March 8, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Pastor Greg Laurie tells a success story of profoundly helping a man who was going astray. The call could not be clearer, and Pastor Greg did his duty despite less than comfortable environs.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Greg Glory is
the founder and senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, one
of the largest and most influential churches in America. He's
also authored two memoirs, one called Lost Boy and the
other which was turned into a wildly successful movie, Jesus Revolution.
(00:31):
Here he is to share two stories, one that took
place in a bathroom, and the other with a man
who counseled eleven American presidents, the Pope, and dozens of
world leaders. Here's Greg Glory.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, the Bible says go to all the world and
preachs the Gospel, and I guess that includes bathrooms. Let
me explain. So one day I'm in a department store
and I need to go to the restroom. So I
go in into this restroom. I take my seat and
the little stall, and I hear someone clear their throat
(01:08):
and the stall next to me, and then suddenly I
hear a voice say hi. I'm thinking, Hi, I don't
talk to people in bathroom. So when I go into
a restroom, I'm going to do what I'm there to
do and get out of there. I've never understood why
women all go to a bathroom together. You know, you'll
be in a restaurant and one will say I'm going
to the restroom. Who wants to go with me? And
(01:29):
they all go together. Guys would never do that, you know,
if we see another guy in the restroom and we know, hey,
how's it going whatever, let's just get out of here, right.
So I'm in this stall. The guy says hi to me,
and I my high back was not friendly. I said hi, like,
what are you talking to me? For a moment goes
by and he says, are you supposed to meet me here?
(01:52):
I'm thinking, what on earth is going on here? This
is not good? I said, no, I'm not and he went, oh,
he sounded just appointment. And I said, well, now I'm curious,
like what's going on? Like who are you supposed to?
What's going on here? And he goes, oh, I was
gonna buy some drugs? Oh. And then the thought occurs
(02:13):
to me, should I share the gospel with him? Will
God even bless it if I talk about Jesus in
a bathroom stall? Is this even a good idea? And
I thought why not? And I said, hey, man, I
have something better than drugs for you. He goes really
what I said, A personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
(02:34):
He says, oh, I already tried that. You already tried that. Really, Well,
did you pray and ask Christ to come into your life? Yes?
I did. Did you find a church to go to? Yes?
I did. If you don't mind me asking where did
you go to church? Again? Remember wearing two stalls next
to each other. We haven't seen each other yet. We're
having this conversation. Where did you go to church? I asked.
(02:55):
He said, Harvest Christian Fellowship. Well, that's a church I pastor.
I said, Really, do you know who I am? He
said no. I said, I'm Greglorie, the pastor of Harvest
Christian Fellowship. A moment goes by and he says, oh
my God. I said, buddy, God must really love you
to send your pastor to you when you're trying to
(03:16):
make a drug buy. I said, you need to get
right with God. And I said I want to talk
to you, but I'm tired of doing it in this
bathroom stall. I'll be waiting for you outside. Well, he
was the easy guy to spot. He had a guilty
look in his face. He came out of the bathroom
and we prayed as I recall next to where they
sold socks, and he made a recommitment to follow the Lord.
(03:39):
So you know, you never know when an opportunity will
come to talk about your faith, and so I always
tried to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
You know, the Bible says be on duty at all times,
which takes on a whole new meaning when you apply
it to a bathroom. Right, but be on duty at
all times, always be ready to share your faith, giving
(04:01):
an answer to the person who asks you. So this
is one of those unusual experiences when God used me
in a bathroom.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
In Revelation three twenty, the scripture says, behold, I stand
at the door and knock. If any man hear my
voice and open the door, I will come in to
him and will suck with him, and he with me.
Knocking at the door of the church, knocking at the
door of your family, knocking at your door. Why doesn't
(04:33):
he just push the door open and.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Come in and save me. He never interferes with your will.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You have a will of your own. That's the way
He made you. He made you in his image. You
can reject him, You can go to your grave rejecting Christ,
and there's nothing God can do about it. He'll do
everything in his power to warn you, he'll do everything
in his power to bring incidents across your path to
(05:02):
stop you, but he won't trespass on your will.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So one night we were in Portland, Oregon, and the
place was packed and it was almost revival like what
was happening that night. I also remember it really rained
hard that night. And so we're leaving the platform. I'm
walking with Billy. We're headed to the car and there's
a crowd of people and the ushers are kind of
holding them back, and people are just in awe. This
(05:34):
is Billy Graham walking by. It's like Moses was walking
among them, and they're calling up Billy. Billy and I'm
walking right behind him. And so we get in the
car and we're driving out. His longtime associate tw Wilson
is driving. I'm sitting Shotgun in the front. Franklin and
his father are in the backseat. And so I decided
(05:55):
to compliment Billy and I turned around and said, Billy,
that was a great ceremony game tonight. And he just
looked back at me and said, well, it's just gospel,
and I thought, oh, okay, I do that, but I
just wanted to compliment him, and so I thought about
it for a moment. Then I turned back around and
I said, well, Billy, I loved the point where you
said Christ can resensitize your conscience. And Billy said, well
(06:16):
he can. I thought, okay, fine, So I guess he
doesn't want to be complimented. But I was learning something
about ministry, which is, you do your job, you deliver
your message, you committed to the Lord, and you move on.
