Greg, Lori, and Harvest Ministries would like to send you the movie Unsung Hero, the back story of the music group for King and Country. It's a story of a mom and a dad and their seven kids putting their faith into action. You're going to be deeply moved by this story of the amazing small-bone family that have gone on to impact so many through their music, and we are offering this film to you for your gift of any size.
Get the DVD and digital download of Unsung Hero at harvest.org. Sometimes non-believers have a better understanding of what a Christian ought to be than some Christians have. Many of us have been on the receiving end of a non-believer's admonishment about our conduct. Pastor Greg Lori says sometimes they're right. They actually expect us to be different. They actually expect us to be friendly. They actually expect us to be loving, and they expect us to be forgiving, and they expect us to be caring, so they'll remind us of that sometimes. We'll know we're Christians by our protests, by our self-righteousness, by all the things we're against.
Sometimes it might seem that way. Jesus actually said, by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Lori helps us reevaluate how our faith is seen by others.
Is it off-putting or irresistible? As we consider the bad example of the prophet Jonah, we'll ask ourselves if our witness is working. Here in the book of Jonah is the story of a man who ended up in a storm. He ended up in a storm because he was running from the will of God. He was called to preach to a city called Nineveh, so he's reluctant.
He doesn't want to go. He's on this boat, and he's headed as far from Nineveh as he can humanly get. The following happened. Jonah chapter 1 verse 4, and the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. All this time Jonah was sound asleep down on the hold. The captain went down after him and said, how can you sleep at a time like this?
Get up and pray to your God. Maybe He will pay attention to us and spare our lives. So the Lord sent a powerful wind. The Lord sends a mighty storm to get the attention of the prodigal prophet. So the sailors on the ship, they don't know why this is happening.
They've never seen a storm like this before. Verse 5. Fearing for their lives, they shouted to their gods.
This is what people do when things are really bad. They cry out to their gods. Whatever your god happens to be.
I remember when I was a kid any crisis came. I called out to God. God helped me. My God was Jesus. I didn't know much about Him.
I had seen all of His movies. I had never read the Bible. I knew really very little about Jesus Christ, but I believed He was out there somewhere.
And I would call out to Him. People call out to their various gods in times of trouble. Heard about an old sea captain who was quite vocal about his atheism. One night there was a horrible storm and he was swept overboard. And some of the other sailors heard him crying out to God for help.
They were able to rescue him and brought him back up on deck. And one of them said, hey wait a second. I thought you were an atheist.
I heard you call out to God for help. And the old atheist captain said, well if there isn't a God there ought to be at a time like this. And we will call out to God when we need to. And that is what they are doing. Sort of an emergency religion. Interesting to note. They cried out to their gods.
Plural. But Jonah did not cry out to his God. Somehow they determined this storm came as a result of Jonah. We read they cast lots. We are not really sure how that played out.
But it was sort of like drawing straws. And they found out it is because of this stranger. This guy that is asleep in the lower part of the boat.
So they say to him in verse 8, why does this awful storm come down on us they demand? Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from?
What is your nationality? Jonah says, I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord God, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land. Hey let's give Jonah a little credit. He didn't deny his faith.
He may have been a prodigal. But he still was a believer. Yeah I worship the Lord God of heaven. So the guys are thinking you are telling us that you serve a god that is so powerful he can do this and you are running from him. Are you insane?
This is crazy. They had heard about the Lord. They had heard about the power of God. They heard about this God that parted the Red Sea.
This God that fed his people with manna in the wilderness. And they were perplexed as to why a person would run from a God this mighty. You know there is nothing more pathetic than a Christian who has lost their testimony. It's even worse than a person who never had one. Let me say that again. There is nothing worse than a Christian who has lost their testimony.
It's even worse than the person who never had one. Somebody had lost his testimony at this point. Jesus said salt is good but if it loses its saltiness it's good for nothing. If we were to update that we might say Coke is good but if it's not carbonated it's worthless. Right?
