America, This Is Your Wake-Up Call: Don't Think God Can't Use You

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. And how believers are called into service. God has not called us to isolate. He's called us to infiltrate. He's called us to permeate and to saturate our culture with the truth of the gospel. God has limitless power. He's omnipotent, but He often calls on His ever-so-limited children to help Him accomplish His kingdom agenda.

We're limited not only in our abilities, but also in our willingness. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us embrace God's plan for the spiritual transformation of our culture. And he shows us that God empowers those He directs. If He sends us to do a job, He gives us the tools to get it done.

This is the day, the day when life begins. And he says, oh, Master, I will grant to you one wish. She thought about it for a moment, and she pulls out a map of the Middle East. She says, Jeannie, there's always been conflict in the Middle East, and I would like them to have some kind of a peace agreement that they could live by. So Jeannie, that's my one wish. I want peace in the Middle East. He said, are you crazy?

There's no way that's ever going to happen. You've got to come up with something else. So she says, well, you know what, Jeannie? I've always wanted to find one good man. One that is considerate and kind and fun and loves to cook and help with the house cleaning. One that will smother me with affection and attention, and he won't just sit around on the couch watching sports all day long. Yeah, that's what I want, Jeannie.

I want one good man. The Jeannie says, let me see that map again. You know, sometimes things seem impossible, right? But the Bible says, with God, all things are possible. But doesn't it seem like America is unraveling before our very eyes? I mean, this is a nation that was built on the Word of God. We call it Judeo-Christian values.

And we really did build this nation on those principles. There was a time in our nation when we had the Ten Commandments on the wall of every classroom. We just talked about the Ten Commandments recently. Think about that.

They were everywhere. And even today, if you go to Washington, D.C., the Ten Commandments are there in the U.S. Supreme Court building. Imagine if we would follow those Ten Commandments.

It's so important. It could change our nation. But no, we got those Ten Commandments off the classroom walls, and we've disregarded them, and we're now seeing the effects of it.

The Bible says, when you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. But think of the foundation of this unique nation that we have the privilege of living in. Our first president, George Washington, made this statement, and I quote, to the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the even more distinguished character of Christian, end quote. James Madison, the fourth U.S. president, made this statement, quote, cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Jesus Christ. I like that. But some will say, oh no, America was not built on a biblical foundation or Judeo-Christian principles.

What are you talking about? Do you think you could protest like people are protesting in America right now in other countries like China or Cuba? They would be quickly stopped if not imprisoned and executed. No, the very liberty that we have to express our feelings and declare our rights was given to us because we built this on the foundation of a belief in God. So here is what it comes down to.

This foundation has eroded. It was John Adams, our second president, who made this statement, and I quote, the United States Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is holy and adequate for the government of any other, end quote.

This is why the idea of nation building has not worked as we have tried to do it in other parts of the world. See our nation was born out of the soil of revival. We have another George in our history.

Not George Washington but George Whitfield. He was an evangelist from England. And he came over to the colonies and preached the gospel.

And thousands and thousands of people believed. And it was in the wake of this revival that our nation was formed. So we are a nation built out of revival. And I think if we are going to continue as a nation, we are a nation that needs to return to revival or a spiritual awakening. Or to simplify it we need to return to God. We have a choice as a nation. Two choices really. Judgment or revival.

Listen. Judgment is coming to every nation of the world including America. But we are praying that judgment will be postponed by God a little bit longer and that we might see at least one more spiritual awakening. Peter Marshall the former chaplain to the U.S. Senate once made this statement and I quote, So do we have any hope in America? Is there anything we can do as followers of Jesus to help our nation turn in the right direction?

I think the answer is a resounding yes. Right here in Matthew chapter 5. Starting in verse 13 he says, So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father which is in heaven.

Salt and light. Why did Jesus use these two word pictures? Because the world is a very dark place and the world is an evil place.

And so Jesus uses two very intentional illustrations to explain to us what we need to do as his followers. To start the biblical world view of this culture is it is dark and it is getting darker. It's our nature as people. We always go in the wrong direction. We always default toward sinful things.