Sometimes people want to talk about, oh, what a great night,
Oh it was great when I said this, or that
happened or whatever. Billy just had already moved on. And
(06:39):
so we went back to our hotel and he disappeared
in the back room and came back out wearing his
pajamas and dress shoes. I think he left his little
bedroom slippers at home. And all around him were just
guys he had known for years. They were telling old stories, laughing,
and someone had given us these roast beef sandwiches at
(07:00):
the Crusade, which were hot when we originally got them,
ano they're cold, and were sitting around eating cold roast
beef sandwiches, and I discovered, Okay, this is really important.
You know, you don't take yourself too seriously. You take
your message very seriously, but this is about giving glory
to God. And I learned that from my own ministry.
(07:22):
When we did ministry. It's I after I'm done preaching,
I'm done preaching, and I'll just hang out with my
family or maybe my grandkids. And I returned to normal.
See a new tradition we've had for the last few years.
After Crusaders, we go to in and Out Burger, which
is a popular burger place here in California, because I
just well, first of all, the food's really good, but
(07:43):
it's just kind of like, hey, thank God for what
he did, but you know, it's the Lord that's doing it.
And the more time I spent with Billy, the more
I realized what a genuinely humble man he was. And
when you would ask Billy to tell you stories about
the famous people he had met, he told you something,
but he didn't tell you very much. In fact, when
(08:05):
you were with Billy, he would always ask you about yourself.
Tell me about yourself. You know, I want to know
more about you. And so I learned a lot just
watching him. You know, some things are caught, other things
are taught, and I caught a lot of things hanging
around Billy.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And a terrific job as always by our own Greg
Hengler on the production and editing, and a special thanks
to Greg Glory who's the founder and senior pastor of
Harvest Christian Fellowship. And two terrific stories. One about just
having opportunities handed to you if you're a believer, handed
to you in a bathroom of all places, and my goodness,
(08:43):
what a thing to hear is a pastor of your
own church. It's somebody going to your church who's trying
to score drugs, and he took this opportunity to bring
him back home to God. And then that story about
Billy Graham and Graham just not looking for the compliments,
not wanting the compliments in the end, giving the glory
to God. As Greglory said, some things are taught, other
(09:07):
things are caught. I learned a lot hanging with Billy Graham.
Pastor Greglory with two stories about his faith adventures in
his faith here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. Greg Glory is
the founder and senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, one
of the largest and most influential churches in America. He's
also authored two memoirs, one called Lost Boy and the
other which was turned into a wildly successful movie, Jesus Revolution.
(00:31):
Here he is to share two stories, one that took
place in a bathroom, and the other with a man
who counseled eleven American presidents, the Pope, and dozens of
world leaders. Here's Greg Glory.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, the Bible says go to all the world and
preachs the Gospel, and I guess that includes bathrooms. Let
me explain. So one day I'm in a department store
and I need to go to the restroom. So I
go in into this restroom. I take my seat and
the little stall, and I hear someone clear their throat
(01:08):
and the stall next to me, and then suddenly I
hear a voice say hi. I'm thinking, Hi, I don't
talk to people in bathroom. So when I go into
a restroom, I'm going to do what I'm there to
do and get out of there. I've never understood why
women all go to a bathroom together. You know, you'll
be in a restaurant and one will say I'm going
to the restroom. Who wants to go with me? And
(01:29):
they all go together. Guys would never do that, you know,
if we see another guy in the restroom and we know, hey,
how's it going whatever, let's just get out of here, right.
So I'm in this stall. The guy says hi to me,
and I my high back was not friendly. I said hi, like,
what are you talking to me? For a moment goes
by and he says, are you supposed to meet me here?
(01:52):
I'm thinking, what on earth is going on here? This
is not good? I said, no, I'm not and he went, oh,
he sounded just appointment. And I said, well, now I'm curious,
like what's going on? Like who are you supposed to?
What's going on here? And he goes, oh, I was
gonna buy some drugs? Oh. And then the thought occurs
(02:13):
to me, should I share the gospel with him? Will
God even bless it if I talk about Jesus in
a bathroom stall? Is this even a good idea? And
I thought why not? And I said, hey, man, I
have something better than drugs for you. He goes really
what I said, A personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
(02:34):
He says, oh, I already tried that. You already tried that. Really, Well,
did you pray and ask Christ to come into your life? Yes?
I did. Did you find a church to go to? Yes?
I did. If you don't mind me asking where did
you go to church? Again? Remember wearing two stalls next
to each other. We haven't seen each other yet. We're
having this conversation. Where did you go to church? I asked.
(02:55):
He said, Harvest Christian Fellowship. Well, that's a church I pastor.
