Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto God. that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. We have a show today. We have author Pastor, radio host, evangelist. This guy's got, we could spend the whole hour introducing him, but we're not going to take all that time. Great.
Greg Laurie is in the house, on the line with us. He is an anchor all across the Truth Network, all across Salem Media. His program is heard everywhere. You see him on the big screen, on TV. And of all the ways to respond to the death of Charlie Kirk, all kinds of folks are.
Buying t-shirts to say, I am Charlie, Freedom t-shirts. There's been prayer vigils. What does Greg Laurie do? What does his ministry do? They are holding a.
Full Revival Evangelistic Crusade at the very place That Charlie Kirk was gunned down in Utah.
So, Pastor Greg is on, and Russ East, our awesome Missions Monday missionary in Utah, man of God, truth network director for all those years there with Utah Partnerships for Christ is with us. Pastor Gregg, it is great to have you here, brother.
Well, Steve, thanks. Having me on, great to be with you and You know, just a word about this event we're doing.
So, we've been talking with the pastors in Utah. for a couple of years now, but coming.
So we tentatively scheduled something. Yeah. And when Charlie Kirk was tragically assassinated at UBU, We reached out to them and we asked, is there anything we can do? And they said, yes. Come sooner, come now And so we did something we've never really done before, and that is put A crusade event, which there's a lot of work to put together on the fastest track possible.
It normally takes us, you know, anywhere from eight months to a year.
Sometimes even longer. Put get one of these events organized, and we are going there literally in just under four weeks.
So we committed about Six weeks before the time, November 16th. At UVU, the very campus.
Now we're going to be in a different location. We're going to be in the arena. But, you know, and we're going to hopefully, God willing, fill that. We have overflow. and other venues so we can accommodate a lot of people plus it will be on air.
You know, I was talking to Glenn Beck the other day. I ran into him over at the White House and for the event that they had for Charlie Kirk receiving the Medal of Freedom. And he asked me, you know. I said, it's amazing how God's opened this door up. And he said to me, Well, are Mormons welcome?
I said, Glenn, everyone's welcome. Because we are there To tell people how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And Glenn said, I support that. I think that's fantastic. And so that's what I'm there to do.
I'm there to just tell people. They can know God through Christ. in a relationship with him.
So It's my honor to be going there.
Well, Pastor Gregg, you, my friend, in this movement, which is so bigger than you and any of us, is an answer to prayers like a man who's been faithful in Utah for decades, Russ East. Russ, you and your family have been there with Utah Partnerships for Christ, and now with the Truth Network, where Pastor Greg's been on. Rush, you wake up to Pastor Greg every morning. How about this news, brother? Can you contain the excitement?
It is amazing, and I wanted to say thank you to Pastor Gregg and to everybody at Harvest. or being on the Truth Network also. for 17 years in Utah, 7.30 in the morning, Monday through Friday, and other times too.
So the Lord saved me. Out of the Mormon church when I was 14 years old, I love the Mormon people. And and if you want to bring people out to to this event on november sixteenth. I was up at the Crusade up in Boise, Idaho, and the Lord of Lobby to be an usher got to help to explain more.
Okay. And you don't have to get washed up and cleaned up. Jesus did all that for us. We put our faith in Him alone, and then we're saved. I had such a great time at that crusade up at Boise State, I think it was.
And can't wait for this to happen coming up.
So, thank you, Pastor Greg. Yeah, Pastor Greg, tweeting a couple of decades ago when we started praying in God just to open the door for us to get into Utah.
Someone said, Well, why he said, That's where all the Mormons are. Why are you doing Christian radio out there? I said, Let me tell you something. The Mormons need Jesus just as much as I do, right, Greg? This is where the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and you're just inviting everyone to Christ, right, sir?
Yeah, everybody needs Jesus, you know, and And that is only the message because You know, we're all separated from God by our sins. We all really, I think, deep down inside, long for more online. The Bible says God is. placed eternity in our hearts. He's pre wired us for for eternity prewired us for heaven.
Uh and that's unique among humanity. And and as compared to the animal kingdom. We're not a highly evolved animal. We're a man, a woman, made in the very image of God, that our sin separates us from Him. But Christ died for our sin, and Jesus Christ was the Son of God.
Sent from heaven, fully God. Fully man, uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. If we will turn from our sin and put our faith in him, We can come into this relationship with him.
So, you know, that's a message I proclaim wherever I go. And that's the message I'll be proclaiming. at UVU november sixteenth, In Utah. Looking forward to it. You know, I've never been to Utah before, so I'm looking forward to it.
