Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend a book by a historical Jesus scholar, highlighting archaeological finds such as the Shroud of Turin, supporting the truth of Christianity. We want to send you this book by Dr. Jeremiah Johnston. It's simply called The Jesus Discoveries, and it's going to help you grow stronger in your faith and a great tool for you as you share your faith with others.
So order your copy of The Jesus Discoveries for your gift of any size. Get your copy at harvest.org. You know, God used Chuck Smith in extraordinary ways to reach a generation of searching young people and spark a movement that spread around the world. It was known as the Jesus movement. The Jesus Revolution.
And Chuck was often called the father of the Jesus movement.
So. Together, Chuck and I talked about his life in ministry from his early calling to the explosive growth of Calvary Chapel around the world. I was with you in Hawaii once. We were done a harvest crusade there, remember? And we were one night in, and all of a sudden, we get called early in the morning.
There's a hurricane coming. Hurricane Aniki. And they're telling us that, and this was in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, which had devastating effects there. And so Dennis Egyjanian was there, and he said, Buddy, I saw the ruin from Hurricane Andrew, and we got to strap your family onto posts and hold on. And I was getting all worked up, and I went into a panic and I went into town.
Everything was closed, so I went to Subway and bought 20 sandwiches. I don't really know what I would have done with 20 sandwiches, but so you know, I go over to where you're staying. We had a little place right next to each other, and you're just cooking a stew. You're as calm as could be. And we all kind of calmed down.
And then I recall we had a little tennis game. Remember that? Right, I do. But I mean, how can you be calm? calm, okay, we'll use that as a metaphor.
That was a literal hurricane. But you're calm in the middle of a lot of storms. And we're gonna talk about a storm you're in right now. But in your book, A Memoir of Grace, you write, quote, Grace does not shield the cruel realities of a world damaged by the fall. We're not in heaven yet.
And God does not spare us from the crushing blows that come to everyone. We lose people we love, we suffer, we grieve, we journey on, but we're not abandoned. And Chuck, an unimaginable tragedy happened to you. When your father and your brother were killed in a plane crash. Yes.
Where were you when you heard that news and how did you react to such a horrific thing?
Well, my brother had started a motorcycle shop up in Victorville and he had a plane and my dad went up to, my dad had retired and went up to help him because my dad was real sharp in business and accounting and all. And uh So They were going to fly on down to Orange County and uh from Victorville and my brother's plane. It was a stormy night and uh So We went out to the Orange County airport to pick them up and figured when all the time they'd be there, and they didn't show up. We waited an hour. And uh it became a little apprehensive, so we went on home.
We were living in Huntington Beach at the time. And uh We got the call from them, and they were. My brother had just gotten his license and really wasn't that familiar with flying. But he had gotten on the wrong vector and had landed in San Diego rather than Orange County. And so they were going to refuel and flying up to Orange County.
And so we went back out to the airport. Uh but the storm uh they Came right into the center of the storm, just and the plane was a small plane, and it just had run out of fuel when they were over. San Ofry area, and they crashed down there, and they both were. I killed in the crash and so Um You know, it was an interesting thing that was extremely hard for me to. Handle because it was so sudden.
You're not prepared for it, you're not ready for it. And it's a shock that just really hits you right, you know, in the guts. And uh so I um Had a hard, hard time. I would, after that dream, that my dad and brother, we did a lot of things together, that we would be out, and I would be so excited in my dream, you know, that here we are having this great time water skiing or whatever, and then you wake up to the reality. You know, they're not there.
And I mean, it was just so hard. It took me a long time to actually. you know, get over that. With my mom, who I was really closer to than my dad, but yet. When she went, she had been ill for a while, and it was easier to let her go, though I was closer to her, because you realize, well, no more pain.
And of course, after my dad and brother, she lost her will to live, actually, because that was all that she had at home. And so it was a hard experience, but yet. The Lord was with us and I actually did the funeral service for them. I'm sure it's given you a greater compassion. Oh my yes.
You know, Billy Graham said, God doesn't comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters. And you've been a comforter to so many. Uh when our son Christopher was killed in an automobile accident, You came to my home and we'd sat and talked, and I remember one thing that you said to me. That was one of the most helpful things of all. You said.
Never trade what you do know for what you don't know. And I think, and I don't want to, you know, you can explain it, but my understanding was: what do I know?
Well, I know that God loves me. I know that my Son loved the Lord. I know He's in heaven. I know because I've put my faith in Christ, I'll be in heaven someday and I'll be reunited with Him. And I don't know why this happened.
We don't know why your father and your brother were killed in that horrible accident. And there's just unanswerable questions. you know, for somebody maybe that that is Watching this or hearing this, maybe this has just happened. You know, they just lost a loved one unexpectedly. What would you say to them?
Well, again, don't give up what you know for what you don't know. Because the question is always why? You know, and that question will haunt you and make you crazy trying to figure out why did this happen and so forth. But I don't know why, but what I do know is, you know, that God is good and God loves me and God's working out His perfect plan in my life and so I'm just content with that.