I said, Really, do you know who I am? He
said no. I said, I'm Greglorie, the pastor of Harvest
Christian Fellowship. A moment goes by and he says, oh
my God. I said, buddy, God must really love you
to send your pastor to you when you're trying to
(03:16):
make a drug buy. I said, you need to get
right with God. And I said I want to talk
to you, but I'm tired of doing it in this
bathroom stall. I'll be waiting for you outside. Well, he
was the easy guy to spot. He had a guilty
look in his face. He came out of the bathroom
and we prayed as I recall next to where they
sold socks, and he made a recommitment to follow the Lord.
(03:39):
So you know, you never know when an opportunity will
come to talk about your faith, and so I always
tried to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
You know, the Bible says be on duty at all times,
which takes on a whole new meaning when you apply
it to a bathroom. Right, but be on duty at
all times, always be ready to share your faith, giving
(04:01):
an answer to the person who asks you. So this
is one of those unusual experiences when God used me
in a bathroom.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
In Revelation three twenty, the scripture says, behold, I stand
at the door and knock. If any man hear my
voice and open the door, I will come in to
him and will suck with him, and he with me.
Knocking at the door of the church, knocking at the
door of your family, knocking at your door. Why doesn't
(04:33):
he just push the door open and.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Come in and save me. He never interferes with your will.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You have a will of your own. That's the way
He made you. He made you in his image. You
can reject him, You can go to your grave rejecting Christ,
and there's nothing God can do about it. He'll do
everything in his power to warn you, he'll do everything
in his power to bring incidents across your path to
(05:02):
stop you, but he won't trespass on your will.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So one night we were in Portland, Oregon, and the
place was packed and it was almost revival like what
was happening that night. I also remember it really rained
hard that night. And so we're leaving the platform. I'm
walking with Billy. We're headed to the car and there's
a crowd of people and the ushers are kind of
holding them back, and people are just in awe. This
(05:34):
is Billy Graham walking by. It's like Moses was walking
among them, and they're calling up Billy. Billy and I'm
walking right behind him. And so we get in the
car and we're driving out. His longtime associate tw Wilson
is driving. I'm sitting Shotgun in the front. Franklin and
his father are in the backseat. And so I decided
(05:55):
to compliment Billy and I turned around and said, Billy,
that was a great ceremony game tonight. And he just
looked back at me and said, well, it's just gospel,
and I thought, oh, okay, I do that, but I
just wanted to compliment him, and so I thought about
it for a moment. Then I turned back around and
I said, well, Billy, I loved the point where you
said Christ can resensitize your conscience. And Billy said, well
(06:16):
he can. I thought, okay, fine, So I guess he
doesn't want to be complimented. But I was learning something
about ministry, which is, you do your job, you deliver
your message, you committed to the Lord, and you move on.
Sometimes people want to talk about, oh, what a great night,
Oh it was great when I said this, or that
happened or whatever. Billy just had already moved on. And
(06:39):
so we went back to our hotel and he disappeared
in the back room and came back out wearing his
pajamas and dress shoes. I think he left his little
bedroom slippers at home. And all around him were just
guys he had known for years. They were telling old stories, laughing,
and someone had given us these roast beef sandwiches at
(07:00):
the Crusade, which were hot when we originally got them,
ano they're cold, and were sitting around eating cold roast
beef sandwiches, and I discovered, Okay, this is really important.
You know, you don't take yourself too seriously. You take
your message very seriously, but this is about giving glory
to God. And I learned that from my own ministry.
(07:22):
When we did ministry. It's I after I'm done preaching,
I'm done preaching, and I'll just hang out with my
family or maybe my grandkids. And I returned to normal.
See a new tradition we've had for the last few years.
After Crusaders, we go to in and Out Burger, which
is a popular burger place here in California, because I
just well, first of all, the food's really good, but
(07:43):
it's just kind of like, hey, thank God for what
he did, but you know, it's the Lord that's doing it.
And the more time I spent with Billy, the more
I realized what a genuinely humble man he was. And
when you would ask Billy to tell you stories about
the famous people he had met, he told you something,
but he didn't tell you very much. In fact, when
(08:05):
you were with Billy, he would always ask you about yourself.
Tell me about yourself. You know, I want to know
more about you. And so I learned a lot just
watching him. You know, some things are caught, other things
are taught, and I caught a lot of things hanging
around Billy.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And a terrific job as always by our own Greg
Hengler on the production and editing, and a special thanks
to Greg Glory who's the founder and senior pastor of
Harvest Christian Fellowship. And two terrific stories. One about just
having opportunities handed to you if you're a believer, handed
to you in a bathroom of all places, and my goodness,
(08:43):
what a thing to hear is a pastor of your
own church. It's somebody going to your church who's trying
to score drugs, and he took this opportunity to bring
him back home to God. And then that story about
Billy Graham and Graham just not looking for the compliments,
not wanting the compliments in the end, giving the glory
to God. As Greglory said, some things are taught, other
(09:07):
things are caught. I learned a lot hanging with Billy Graham.
Pastor Greglory with two stories about his faith adventures in
his faith here on our American Stories
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