And we could say the same thing. People go into coffee places and they order a decaf soy latte. It's like why? Only a decaf soy latte. Or worse yet a decaf almond milk latte. I mean that's. Or now they have oat milk. Right?
All these crazy things. Why don't you just order a kale latte? When are they going to come out with a kale latte?
I think the time is now. You can go drink it in your Prius with your cat. I don't know. But I don't know why I Googled this but I decided to do Google search on weird things that people have ordered in coffee shops and this was from Starbucks people and they said this is what they have heard people order. One person ordered an iced venti caramel macchiato with 15 pumps of vanilla syrup made with heavy whipping cream, barely any ice, and extra caramel drizzle.
That's just sick. That person ordered a 25 pump chai latte. Excuse me. Go to 31 Flavors.
Alright? We are no longer drinking coffee. So back to my salt analogy. A salt that isn't salty well it's worthless. A Christian that isn't following Christ is pretty worthless too. And sometimes listen to this. Believers have more faith than believers. And sometimes nonbelievers understand what we are supposed to believe better than we understand it.
Example. After Jesus was crucified He told His disciples He would rise again. He told it to them again and again and again. And He was very specific. I am going to be crucified and three days later I will rise again from the dead.
Ok. There it was. After He was crucified we read of those two disciples on the Emmaus road who were joined by none other than Jesus Himself incognito. And they said to Jesus, we had hoped, past tense, He would have been the one to deliver Israel but now it has been three days since He died. Jesus is probably thinking, oy vey, are you serious?
How many times did I say three days? So the believers forgot His promises. But listen to this. In Matthew 27 63 we have the nonbelievers. The Romans saying, you know the deceiver when he was still alive said, after three days I will rise again. Maybe we better put a guard on the tomb. Wait.
What? The nonbelievers believed it and the believers did not believe it. The nonbelievers said He is the deceiver but they believed the deceiver in quotes.
But they think they better pay attention to it. You know it is a bad thing when you are called out by a nonbeliever isn't it? Has that ever happened to you?
Where actually a non-Christian says to you, excuse me I thought you were a Christian. You know you have a temper tantrum. Something ticks you off. You scream, road rage. You know. And that is with the basket and the supermarket sadly.
Supermarket road rage. You lose it. Someone says, aren't you a Christian? Well yes I am. Doesn't seem like you are acting much like a Christian. Well let me just theologically break. Shut up. They got you. The hardest thing of all is when they are right.
And you know what you should say when that happens? You are totally right. I am really sorry. I apologize. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Hey everyone. I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix.
We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app. Well Pastor Greg is helping us reevaluate our Christian testimony as we consider the failings in this area of the prophet Jonah. Let's continue. I remember one time I went to a pizza place that is now closed and I am sorry because it had great old school doughy pizza. They just don't make it like this anymore. It is kind of greasy, too hot, burn the roof of your mouth out. I love this place.
You go and do a food coma after you eat it. It was down in Newport Beach anyway. So I have been going there since I have been a little kid. I went in there after I was a Christian. I had long hair at this point. Very long hair.
A long beard. And I went with a friend of mine who was a Christian musician and we ordered a pizza. And I have always been a prankster. And so before I tell you what the prank was I noticed a guy sitting next to us and I recognized this guy. And I said, excuse me is your name Paul?
He said yes. I said I remember you from school. You know how some people don't change, they look the same from their childhood to their adulthood. Literally look the same. But then other people they change dramatically. I changed dramatically.
But he looked the same. I said I was with you in class. He says who are you? I said I am Greg Laurie. You are Greg Laurie? Yeah I kind of grew my hair out. Wow.
You have to use your imagination for a moment don't you? Wow Greg you have really changed. I said not only that Paul. So I see this as an evangelism opportunity. I am a Christian now Paul.
No way. No I am a Christian. Because he knew how much I got in trouble in school.
