Lost Boy: The Next Chapter was among only a select few, faith-based films wthat were  are invited to be shown at this very unique event, which incorporates accomplished films with seminars designed to set the mark for excellence in Christian media arts.

We had a member of the Harvest team at the Gideon Festival and he reported that many people approached him over the course of the conference to tell him how powerful and encouraging the film was.

For moere on the film, click here.

This last weekend, it was just awarded Best American Documentary (Under 75 Minutes) at the International Film Festival of South Africa. In addition, the film was recently selected as one of just ten films that were screened during the Outreach Film Festival in San Diego.

Lost Boy: The Next Chapter has already received the Audience Favorite Best Documentary Award at the Riverside International Film Festival and the Best Documentary Award at the International Christian Film Festival. In addition, it has been screened at the Long Island International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Ireland.

Originally created as the companion piece to my autobiographical book, Lost Boy, the documentary film version offers viewers a chance to learn about my rather unusual life story and how God intervened in the life of a mixed-up teenager and brought hope and purpose.

So we thank God for this additional exposure and, hopefully, further spreading the message of hope that people need to hear so desperately today!

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

That is my topic tonight in Orange County for our Bible study, as part of our last days series. I will also give the same message this coming Sunday at Harvest.

I will show my autobiographical film Lost Boy: The Next Chapter this weekend at Saddleback Church in Orange County. I will also speak after the screening.

This film has won two festival awards and has been nominated for a third. We have been amazed by its impact.

If you are in the area, I hope you can come and see it.

Why does God use people?

Now, back to the topic of sharing our faith.

Why do we need to tell others about Jesus? Why doesn’t God just poke His face out of the heavens and say, “Believe in Me!” Why does He want to used flawed people like us?

I don’t really know the answer to that, but I do know He does use people. In fact, the primary way God has chosen to reach people is through people. People like you and me.

Paul wrote, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10:14-15 NKJV)

People need someone to show them the way

In Acts 8 is the story of a powerful, wealthy foreign dignitary searching for God. He had not found Him in the empty rituals of the dead Judaism of the time. But he did obtain a scroll containing Isaiah 53, where he read, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter . . . ”

Philip approached him and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian responded, “How can I, unless someone shows me the way!”

That is what people need, and what many want–someone to show them the way. Someone like you.

You need to talk about it

And the primary way we are to share this message is verbally. That is not to say that you should not live it first, for indeed you should.

Some would say, “People will know that I am a Christian by the way I live. I don’t need to talk about it to others. Actually, you do.

Yes, by all means live it, but also engage people with the gospel message. We need to both initiate and verbalize our faith.

Paul tell us, “Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation” (1 Corinthians 1:21 MESSAGE).

You may not be called to be a “preacher,” per se, but every believer is called to preach the gospel. Ask the Lord for an opportunity to do that this weekend.

We entered it in the 2009 Riverside International Film festival and it won! Lost Boy: The Next Chapter won the award for the Audience Favorite Documentary.

It is worth noting that hundreds of films were submitted to this festival from all around the world and few make the final,  judging round in each category. There is only one winner per category and Lost Boy: The Next Chapter won.

We wanted this film to have both artistic integrity and be a tool for the gospel. The exciting thing is that the gospel has been proclaimed through this film at this festival, before an audience that might not otherwise hear it.

We have also entered this film in other film festivals around the country.

Lost Boy: The Next Chapter was a labor of love

I had a great team of people who helped make this film a reality, starting with Dwight Thompson, the director. Dwight is a very talented filmmaker, and this was his first foray into the documentary film world. He did a wonderful job.

Special thanks also to go Pastor Paul Eaton for his production of the film, helping to bring it to completion.

Finally, my son Christopher was also an integral part of this project, as he did all the design, graphics, and type treatments.

Little did we know that his story would become a major part of this film, resulting in an entirely new version that has just come out. He was very excited about it and had seen some of the early screenings. He told people he had really enjoyed working on it and wanted to see God use it to touch people with the gospel.

And a book nomination

It is also worth noting that Outreach Magazine has nominated the Lost Boy book as its Outreach Resource of the Year in the Evangelism category. The awards, according to the magazine, are meant to celebrate and encourage excellence in resources designed specifically to help the church reach out in areas such as evangelism, compassionate service, and cross-cultural ministries locally and worldwide.

More than awards

But more important than the awards is the ministry tool that this film has been. I have personally seen this story resonate with thousands of people around the country at screenings where I have given a message afterward.

We have seen hundreds and hundreds of people come to Christ through it. So we give God the glory for it.

You may want to order a copy of the just released DVD of Lost Boy: The Next Chapter. And if you would like to see it right now, just click here.

I am actually taking a break right now, so I wasn’t there at the showing. But some 1,400 people came, saw the film, and heard a testimony from my son Jonathan and a message by my friend Levi Lusko.

BTW, if you want to view the film, you can do so for free by clicking here. It is also available to purchase on DVD for ministry use here.

