What I Would Tell My Younger Self | Passing on Knowledge

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Learn more and sign up at harvest.org. For passing insight and wisdom from older believers to younger believers. So if you're a younger believer, find an older believer you can learn from. Whether you're an electrician or a chef, an auto mechanic or a roofer, chances are you serve some sort of apprenticeship.

You learn the trade from someone with a few years under his or her tool belt. Well, the Lord has a similar plan for how believers can pass knowledge from older to younger. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shares the kinds of precepts that we should be passing on. Find the first 14 precepts in this thoughtful message.

Get a replay at harvest.org. Hey, if you have a Bible, why don't you grab it and turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4. And the title of this special message is What I Would Tell My Younger Self. Advice I would give to anyone, young people, but older people as well. I would say, young Greg, tell others about Jesus and then disciple them.

This is called the Great Commission. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And lo, I am with you even to the end of the age. Jesus is saying he will be with the person who does this in a special way. It means that we look for opportunities to initiate conversations about Christ. To the best of our ability, we seek to lead people to the Lord and then we disciple them.

You say, what does that even mean? It means you take them under your wing and you help them get upon their feet spiritually. Here is why disciplining a new believer is important for the new believer as well as for the old believer. The older believer stabilizes the younger believer and the younger believer energizes the older believer. So, you know, when you have been going to church for 10, 15, 20 years, I don't know what you do after the service, but maybe you start critiquing things. Did you see what she was wearing?

And oh man, can you believe how loud the music was? And that sermon seemed a little too long. You know, you kind of gripe and complain maybe. But let's say you have a brand new believer with you. They just accepted Christ two weeks ago.

They are in that bloom of first love. I guarantee you are not going to be critiquing the sermon or critiquing the church because the new believer will say, you know, the pastor said this and I have never heard that before. So you will find yourself elaborating on it. Do you understand how that is helping you as well as it is helping them? But see, a lot of us don't do this. You know, we are not sharing the truth. We are hoarding the truth.

And we just think about ourselves. But a true mark of spiritual maturity is when we get our eyes off of ourselves and start thinking of others. But then there is the joy of sharing because Jesus said it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. Share your faith. Seek to disciple others.

And here is another one. Spend time with older, godly people. Sometimes when you are young you just want to hang around young people. I remember when I was a brand new Christian I was 17. I knew a lot of people my own age. But I went out of my way to find older people to hang around.

You know why? I thought, what do these other young people know? I don't think they know much more than I know. So I met people that were older like Pastor Chuck Smith, his wife Kay Smith, an associate pastor there at the church he pastored Calvary Chapel named Pastor Romaine. I spent time talking to them.

You know why? I didn't have a dad growing up. I didn't have a mom growing up. I needed an older person to help me figure life out.

To give me some life hacks if you will. And they did that. They spent time with me. I didn't just listen to them speak. I had meals with them and did fun things with them and got to see what a Christian looks like up close and personal. Especially an older more mature believer. A little bit later in my life I became friends with a great British preacher Alan Redpath who wrote a lot of amazing commentaries. And of course I became friends with Billy and Ruth Graham. Being with these godly people impacted me. Find godly people you can be with. So if you are an older believer find a younger believer you can bring under your wing. If you are a younger believer find an older believer you can learn from.

Paul says to Timothy, Teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. See we are in a race as Christians. And this race is the beginning, middle, and end. I expect that I am toward the end of my race.

I am certainly not at the beginning of it. And this is a relay race. And my job in this race is not to hold on to the baton forever.

I have to hand it on to the next runner to carry it forward. We need to do the same. And we need to share these truths if you are older with younger people.

God told Moses to teach these truths to his children. When they sit down. When they lie down. When they walk. When they get up and they go to bed. In other words just integrate this truth into the life of other people throughout life in general.

Listen to this. World view for young people is formed between the ages of 18 months and the age of 13. Those are the most critical years to pour truth into the life of a younger person. Find a younger person and do that.

If you are a younger person get someone to help you with that. Here is my final point. Which is simply this. Don't give too many points when you are saying what an older you would say to a younger you.

I am kidding. The last point is this. Finish your race well. I mentioned we are in a race.

The race of life. Paul says many people are in the race. Run that you may win. We all want to run to win.

We all are running for the gold. We want to do the best we can with the life that God has given us. There will come a moment when we have our last meal and we give our last statement and then we are done.

We breathe our last breath. Hopefully we can say along with the Apostle Paul. This of course is found in 2 Timothy 4. I fought the good fight. I kept the faith. I finished the course. Henceforth there is laid before me a crown of righteousness.

Which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me in that day and not to me only but to all who love his appearing. You don't know when the end of your race will come. My son's race ended at 33. And we used to race on the beach by the way.

Him and I. He was a great runner Christopher. But somehow I could beat him for many years even though he was a good runner. He was a long distance runner.

I was a sprinter. So I would challenge him to a race. I would always have the race favor me. I would pick a rock up the beach. I would say let's race to the rock. And then Marquette said go.