Russ, we got to roll out the red carpet, man. We got to get him some saltwater taffy. We got to take him to all the. He's a foodie.
Now, Russ, he is a foodie.
So you better make sure he gets the best brunch, lunch, whatever the best barbecue, ribs, wherever that is. Pastor Greg, we're taking care of you, man. I see those foodie videos you do with the eggs and all the good, man. I tell you. We got to take care of you, Utah.
And, you know, Pastor Greg is just really fascinating. A lot of folks have responded to the Charlie Kirk thing. I mean, people have been mean. Like on the left, have attacked him and have celebrated a guy getting shot, you know, a guy that's got two small kids and a wife. And, you know, and then others, you know, believers, maybe a little too militant, too angry, you know, this and that.
But you're celebrating Charlie Kirk. I honestly I honestly would say this, and I'll allow you, I want you to comment on it. You're celebrating him, how he would want to be celebrated with a massive megaphone gospel presentation in the middle of Utah, the same place where he went to heaven. You're bringing heaven down to all these people, Pastor Greg. I mean, isn't.
I can't think of a more exciting way to honor this guy, but to really lift up Christ. I think I really choose to. And, you know, I would never rejoice. If some leader on the left was assassinated. Uh my heart would break.
we would be praying for their families. We would care. And we I would even if I disagreed with everything they said. I would never celebrate. their death.
And this just shows how evil uh things have become You know, the Bible talks about a time when people call sweet bitter and bitter sweet, and good, bad, and bad, good. We're living in that time. And it's and I've been shocked because You know, even when I've done some posts about Charlie. uh some of the comments they're just so negative some people saying oh he deserved this How ridiculous. He was a Christian leader.
He was. very outspoken on issues that we believe in as followers of Christ. are reflecting a biblical worldview. And and he was taken from us. But But like Stephen in the Bible, Stephen used that as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.
And in fact, After Stephen's death, he was the first martyr of the church and also a very young man. Charlie like Charlie. After that happened, the gospel began to spread like never before because the believers finally got out of Jerusalem and they started doing the job God called them to do. And we're seeing something similar to that in America right now. We're seeing a lot of young people, especially, who are very inspired by Charlie's commitment, his outspokenness.
And he talked about Christ all the time.
So I think it's an appropriate tribute to him. and even more importantly, in obedience to the Great Commission To go to where people are, and I have to say, Stu and Russ said we have been welcomed with Arms by the community, by everyone.
So we're very happy about that. Tremends, hold that thought. We'll come back with another just a few more minutes with Pastor Greg. Pastor Greg Laurie, huge event. In Utah, we're going to tell you how you can get involved in some other amazing things happening.
Harvest Ministries, a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie. Stay tuned. Touch that dial. More Truth Talk, Truth Talk Live with Stu Efferson. Right after this quick break, hang on.
We'll be right back for the rest of today's testimony. Please know we at Utah Partnerships for Christ have been planting seeds of the gospel in Utah for over 24 years. We welcome any questions you may have and invite you to visit our website. to obtain a list of words and definitions that would help you understand how Mormons think and how to be able to better witness to your friends who belong to the Mormon Church. That website is www.
Dot U P F Yeah. That's You PFC dot org. We'll be right back. Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.
and from the power of Satan unto God. that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. Stu Everson with special thanks to our friends at Vinetastic.com promo code TRUTH. They're passionate about the 136 million community. That many people are either pre-diabetic or diabetic. And so they've come up with this.
Drink vine tastic with no sugar, no carbs, no calories, and no artificial sweeteners. Thank you, Jerry Smith, LeBlue Ultra Pure Bottle Water, Mighty Muscadine, and Vine. Tastic. You may have heard Laura Trump talk about this drink.
Well, we're grateful for them. We're talking about them, raising a little bit of information about them. More information is at vintastic.com. promo code truth. Are we Sing.
Another Jesus revolution.
Well the guy to blame For the first one.
Well, that's all. I know he'll lay it at the feet of the Lord, but the guy to blame, who was part of the first one, who actually helped create a movie that set the country on fire not a year or two ago, is Pastor Greg Laurie. And Pastor Greg, when I hear you on your radio show and when I see what God's doing at Harvest, and when I see what God's doing in all these campuses. Sir, I can't help but think about the Jesus Revolution. You were there.
You were baptizing people in the Pacific Ocean, brother. Talk to me. Are you seeing a you seeing some common threads here? Oh, no question. You know what's really interesting is, you know, they say that.
art imitates life. And that was true in the film because One of the key things that we used to do back in the Jesus movement was we had mass baptisms down at a spot. Called Pirates Cove in Newport Beach, kind of a natural rocky amphitheater, just perfect for baptizing people.
