The skies are deep blue all the way to heaven, and the sun shines warm on Central Park. It’s the kind of day that draws people out, a day when they can choose from any number of ways to spend their time.
In midtown Manhattan, there’s a street festival. Children hop and dance on the sidewalks; vendors sell soft silk shawls and sparkling crystal beads.
Marinated chicken sizzles on grills, and the smells of garlic, basil and fresh lemons waft in the warm air.
Times Square swirls with tourists. Young men are selling tickets to Broadway plays, helicopter tours, you name it. People from Kansas, Japan and everywhere in between are riding in red double-decker buses, cameras around their necks, pointing at the billboards.
In Central Park, you can smell the horses as they clip clop down the gray pavement, pulling tourists in brightly painted buggies. Joggers, bikers, roller-bladers, walkers and strollers fill the pathways.
Not far from the park’s big carousel, small white tents have been set up.
It’s a Humane Society crusade. Earnest women carrying kittens beckon to you; dogs wearing “adopt me” signs strain on leashes, wagging their tails. You see stacks of wooden cages … hmmm, there are bunnies inside. And there’s a big banner calling out to all who pass by: RESCUE THE RABBITS!
Rescue the rabbits?
I think Greg Laurie and Harvest have a better crusade.
Harvest’s New York Crusade at Madison Square Garden was all about saving human souls. It was about rescuing the perishing, as the old hymn says. It was just one of many options New Yorkers could choose on their Sunday afternoon. But for those who attended, it was a day in time when outcomes were changed for eternity.
It was a one-day event, with “shows” at 3 and 6 p.m. Because of Madison Square Garden’s policies, tickets had to be sold, and Harvest donated the proceeds to local rescue missions, teen ministries and youth mentoring programs. About 9,000 attended the outreaches, including hundreds of Harvest-trained counselors, pastors and believers who brought their friends and neighbors.
As the 5,300-seat WAMU Theater filled with men, women and children, Greg Laurie let them know they were in for a time of great music from Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me, some pretty decent jokes and the good news of the Gospel. His message wasn’t a diluted version of Christianity Lite, but the absolute, radical claims of Jesus that have been blowing people’s socks and sandals off since the first century.
“Maybe you’re skeptical about all this,” Greg said. “I used to be a skeptic. When I first heard the Gospel, I felt like it was too good to be true. But then I thought, ‘What if it is true?’ Jesus wasn’t just a prophet or a moral teacher or a man of God. He was God become a man … so only Jesus was qualified to bridge the gap between God and human beings. Jesus is the way, the Truth and the life.”
Greg invited listeners to open their hearts to Jesus, and people all over the theater got out of their seats. They walked down the carpeted aisles and crowded in front of the stage.
Some stood with their eyes closed, swaying a little as Jeremy Camp sang, “You can have all this world, Just give me Jesus.” A middle-aged Hispanic man with dark tattoos and oily hair stood with tears rolling down his cheeks. A red-haired boy, his sister and their mother stood with their arms around one another. Teenage girls clutched Kleenex, and each other. A blond man who looked like he’d just come off the golf course stood with his face tilted up toward heaven. Two middle-aged African-American women from Harlem smiled like young girls. A new beginning.
“Now is the day of salvation,” Greg said to those who might still be hanging back in their seats. “Do it now. You can leave this place a different person than how you came!”
Near the top of the theater, a pre-teen boy slipped out of his seat. A few others overcame their fears and joined him, making their way toward the stage. Waves of warm applause filled the theater.
“Hold fast,” Mercy Me had sung earlier, “help is on the way!”
To everyone who’s hurting
To those who’ve had enough
To all the undeserving
That should cover all of us
Please do not let go
I promise there is hope …Is there anyone?
All we want is to be free
Free from our captivity, Lord
Here He comes …
Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He’s come to save the day …
Those words of deliverance rang true for a young man we’ll call Thomas. He was slender, with dark hair and a thin moustache. Heavy gray chains hung from both pockets of his baggy jeans.
Thomas grew up in Brooklyn. Drugs infested his neighborhood and his home.
His father died. His mother ran off with someone else. Thomas went to a group home. By his teens he was shackled by the same drugs that had destroyed his family. He got busted. He was going to be evicted. He felt like a failure. He tried to kill himself but, thankfully, failed.
Thomas’ aunt knew he wanted to try suicide again, and this time he just might succeed. She bought him a ticket to the Harvest Crusade.
His older sister brought him. God grabbed his heart and propelled him out of his seat when Greg gave the invitation.
A counselor stood with his arm around Thomas’s shoulders. He gave him a Bible, pointing out passages that spoke to Thomas’ despair. He prayed with him, in Jesus’ name.
After the prayer Thomas crossed himself, touching the cross and the small emblem he wore around his neck. It was a picture of Jesus, turned inward, facing Thomas’ heart. For years, Thomas had used it like a good-luck charm.
The counselor smiled when he saw the portrait. “You know what?” he said. “Now you don’t need to wear a picture of Jesus next to your heart. Now the real Jesus lives in your heart. Forever.”
Sunday, Sept., 23, 2007. Yes, it was a sky-blue New York day, when people could choose from hundreds of options that great city has to offer. But for more than 1,200 people like Thomas, it was a day of rescue, a day of deliverance from spiritual chains … a day that the real Jesus touched their hearts and saved their souls for eternity.
Check out Greg Laurie’s books at Shop.WND.com:
“Are We Living in the Last Days?”
Get Greg’s daily devotional, “For Every Season”
“Lies We Tell Ourselves” – which ones do you tell?
“The Greatest Stories Ever Told”
Ellen Vaughn is a New York Times best-selling author and inspirational speaker. Her recent books include “Time Peace and Radical Gratitude,” and collaborative works “The God Who Hung on the Cross”; “Rags, Riches, and Real Success” ; and “It’s All About Him.”