Well they would favor me because I am a sprinter. And I would always beat him. And one day we were walking along the beach. I said let's race to that rock.

You ready? And off we go. And he not only beat me he really beat me. And I think that he has gone to heaven before me. He beat me in the race. You think well I have a long ways to run this race and live this life. Maybe I will get right with God when I am in my 80s or 90s.

No. Your race may be coming to an end more quickly than you planned for. So always be able to say I fought the good fight. I kept the faith. I finished the course.

Run this race well. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We send these daily studies out via radio, satellite, and our podcasts. And we don't always know how these messages are touching lives. But when we hear the stories of our listeners' heartaches and regrets, we are encouraged to know the impact on people's lives.

I have about a 45 minute commute to and from work. And I listened to Pastor Greg Laurie's podcast. I just finished listening to one of the sermons from the series, Let's Talk About Heaven.

And I had an abortion back in 2010. And it's been a long journey of healing. And when I finally came to the realization that the safest place is to be at the foot of the cross, I was able to fully experience mercy and grace and love that the Lord has for me. And I just wanted to say thank you, Pastor Greg, for this sermon series. And I'm getting a little emotional because what a day that will be to not only be reunited with my baby, but to be united with Jesus Christ.

I just want to say thank you. What a powerful story of God's forgiveness. Do you have a story to tell of how Pastor Greg's studies in God's Word have helped you? If so, why not call and share it with us? Just call 1-866-871-1144.

Again, 866-871-1144. Well today, Pastor Greg is passing along advice to those younger in the faith, and really to all of us. And he recalls getting some counsel from his mentor, Pastor Chuck Smith. I asked him this question. Chuck, what would an older Chuck say to a younger Chuck?

What advice would you give yourself? And Chuck's response was simply, hold the course. I wasn't sure what that meant. I said, what do you mean hold the course? You mean like we're in the race of life and you just hang in there and keep running? He said, that's it. Hold the course. That's what he did, by the way. He held the course into his mid-80s before the Lord called him home. I say to you seasoned saints, you that have been walking with the Lord for some time, hold your course. Keep running this race.

Because you never know when the race will end. I was with Alice Cooper a little earlier this week, and of course you probably know who Alice Cooper is. He's a famed rock star at one moment. He was the most famous and successful rock star in all of the world. His name he was given was Vincent Fournier. And as a young man he got into a little rock band.

They were called the Spiders. And they later changed their name to Alice Cooper. And of course he was known for spectacle and for almost being like a dark figure.

But in reality a lot of it was an act. But in time Vincent Fournier started turning into the character Alice Cooper. Almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He started becoming this character and he was drinking. He became an alcoholic and then he became a drug addict.

But here's the amazing thing you may not know about Alice Cooper. Is he's the son of a pastor and he was running from God. He described himself to me in an interview I did with him as the prodigal running from God. And he went so far that people thought he'll never get right with God.

This guy is so evil he told me they were destroying copies of his record on the 700 Club. But God wasn't done with Vincent. He wasn't done with Alice. And he got hold of him. Alice was actually overdosing on cocaine. He had a rock of cocaine the size of a softball. And he was hallucinating. And he looked in the mirror and he saw what looked like blood coming out of his eyes. And he cried out to God. And he took that rock of cocaine and flushed it down the toilet.

And God heard his prayer and turned him around. And he has been walking with the Lord clean and sober for many years now. The only addiction he seems to have today is an addiction to golf.

He loves to get out on the course. I think that is an acceptable addiction so to speak. But the point is Alice speaks out about his faith in Jesus Christ right now.

Reminding us that no one is beyond the reach of God. I have talked a lot about younger people. Let me talk to someone who is a little older. Maybe you have made some bad decisions. Maybe you have done some things and you would say it is too late for me.

It is never too late for you. God can turn your life around. God can forgive you of your sin. God can refresh you and replenish you and revive you. But you must turn to Him.

Let me do an invitation of a different kind right now. An invitation to prodigal sons and daughters out there who like Alice Cooper have been running from God. But listen. God has not forgotten about you. God loves you. And God will accept you and forgive you. We talk about the prodigal son. You remember that story in the Bible.

A boy runs away from his father. Ruins his life. Loses everything that he has.

Comes back in shame. Returning to his father and Jesus who told the story of the father when he saw him at a distance. Ran to him.

Threw his arms around him. And rejoiced and said this my son who is dead is alive again. He who was lost is found. You wonder how would God treat me if I returned to Him. He would forgive you. Abraham Lincoln after the end of the Civil War was asked how they should treat the rebellious southerners. And he said treat them as if they had never left.

The idea is God will treat you as if you have never left. He will forgive you because on the cross Jesus took your sin 2,000 years ago. He paid it in full. It wasn't a partial payment. It was a complete payment. And that is why he uttered the words it is finished. It is completed.

It is done. You just need to come and say God forgive me. Are you a prodigal son or daughter? Have you been running from God? Maybe it is time to return to Him. I am going to pray a simple prayer. If you would like to recommit your life to Jesus Christ you can do it right here right now.

