You know, there is a very special group of people I want to introduce you to. They are a group of people who are passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed in this nation and beyond. Without them, Harvest Ministries could not even exist. We call them Harvest Partners. They are people who have chosen to give monthly to Harvest to keep the gospel moving forward.
In our lifetime, let's do this together. Just go to Harvest.org What's the best way to chart a course for a successful Christianity? Well, we might ask someone who has walked that path over the long haul.
There's no discounting the wisdom that comes with experience. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie looks back over the past 50 years of ministry at his home church, Harvest Christian Fellowship. The Lord has blessed, but it hasn't always been easy.
So today, he offers some good perspective for all of us on the path of faith. So I heard about a couple that were celebrating 25 years of marriage. And all their family and friends were gathered. And the husband said to the wife, my dear, I love you so much. And for our 25th wedding anniversary, I'm taking you to Australia.
She was so excited. She said, I've always wanted to go to Australia. You know, koala bears, kangaroos, shrimps on the barbie. I've always wanted to go down under. I can't believe that if you're going to take me to Australia for our 25th wedding anniversary, what will you do for our 50th? He said, that's when I'll pick you up. Okay, so these are bad jokes or dad jokes.
And dad jokes are basically bad jokes, right? But you know, 50 years, that's a milestone, something that you celebrate. It reminds us that time has passed so quickly. Billy Graham was once asked, what has been the greatest surprise of your life?
His answer was the brevity of it. How quickly life seems to pass by. And it seems as you get older, it seems like life goes faster. I remember when I was in elementary school, I felt like I was attending school for like 30 years in kid time, right? And then high school went a little bit faster, and then years passed so quickly. And decades start passing, time is passing. They say one of the reasons it seems as though time passes more quickly when you're older is because you do the same thing over and over again.
You have the routine. So you always take a vacation to the same place. You always go out and eat in the same restaurant. You always sit in the same seat in the restaurant.
You always order the same thing off the menu. You even sit in the same place at church every Sunday. And you do. And I know where you all sit. See, I go, oh, so-and-so's not here today.
Why aren't they not here? That's how we do it as we get older. We like routine.
We like predictability. There's one place that I go where time slows down for me. The dentist. When I'm sitting in that dental chair, I feel like I'm there for a year, right? Though it may only be for an hour.
So things do seem to pass quickly, but really time is passing at the rate that it passes. I did hear about an older couple that went into a restaurant. They were both 90. And it was a very popular restaurant. It was hard to get in. And so they said, could we get a table?
And the maitre d said, well, I'm sorry. There's like an hour-long wait. And if you can wait an hour, we'll get you a table. And the man said, young man, I'm 90 years old. My wife is 90 years old. We may not live one more hour.
They got a table immediately. So if you're old, you might try that. Hacks for old people.
I don't know if it will work or not. Yeah, time is passing quickly. We can't control that, but we do control what we will do with that time. What should we do with our time if we're 90 or if we're 9 or somewhere in between?
Here's the simple answer. We should seek to become more and more like Jesus each and every day. That's the ultimate goal for the Christian, to become more like Christ. And we should seek to grow spiritually. We don't want to rest on our laurels or worse, go backwards spiritually. We want to always be moving forward in the Christian life. This is why Jesus said, remember Lot's wife.
Three words. Remember Lot's wife. Why should I remember Lot's wife? Well, if you remember the story in the book of Genesis, God delivered Lot, his wife, and their family from Sodom and Gomorrah. His judgment was falling on the city and he said to them, don't look back. But they did look back, or at least she did in particular, and she turned into a pillar of Saul.
So Jesus says, hey, remember Lot's wife. Because the first step to going back is looking back. So we want to keep our focus on what is in front of us. I read about a sign on an airport runway, a little airport. And the sign said, keep moving. If you stop, you are in danger and a danger to those who are flying. That's good advice for a pilot and it's also good advice for the rest of us. Keep moving.
If you stop, you're a danger not only to yourself but others who are flying. There's a man of God from the 1600s, an old Puritan preacher named Richard Baxter. And he wrote these words. Spend your time in nothing which you know must be repented of, in nothing which you might not pray for the blessing of God, in nothing with which you would not review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed, in nothing if death should surprise you in the act. This deals with a lot of those gray areas of life. Is it okay for a Christian to do this or that?
Ask yourself the question and kind of run it through this list. Spend your time in nothing which you know must be repented of, in nothing on which you might not pray for the blessing of God. What you're doing, can you ask God to bless it? If you can ask God to bless it, go for it. If you feel awkward praying about it, maybe you shouldn't be doing it, in nothing which you cannot review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed.
This is the big one. In nothing which you might not safely and properly be found doing if death should surprise you in the act. I think that's pretty good advice. Now you that are young, listen to this, you are laying a foundation in your life today that you will build on for the rest of your life. You're making decisions today that will affect you next year, the next decade, and all the years to come.
