From the Archives | Chuck Smith: Man of Impact Part 1

Everybody Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the glory 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 this interview you're really here with this man of God is unlike anything you've ever heard before. Back some of the things that he will say will surprise you, but in a good way but it gives you some insights into who you as you might say will wait. I've never heard of Chuck Smith. Well, I don't know what planet you're from, but just in case you haven't, let me tell you little bit about him for the Jesus movement right was like a mighty wave that swept of the church in the late 60s and early 70s and for all practical purposes, change the course of the church in the 20th and the 21st century.

During the Jesus movement.

Contemporary Christian music was born during the Jesus movement contemporary praise and worship music was effectively born during the Jesus movement.

There was a return for many churches. The Bible exposition may be a more relaxed attitude toward how people dressed in making a more about the heart than the way you looked, and I think it was a bona fide legitimate spiritual awakening and at the forefront or should I say is the epicenter of it all was. Pastor Chuck Smith.

In fact, he has been referred to as the father of the Jesus movement so he was certainly there and after the diminish to some degree in other areas of the country. The Jesus movement continued on in great power there at the church he pastors in Southern California, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa Aviles. Listen now is you and Pastor Chuck spent some time talking the church was packed overflow facilities were full and so many were watching online, that it maxed out the system. Let's listen.

I just reread your book your autobiography, a memoir of grace and it almost would like a story out of the Bible that you know when I look at how God put his hand and you would a very early age, and your full name is Charles Ward Smith and you were born in Ventura, California, and your mom and dad were Charles and Mark right and I got two brothers, Paul and Bill, who is in heaven tonight along with your father and your mom I your sister something happened traumatic, and it impacted you. You were even born yet. Tell us about what happened to your sister Virginia and how it impacted you in the way you will raise will actually my sister the role of regular purposes felt she was dead as she had spinal meningitis play cousin heads died of spinal meningitis just two weeks earlier she'd been playing with them at all and she came down with it and she quit breathing in my mother. My dad was down at the floor playing believe is a real pool chart but my mom took my sister there was a church just about two blocks up the street from the hotel they were in and so she ran up to the church and got hold of the pastor and I asked you notice he came in and saw my sister and he said to my mother just get your eyes off of the your daughter get your eyes on Jesus, just start worshiping Jesus and he started praying for that God would restore her life to her and the my dad and I get said come home from the pool on that his wife was gone and the nurse. It was there said what I think your daughters did and she went up the street and Melanie's was going to go up and beat up the minister and unit take her to the hospital but when he came in and saw her lifeless body. He fell down on his knees and just started crying and elected realized that she was gone within. She opened up her eyes and was healed.

And so that really made a dramatic change in the family and about to blow my mom as she was praying to the Lord if you will give me my little girl back again. I'll give you my life. I will serve you. I will do whatever you want me to do and go in the ministry or whatever you know and so actually about that.

Two months later when I was born and the doctor came in and said will Mrs. Smith, you have a little boy.

She said said she prayed and said, Lord, through my son I will fulfill my vow to you.

So from the time I was just a little kid. She started me excited and so from the time you little kid. She was reading the Bible to reading the Bible to apex. He taught me to read when I was four years old. Macy and I would read to her while she was ironing and the so I just you know she started me memorizing scriptures and so every just grew up on the word of God I in your book, a memoir of grace you write that those biblical characters became my heroes or the heroes they were my friends and people I knew and among whom I live the most of all, I ran with Dave that yes I love that your favorite Bible character.

Well as a kid he sure was all probably now but then it was David and just I could just picture myself running with David's guys and on just noted it was always exciting and so Charles and mod took the Smith family, the church every week you guys went Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night so you are in church a lot, but when you weren't age 14. At church in Ventura. Something happened where you you encounter the Lord and in a different kind of weight you remember that nice I surely do we been admin on vacation at Bass Lake and that we returned back to Ventura and it was a Sunday night and my folks decided they were going to go to church that night, but dead that we have the keys to the car and said I could go and so and in those days and at 14 I got my drivers license and so I drove on down to the church and but that night it was sitting with my buddies and when the pastor gave the invitation for the people to go forward. I turned my friend and I said it'll go down with meetings and know know beyond a distant one. So I just went by myself but I mean it was really just God really got over my heart that night and it was a very exciting experience and found myself just shaking really with the presence of God in my life when I went home my mom and dad were still up and so I was sharing with them how that that night I really made a commitment of my life to Jesus Christ. So, okay, tell me about the your call to ministry Chuck well actually Greg, I was studying to be a medical doctor that is not that we would migrate doctor. I think that a lot of compassionate infected. So I think what was in my heart Helping people in the not just had that that you know and I figured you know that the as a successful doctor. I could be a great layman in some churches and also help support and just serve the Lord in that capacity, and the I was living in Santa Ana at the time and the pastor came up one Sunday and said you know there's a lady in the church that is pain a sponsorship for someone to go to the youth And why don't you go and I said I know that plans to go to Karen Gilmartin and Serafin so that we here was this oh my, this is about 1943, 44 somewhere in there, and the so you plan to go to the beach by the code of S as summary and the horse grunted.