So we did that in the film. We baptized people in the film showing what was happening, but then people saw the film and wanted to be baptized in the same place.
So now it's not just art imitating life, it's life imitating art, imitating life. And listen to this: this is insane. Since that movie came out, We we ourselves have baptized I think upwards of 10,000 people down there. And we call them Jesus Revolution baptisms. And I have to tell you, even in the Haiti of the Jesus movement, we were not baptizing people, that many people in such a close period of time.
And I think, you know. I think we're beginning to, we're seeing revival-like things happening in the country right now, especially among young people. We're seeing it on college campuses. We're seeing an increase in church attendance. We're seeing an uptick in Bible sales.
I think they're up twenty five percent, primarily Gen Z kids buying their first Bible. An increase in church attendance, again Gen Z, and interestingly led by young men. That's pretty much unprecedented. And so many other indicators that are pointing in the right direction. And you know, God has taken this tragedy.
of Charlie's death. And it is a tragedy. And we don't want to miss that. But he despite this tragedy, God has used it to inspire many young people to Speak up for their faith and say, you know, I was inspired by Charlie's life, and I want to make a difference too. And so, You know, I'm just thinking if I'm sitting in heaven.
And I knew that my life When it was ended, impacted others to want to share the gospel. I'd be pretty happy about that, to say the least. And so I think that he's rejoicing Knowing that God has worked despite this horrible thing that happened. And just a word about his wife, Erica. I just met her.
I've had some conversations on the phone with her. But I just met her at the White House. She's such a precious lady. And And she's mourning. in grappling with this.
And I did a little post on my social media. If you go to my Instagram account, my Facebook page. you'll see a little video that we shot on a phone where she was showing us the Medal of Freedom that was given to her by the President. What's interesting about it Is they engraved? A cross on the back of it.
With Charlie's name, and that's the first time they've ever engraved a cross on the Medal of Freedom. Wow. That is something, man. And you're lifting up the cross in Utah. And the date, Pastor Greg, what's the date of the event?
And we want to rally the troops. Volunteers, pastors, counselors, prayer warriors. Friends, this is one big fat prayer quest, this show today, because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities and powers. And the evil one does not want the gospel going out. The evil one wants to silence us.
And little did he know. And we thought it couldn't get worse. Charlie Kirk Preaching the gospel on a college campus gets gunned down in cold blood. We thought it couldn't get worse when we have to have this funeral where maybe. 200 million people heard the gospel.
And it was proclaimed, Pastor Greg, you saw that. And now it's happening in Utah. A huge thing. I mean, Russ, this has got to encourage you, man. You've been on your knees praying for your homeland and for these people to find the true Jesus for many decades, brother.
How about that? Absolutely. I want to encourage all my friends at local churches all across Utah. Center Point Church, Washington Heights. Alpine, Corner Canyon.
I could just list so many. I've seen so many more biblically based churches. Started in Utah from the time we moved here, my wife and I, in 1994.
So we're so grateful to have the Harvest Crusade with Pastor Greg. Great to meet you, Pastor Greg, and we're just going to be praying. I want to ask all of the born-again believers to just bring out your friends who don't know the Lord. Bring them to this and find out how you can be as a believer, find out how you can be an usher. I'm sure there's.
Lots of needs there, and we've got a great team with Harvest to help see this happen. That's tremendous. Yeah, Pastor, what do you say to that?
Well the deed is is to your earlier question. It's november sixteenth. And speaking of prayer, We've asked everyone to set their smartphones to three hundred twenty.
Now, if you want to do it in the middle of the morning, you can do it, or in the afternoon, 3:20. But why 320? Because Ephesians 3:20 says. God is able to do exceedingly above and beyond that which you could ask or think.
So we're asking you to set the alarm on your phone. It goes up at 3:20. And then we're asking you to pause and pray for the Shootah Crusade. This is a strategic moment. I've been told.
And of course, Rush, you would know more about this being on the ground there. But I've been told that these people are still traumatized. by what happened on the campus and in the area. And so we want to bring help. And hope in the name of Jesus Christ.
And we're going to have great music. Phil Wickham will be with us. Chris Tomlin will be there as well. It's going to be an epic event. And if you're somehow not able to make it, You can watch it on our website at harvest.org.
And you can also get more information on the Crusade or the event. We're actually calling it Hope for America. But you can get more information. Say again, harvest.org. Everyone, go to that site.
