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Top Story: Harvest Crusades Bring Music, Message, and Salvation to Thousands

Popular Christian music artists MercyMe, tobyMac, Relient K, The Katinas, Michael W. Smith, Leeland, Kutless, P.O.D., Lincoln Brewster, and Jeremy Camp set the stage for 167,000 people attending the Harvest Crusades in Anaheim, Philly, and NYC. Pastor Greg Laurie delivered an urgent message of salvation that brought more than 16,000 people to make professions of faith in Christ. Hundreds of churches from different denominations worked together in each city to host the events and provide volunteers and counseling. They also formed a youth choir at the NYC event in Madison Square Garden.

In the midst of his own personal tragedy, Pastor Laurie urged audiences to put their faith in Christ. The Anaheim crusade in August came just three weeks after the auto accident that killed Laurie’s 33-year-old, Christopher. Addressing crowds diverse in age and ethnicity, Laurie said, “If you want to know that you will spend eternity in heaven, you must receive the eternal gift that God wants to offer you tonight. Did you know you can be a good or moral person and not have a relationship with God? I don’t care how moral you are, you still need Christ.”

Following performances by several Christian artists each night, Laurie shared both the grief and the eternal hope he has found through the death of his son. “If I didn’t have Christ in my life giving me hope, I don’t know how I could have gotten through a single day,” said Laurie. “But Christopher was ready to meet God. The moment he took his last breath on earth, he took his first breath in heaven. Death does not have the final word – God has the final word. When a believer in Jesus Christ dies, he goes immediately into the presence of God.”

Laurie’s emphasis on the unpredictable nature of life – as evident in the sudden death of his son – brought many to take a look at their present state and wonder where they would be if their life came to an end sooner than expected. In Anaheim, 11,278 people made a decision to put their faith in Christ; in Philadelphia, 3,365; and in NYC, 1,380 people stepped forward to answer Laurie’s call to faith.

In addition to those in attendance at the Harvest events, Internet broadcasts of the Anaheim and Philadelphia events received more than 45,000 hits to the live stream. The Internet broadcasts are archived and available for viewing at www.harvest.org. Greg Laurie, who founded the evangelistic Harvest Crusade events in 1990 also serves as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif.

Gospel Music Channel was proud to partner with the Harvest Crusades. Like these events, the channel also features Christian and Gospel artists whose dynamic music appeals to a large audience and proclaims the hope found in the Gospel. For more information about the artists on Gospel Music Channel, click here.

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Recent News: Gospel Music Channel Meets with Church Leaders across the U.S.

In the same way Gospel Music Channel brings together all styles of gospel music, we’ve brought together church leaders from many denominations and churches from small to large, for lunch, discussion and sharing at our Ministry Roundtables held in 14 cities. Pastors, youth pastors, music directors and worship leaders shared their challenges, learned about the channel’s Ambassador Program and how it could benefit their churches, and gave GMC’s ministry partnerships team honest feedback. We also shared a wonderful time of worship with singer/songwriter Darrell Evans (“Trading My Sorrows”) at several of the roundtables.

We heard about how challenging it can be to lead diverse groups in worship, keep the gospel relevant to young adults and families in today’s distracting and multi-media culture, and teach the true meaning of worship both in the service and all week long. As one leader said, “Music is the way we learn about God.” Our prayer is that Gospel Music Channel will nurture and strengthen Christian faith through the music and artists’ stories all week long by keeping songs of praise and words of faith available to everyone.

We received great feedback on the Ambassador program and are working to provide extra benefits to churches that will be announced in the coming months. We also received great support from many in the markets where we are not yet carried on the cable provider, offering to write letters and get petitions signed. Most heartwarming to the GMC team was the gratitude expressed for getting together leaders from all types of churches to discuss their challenges and learn from each other.