Never toward godly things. General Omar Bradley once made this incredible statement. We have grasped the mystery of the atom but we have forgotten the sermon on the mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants end quote.

And that is so very true. So as we look at America and we see that we're going the wrong direction we say well that's it there's nothing we can do. I think there are things that we can do. Here's what we should not do. We should not try to escape the culture altogether or engage in isolation.

That's virtually impossible. But to make the point God has not called us to isolate. He's called us to infiltrate. He's called us to permeate and to saturate our culture with the truth of the gospel. He's not called us to evade.

He's called us to invade. To go into all the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Now it's a tricky balance because the Bible says don't love the world.

Neither the things that are in the world. And we're also told in Romans chapter 12 don't be conformed to this world. But yet at the same time Jesus says in John 17 I'm not going to take them out of the world. I'm going to keep them safe from the evil one.

And then he says to the Father I'm sending them into the world. Listen the only way to change the world is to go into the world with the gospel. So we don't want this culture to change us. But yes we do want to change the culture.

So let's not try to withdraw. Let's try to be a good influence. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Emails, letters and phone calls let us know that you're gaining benefit from Pastor Greg's teaching.

It's valuable feedback. I get Pastor Greg emails daily and every time I get one the Holy Spirit is speaking to me in that email every single day. And it's made such a huge difference in my life. I can't wait to look at it to see what the Holy Spirit has to say to me through him. I listen to your program every morning at 635 no matter if I get to bed at 10 o'clock or 12 o'clock I'm always up to hear it. It just energizes me when I hear the message. It gives me new hope every day. God bless you. We're so grateful to hear how Pastor Greg's messages are touching lives. And if you have a story to tell of how these studies have impacted you why not call us and give us all the details. Here's the number 1-866-871-1144.

1-866-871-1144. Well today Pastor Greg is pointing out how we're Christian soldiers and our job is to infiltrate and permeate the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He continues now. So this is a battle that we're engaged in and we're either winning or losing in this battle. We're either advancing or retreating because as believers we must realize that we are behind enemy lines. I was watching a World War II film recently and there's a scene where the commanding officer says to the paratroopers of Easy Company that we're behind enemy lines. A panzer division is about to cut you off and you guys are going to be surrounded. And the lieutenant in charge of Easy Company says we're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded.

How true. See we've been dropped behind enemy lines. We're surrounded by people that don't share our views.

We are in hostile territory. And not everybody is going to respond in the affirmative to the message that we give. Some will respond favorably to the message of the gospel that we're proclaiming and come to faith and others will not. 2 Corinthians 2.14 Paul says now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the good news like a sweet perfume. Our lives Paul writes are like a fragrance presented by Christ to God. And this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. So we're a fragrance to some and well a stench to others. You know some people wear too much cologne. Just a little tip for you people that love cologne or perfume. Less is more.

Just a little. You know I've seen people like have a pool of it in the palm of their hand. Throw it on and then everyone they come into contact with smells like that cologne.

So you don't want to be that person. But it can be a fragrance when you're a follower of Jesus. Something that's wonderful. A believer enters a room. A believer enters the conversation.

A believer in the culture. They can change the temperature of a room. They can change so many things. Sometimes it's their presence.

And then of course what they say makes a huge difference as well. But what is a fragrance to some is a stench to others. Take garlic as an example. Garlic is great on food. Garlic smells good when it's cooking.

But it doesn't smell so great when it's on someone's breath afterwards does it? So living godly will reach some people and other people will be offended by it. So look my job is to live and share the gospel.

But before I can effectively tell them I must first live it. Because nothing is a worse witness than a hypocritical Christian. You know I encourage believers to share their faith.

If you're a Christian I encourage you to engage people in evangelistic conversations. You know people are scared right now. There's a lot of uncertainty in the air. A lot of uncertainty in their lives. Opioid use is up. Alcohol sales are up. Suicide rates are up.

