Pastor Greg Laurie: Then & Now - I

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God, to find out how to know God personally go to know God.org K NOW know God.org he would you do me a favor sure this message was someone who needs to hear it never drawing to make a deal with on a very young pastor Greg Laurie Sancho used a bargain with God.

We were driving along and it was raining and started losing control, and you don't God help me out of this well you all the length got it got me out of another. But I was in the service special edition new beginning.

Pastor Greg Laurie is here with me in the studio one 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 is actually coming from somebody else's archive from many years ago. We 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 got to 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's actually a good question. You know what the 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 him. 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 always started out, and that's right still lamb 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 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's sort of like it 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 were going to play it for you know 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. It showed a bit 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 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 your 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 in 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 were 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 (that 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 and 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 not to 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 would stand in one section whether 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 a long letter all the servers that you 20 to me servers all at the same you know they got blonde hair cut and hang 10 T-shirts and the sandals build to suit their points talk about that man you know so all the servers sent one of these were people he hung around the vending machines you know I don't know what they were there they met vending machines in a 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 up her 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 get these bags not coaches really some sort of a 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 butcher cotton went out and got all my football equipment and I was called into the office about a week before season started, so 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 turns 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. 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 the police to come bursting open with submachine guns Elliott Nacional. Nothing happened. We got loaded and I kinda like it… It'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 Greg 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 walked 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 when you're listening to a new beginning today a special edition of the program and who is this guy that we've been listening to a kid using her airtime today. This 24-year-old weirdo talking has a very high voice, and he speaks too quickly. He awaits it's me, it's 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.

This was in the 60s and it was one the so-called hippie movement started 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 your love sisters and three loving loving that the parking 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 knowing even 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, Johnny's little cosmic creek casino on paper and we started growing marijuana in our backyard and really getting 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 laminated 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 got back. It was a very rainy night and driving their Laguna Beach along the cliffs you know that you know if you go off 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 back seat and I saw the headlines in the paper the next morning drug freaks killed on the freeway I could see the old ladies 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 when 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 ship thanks a lot God you know God got me out of another fixed but I wasn't in the sermon reminds me of the story. The guy that was slipping down the house it was losing control. We can get hold of himself as good. 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 whatever 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 5 to 6 times a day.

I had about a D average II didn't care.

You know people say your grades are likely. Who cares what 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 the 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 for is spaced out. Nothing and days 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. He 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 trying to get rid of malls 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 Chris cannot even 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 in one day. I think the thing that probably every person that takes drugs. Maybe fears happen to me. I just 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 what I remember crying out of 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 my 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 in my friends say let's take LSD all he then really be good so we took acid and sat in the movie I was sitting there watching the movie I can watching the wall for that fact.

You know, just, and this girl was sitting in front of us and she turned around for a minute and turned back and I just looked at the girl you okay 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'll just walk right up there and I looked down and she had a black book with gold edges on it.

Then I went. She said Jesus free stuff you want to be popular in school. You don't become 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 could be happier that time was a little wacko as far as I was concerned they 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 was 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 and I started hearing his keys and anything that looks over and hears about 50 of these questions sitting love that the way Christians began the nail point up to this guy really pointing out so I just looked at him and I saw that girl. Her name was Chris. I saw that with there she is man and then I saw this guy talking. He was sent down in the 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 want to do that. So I sat down and listened and I kept looking at Christian again all man I'd sure like to get to know her and I started listening to this guy and he said that just shook me off. He said Jesus said you either forming 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 got against God and God got me out of a lot of jams I believe in God not called upon at least 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 you become a Christian. It just 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 heist going and there's hundreds of kids they were eating sandwiches and get out to stand 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 I something I've never known before.

That 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 I'd like to do and I really would like to see if the real. I've 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 time was totally wrong. I wanted to meet a girl with the Holy Spirit had different plans for me.

Greg Ward 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. We've titled this trip back in time pastor Greg Laurie then and now it's one of the earliest recordings we come across a pastor. Greg's teaching. It was one of the most requested presentations of this past year. Look for the title@harvest.org if you like an instant replay again. Just go to harvest.org or for a CD copy.

Call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 what were so thrilled. The pastor Greg's new book on the life of Johnny Cash's now been released is called Johnny Cash, the redemption of an American icon.

It chronicles Johnny's spiritual journey with all the ups and downs in his life, and in fact in the book. Pastor Greg you write this, he had an angel on his shoulder, but the devil was always on his back. He was a devout Christian who divided his time between sending and seeking forgiveness frequently going from jail to Jesus. I mean we cannot think of people who were caught in the middle.

You know the cot in the middle between light and darkness they want to go in the direction of Jesus with the devil is so effective at getting us off track here. As you know, and we have to remember that the Bible is largely a story of redemption of all mankind to the death of Christ. But look at the flawed people that God use this not forget.

We love to think of Moses as the great lawgiver and he was but Moses was a murderer Johnny Cash me of a song about murder. Moses did the deed. He took the life of a man. David, the king of Israel was really a murderer is well Saul of Tarsus prior to becoming the great apostle Paul.

He too murdered people so my point is simply this. If God can save a murderer of God can save someone that is that deep in sin and turn them around and even use them for his glory certainly can save anyone and redeem anyone and transform anyone in the Bible tells us these stories and I love the Bible presents its heroes, warts and all.

As an example, Jonah will be think of Jonah. We think of Jonah and the whale, but really only a few verses deal with that part of his life. But Jonah's story is one of redemption as well.

And to me. Here's the amazing thing. Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. And when you get to the end of the book he talks about after this massive spiritual awakening happened in Nineveh. He was upset with God about it and really wanted God to judge and destroy all those people. Hey, if I was Jonah I would have never included that chapter in my own book, I would've left it out because it makes you look at the Bible, among other things, is an honest book and it it tells us these stories about these men and women that were used by God but also were flawed people couldn't stand and pedestals in the you know didn't live in stained-glass windows. I heard about a Sunday school teacher that was talking about what a saint was its yester class. What is this saying to one of the little kids thought of those windows in the church of you know that have the saints in them and she said the same as someone that the light comes through. Also Johnny was at St. just like I missed seeing the light came through him, but he also was a sinner.

As I've said before, many saints thought he was the sinner. Many sinners thought he was a great saint and so the reality is, he was both and he was a man who was a dichotomy of contradiction. A man who was a work in progress till the very end. As we all are. And so the reason I wrote Johnny Cash, the redemption of an American icon was to simply say God is still in the redeeming business he still in the second chance business and he can turn a life around. Even if we made a lot of really bad decisions so I written this new book Johnny Cash redemption of an American icon. It's a spiritual biography of a man who really was a living legend and now is larger in death. Even then he was in life, a true American icon is a story to tell. We want to offer you this book, Johnny Cash, the redemption of an American icon, and what a great book. This would be for someone who thinks they're too far gone for God to use is full of hope and encouragement and fascinating insights to send you your copy of Johnny Cash, the redemption of an American icon call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org next time more of our trip back in time from 1977 pastor Greg gives us more story of his journey to Christ. Join us as we continue our series of most requested studies of the past year right here new beginning.

Greg Laurie possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God sign up for pastor greats free daily email, devotions@harvest.org