Greg Laurie - Changed Lives - Part 1

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Waves. Disturbances in the ocean that transmit energy from one place to another. Mostly generated by wind, waves move across open ocean maintaining a constant speed, unaffected by death until they reach shallow water. Ranging from melodic, peaceful ripples to tsunamis of mass destruction, there are no two waves alike.

An artist, painter, sculptor, uses an empty canvas, a piece of clay, to create, mold, and shape his work of art. In surf culture, that raw material is simply called a blank. The master shaper begins the initial process here, forming, molding, and shaping. Great pride is taken in his workmanship, crafting and creating a work of art. But that's not the surf board's only purpose. The master shaper takes into consideration specific body heights and weights, skillsets for riding a wave. Smooth water, choppy water, big waves, rip curls, and no matter how beautiful they look or how well they ride, they're also created for survival. Like a wave, life is unpredictable. One's journey in life leads down various paths. Outside the fact that we're all held to this earth by the same gravity, there are no two paths necessarily alike. Loneliness, hopelessness, destruction, broken by circumstances, born into it or free will choices, most of the time the journey leaves us broken apart, hoping to be put back together.

To escape is avoiding reality that oftentimes become addictions. In the life of Greg Russinger, he wanted out of his present circumstance no matter what the cost.

Greg Russinger: There wasn't any conversations of faith or God in my upbringing. It wasn't, I don't think my mother was opposed to anything, we just never discussed, she kinda grew up in the Church of England as a young kid and kind of experienced the abusive church. It was difficult. It was rough. It was lonely. It was a little fearful. It was a lot of questions. It was a lot of angst and rage that I think began to set within me. So you begin to defend yourself, care for yourself, realize that there's not many people that you felt were for you, and so you took on postures, you know, of volatile reaction and violence, and unfortunately that kind of began to be the script of my life. And so it was this deep sense of isolation and this deep sense of aloneness that is deafening to you as a human being, you know, let alone you as a teenage boy. Like any person that's feeling deep isolation, loneliness, asking many, many questions of why, kinda dealing with your own existential being or the idea of any sort of philosophy of why life exists, why are you here, and layered with all of the disturbances either by your own choosing or the choosing of others, an escape is helpful. An escape is what you move to.

There's an old saying, different strokes for different folks. In the life of Chrissy, she had nothing to escape from.

Chrissy Katina: I think I had a pretty normal childhood, great family, had brother and a sister. We got along great most of the time. But I just have a lot of wonderful family memories. We had a very tight family. I knew and I believed in God. If somebody asked me that, I would say sure I believe in God. Absolutely. I believe that I should go to church on Easter Sunday, make sure I do those things, and I had a general knowledge of God and of Jesus, but not a full understanding.

Many people have a misconception of God and what's required for them to go to heaven. As long as our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, God will surely reward us, won't he? If religious rules are followed, we live a good life, but as a result, there's still no foundation for happiness, peace, and eternal life. Then, there are journeys where the unintentional, uninvited, unwanted obstruct your path, diverting you down a different road.

Sonny Sandoval: Grew up in a young family, so my family were always partying. And grew up with a lot of guys that were always getting in trouble, but the same time, we were always still of a brotherhood, and when I was 19, my mother, she was diagnosed with leukemia. And at this point, she had already, you know, received the Lord, and so I watched my family go from this crazy, you know, drug-selling, partying young family to actually having some peace in their life, you know, and their life was starting to get settled and stuff. My mom had remarried and had two girls. And so, I started to watch the Lord in their life, you know, but when she was diagnosed with leukemia, that's when I kind of had this big wake-up call.

Sonny Sandoval, Chrissy Katina, Greg Russinger - different journeys, but all headed to the same destination - life without a future and a hope, all searching. What is the meaning of life? Is there really a heaven? Can I find true happiness? Greg Laurie, the voice and the face of Harvest Crusades asked himself these age-old questions. Born out of wedlock, his mother was married and divorced many times. His life out of control, but at a young age, his search for sanity, security, peace, love, led him to the answer.