So you want to make the right decisions in life because before you know it, you're well on your way in life. Now as I get older, I wouldn't go back in time if I was given the choice. I would like to have my hair back again though.
I do miss my hair. But apart from that, hopefully you've learned a few things and have some things to offer to others as well. But for me, each year has been an adventure walking with Jesus Christ and watching his plan for my life unfold. And there's been a lot of twists and turns in my life, things that didn't make sense at the time. You've heard the expression, my life flashed before my eyes.
Usually that's said by someone who had a near death experience. Well for me, my life flashed before my eyes when they made a movie out of my life called Jesus Revolution. So when I was spending time with John Irwin who was the director and also co-wrote the script with another man named John Gunn, as I was going through things, they asked me all these questions about my childhood. So I had to do a deep dive into the past and think deeply about that time. And then they came back with this script.
They summed my life up. And it was very interesting because that's not the way I would have told my story. But they picked the moments in my life that they thought were significant and wrapped it around the story of Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee and Kathy and all the rest of it. And I said to John, kind of kiddingly but half seriously, I said I like your version of my life better than my version.
You know because some events were brought together, the timelines were changed a little bit. But the arc of my life, because when you're going through it, you don't know what it's going to lead to. But I look back on it now and I can see God's hand was on my life from the very beginning. Psalm 16 says, the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the night. Also my heart instructs me.
I've set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand and I will not be shaken. For me the lines have fallen in pleasant places. And I can even see that in my childhood, as hard as it was, and the movie didn't show nearly how bad it was, but as hard as it was, it's been a tool that can be used to reach other people struggling in their own childhoods. And to say God's going to get you through whatever it is you're going through and my life is an evidence of that. And hopefully this will encourage you. You know it's been said, success builds barriers but failure builds bridges.
Success builds barriers. You know when you act as though you're all that and a bag of chips and you're living your perfect little Instagram life, because we only take pictures of the great moments, the great meal. We don't take a photograph of the worst meal we ever ate.
Though that would be an interesting post, would it not? But anyway, you know we have all the highlights. Oh look at my beautiful life and all of your images are curated so they all sort of look the same. And here's my great life that I'm living. Don't you wish you were me? Who can relate to that? And the reality is that's not really your complete life, is it?
So then that might build a barrier. I wish I could be like them. Oh they have the greatest life. But failure builds bridges, you know. When you say to someone, hey this is my struggle or this is my question or this is my weakness, someone suddenly says, wow you're just like me, aren't you?
Yes, we are all the same in so many ways. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from so many people who find Christ through these studies, some in person and even some on the road. I came to Christ listening to Pastor Greg, but I didn't understand how to surrender to Christ. One day Pastor Greg was talking while I was driving for my work. After I heard him give the Gospel presentation, I stopped and then got down on my knees confessing my sins to God, allowing the Lord to take over my life.
That was the day I finally felt complete. God is so amazing. If you have a comment or story to share, would you send Pastor Greg an email? Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org.
That's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well today Pastor Greg is reflecting on the last 50 years of his ministry and passing along some of the pivotal principles he's learned along the way. I look back on my life and I can see that God was in control, but I have to say one of the surprises of my Christian life is seeing some people crash and burn spiritually. People that I never thought would fall away, fell away. You know it's funny, you meet certain people and you say, I don't know if they're going to make it as a Christian, and they end up doing really well through their Christian life, and others you think, oh man, they're going to make their mark in the world and change the world and God's going to use them, and they just crash and burn because of bad decisions they made.
But then there are others that start and they finish well. That's who we want to be. We want to start this race well, we want to run this race well, and we want to finish this race well, because that is the goal. Paul the apostle wrote in Acts 20, verse 24, he said these words to the elders of Ephesus. We've stood in the very spot where he said these words to them.
He said, none of these things move me, that is the threat of imprisonment. I do not count my life dear to myself, but I want to finish my race with joy. Here's the question, how can I finish this race with joy?
How can we cross the finish line with flying colors? How can we win the race of life? What is the secret to spiritual longevity? We're all interested in longevity these days. It seems like I see so many articles now on how to live longer. If you eat this, you'll live longer. If you do that, you'll live longer. I actually went to a medical website. They had a list of things you should do if you want to live a longer life physically.
I wrote a few of them down. Number one, eat like an Okinawan. Basically, the people of Okinawa, Japan, live longer than any other group on earth. They've done extensive research on this, and they discovered they ate vegetables that were green and yellow in color and low in calories, and also they only ate 80% of the food on their plate. I guess that all depends on how big the plate is, though, because you get a really big plate and only eat 80%. Then you read that, and then you read another article about someone who lived to be 103, and they said the secret was they eat bacon every day. So go figure.
What is the answer? Here's another thing that this medical website said, and I found this interesting. One of the secrets to living a long life is go to church. Go to church. They said go to religious services, but go to church. They said in a 12-year study of people over age 65, those who went more than once a week to church had higher levels of a key immune system protein than their peers who didn't. So when you go home from church today and one of your family members didn't come, you could say, I'm going to live longer than you.