Calls to suicide help lines are up. So people are looking for truth that this is a moment for us to step into that conversation and talk about the hope we have found in Christ. But let me say something that might surprise you. For some people out there I would say please don't talk about Jesus. You say Greg you just contradicted yourself.

Now here's what I'm saying. If you're seeking to live a godly life. Not a perfect life. We'll all fall short.

We'll all mess up. But you're seeking to live a godly life. By all means look for opportunities to talk about Jesus. But if you are living a hypocritical life. If you are contradicting what the Bible says by the way that you live. Please do us all a favor and don't talk about Jesus.

In fact you might just focus on repenting of your sin and getting right with God. Before you talk to others. But I think our culture today is looking for authenticity.

A.W. Tozer a preacher from days gone by made this statement. And I quote, The world is waiting to hear an authentic voice. A voice from God.

Not an echo from what others are doing and saying but an authentic voice. End quote. And I think that is so very true. So we want to be salt. Salt effectively earns us the right to be light.

Let me explain. You see salt back in its day was something of great value. And in fact Roman soldiers would sometimes be paid in salt.

Hence the term oh he's not worth his salt. Salt was valuable. Salt was something that stopped the spread of rotting in meat. They would cut the meat up in strips and they would embed salt in it so it could be preserved.

This was before refrigeration. And in the same way that is what we should be doing as followers of Jesus Christ. You know it is Christians that stop the spread of evil in our culture today. It is Christians that stand up for the rights of the unborn. It is Christians that speak out against racism and try to bring about reconciliation. It is Christians that are out there doing good works.

Helping people who are in need if they believe as we believe or not. That is what it means to be salt out in our culture today. And another thing that salt does is it stimulates thirst. You know remember back when we used to go to movies. Well you would get some popcorn and you know all of those things you get at the concession stand were so expensive. It is like you can get a little popcorn a medium size and then one the size of a garbage can. Right. And they fill it up and you know you can get free refills.

Ok thanks. You will walk off with your giant thing of popcorn. But they over salt it and you are thirsty and you come and say excuse me can I get a glass of water.

I am sorry we are not allowed to give these cups out. But here is a little thimble you can get some water over there from the hose. Or you can buy some bottled water for $40.

That is more than you would ever drink in a single lifetime. And that is just kind of the way it works. But salt stimulates thirst right.

And if you are really living for Jesus as you want to and being the salt of the earth you will stimulate in others a desire to know God. Think of it as going out with someone to eat. Maybe someone invited you to dinner and you had already eaten. And he said well I will go along and just sit with you as you eat all of a cup of coffee. And so they order their burger and their fries and their malt and you are just sitting there drinking your coffee. And you say hey man can I have one of those fries.

Sure take all you want. And you eat that fry. Why is stolen food so much better than food that you order yourself. You know sometimes when my wife is cooking she cuts things up in little portions. Oh here is the carrots. Here is the tomatoes.

And I will go over and take a little carrot. Don't take those. Those are the portions. You will mess up the portions.

But there is something very exciting about stolen food. Anyway going back to the fry. So you eat the fry and for some unknown reason that is the greatest french fry you have ever had in your life. And then you order your own and they are not usually as good as the fry you took from someone else.

Here is my point. When someone is enjoying a meal it makes you hungry. And in the same way when someone is walking with God and loves the Lord it makes you want to know Jesus as well. This is what won me over to Christ. You know I am sort of the exception to the rule of how evangelism works.

Because we generally say go out and share the gospel with people and they will believe. Maybe invite them to church or something like that. Nobody invited me to anything.

Nobody talked to me about anything. But I was on my high school campus and I saw these Christians. I had transferred over there from another campus. And we didn't have a bunch of Christians on my other campus. And these followers of Jesus are everywhere. And my friends warned me Greg the Jesus freaks are everywhere here. Be careful.

And I said oh yeah the last thing that is ever going to happen is Greg Laurie would become a Jesus freak. Famous last words right. But here is what interested me about these people. Is they had this joy. They had this happiness. They had something I did not have.

Something I was trying to have through the use of drugs. And there was an emptiness in my life. And it was their walk with God that attracted me to them. So I ended up at one of their meetings and I wasn't even invited.

