From the Archives: Hugh Hewitt Interviews Greg Laurie

Everybody Greg Laurie here.

You're listening to the Grigori podcast and my objective is to deliver hopefully compelling practical insights and faith culture and current events. From a biblical perspective to find out more about our ministry. Just go to our website harvest.org so thanks for joining me for this podcast to a very special hour for me because my guess doesn't even know this. I don't think Greg Lauriebut 20 years ago this month.

I made my first television special ever about Greg Laurie Emma harvest Crusade. Until that time. I'd only done studio work for TCT in Los Angeles at what you got make a movie a 30 minute program about Greg Laurie's harvest to say that I was kinda weird tens of thousands of people were shown up into the stadium for so I took a camera crew down there. Greg Laurie and you were my first subject for my first ever television documentary. No, I remember that. And that was fantastic. It was a great show. How are you I'm pretty new to saying no no I don't have light here you… And cut my hair is what if we went back and looked at the 1992 show I would have brown hair.

Not one of the advantages of being bald is you just look the same.

Here so it's like you AG head of every woman then you can going to freeze-frame and everyone else catches up Greg what you been making ball jokes for two decades about my own and you have Eli got a list of them in your office are probably somewhere a Grigori.

Let's walk through that. The history of Greg Laurie and harvest and that starts with a history of Greg Laurie course when I made that movie about you were 10. At the time, and what is right, but give people that that that Grigori story well I'm the least likely guy you would ever expect to be an evangelist and then again maybe I'm the most likely guy. Let me explain. I wasn't raised in the Christian home my mom was married and divorced seven times. She was like this Marilyn Monroe look-alike I and so I was reason this crazy lifestyle with her you know she was a raging alcoholic and so I do grow fast too and I do learn to fend for myself. I I never really was taken to church. I never heard about Jesus, but to I always believe there was a God and you know I always know why exactly always believe that Jesus wasn't there somewhere. I'd seen all those movies you know. But I never really knew that much about him and I never really knew that I can know him well at the ripe old age of 17, I'm in high school that I've already feel like I'm 60 because of the life and had to live normally fending for myself, but in many ways taking care of my mom growing up fast asking the big questions of life.

Why am I here what is the meaning of my life was going happen after I die. I hear a presentation of the gospel. Almost by accident on the front lawn of my high school campus is a group of these Christians that I thought were all nuts who would meet up there for Bible studies and I sent him close enough to sort of eavesdrop on their conversation.

No one invited me to their meeting, and a guy got up and spoke in for the first time I heard the gospel the message of who Jesus is presented in an understandable way.

He gave an opportunity for people to believe I'd I was one of the people that got up and walked forward and prayed a prayer and I thought it's not can work for me because I'm just not the religious type.

I'm too cynical and too hard. I've seen too many horrible things in life already well into my life started to change my attitude started to change a weight was lifted off of my shoulders which I realize was guilt that was carrying around.

And so it wasn't long until I was doing the very thing I said I would never do, which is go out and engage strangers with the message of Jesus Christ. So about two years after I became a Christian I started a Bible study for young people. It turned into a church, it wasn't my plan but it did and it grew and grew and now we have around 15,000 people that call our church, their home, and the opportunity opened up to go under these large-scale evangelistic events and and so that's what I'm doing today and really it's not all that much different than what I was doing. Shortly after he became a believer. I'm going to people who are raised in the church who maybe are cynical, who maybe are skeptical who don't buy this and I'm saying to them, here's the message that can change your life, limbs, and give a fair hearing to it.

And so this is what I've been doing pretty much for most of my adult life now and in God is blessed it. We've seen a lot of people respond making a profession of faith which means that their roots coming forward and praying a prayer there committing their like to follow Jesus, not nothing. They've all become Christians but we know our job is to get this message out to as many people as we can.

And it's God's job to do what he will with this method. So that's kinda what I'm about and that's what I like to do and and I feel like our country needs it more than ever because I'd look in the cycle were in right now you know I think every Christian should register and vote and be aware of the issues, but at the same time.

