well, next time more of our trip back in time for 1977. Pastor Greg gives us more of the story of his journey to Christ. Join us as we continue our series of most requested studies of the past year beginning possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God sign up for pastor grades free daily email, devotions@harvest.org