You should have come with me to church today. Number two, and I really like this one. Number three, rather, forgive.
This is on a medical website. Forgive because letting go of grudges has surprising physical health benefits. Chronic anger is linked to heart disease, strokes, poor lung health, and other problems. Forgiveness will reduce anxiety, lower your blood pressure, and help you breathe more easily. Isn't that interesting? Forgive. Another one, they said learn the art of the nap.
I have learned this art. I don't take long naps, but every day I'll take maybe a seven- or eight-minute nap, and it really seems to help me. Those who take a nap each day, according to this study, are 37% less likely to die from heart disease.
Another one, keep moving. Regular physical activity lowers your chance of getting heart disease, diabetes, and other forms of cancer and depression. You know, sometimes people are maybe in their 40s. They'll say, I'm getting old, really old. Yeah, you're also getting fat, and that might have something to do with it. Because literally, if you lost 20 pounds, you might feel a little bit younger. So there's things to factor in. I know I just offended many of you, but I'm just saying what I think, okay. When you're old, you just say whatever you think, and that's what I just did. So this is good advice for physical longevity.
But what about some advice for spiritual longevity? Well, we find that here in Joshua 14. Before us is the story of a man who both started and finished his race well. He's not as known as well as Joshua, but him and Joshua were friends, Joshua and Caleb. Caleb is the man I want to talk about. Because the scene before us here in Joshua 14 is where the tribes of Israel are now receiving their inheritance that God has given to them. And now Caleb speaks up. Now Caleb is 85 years old, and he's been waiting for this day for a long time to get his portion of the land. And in Joshua 14, verse 11, Caleb says, I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me, just as my strength was then, so is now my strength for war, for going out and coming in, so give me this mountain. I love this old dude. Probably raising up a bony old arm, give me this mountain. They're thinking, this guy's crazy. Oh, he wasn't crazy at all. He really had as much strength in his older years as he did in his younger years.
I remember a while ago, we went to the Orange County Fair, our family and the family of Levi Lusko. So we came to one of those high strikers. That's what they call that thing where you hit, you take the big sledgehammer and you try to ring the bell, right? So Levi says, you want to do this? I say, let's go. So he goes in. He's young, he's strong, goes to the gym, brings that hammer down, boom, doesn't hit the bell, doesn't ring the bell. Does it again, doesn't ring the bell. Said, well, it's my turn. I picked up the sledgehammer, brought it down, bing, rang the bell. Brought it down again, rang the bell. Not because I'm so strong, though I am, not really, but I just knew where to put that sledgehammer.
I knew the right spot to hit it at. And then Levi looked at me and said, so what do you think, Levi? He said, old man's strength. I thought, old man's strength?
What is that, like an insult? You can have old man's strength, old woman's strength, like Caleb had. Why did he have this strength? He gives the answer in Joshua 14, dropped on to verse 7.
I was 40 years old, says Caleb, when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. I'll underline this. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. Don't miss that. He's giving us a secret.
He's giving us a life hack, if you will. I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. If you want to finish well, if you want spiritual longevity, you must wholeheartedly, not halfheartedly, follow the Lord your God. Look, if you're going to be a Christian, be a Christian.
If you're going to do this, go for it, 100%. And the problem is we have a lot of half-hearted people. But Caleb was not half-hearted. He was wholehearted. He wholeheartedly or wholly followed the Lord his God. Pastor Greg Laurie, pointing us to a wonderful example of perseverance and commitment.
Caleb wholeheartedly followed the Lord. And there's more to come here on A New Beginning as Pastor Greg continues his message called, Give Me This Mountain. So, how's your day? Well, it's been great. It's been great. It's been great. It's been great. It's been great.
Give me this mountain. So, how's your commitment level? Maybe today you've been encouraged to make some adjustments. But then maybe you've never really come to the Lord and asked him to forgive your sin. Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who wants to make that change right now?
I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours.
It doesn't happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead and I want him to come into my life. So, here's my question to you.
Have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and he's knocking. And he's saying, if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?
Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer to God. Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that we will confess our sin.
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, God bless you. You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ.
Yeah, that's right. And Pastor Greg would like to help you get started off right, living for the Lord. He'd like to send you his New Believers Bible. It features hundreds of helps for new believers and it's written in an easy to understand translation. So contact us for your free copy of the New Believers Bible. Call us at 1-800-821-3300.
That's 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching.
That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps. You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it and I'm called to do it and I'm thankful for it.
But I can't do it alone. So I'm gonna ask folks that are listening if you think more people need to hear the gospel, if you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the word of God, then perfectly consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So thanks for that.
Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org. Next time, Pastor Greg takes us to a recent Harvest Crusade for a message from a conversation Jesus had with a certain rich young ruler. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