This Sunday

I will be gone this Sunday, so Levi will be speaking at Harvest at all three morning services.

Levi is only in his 20s, but has been gifted by God as a very effective Bible teacher and evangelist. Only a couple of years ago, he planted a new church in Montana called Fresh Life Church that has exploded in growth and is touching many people.

I know you will be blessed if you tune in to the webcast or hear Levi Lusko in person.

New Web site

A lot of you have responded to the news of our upcoming new Web site rollout, especially the new women’s microsite that will be called Virtue. It won’t be long before both sites are live. I will keep you posted.

A few more thoughts on discipleship

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had just completed a new book on discipleship. Here is another excerpt from it for you to peruse.

Foundational to discipleship is loving God more than anyone or anything else. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). A statement like that sounds shocking. But as we balance this verse with other Scripture, we know clearly Jesus is not commanding the hatred of people, especially members of our own family. Why would God tell us to honor our fathers and mothers and also demand that we hate them? Jesus even told us to “love [our] enemies” (Matt. 5:44), so we need to get the big picture here.

In context, Jesus was not saying we should hate people, per se. Essentially He was saying that we should love God more than anyone or anything else—so much so that our love for those people or things would seem like hatred in comparison.

Jesus was basically saying, “If you want to be my disciple, then love me more than anyone or anything else.” It makes perfect sense when you think about it. If you want to live your Christian life to its fullest, then love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.

People have been kept back from following Jesus by their fear of what others might think.  They know that if they give their life to Christ, they will lose a lot of so-called friends. If they give their life to Christ, it would mean the end of a relationship. If they give their life to Christ, it would cause friction in their home. That is what holds them back. But Jesus says, “If you really want to be my disciple, you must love me more than anyone or anything else.”

Here is what it comes down to: You either will have harmony with God and friction with people, or you will have harmony with people and friction with God. If you are living the way that God wants you to live, then it is going to seriously bother some people. You need to know that. Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets” (Luke 6:26 NIV). If you are really a follower of Jesus Christ and living as you ought to, there are going to be certain people that don’t like you for that reason alone. Don’t be hurt by that. Understand it is par for the course. As Jesus said, “ ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20 NIV).

A disciple loves God more than anyone or anything else.

I wanted to let you know that we are showing the newly-edited, full-length documentary film Lost Boy: The Next Chapter tonight at our Thursday night O.C. Bible study. It will be followed by a testimony from my son, Jonathan Laurie.

In an e-mail to some of our O.C. community, Jonathan wrote:

You’re probably asking yourself how the son of Greg Laurie wasn’t a Christian his whole life, or what it took for me to gain this eternal perspective. Well, you will have to come on out this Thursday night to find out!

I encourage all of you in the Orange County area to do just that tonight!

Lost Boy at film festival

The Lost Boy documentary is also being featured at the Riverside International Film Festival. It is one of 120 films, including full-length features, documentaries and shorts from more than 30 countries, that will be screened at the festival.

Lost Boy: The Next Chapter will be shown next Tuesday at 6:30 P.M., at the Regal Cinemas Riverside Plaza Stadium 16. This is the first film festival that will be showing Lost Boy and we are honored to be included.

It is our hope that the light of Jesus Christ will shine in this setting through our story.

New book on discipleship

I have just put the finishing touches on a new book on discipleship that will be coming out soon. Here is an excerpt from it:

It is my conviction that every disciple is a believer, but not every believer is necessarily a disciple. Anything short of discipleship is settling for less than what God desires. Jesus clearly calls all believers to be disciples. But when we fail to respond to His call, we fall short of His perfect will and miss out on living the Christian life as it was truly meant to be lived.

What we often perceive as the Christian life is, in many ways, not what the Bible really teaches. We need to ask ourselves whether we are living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. Is your life challenging? Exciting? Does it have purpose and direction? Or do you find yourself depressed and afraid? If your Christian experience is dull, unfulfilling, or even boring, then it is time to seriously examine the statements of Jesus concerning discipleship.

Ray Stedman wrote, “The chief mark of the Christian ought to be the absence of fear and the presence of joy. We have often quoted the description of a Christian as one who is: completely fearless, continually cheerful, and constantly in trouble. It is that presence of joy and absence of fear that marks our genuine Christianity and proves that we really are what we claim to be.”

That is what the world needs more of today: Christians who are full of joy and completely fearless. In short, we need disciples.

As they say in those old Looney Tunes cartoons, “That’s all (for now), folks!”

We showed the newly-edited, full-length Lost Boy documentary, followed by a message. I also interviewed my son Jonathan, who gave his testimony.

You have to understand that Jonathan is not really a public speaker, nor did he ever aspire to be one. But that all changed after his brother went to heaven. Jonathan made a complete commitment to follow and serve the Lord, and God is using him powerfully.

He gave his most effective presentation yet last night, and I was very proud of him. When he is speaking, I look out and notice that everyone really tunes in, especially the kids!