I was constantly sent to the vice principal's office. And I said not only that Paul. Not only am I a Christian I am a pastor of a church. He said they are letting people like you pastor churches now.
He couldn't believe it. He reminded me of what a goof off I was and what a prankster I was. I said yes Paul.
I used to be that way but I am serving the Lord now. And I am not the same Greg Laurie you used to know. He said alright. So good to see you Paul and God bless you. I was feeling very good about that.
I thought that was a great witness. Then my pizza came. My friend had gone to the bathroom. So I thought you know what would be really funny is to take the really red hot pepper flakes and pour it all over his side of the pizza. Then when he eats it you know he will pass out.
I don't know. So I mean I am really putting the pepper flakes. I forgot all about this guy Paul. He sent him right next to me. He forgot about him.
I am pouring in the flakes. And then suddenly I hear Paul say haven't changed much have you Greg? What can I say? Paul is right. I blew it.
Joan is busted. Hey why would you run from a God this powerful? I read a story about a bar that was being built in Texas. The local church started a campaign with petitions and prayers to stop the bar from being built. So as the work progressed a week before opening lightning struck and it burned to the ground. So the bar owner sued the church saying they were responsible for this happening because of their prayers.
The church denied any responsibility for any connection between their prayers and the fire. The judge read through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply and says I don't know how I am going to decide this. But it appears from this paperwork that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and an entire church congregation that does not. Sometimes we are shocked when God answers our prayers. And sometimes nonbelievers have a better understanding of what a Christian ought to be than some Christians have. They actually expect us to be different. They actually expect us to be friendly. They actually expect us to be loving. And they expect us to be forgiving. And they expect us to be caring. So they will remind us of that sometimes. And so here is old Jonah and he is busted and he is being exposed for a man who is running from God.
He admits he is a Hebrew prophet. And he says, I will tell you what fellas if you throw me overboard the storm will stop. They are like ok bye. Over the side he went. Now in fairness they threw a bunch of cargo overboard first and tried to fight the storm but to no avail. So over the side Jonah goes. But the Lord was ready with this custom designed watercraft. Look at Jonah 1.17. The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
By the way this word prepared means ordained or called. So this is and we will get into this in the next message. People get so hung up on the whale. Or the fish. Whatever it was. Sea monsters.
A literal translation. There is like a couple of verses about this thing. Everyone talks about this fish. This is not what the story is about. They are so busy looking at the big fish they miss the great God. And they miss the big picture of the book of Jonah which is the greatest revival in human history up to that point happened through the preaching of this reluctant prodigal prophet. Showing that God can use just about anybody.
Even someone as flawed as you or me. But let me just close by asking this. Are you running from God? Maybe the Lord has told you to do a certain thing and you have said no. You know you were raised in a Christian home and you are running from that. I don't want these values. I don't want to live this way. I want to live my way.
My parents don't know what they are talking about. Even God doesn't know what He is talking about. And off you go. Alright.
How is that working out for you? Because the Lord will give us the freedom to make our own choices and He will also allow us to experience the repercussions of those choices. And Jonah was finding out it is a really bad idea to run from God.
Those folks called out to their gods and ultimately he called out to his God. And here is the thing that we need to know. Ultimately as Christians we will live happily ever after. But there might be some rough seas along the way.
What would you rather have? A nice easy flight and a crash landing? Or a bumpy flight and a safe landing? Well I would like a safe landing.
Thank you very much. There are some people in life that seem to have no suffering at all. Then there are others that seem to have more than their share of suffering. Why is this? Are you ready for my answer? I don't know.
I just don't know. But I also know this. There is more than life on earth. There is eternity. Listen to this life on earth is as good as it is going to get for the nonbeliever. And in the same way for the believer life on earth is as bad as it ever will be. Because for the Christian the best is yet to come.