Greg Laurie: The first time I probably heard the gospel was at church with my grandparents who I lived with for a number of years while my mom was running around living her crazy lifestyle. I remember watching Billy Graham preach on our black and white television set in our front room there in South Gate, California. I remember looking at that picture of Jesus my grandmother had hanging on her wall and thinking to myself, I wish I could have known Jesus. I remember years after that, I was at a movie theater watching Ben Hur of all things, and there's this scene in the film, of course, where Christ appears to Ben Hur. You only see Jesus from the back, and you see how Ben Hur is impacted by seeing Jesus. And I remember thinking in that theater, if only I could see Jesus. If only I could know him. See, I thought of Jesus as someone who once lived and died, but was not necessarily around any longer. And on my high school campus in 1970, someone got up and talked about Jesus Christ in a way I could understand, and that was the day I responded to the gospel, and I put my faith in Jesus and began to follow him. The gospel really is the power of God unto salvation, and you know what? The gospel, it never changes.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. There is a continuous work. He's molding us, he's shaping us. He's sanding off the rough edges. He is crafting us. His end game, his ultimate goal is to make us all in the likeness of Jesus Christ. At the age of 19, God began to mold and shape Greg Laurie. A passion to share the gospel set the course for his life. Pioneering a church in Riverside, California, Harvest Christian Fellowship quickly grew into one of the largest churches in America. Then in 1989, a new opportunity for sharing the gospel on a mass scale. The vision of Pastor Chuck Smith, following the model of the Billy Graham Crusades, Harvest Crusades with Greg Laurie began. The power of the gospel changes lives. And since that beginning, that message has never changed, and has been proclaimed without compromise. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

Greg Russinger: So I had a terrible night that ended up the next day having just this crazy moment of overdosing, right? And so, that kinda led me to really come clean with myself and have to take a really clear snapshot of... is this the direction you wanna go in your life? So I kinda was in ICU for three days. Had a lot of time to think and deal with kinda the inner demons that mock and whisper, and really taking a good perspective of your life. And coming out of there, I knew I would commit to being clean, but there was still internal desire and searching to understand life. And I can remember at this time, I moved to Glendale, California, to live with some friends who really kinda took me in. It was really kind of a healthy environment. We were throwin' a party in Glendale and I called some of my old friends. One of 'em was a girl named Sara. I said, "Hey Sara, throwing a party, what if you come up"? And she says, "Hi, Greg, just let you know it's not my world anymore. I became a Christian". And I'm like, "Oh, wow, good for you," you know. Like, "That's fantastic". And so she goes, "Well, why don't you come with me, you know, to church"? I said, "Yeah, well, you know. You know, typically, any place I've been, you know, the idea of something so clean kinda freaks you out". So I said "no", and then we kept on talking and she said, "Hey, Lisa and me and others, we're going to this thing called Harvest Crusade, and Greg, it's outdoors, right"? It's outdoors, like, you know, I feel trapped, and I said, "Okay, if it's outdoors, I will go with you".

Greg Russinger attended the first Harvest Crusade in 1990. Chrissy was invited to attend in 1997.

Chrissy Katina: Well, I'll never forget it, 'cause he came up to me and he said, "Would you like to go to this Harvest Crusade"? And I was like, "Harvest Crusade? Like, what do you do there? You pick corn? Like what is a harvest crusade"? And he's like, "Well, it's a Christian concert," and I was like, "Ha, no, no, that's okay. I'm good, I'm good". And he said, "Well, I think En Vogue is gonna be there". Now, En Vogue to me was like, that is all he had to say to get me on board. And so, I said, "Free concert? It's free? En Vogue's gonna be there? You got me. I'm goin'". And so, I changed my plans and I was on board. I remember walking into the arena and first of all, I was amazed at how many people were there. It looked like a concert, you know? The main difference was there was some worship music playing, and I saw people raising their hands. It was a little intimidating 'cause I had seen some of that kinda thing on TV, but I'd never really experienced anything like that. I grew up Catholic and, you know, in Catholic church we, you know, you don't really raise your hands in church, so it was something kinda foreign. But I was intrigued.