Let's pray. Pray these words Lord Jesus. I have been a prodigal. I know it is right. But I have been running from You. But I am so thankful You love me and You will forgive me. Lord I return to You now. I recommit my life to You now.

I choose to follow You from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering my prayer. In Jesus' name I ask this. Amen. Amen. So have you seen the film called The Jesus Music?

It is now out on DVD. It is a fast paced visit with some of the pioneers of what we now call contemporary Christian music. It was often a musical expression of how lost they were until they found the Lord.

Tommy Coombs of Love Song. The drugs didn't work. All the free thinking and LSD and all that stuff just left people rather hopeless.

We began to hit the bottom. Glenn Kaiser of Resurrection Band. The war inside didn't go away even though we exercised our freedom to be, do and experience whatever we wanted to experience.

Chuck Girard of Love Song. I'm still empty. I'm still clueless.

We're sitting there kind of bewildered thinking like where do we go from here? And that's when we started to hear about Calvary. Pastor Greg Laurie. Every night it was something new. A new band would form with new songs. This new thing called Jesus music caught fire as hearts caught fire for the Lord. I saw contemporary Christian music born right before my very eyes.

Michael W. Smith. There was this one record, this big red Maranatha song on a white cover. It was called The Everlasting Living Jesus Music Concert. We made the album for about $4,000. It went on to sell 200,000 units, you know, which is unbelievable.

You know, Dave, this is a new resource we're offering to our listeners that I know they're going to love. But let me tell you a story that I've rarely told. I was in a Christian band for one night.

One night. So this is early 70s, right? Calvary Chapel is experiencing the Jesus movement in full force.

All these new bands are literally forming left and right. And so I was over at a little home Bible study. And one of the guys there was a very good guitar player and songwriter and singer. Then there was another guy who was an amazing flautist.

Isn't that how you say it? A flautist, right? Really incredible. He could play that flute like there was no tomorrow. So my friend's singing this song and the flautist is playing his flute. And I'm sort of keeping time on the coffee table, kind of drumming a little bit. And someone said, let's form a band.

And I think I remember the band was Bright and Morning Stars, something like that. So we went down to Calvary Chapel. Hey, we're a brand new band. Can we play?

And they said, sure, you're on tonight. So next thing I know, I'm standing on the stage with a competent musician on guitar, another competent musician on a flute. And I'm standing there with a conga drum.

You know, I couldn't strap on a coffee table. And I got up, I got nervous, I couldn't keep time with the song, and I immediately discovered this is not my calling. But, you know, this just sort of gives you a sense of the times as all these bands were forming, bands like Love Song, names like Country Faith, Gentle Faith, a lot of faith back in those days, The Way and others that were creating a new kind of music. Now, let me explain. Up to that point, basically in the church, you would find traditional hymns, the odd folk song here and there, but no drum sets, no amplifiers, no electric guitars.

But that is what was happening. So I saw contemporary Christian music happen before my very eyes. I had a front row seat for a spiritual awakening.

And so this has been captured in a beautiful way by the Irwin brothers from the Kingdom Story Company who have produced this documentary film called The Jesus Music. And we want to offer it to you for your gift of any size. Sometimes people say, does that really mean my gift of any size?

Yes, it does. Some give a little, some give more, some may give a bit more. Whatever you can give, we'll invest it in our ministry to continue to teach the Word of God and preach the gospel. And I want to thank you in advance for that, and I will send you a special little package. It has the DVD and the Blu-ray and a downloadable code so you can watch The Jesus Music on your computer, on your laptop, on your phone or whatever device you have. So order it right now. We're so excited to offer to you The Jesus Music.

Let me add one other thing. This movie is sort of the forerunner, if you will, of a major film that's coming out next year called Jesus Revolution. The film we're going to send you is a documentary, but this other film is going to be a feature film shown all around the world. So get ready and learn about your spiritual heritage in order your copy of The Jesus Music right now.

Yeah, that's right. We have it waiting for you. We'll send it to say thank you for your generous investment in teaching believers and reaching unbelievers as we do each day here on A New Beginning. And we hope you'll contact us soon.

We'll only be able to mention this a short time longer. Again, it's called The Jesus Music, and you can call us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.

Or just go online to harvest.org. Ever start your day off wrong? You know, things started badly and just kept going downhill. A lot of it has to do with your focus, where your mind is centered as the day starts. Why not plug into Pastor Greg's daily devotions?

They're free of charge. It's good encouragement to keep your eyes fixed on Christ. You can read each day's devotion or listen to the audio version, your choice. Sign up today free of charge at harvest.org. Hey everybody, what are you doing this weekend? I'd like to hang out with you at Harvest at Home. When is Harvest at Home? It is a time of worship and Bible study exclusively designed for people that are viewing in from all over the place, so you can be a part of our extended congregation at Harvest at Home. Join us this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, for harvestathomeatharvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg launches an eye-opening study in the book of Acts.

We learn we can't influence our community if we are isolated from our community. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, and help others find hope.