Posted: 10/16/2013 at 2:26pm | IP Logged

Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness Proclaimed From Philadelphia over Recent Weekend

Evangelist Greg Laurie shares hope around the world as more than 3,500 remote venues participated in Harvest America Sept. 28-29

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

PHILADELPHIA, PA (ANS) -- America’s historic capital was once again the birthplace of liberty for thousands of individuals who responded to the Gospel message shared by evangelist Greg Laurie as part of the annual Harvest America Crusade, this year broadcast and simulcast live to more than 3,500 venues across the country and 97 nations around the world from Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, Sept. 28 and 29.

Evangelist Greg Laurie speaking at Harvest Crusade event at Angel Stadium in Anaheim in 2012 (Photo: Harvest)

According to a news release from A. Larry Ross Communications (http://alarryross.com), more than 27,500 individuals from the Philadelphia area attended the crusade at the Wells Fargo Center, with 2,247 making commitments to Christ over the two nights. Live attendance at the more than 3,500 remote venues was another 129,540, and another 50,402 tuned in via webcast, bringing total live attendance to 207,442. Of those, more than 12,685 made faith commitments over the two nights, a response rate of 6.11 percent.

“The church has two secret weapons — preaching and praying,” Laurie said. “But we don't use them enough, because we spend too much time boycotting and complaining. America needs hope; Harvest America demonstrates the potential of what can happen when we focus on the two things the Lord has commanded us to do.”

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In keeping with the themes of the U.S. Constitution birthed in Philadelphia in 1788, Laurie spoke Saturday evening on “The Pursuit of Happiness,” reminding audiences that many individuals search for purpose and meaning in life in the wrong things and remain unfulfilled. “It’s so ironic that people we admire, who we wish we were, talk about the emptiness of life,” Laurie said. “When are we going to get the wake-up call that happiness is not found without God, it’s only found with God?”

Laurie went on to address society’s trust in wealth, possessions, power and fame – to not only satisfy them, but to save them. “Everybody, even the atheist, has a god or some altar they bow before,” Laurie said. “Your god might be your stuff, a relationship or success. But here’s the question: Can your god save you on the last day of our life? No, only God can save you.”

Musical guests Saturday evening – Lecrae, NEEDTOBREATHE and Kirk Franklin – received a rousing welcome from Philadelphia-area fans, who responded to Lecrae’s lyrics about living for Christ instead of self. “You get one life and it will pass; only what you do for Christ will last,” he rapped. Sunday evening’s musical guests Jeremy Camp and MercyMe shared respectively on the themes of following God completely and trusting in Jesus as enough. The Katinas led worship throughout the weekend, encouraging the audience to sing along with all the familiar songs they performed.

Hundreds of churches throughout the Philadelphia area participated in preparations for the crusade, inviting and making plans to bring friends and family members to the event. Volunteers served as ushers, as counselors and in the follow-up process, where those who have made faith decisions will be referred to local churches to assist them in their spiritual growth.

Counting both Saturday and Sunday participants, more than 3,500 remote venues received the event live via HD-quality video available through both Internet streaming and satellite broadcast. This compares to 2,400 remote venues for Harvest America 2012, and represents churches, homes, community centers and a variety of other locations where people gathered in every state and around the world to take part in the crusade.

Dan Wooding with Greg Laurie after an interview that Dan conducted with Greg

In addition, local Philadelphia radio station WFIL hosted the live audio broadcast Saturday evening with WNTP hosting Sunday evening, providing programming from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET for transmission by 700 radio stations throughout the nation. These stations had a potential combined audience of 3 million listeners.

The crowd at Wells Fargo Center combined with all of the participants tuning in remotely to bring some attention to Harvest America via social media. At emcee Levi Lusko’s encouragement, individuals took “selfies” and posted them, as well as commented on the event, yielding 51,000 new Facebook likes, 13,600 photos on Instagram, 7,800 new Twitter followers, 24,000 tweets and 10.1 million views on Twitter, resulting in #HarvestAmerica trending No. 1 on Twitter between both evenings.

Sunday evening Laurie spoke on “Home Before Dark,” reflecting on his own experience and reminding audiences that life is fleeting. “We all want to be happy and we are all going to die,” he said. “People have everything they need to make them happy, but they lack life. What if the Christians are right? What if God can be known?”

Since Harvest Crusades began webcasting on the Internet in 1997, 1.3 million individuals have tuned in via their computers. It became an easy transition starting last year to incorporate satellite broadcast technology to connect Harvest America crusades with host sites across the nation so that local events could occur simultaneously. The inaugural event was simulcast from Angel Stadium in 2012.

Cathe and Greg Laurie

Besides conducting evangelistic outreaches, Harvest Ministries produces “A New Beginning,” an international radio program with messages by Laurie. In addition, television specials featuring past Harvest Crusade events air internationally on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and a weekly television program greglaurie.tv is available online at www.harvest.org and airing every Friday evening on both TBN and the Church Channel, as well as on ROKU and the Harvest app.

Laurie serves as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Riverside, Calif., which oversees Harvest Crusades. The ministry exists for the sole purpose of presenting the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and to help believers mature in their faith. More information is available at www.harvest.org.

Source: Assist News Service