In 1992, Sonny was invited to the Harvest Crusade. His acceptance of the invitation was for a different reason.

Sonny Sandoval: She had actually went through chemo and she was in remission at the time. And even then, it was a good thing. I'm thinkin', wow, you know, things are getting better, and stuff like that. And so, you know, obviously I didn't stop doin' what I was doin', but I had come home one evening and she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and I was trying to sneak past her, you know, 'cause I had gone out with my friends and I figured if I can just sneak to my room and I pass my mom, I'll be straight. But, she was waiting for me, and then she just looked me in the eyes and she told me, she said, "You know, when I die I wanna know that you're gonna be in heaven, you know, you and your sisters are gonna be with me in heaven". And I said, "Mom, don't talk like that. It's, you know, that's not gonna happen". And she literally stopped me and said, "No, when I die, I need to, like, I need to know this". And then it kinda became real to me, you know, so I was, even in my high state, I'm like, "What do you want me to do? Like, I'll do whatever you want". She said, "Come with me to the Harvest Crusade".

Greg: Maybe you've come here tonight searching for the meaning of life. You're not gonna find it in things. You're not gonna find it in pleasures.

Greg: No matter how much money you get, no matter which goals you reach in life, you have that guilt that you can't seem to get rid of. It doesn't go away when you have a few drinks. It doesn't go away when you take some drugs. In fact, it comes back each day with a greater vengeance to haunt you.

Greg: You're not gonna find it in accomplishments. You're not even gonna find it in religion.

Greg: He knows your needs and he wants to change you tonight.

Greg: What you're looking for deep down inside is a relationship with God. God has dropped one lifeline from heaven, one way for you to know him, and it's Jesus Christ. There is no life away from him.

Greg: Only Jesus Christ can get to the root of your problems.

Greg: You were created to know him.

Greg: Take the rope and be forgiven and saved.

The gospel never changes. The Bible says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

Greg: You see, my job is not to make the gospel relevant. The gospel is relevant. My job, if you will, is to just let the lion out of the cage. So when I go into that pulpit, I have complete confidence that God is gonna honor his Word, that the gospel is gonna reach its intended target, and that people are going to believe.

Greg: I was talking with a man the other day who had seen me preach on television, and this man was not a Christian, and he said, "You know, as I watched you, it seemed to me you weren't preachin' at all, you were just talking to me". And I thought about that for a moment, and I realized that that was actually a compliment. When I get up into the pulpit, I try to anticipate the reaction of a listener. I think of that nonbeliever, that cynic, and I try to think of what questions they might be asking at that very moment, and sometimes I'll stop myself mid-sentence and sort of react, like maybe I'm saying something. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me". But you might be thinking right now, "Hold on for a second, preacher, how can you say Jesus Christ is the only way to God? There are many ways to God". And here's my response to that: "There's only one hope in this life that can turn it around. There's only one lifeline that God has dropped from heaven for us to be forgiven of our sins. It's his son, Jesus Christ, who was born in that manger and died on the cross and rose again from the dead three days later, who now stands at the door of your life and knocks, and if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. Jesus said it best, right in the front of this platform: 'I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me.' That's your answer. That's your hope. It's your only hope". I try to anticipate those questions, and I want to communicate in a way that's understandable, in language that people understand.

Greg: The Bible says there is coming a day what everyone will stand before God, the rich and the poor, the famous and the unknown. Every man, every woman. And here is the question that will be asked in that final day not "Did you live a good life"? "Were you a nice person"? "Did you recycle"? The question is going to be, "What did you with Jesus Christ"?