I think the only real answer to turn our country around in the way it needs to be turned around is a spiritual revival annexing. This will bring about a spiritual revival, but it could contribute toward it that Grigori are also brief.

I first did the show about you 20 years ago for PBS's culture, the antithesis of a television evangelist.

You are a motorcycle riding surfboard loving H-bomb and I believe the high school at which you converted was Corrina Del mar Heights, right about the taxi harbor hi Barbara how you out. I wanted one of them were to okay and so that was Newport Beach down and in Southern California where Paul Revere and the Raiders knowledge people. The height of each culture and listening to them yesterday on my iPod. That's funny.

They were already gold bullies when you're a kid so you the antithesis of the and and I followed you by the way I want people to ship wife is not been easy for you. You had tragedy in your life you and tell people about that will sure.

I mean after all that I went there with my mom and that I wrote a book called lost boy my autobiography and we made a film as well and it is been very well received and so I can. It felt like okay it's time to tell my story to give hope to those who have suffered out there to tell them that they regardless of how they were raised or or what kind of family being had that God can bring good out of bad and and I worked on this subproject them. One of the people that worked on it very closely with me was my son Christopher who was a graphic designer and very talented and in 2008. On July 24 Christopher was killed in an automobile accident and looking back on my life. All the pain-and-suffering that was there. My upbringing was nothing compared to the pain of losing my son and look you. This is the truth. I tried to be very honest about this.

I still struggle with it.

To this day. I know God is good.

I know God loves me I know my son is with the Lord.

I know that I'll see him again.

But it's hard you wrestle with it to wrestle with the wise I and what I've come to do and what I keep coming back to is I don't know the answer to the why question so I guess it comes back to the one in the who and the what is or what am I supposed to do and I feel what I need to do is is I need to glorify God with my life and say in the midst of my suffering, God is been there with think look you.

Here's the bottom line if God didn't come through for me during this time I would've given a preaching.

Trust me when I tell you that but he did and has come through and does come through for me gives me the strength to get through each day. So that's the what in the who of course is the Lord himself and now I have a ministry to other people who've lost loved ones, especially children, and never asked for it.

Honestly, I didn't want it but now that it's happened to me. I have an understanding of it and I'm not saying I understand what everyone's going through. But I find people come to me a lot and asked me for help and then I'm wanting to help them because I want to say is when it happens to you. It seems like your world is ended in being a preacher didn't give me a leg up on this because of the end of the day was just a father who lost a son, but here's what I can tell you that there is a God who loves you and a God would understand suffering a God who understands it so well because his own son suffered and died.

And actually, the Bible says that Jesus bore our griefs and our sorrows, yet since Joey bore our sins, but when you go to Jesus with your pain with your grief with your anguish. You need to know that you have a friend in high places who understands what you're going through and the Bible says Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. You know, and I think we need that comfort from God to know that he can get us through this and so you know that they're just going to be other tragedies that will happen in life and there's never going to be acceptable explanations for them, but I believe that the love these things can be allowed by God to cause us to see our own mortality. One occasion time the disciples of Jesus brought up an issue of some tower that fell in a group of Gentiles read non-Jews and nonbelievers effectively and they were kind of employee will they deserved it in Jesus basically put it in context and end, and said, were they the worst sinners in all of Israel that he said unless you repent you will also perish. Here's what Jesus was saying, look, don't think this happened to them because they were more evil than someone else, like some people sing well. The attack on the World Trade Center that that was from God, no, no, no, please listen bad things happen.

It's not that all they were were so they got punished and here's what Jesus was saying unless you repent you will perish. Bottom line are all gonna die. Bottom line were all mortal. We all need to face these issues so the thing that I want to do is help people be prepared to meet God because there is an afterlife and I think a lot of times we talk about that is so it's a sort of this added thing. In reality were in the before life. The afterlife is what lasts forever. The before life is like the trailer before the film the afterlife is like the film if you will. It goes on and on and so you need to prepare for the afterlife. In the before life which were in now and that's what I address in our events.