But I was sitting far enough away where I could hear what they were saying but not so close that people would think I was one of them. And that was the first time I heard the gospel. And when I heard what it meant to be a Christian that was the day I gave my life to the Lord.

But my point is simply this. The thing that reached me was Christians being salty. And by salty I mean it was Christians living as Christians ought to live.

And it was a very attractive thing to me. But you know what is sad is when Christians are not salty. Look at Matthew 5 13. Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by man.

Wow. Heavy duty words from Christ. Good for nothing.

Basically Jesus is saying if salt isn't salty what good is it? I was with a friend some time ago and we went to a coffee place. And I got my normal cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. And he said he would like to have a decaf low fat latte.

And I just looked at him and said, Why? I mean why don't you just order an empty cup and pretend you are drinking something. I mean decaf.

Low fat. All the fun is gone. Right? And what we have today are decaf disciples. What we have today are Christians that aren't salty like they ought to be.

Or like when a Coke goes flat. Who wants to drink it? We have uncarbonated Christians. And Jesus is saying, What good is it if you are not being the salt that I have called you to be? Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out that we need to be robust, full strength, productive representatives of Christ. Good encouragement today here on A New Beginning and there is more to come in this message. If you missed any part of today's insight you can catch up by going to harvest.org.

Just look for the message called, America this is your wake up call. Well Pastor Greg we are excited about making available a couple of warm hearted resources from our good friend author Sally Lloyd-Jones. Sally is a good friend of yours and Kathy's. I know as you've thumbed your way through these new resources they really touched your heart as well.

Absolutely Dave. You know they're just, what is the right word? They're just charming. They're adorable. They're biblical and yet they're done so beautifully, well, so a child can understand them.

You know it's been said that the objective of a preacher is to get the cookies on the lower shelf so the children can get to them. And I think that Sally Lloyd-Jones does an amazing job with the project she works on from the Jesus Storybook Bible to this special resource we're offering right now that is simply called Near. And she always brings it home in a way a child can understand. So she works with this very talented artist named Jago and this is beautifully illustrated.

And as a graphic artist I really appreciate his design sensibilities and his attention to detail. And this is based on some 139 so this is something I want to put in the hands of the folks out there especially you that have young children or you that have grandchildren. You give them this little book and they're going to want to open it and look at the pictures and read it or you can read it to them. But I promise you they're going to want to open this and check it out because this is so well done. Otherwise why would we offer it to you?

We're very intentional on what we choose to bring to your attention here at Harvest because we want to provide you with the finest spiritual resources so you can reach your family both young and old. Well you've got a copy of it right there in front of you. Maybe you could read just a little bit of the book for us.

Sure. So Dave if I was going to read this to my grandkids I would read it along these lines. God is my father who made everything and I'm a little explorer of the wide world. He is near me and he protects me. He sees me and he knows me. He is strong and he looks after me. He is with me always.

However far I go he's always near me. I could climb the highest mountain. I could fly to the highest star. I could dive into the deepest sea. I could sail far far away to the North Pole and God would still be there. I could trek through jungles. I could ride through deserts.

I could zoom as fast as light. God would still be there even in the dark at night. He's still with me there.

He stays close to me and he won't ever leave me because I'm his little child and he loves me. Isn't that great? Those are the words of Sally Lloyd-Jones from her children's book Near. And we've added a little bit of enhancement ourselves but you know you can add your own creativity as you read this wonderful story to your children or grandchildren.

The sky's the limit. And by the way we'll also include Sally's resource called Babies Carry Along Bible. An adorable little board book with ten Bible stories told in rhyme. We'll send both resources Near and Babies Carry Along Bible to thank you for your donation right now. You know it's your partnership that allows us to bring Pastor Greg studies each day.

So thank you for your generosity. And you can write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to Harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Greg brings us more insight on how we can affect our culture and help begin a spiritual awakening. Find out the part you can play next time on A New Beginning.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to Harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally go to Harvest.org and click on Know God.