Greg Russinger: So I came and I went to it. You know, it was definitely outdoors. It was all outdoors, which was really like, I can be okay with this, right? So, I remember we walked all the way to the top, you know, this kinda grassy area, and we just kinda sat down, and once again, it was so foreign to me, right? They were singing with this band, or whatever, was playing this music, and like you know, it wasn't the music that I would typically listen to, but everybody seemed to be kind. Did I know it was genuine? You know, I couldn't judge it that quickly. I mean, obviously I had my filters on and my grid and the defense mechanisms and all the protective elements that I have created over the years. And so, I think there's probably the curious there, just like myself. Probably the critical, like myself. I think it was kind of a cornucopia of all kind of human existence that was kind of all settled in this big giant space. And so, I was just more like, you know, kinda like what is this? You know? And then Greg comes out, and it was, he was so far away from me. I think he had a mustache at the time. He seemed like a, you know, just kind of a genuine guy. He just started talking, and I was tryin' to pay attention to some of the language that he was using, trying to understand I think for me, the place that I was at, I think storytelling was really important for me. So, I think that he could actually intertwine the honesty of his own world and what I know now, kind of allow that to collaborate with God's desire for all of us. I think it was really important for me to ascertain the genuineness of the moment.

Greg Laurie: I don't expect my listeners to know theological language. In fact, in these days we're living in now, I don't even expect them to understand plain biblical language, or even know basic biblical stories. There's a great illiteracy when it comes to scripture. So, I explain my terms as I go. If I'm telling someone they need to accept Christ, I don't assume they even know what that means. So, I break it down. Who is Jesus Christ? What am I talking about when I say accept him? What does it mean to believe in him? And I wanna make it as understandable as I possibly can.

Chrissy Katina: I will never forget when Greg Laurie was standing on the stage talking, and it was almost as if he was talking right to me, because it was exactly the thoughts in my head. And he said, "You may be here tonight and you may think you're a pretty good person. You got it all figured out that God's just gonna be okay with you". He said, "I've got news for you. It is by grace that you are saved. It's through faith. There's nothing you can do to be good enough to get into heaven on your own. It's a gift. And you have to receive it". I never at all ever once thought about it like that. You know, compared to most people, I'm pretty good. You know, I think God would be okay with me. And that night I realized it was nothing about me being good. It had nothing to do with that. It was about me receiving a gift of salvation in my heart, and asking Jesus to be my savior. And that night changed my life.

Greg: I'm simply a delivery boy. My basic job is to bring the gospel in an understandable way so people can understand what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, and how they can have eternal life. You know, it's been said, attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God. I expect when the gospel goes out, that the Lord will bless it.

Greg Russinger: He was inviting people to really respond to the grace of God that was present in that place. And I didn't feel this overwhelming sense of emotion. It was just more of this anxiousness of what is this? This deep curiosity to what's happening now after he spoke, that some sort of, it's resonating within the totality of my person, like, what's going on? Like, what's coming alive, or what's causing me to want to respond to this? The only way that I can somehow correlate, it's like that one moment where you feel so anxious within yourself, and you feel like it's that moment just before you kiss somebody for the first time. It's like everything about you is like clamming up. It's like, "Oh, what's goin' on, you know what I mean"? So, it was just a very interesting exchange for me. Back then, I didn't have words. There was no understanding. I couldn't comprehend it. Now like I can today. I can, you know, ultimately say today there was just this genuine sense of God's grace drawing me to a discovery of kind of my truer self, or a sense of maybe what I'm meant to be or something, and...

Chrissy Katina: I'll never forget walking down and, when I was gonna pray the prayer of salvation, and I just felt this peace in my heart that I had never felt before. And when I prayed, it was like the Holy Spirit had just come over me... That moment was the day I was reborn, and I will never forget that.

Greg: You know, I see people coming forward to Christ. People have asked me what am I thinking, what am I feeling. I actually asked that question of Billy Graham years ago. I said, "Billy, what do you feel when you extend the invitation for people to come to Christ," and Billy told me he felt as though power was out of him. Like he was being drained, and I know that feeling very well. When I'm inviting people to Christ, I feel like I'm just drained emotionally. Drained physically. In fact, I am so exhausted, I feel like I could lay down on the stage and go to sleep. And I think what's happening is a spiritual battle is raging. It's not a moment of euphoria for me. It's a moment of battle for me. And I'm praying, and I'm thinking. I'm thinking of people that are on the top of the stands that haven't come forward yet that are watching this, and I'm thinking this could be their last opportunity to hear the gospel, and I'm praying and I'm asking the Lord for wisdom about what I could say.