From the Archives: Hugh Hewitt Interviews Greg Laurie

Everybody Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the Greg Laurie podcasting. 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 in the 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 in Angel 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 night was fantastic. It was a great show. How are you I'm pretty new to saying no no I don't have white here. You look at this and 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 headed for everyone, but then becoming going to freeze-frame and everyone else catches up Greg what you been making ball jokes for two decades about my own and you you I got a list of them in your office are probably somewhere a Greg Laurie.

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 Greg Laurie 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 was 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, but I never really was taken to church. I never heard about Jesus, but 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, 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 the 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 to call our church, their home, and the opportunity opened up to go into 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 mincing the ball 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 and 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 Greg Laurie 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 that sexy harbor hi Barbara how you wanted one of them were to okay and so that was Newport Beach down and in Southern California where Paul Revere and the Raiders in all his people, the height of each culture and is listening to them yesterday on my iPod.

That's funny.

They were already Golden oldies when you're a kid so you're the antithesis of the in and I followed you by the way I want the pollution 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 there regardless of how they were raised 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 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 up 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 and 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 God will 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 Julie 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 understand 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