The evangelist shares why he wrote a book on celebrities turning to Jesus and the greater message it brings to others.
Pastor Greg Laurie has long been known as the founder of the Harvest Christian Fellowship churches in California and Hawaii and the Harvest Crusades. Today, however, he also adds "best-selling author" to his list of titles as he released the positively received "Lennon, Dylan, Alice & Jesus: The Spiritual Biography of Rock and Roll," which is co-written by Marshall Terrill and published by Salem Books.
Released in May 2022, Pastor Laurie's new book details how famous people like The Beatles' John Lennon and Alice Cooper had struggled to deal with fame and eventually found God by turning to Jesus. The evangelist told Fox News that people, especially young ones, are "fascinated with celebrity and fame," however, he posed the question, "Is fame all that it's cracked up to be?"
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Pastor Delves into the Lives of the Famous to See How They Found God
Pastor Laurie explained that he tried to answer the question about fame by looking at the lives of "rock icons." Taking for example The Beatles singer Lennon, who at the peak of the band's fame and success, wrote a song titled "Help." The evangelist and author said that the song "was an actual cry for help, but most missed it because of its catchy beat."
The pastor added that upon closer examination of many rock stars who "experienced unimaginable success and wealth," a lot of them have reached the peak of the "mountain of fame" and "found out that there was nothing at the top." Pastor Laurie cited examples of such, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Curt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse, all of which had died at an early age.
Pastor Laurie also lamented that "new generations" in fact "buy into" the "mythology" that fame and success will "fill the hole in their heart." The evangelist and author warned however, that "Only God can do that."
In his book, Pastor Laurie described Lennon as a "searcher" who "didn't believe in anything." He wrote that The Beatles band member came to Jesus in the spring of 1977 after he saw a televised Billy Graham crusade. This influenced him to accept Jesus and later even took his family to an Easter Sunday service and called "The 700 Club" prayer line.
Evangelist Talks About the Effects of Mishandled Fame
In Pastor Laurie's new book, he also details the journey of Cooper, who upon achieving massive worldwide success had "started living the rock star life to excess," CBN News reported. Pastor Larie described Cooper as being "drunk every day" and "[used] drugs heavily" until his wife left him.
Pastor Laurie recounted one instance in which Cooper was using cocaine alone in his room and upon looking at the mirror saw that there was "blood coming out of [his] eyes." He was unsure if it was a hallucination or real but he was sure that he was "going to die." It was at that moment when he "called out to God" and his whole life changed. He got over his drug addiction and reunited with his wife. Today, Cooper is more than 30 years sober and regularly reads the Bible.
Pastor Laurie's new book has garnered a 4.7 out of 5 rating on Amazon, where readers have described it as "a fascinating and illuminating examination on the lives of several rock artists and their spiritual journeys" and an "intriguing book" that "does not disappoint."
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