We saw 120 people come forward to make commitments and re-commitments to follow Christ.

Thursday nights in O.C.

Tonight is our second Thursday night Bible study. We were overwhelmed by the response on our first night, and we pray that God will bless it once again.

My message title is “The God Who Cares.” If you, or anyone you know, is in the O.C. area, please let them know about our study.

Thanks for your prayers.

First of all, I wanted to let you know that we are now doing a special HD version of our webcast that is way more computer-friendly than in the past.

This is a sample of things to come, because we are planning (God willing) on rolling out a whole new Harvest Web site in April.

So check out the HD webcast and let me know what you think.

Lost Boy in San Diego

This coming Wednesday, we will be showing Lost Boy: The Next Chapter at Maranatha Chapel in San Diego. It’s been a long time since I’ve been down that way, so I am looking forward to it.

Maranatha is pastored by a friend of mine, Ray Bentley. I will be speaking after the film is shown,and my son Jonathan will also give his testimony.

BTW, Jonathan just gave his testimony at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs (pastored by another good friend, Raul Ries) and he did a really good job. What can I say, I’m a proud dad!

Thursday nights in O.C.

I’ve already told you about our new Bible study in the O.C. We will be back for our second night there this coming Thursday. The title of my message will be “The God Who Cares.”

So if you or anyone you know lives in or near the O.C., come on out and join us. For more info on the Thursday Bible study, click here.

That’s all for now.

Greg

It all happened at Harvest Bible Chapel, which is pastored by my friend, James MacDonald. The funny thing is that James spoke at our church, while I spoke at his!

We showed the Lost Boy film followed by a message. My son Jonathan once again shared his testimony, which moved many, especially the young people.

We must have seen some 400 people come forward in all the services to make commitments and re-commitments to Christ.

I am back now in California. So thanks for your prayers!

A tragic loss

It is with deep sadness that I report to you that Ralph Arthur, an associate pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship, was suddenly taken to  heaven this last Saturday.

Let me say this as plainly as I can–Ralph Arthur was a man of God. I can pay him no higher compliment than that.

He was always there with a smile, hug, and an encouraging word from the Lord to those in need. He was a loving and compassionate counselor to those in his ministry who were suffering, to cancer patients, and to those who had lost loved ones.

Ralph is in heaven

Now, sadly, Ralph himself is the loved one lost. But, of course, he is not lost at all, for you have not lost someone when you know where they are, and we certainly know where Ralph is. He is in the presence of the One who promises “fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.”

Ralph is in heaven with my son Christopher and so many of our loved ones who have preceded us to the other side.

He will be greatly missed by our church and staff, but most of all by his family.

He finished well

But let me close by saying this—Ralph finished well as a follower and representative of Jesus Christ, and I know the Lord has said to him, “Well done, Ralph Arthur, my good and faithful servant. Enter now into the joy of your Lord.”

Let us all remember his wife Cheri and his children as they will need God’s special strength and comfort. As Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

As they were making their way across, a huge storm came out of nowhere, which was  a common occurrence on this large freshwater lake. The seasoned sailors were terrified as hurricane force winds hit and the boat filled with water.

Despite the bad weather, Jesus managed to sleep through it. But the disciples could no longer contain themselves.

Don’t you care?

So they woke up Jesus, saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (v. 38) That is really a bit accusational, but it’s the way they felt.

They were saying, essentially, “Lord, are You even aware of what we are facing right now?”

“Why are You allowing this?”

As I have said, it’s fine to ask why as long as you don’t expect an answer. Better to cry out in anguish to God than to turn from Him in anger.

Jesus rebuked them and the storm

Jesus woke up and rebuked the storm, but then He dealt with them too, asking them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (v. 40) Or literally, “Why are you such timid, fearful ones?”

Jesus was saying, “Boys, haven’t you learned anything here?”

You see, Jesus said, “Let’s cross over to the other side!” He did not say, “Let’s go drown in the middle of the Sea of Galilee!”

He did not promise smooth sailing, but He did promise a safe passage.

Listen, it’s better to be in a storm with Jesus than anywhere else without Him.

Or in a fiery furnace–just ask Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.

Or in a lion’s den–just ask Daniel.

Or in a prison–just ask Peter.

Or in a storm again or even shipwrecked–just ask Paul.

This weekend in Chicago

This weekend, James McDonald and I are swapping pulpits!

James is speaking at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, and I am speaking at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago.

I will be showing my autobiographical film, Lost Boy: The Next Chapter, and speaking after.

So, if you or anyone you know is in the Chicago area, please come and join us. For more info on that, click here.

Thursday nights in Orange County

The new Bible study that I will be doing in the O.C. in Southern California is coming soon. It all starts on March 12.

We are building a Web site for it, but for now, click here for more info. 

This and that

This weekend, I did an article at WorldNetDaily called, “Are You Almost Christian?” To read that, click here.

Also, to read my long-form weekend devotion, click here.