Omar and her stack for the Jenny was there for the way for big know the Jenny was there with you when you still watch the end of the jetty when the waves were were up I ended we would all head into the water.

You know the kids those ways and that so I went on up to the summer camp and the speaker at the camp was a very inspiring fellow and he made the statement you have only one life.

It will soon be passed in only what's done for Christ will last. And so that afternoon I was out under a big pine tree in just that my Bible and just thinking about one life it will soon be passed only what's done for Christ will last and the so I felt the Lord speaking to my heart and say look, you can go ahead and become a doctor and you can help people physically, and you can help them for a time, but they're all going to die.

But if you will devote your life to helping people spiritually. Then you're going to help them eternally. Not you want to give your life for something that is temporal is something that is eternal and I couldn't argue with that. And so that was where I felt the Lord was calling me had to go to Bible college and so I figure when I went home and told my mom that I was in a be a doctor.

I was going to go to Bible college and city of USC and she civil son and that's what you feel the Lord is calling you to do that's wonderful.

I didn't know that she had made this promise to the Lord when my sister was dying, that if the Lord would just bring her back to life. She would serve him and so forth.

And that's when I was born. She said Florida fulfill that through my son I didn't know that until she was on her deathbed and then she told me she said she did what that to influence me. She wanted to to be the Lord. Her heart must've just like what choice did Amanda and I thought she so cool you know I thought you keep that all those here so you want to life Bible colleges right started out amazingly as a traveling evangelist them in your known as the expositor extraordinaire, but you are in a traveling evangelist and within the Lord redirected you want to talk a little bit about your wonderful wife Katie Morgan talk about a more beyond this, but I wanted to talk about the time you met her. It was on a ballgame. As I recall and I think your brother Manfred McGregor's plane, and so she comes along and that wasn't the first time you saw wasn't what I'd seen her the night before down the echoes of Eden, a black church in Los Angeles where the young people used to go Sunday nights because they had a radio broadcast in their good music and it was just serve the in thing for the kids to go down there and I saw her. She's going down yeah and so the next night my brother was playing ball and I went up to watch and play ball in there was this gal sitting there on the stands in the benches. There and so I was a newer and so I was sitting there talking to her and all in K came up with some of her friends and she been in Bible college that night and had to come over to the game after the school and the sheet got out a hanky and started dusting off the bench and so I scooted away from this gal because I didn't wondered think that I was still with that gal got. As I said here. I dusted off a place for you and so he sat down in then she remembered that she had left some books back at the Bible college had to go get them and so I civil I drive you back to get so there was this real old funky car there so I open the door and let her get in and sit down and I walked around to the driver's side that I started laughing.

I said I'd this is not my car.

I don't know.

I never heard that that's what I had a need for convertible at that time it was parked right in front of that Carlisle is a definite upgrade and update. So we went back to the college and then we went to. Then the camp that night. I remember lewdly and we all went and so I took her home and got we that was the beginning of our relationship and not you. You guys fell in love. He often said you love at first sight is nothing special is when two people been looking at each other for years and still love each other becomes a miracle even married to Kiefer how long 63 years came 60 years so publisher courtship.

I don't have anything six week six we are friends and will never last November's are wrong, what they know they've all died okay question.

What's the secret to a long and successful marriage is not the big question, but just give us a couple thoughts like you been married all these years with Telus with a secret so I think it's having Christ at the center of that you know because differences are going to rise.

The main, but if you can always come together in Christ and the risk you know you don't agree, maybe on certain things that you should one be doing and so forth. But if you bring to the Lords in the Lord. You guide us in this and you give us the decision on so it's not my mastering over her or her mastering over me. But as both of us being mastered by Jesus Christ. So for quite a few churches in your life, if I have the order right of Prescott, Arizona, Klingon Arizona, Corona, California, Huntington Beach, California, Costa Mesa, lots of Ron is now Chino Hills them back to Corona and finally Costa Mesa that is correct okay now when you are pastoring a Prescott, Arizona. You almost destroyed the church we should explain involve the holder what happened. I remember that here, look at this picture and check your UI with the Boulder years later so that Boulder pile was when I went there was actually so tall you can see the church and so I decided coming up the street you can see the church I decided I would move these boulders and so I got a big prybar night and some hydraulic jacks. I started rolling the boulders on down and got to reduce the file and does so as I was done actually jacking up one of these boulders did roll it on down. He was energy said honey that's going to go into the church is a no no I got it all figured out.

It's going to stop right at the bottom therein and lock in their and so she said honey you know it's connected. No no and not so effective in the Lord taught me very early. Listen to your wife with this yet. The real discernment you know but I went ahead and gave it the extra crank and the boulder went on down and it sort of blocked what Mary told her it would within the inertia. The thing over and it rolled right through the church wall and the head that wiped out to fuse the rows of seats in the church and so I had to call the tow company to pull the boulder out of the church and then had to go to some materials and repair the thing is I was a Saturday, we had church on Sunday. Am I so it was quite an experience. Everybody Greg Laurie here.

Thanks for listening to our podcast in 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 Cano W GLD.org