Everyone, pray. Our special guest today is Pastor Greg Laurie. Russ East is with me as well. Stu Epperson here on Truth Talk Live. Pastor Greg.
In September 11th, 2001. I was I was on my way to meet a bunch of pastors and John Collins, in North Carolina. To have a pastor's planning prayer. for the Harvest Crusade in Winston-Salem. And September 11 happened.
Yes, sir. On that day, I'll never forget where I was. We were sat in there and we were praying and we were crying. And John Collins was like, How am I going to get back to California? Does Greg even want me back?
I'm all the way here. I'm stranded. But God did something mighty. Fast forward, just a year ago or so. I'm at a men's Bible study.
Guy comes up and he sees my Truth Network logo. He says, You're with the Truth Network. I said, Yeah. He said, I got saved. My life was transformed at the Harvest Crusade in Winston-Salem when Greg Laurie came.
Thank you for putting Greg Laurie on the radio. And so, just what God's doing through the ministry, of course, you were up. Remember when you did the one up in Hickory before that? We were all up there, boom. This was Link.
Oh, my. I was there and. And I was doing the play-by-play call with Dave Spiker and these guys and John Fonda, my brother-in-law, on the internet's feed. It was just sensational. People coming to Christ, buses pulling up.
People packing.
So we're going to pray that. Amy, well it's not that big of an area, Hickory. And what was amazing is I was preaching in a baseball stadium. a little baseball stadium. And they had this giant hill over to the side of it.
That was filled with people. In fact, there were more people on the hill than there were in the stadium. And I actually said, Can we just point the speakers that way? Those people are so many. And they said, no, the cameras are down here.
And the way you talk to them is you're going to speak down here.
Okay, fine. But it was great. It was like, it was revival-like. God really did a great work in that Hickory Crusade. I remember it well.
Harvest.org. He is pastor, author. He's, he's. If you know or hear him, he's funny, he's winsome, but he gets in the word. He's an evangelist as well, has just a heart to reach the lost, and he has been.
He's been on the Truth Network stations for pushing three decades, and we're really grateful that he's on the air with us right now. We're talking about a big event happening in. Utah of all places Where the same place that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. And in record time. Harvest ministries.
The Harvest Crusades, Pastor Greg Laurie. They've put together a crusade. These things take eight to twelve months. These things are well ordered, well organized, and God's just led them, and the Lord has worked. Pastor Greg, you know, from that.
Moment we just reminisced in, you know, and hope everyone will download the podcast and hear these stories. When you preach at the Hickory Crawdad's Stadium to the big hill over there to Utah of all places, there's a lot that goes in this. You know, this is what blows you away. You go to the Russ East, you'll go to this event. And you'll be like, I'm with Pastor Gregg's ministry in Riverside, California.
Okay, cool.
So you are on staff? No. I'm actually a local plumber. A local plumber? What?
Yeah, I took my vacation days to serve. To be a counselor, to be an auditor, to be to help with the offering, to do what, to set up the sound system. Pastor Greg, your people have bought in, and God's hand has been on your ministry, brother. Talk about what goes into this and talk about this. Brag about those people a little bit, brother, and how God's used this to summon folks to the clarion call of reaching the lost in our world.
Well, you know, the great commission, which is to go into all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe All things that Christ commended us is given to everyone. It's not given to only so-called professionals like pastors, evangelists. For missionaries, it's given to plumbers and housewives and students and businessmen, fill-in-blank here. In other words, it's given to every Christian.
So, first of all, it's for every follower of Jesus. To do this. And secondly, It's a command. That's why we call it the Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion. And so you know the cool thing is people in our church, they get it.
And they want to help, and they found the joy of serving, and there really is. Joy in serving the Lord, and so I know many of our own people. Will be coming. They're all asking, how can we help? What can we do?
And so they'll be coming and going out in the streets and handing out invitations. Sharing the gospel with people, helping out as ushers, counselors, working the merch table, setting up, tearing down the equipment, you know, you name it, they'll be there.
So, but it's our privilege. You know, it's a privilege to serve the Lord, it's a privilege for me to preach the gospel. I have never grown tired of it. I love it. I'm passionate about it.
And you know, I started, as you mentioned, how long I've been on your network. I've been doing this now for over 50 years, but always look forward to doing it again. Before we sign off for today, please know that all of us here at Utah Partnerships for Christ appreciate. Appreciate your prayers and support. We are also available to do Zoom call workshops or personal coaching on reaching Mormons for Christ.
Contact us today at upfc.org. That's upfc.org. Thanks so much for joining us on another edition of Passion for Christ.
