Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Heavenly Auto-Biography


I just read preacher Greg Laurie's little autobiography - Lost Boy - and it was pretty interesting.

Who is he?

He's a very popular Christian evangelical-type based out in California (see his website - Harvest Ministries). Being a life-long suffering *Northeast Catholic* I'd never before heard sermons like I first heard from him on the radio, down in Naples two years ago.

Greg had a rough life. He was born a bastard and had to endure the misadventures of his drunken whore mother; and he also was a stereotypical drug-abusing hippie - not exactly the conventional path one might expect of a world-renowned minister.

Now if I can only figure out who that other amazing Irish/British preacher was that I once heard on my car's AM/FM stereo...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

how does he compare to joel osteen...what is the theme of the preaching?

too much moral mumbo jumbo or the real Christianity?

CaptiousNut said...

I don't know Joel Osteen so I can't compare.

Laurie is very down-to-earth. He doesn't get technical at all.

Anonymous said...

joel osteen, and never heard of him..? well he is not really catholic type

was named "Most Influential Christian in America" in 2006

he comes on public tv or faith tv at nights and weekends, a lot. looks very businessy.

CaptiousNut said...

I just watched a bit of him on YouTube.

He seemed a little on the *lite* side - and that was confirmed by Wikipedia.

But I'm curious to check him out and will. Thanks.

Hard to believe I never heard of the guy!

Anne Galivan said...

I wonder if the British sounding guy you heard was David Jeremiah. He is a great preacher, very solid and interesting. His son preaches on TV now, he may be good, but he doesn't appeal to me.

Joel Osteen is great for newbie Christians, in my opinion. My brother says he smiles too much. He may have a point. But he is good for understanding our position in Christ which most who grow up in traditional denominations don't get.

My favorite, by far, is Ravi Zacharias, who does have a radio program. You should see if you can get it. I don't listen to much Christian radio anymore (though my kids do) - but if I come across Ravi on the radio I will always listen. I also have a couple of his DVD's and want to buy more. Christian apologetics at its best.

Anne Galivan said...

I want to clarify my comment for a minute because I don't want to sound like I am critical of mainline denominations (though many - unlike the Catholic Church - have gone off the deep-end towards un-biblical doctrines).

What I meant was that people who grow up in traditional churches who just go through the motions, without having a personal faith, generally don't have an understanding of Biblical Christianity. I hope that makes sense. And I truly didn't want to offend.

CaptiousNut said...

Too late Anne...

I was already irretrievably offended!

What can I say, I read fast - and I'm very sensitive.

Unknown said...

Greg Laurie is huge out here in California. He puts on enormous crusades at Angel Stadium every year.

I wonder if the British preacher you heard was Alistair Begg... often found on the same radio channel as Greg Laurie.

DU said...

The guy is likely Alistair Begg, he's a good story teller, you can listen at oneplace.com, in fact, you can listen to nearly all the protestant speakers like Jeremiah and Ravi Z. Begg has Calvinist theology. If you want the truth stick with the Catholic Church. Try EWTN.

Do you want quality presentation or the real presence?

There is some quality presentation in the RCC but you have to look for it. The last 40 years has been a wilderness (in the US) for the RCC. Just call it the Kennedy era.