For the nonbeliever this is it baby. Enjoy it. Because it is going to get a lot worse if Jesus Christ is not a part of your life. Don't run from God. Run to God. He loves you. His plan for you is better than your plan for yourself. Even though you think you know best actually you don't. And I hope you will come to your senses and realize that.
So we are going to close now in prayer. And I am going to extend an invitation for any here that may not know Jesus Christ yet. Maybe you are hearing this for the first time. Maybe you have never really thought about a relationship with God. Maybe you are like I used to be where I would just call out to Jesus when I was in trouble but I never understood I could have a relationship with Him. I want you to know that Jesus died on that cross for your sin. He paid the price for every wrong you have ever done.
Every sin you have ever committed. And then He rose again from the dead three days later. And He stands at the door of your life and He knocks and says if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in. You think well what do you mean open the door? Is there a little door in my heart somewhere?
No. It is not literal. But it is an idea of open your heart up. Open your life up.
Say Jesus come in. And He will forgive you of all of your sin. I am going to extend an invitation for you to believe in Him but I am also going to extend an invitation for some prodigals out there. Some prodigal boys and some prodigal girls. Some prodigal men and prodigal women.
You say what do you mean by prodigal? I mean people that know what is right but they are running from it. They know the Lord but they are running from the Lord. And I am going to ask you to come back to the Lord and you will be glad that you did. If you need to do either one of those things why don't you respond as we close now in prayer.
Let's all bow our heads. Father I pray that you will speak now to the heart of every person here and every person that is watching and listening wherever they may be. If they don't know you yet I pray that this will be the moment when they come to you and believe in you, the moment when they can be forgiven by you of all of their sins. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer with those who want to make a change in their relationship with God today. And if you'd like to do that Pastor Greg will help you in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. Please stay with us. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.
Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest.org. And there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.
That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-3300. Pastor Greg, a few moments ago you spoke of the need to get our hearts right with God. Could you help someone who wants to do that very thing right now?
Yes, I'd be delighted to. Listen, as you've listened to this program today, maybe something's been happening inside of your heart where you're sensing, I need to do this personally, but how do I do it and what do I do? Let me help you. It's very simple.
In fact, it's so simple you may be shocked. God, this relationship with him is just a prayer away. The Bible says if you will call upon the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. So I'd like to lead you in a prayer where you do just that. You call on the name of the Lord. You know, sometimes when I'm talking with someone one-on-one and they want to accept Jesus Christ, I'll have them pray a prayer after me.
Maybe you'd like to do that right now. Thousands have done this over the years listening to our broadcast and the Lord has changed our lives and it can happen for you right now. This can be the moment where you change your eternal address literally from hell to heaven. I'll pray a simple prayer and I would just ask you to pray this prayer out loud if you like after me. Just pray these words, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for me and rose again from the dead. Jesus, I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In your name I pray, amen.
I know. It's such a simple, short prayer, but you just called on the name of the Lord and you know what? He heard that prayer and if you meant that prayer in your heart, he answered that prayer. Now let me help you to get started on the right foot in your new life in Jesus Christ. The greatest adventure awaits you, the life of walking with God. I want to send you what we call a New Believers Growth Pack.
What is that? Well, first of all, it's a copy of the new New Believers Bible and by that I mean we have redone this from ground level up. I've rewritten the notes and it's a new living translation with a lot of notes on how to grow spiritually woven through this unique edition of scripture. So I'll send you the New Believers Pack that includes the New Believers Bible and a whole lot more and let me be the first to say to you congratulations and welcome to the family of God. Yeah, and to get that free New Believers Bible along with the other items in our Growth Pack, just let us know you prayed along with Pastor Greg to receive Christ today. We'll be glad to send our New Believers Growth Pack your way free of any charge. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime 24-7.
That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well next time we'll see our feelings can get in the way of our faith. We'll learn how to live a life of faith even when our feelings aren't wanting to come along for the ride. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible Teacher, Greg Laurie.
