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Washington, D.C. – Founder of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California and Hawaii, Pastor Greg Laurie informed Fox News Digital on Friday the story of why he is pro-life — and what he believes Christians must do because the pro-life motion strikes into its subsequent chapter.
The religion chief and his spouse, Cathe Laurie, delivered the closing prayer on the March for Life rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19.
“I’m so proud of all of you coming out on this cold, snowy day in our nation’s capital, to speak for those who do not have a voice,” mentioned Laurie.
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He informed the gang that, whereas in highschool, he encountered a bunch of his friends he known as the “Jesus freaks.”
These “Jesus freaks,” he mentioned, piqued his curiosity, as they have been smiling and constructive, with a “spring in their step.”
And by way of these “Jesus freaks,” Laurie first discovered of the Gospel, he mentioned.
Pastor Greg Laurie and his spouse, Cathe, deal with the March for Life on the pre-march rally held on the National Mall on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Washington, D.C. “Lord, thank you for every man and woman, every boy and girl here today,” Laurie mentioned to the gang. (Vitaly Manzuk)
“I do know that a lot of you listed here are folks of religion. I’ve seen your indicators coming in, I’ve seen you praying,” mentioned Laurie.
He then led the gang within the “Sinner’s Prayer” earlier than blessing everybody forward of the official begin of the March for Life.
“Lord, thank you for every man and woman, every boy and girl here today. Many came from a great distance to our nation’s capital, to speak up for the unborn,” mentioned Laurie.
“We need another revival.”
“We pray for our nation, we pray for young women who find themselves pregnant, that they will carry these babies to term, and raise them up, or put them up for adoption. We pray that we, as believers, the church, will be there to support these mothers.”
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He continued, “We pray that you will raise up godly people in our government, in the Congress, in the Senate, in the White House … who would stand for the unborn. You tell us in your word that that when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.”
He added, “We need another revival” — earlier than starting the “Our Father.”
On Friday, Jan. 19, Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship mentioned he was completely happy to see a “tremendous amount of young people” on the March for Life in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Speaking to Fox News Digital after the rally, the pastor expanded on his private story and described the work he believes must be accomplished to help girls in want.
“My mother was a beautiful woman, a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe,” Laurie informed Fox News Digital.
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His mom was married and divorced a complete of seven occasions, he mentioned — and Laurie himself was the product of what he described as “a one-night stand with some guy in Long Beach.”
“So my life was saved from abortion, and then it was saved when I put my faith in Christ as well, eternally.”
The man whose identify was on his delivery certificates, he later discovered, was not his organic father.
“I didn’t have a father growing up,” he mentioned. “In some ways, I needed to be the grownup within the relationship and type of guardian my guardian.”
At age 17, when he encountered these “Jesus freaks,” Laurie’s life modified dramatically.
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“So my life was saved from abortion, and then it was saved when I put my faith in Christ as well, eternally. And so that’s something I’m passionate about sharing with others, because people mess up in life, and we make mistakes.”
God, mentioned Pastor Laurie, “can bring a message out of a mess, and He can bring something good despite the bad.”
Pastor Greg Laurie is proven at his wedding ceremony together with his spouse, Cathe, in 1974. He mentioned he met her “a few months after I accepted Christ and started teaching a Bible study,” he writes on the Harvest web site. (Courtesy of Greg Laurie)
Pastor Laurie mentioned he hopes to “offer hope to all” who’re nonetheless struggling psychological anguish after an abortion.
“I do believe these children who have been tragically aborted are in heaven. I do believe God will forgive a woman if she’s had an abortion. He’ll forgive any sin,” he mentioned.
“So we want to offer compassion to those who find themselves in need of God’s forgiveness, and see that God gives second chances.”
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Nellie Gray, a Catholic lady, based the March for Life — and greater than 50 years later, it is nonetheless largely a Catholic occasion.
It is common to listen to the Rosary being prayed alongside the march route, and hundreds of younger Catholics attend Masses and rallies held in and round Washington, D.C., within the days main as much as the march.
Pastor Laurie informed Fox News Digital in regards to the significance of Christian unity on the difficulty of life.
A scene from the March for Life in D.C. on Friday, Jan. 19. “We are in a spiritual war right now,” mentioned Pastor Laurie, talking of the necessity for Christian unity throughout the pro-life motion. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“I would liken it to if we were in a war and we were under fire, we would pull together. And I think that we are in a spiritual war right now, and I think we have a lot in common — I do, as a Protestant, with my Catholic friends — and especially on this issue in particular,” he mentioned.
Laurie was notably completely happy to see so many younger folks on the March for Life, he mentioned — particularly as he introduced his granddaughters to Washington with him so they may march as properly.
“I wanted them to see the tremendous amount of young people that are standing up here.”
“I wanted them to see the tremendous amount of young people that are standing up here,” he mentioned.
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Those who’re towards abortion “are a minority in California,” he mentioned. “But when you come to an event like this, you are locking arms with thousands and thousands and thousands of others.”
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the pro-life motion shifted from in search of to alter legal guidelines to in search of to alter attitudes and the tradition.
The function of the church, Laurie informed Fox News Digital, is to “speak on the subject with compassion.”
Those on the March for Life “are locking arms with thousands and thousands and thousands of others,” Pastor Laurie informed Fox News Digital on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Vitaly Manzuk)
While it is vital to emphasise conventional tenets of Christian morality, sin nonetheless exists, he mentioned.
“Even Christians mess up and sin,” he mentioned. “And there is forgiveness. But don’t compound the issue by then going in and taking the life of an innocent unborn child.”
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The church “needs to do a better job of addressing this subject,” he mentioned. “I think we also need to do a better job of helping women who carry these babies.”
If, as in lots of instances, the organic father is not within the image, Christian males in a church neighborhood ought to fill this function, mentioned Laurie — as folks did for him.
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“After I became a Christian, I found a lot of godly older men who could be mentors and models for me,” he mentioned. “Father figures, if you will.”
“That’s why the church can step in and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a practical way.”
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