I talked about why am I here what is the meaning of life. How can I know I will go to heaven when I die for Greg.

I got asked couple of secular initial secular show IP PRN on that just bushwhacked in their listen to a pastor and expect apologetic and that's fine hello little God here will change your life. Are you better at this now than you were when I made this film 20 years ago this month. Well I would say you know as you get older you just start perhaps recognizing the things that really matter in life and I would say I wouldn't see him better than saying I'm probably more focused. I think I've learned over the years things when you present a message that are an essential of the message.

I found that for this gospel presentation to be the most effective.

It's not only what I put in, but sometimes is what I believe out avoiding rabbit trails of things that are distracting and the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing I think with what I've gone through, especially with our son going to be with the Lord ever greater urgency. I suppose a people told me this at the message of hope resonates more strongly for my speaking now than it did before. And maybe the message of eternity. So I guess in this sense, what I'm doing this better than it was before, but you know it it's yeah it's a practical that Malcolm Gladwell says to either some 10,000 times are not really be great at it or not very good at it.

I don't more than 25,000 interviews and so I I'm better doing this now that when I talk to you 20 years to be humble and you have to be messages that you think you've given my a lot. I never added them.

You know Wayne says you've given one message that's very good. Dwight know that we have them around method of Jesus that reminds you of a story about one of Billy Graham's Associates was with them and Billy was like you know trying to figure what he was going to preach on of the crusade that night.

I don't know what to preach on in his friends in the Billy only have one message and in effect, the evangelist really does only have one message. I mean, I might have different illustrations all use a different text, but it all comes down when I'm doing evangelism not so much winning teachings of the Bible.

But what I'm doing evangelism.

It's a really focused message.

I guess in a way to open message here when you mentioned Dr. Graham. I wonder if it occurs you what the Lord leads me here for another 50 years, and for that I have to keep reaching for another 50 years.

What you think about that a lot be pretty all of you hundred and 10 so I think I'll keep going and doing this as long as I can. I is long as I can reach people effectively. I mean always be in ministry in some way cheaper formally always be doing these stadium events will I'm not sure about that, but by the always want to be telling others about the Lord in bringing this message of hope and teaching God's word admit that I do in the 20 years that I since I first met you.

The Internet didn't exist. So Internet pornography.

For example, in the ravages on young people, but it's taking did not exempt. We had terrorism we live in fear is getting harder or easier to tell people about Christ. Over those 20 years, that's a good question 25,000 interviews. I guess I really come up with one in a way, it's hard to answer. The way I want to see it's easier when you want to see it's harder let I'll just address it this way. I think people are far more biblically illiterate than they used to be. There was a time when I was preaching. Years ago when you know when you would allude to know in the flood. Adam and Eve etc. people all understood those cultural/biblical references, but people are so biblically illiterate today didn't know what the heck you're talking about so I find that I have to really break everything down explain everything. I think perhaps in many ways. The need is greater. Sort of like the this you know that the seeds that were sown in the 60s that of all the youth you were pushing away the traditional family and were saying we don't have moral absolutes is no such thing as good and evil or right and wrong.

Why is it we scratch our head and wonder when we teach young people in our schools today that their highly evolved animals and then they go to behave like one.

What were you expecting we've done everything we can to get God out of the classroom. Don't you dare posted 10 Commandments on the classroom wall.

You can ever prayer you can even of a moment of silence. You know it. We did everything to get God out of the culture out of the classroom out of everything and then we wonder why our culture is going the way it's going. The answer is we need God as Abraham Lincoln said the problem is we have forgotten God and it's still true and so that's really what I'm doing. I'm calling people to come back to God.

Or maybe for the first time to come to God and see what he has to say everybody Greg Laurie here. Thanks for listening to our podcast and the learn more about harvest ministries. Please subscribe and consider supporting this show.

Just go to harvest.org. By the way, if you want to find out how to come into a personal relationship with God. Go to know God.org that's key NOW GLD.org