The Crowd gathers

7:20 - Welcome to the Harvest Jam! Christian rap group K2S opens in music tonight.

Sing Praises to the Lord!

7:33 - Youth Jam video is shown. A pastor from the Philadelphia area opens the evening in prayer.

7:35 - Pastor Ricky Ryan from California introduces popular Christian vocalist Jennifer Knapp to a roaring crowd. She opens with "Faithful/Whole Again." Jennifer's second song is "In The Name". Jennifer closes her set with "Undo Me".

7:49 - Pastor Ricky Ryan introduces Harvest Crusade favorites, The Kry. The crowd stands to their feet clapping to the beat of "Over and Over Again". Jean-Luc asks the crowd who is happy to be here tonight. His answer is loud applause. Their second song is "Paradise". The audience joins in to the chorus. The crowd doesn't sit down at all while The Kry sings. To a clapping, standing crowd, Jean-Luc sings their song, "I Believe".

8:08 - A video is shown of past Crusades, giving statistics: more than 160,000 people have attended previous Crusades. Expenses for crusades are shared by local churches, local businesses, sale of Crusade products and offerings taken at the event. Greg Laurie and the Crusade Staff receive no compensation for their participation in the Harvest Crusades.

8:14- The Harvest Crusade Band does an instrumental version of "Make A Way For The Lord". Pastor Ricky Ryan introduces grammy-nominated Big Tent Revival! The crowd stands to their feet again as BTR sings "Judgment Day". Their second song is "Lovely Mausoleum". The arena is filled with more than 10,000 people clapping and singing along as BTR sings, "Mend Me". BTR says that as they travel around the world, they find two things in common: we all need a Savior, and we all seem to have excuses. But "We all have a Savior who died for us." With that, they go into their last song, "West Memphis Lawyers".

8:35 - Pastor Ricky Ryan encourages the audience to quiet themselves and prepare the atmosphere for hearing the Word of God as Pastor Greg comes. Just before Pastor Greg comes, Jennifer Knapp shares one more song, "Faithful".

The gospel is preached

8:39 - Pastor Greg approaches the podium and greets the crowd. He encourages everyone to come back for another "Harvest Jam" tomorrow night with The Kry and Audio Adrenaline. He tells the audience what he is going to speak about tonight. "Why People Do Not Come To Christ." He points out how we all tend to make excuses when we don't want to do something. If a geeky guy asks a girl out for a date, she might say, "I'm, uh, busy tonight. I have to, uh, wallpaper!" Here are some lines girls give: "Oh you are too much like a brother." "I'm not sure we want the same thing out of a relationship." Greg says one he heard in high school a lot: "Can't we just be friends?" If you hear that one, he says, "Just give it up!" Excuses are just what we offer up when we don't really want to do something.

Greg says that he thinks there is only one primary reason people do not come to Christ. All the rest of shallow excuses. He lists 4 most commonly asked questions about the Christian faith. 1) If God is so good and loving, why does He allow evil? Pastor Greg says that our general tendency is to blame God for evil and suffering, but man was created with the ability to choose. We have the freedom to choose to love or not to love. We have the ability to choose to do right or to do wrong. We can obey or disobey. In the Garden of Eden man made the wrong choice and sin entered the world. We are born to sin.

Pastor Greg says that, as a result of sin, we live in a world that is both fallen and imperfect. Disease, sickness, disabilities all came a result of the curse of sin. But we don't want to accept responsibility for anything we do. Man tries to say that he is not responsible for his sin. We like to blame God for the problems of the world, but not admit that sin is our responsibility. "Does God cause war?" Pastor Greg asks. "No!" He quotes from James 4:1 "Where do wards and fights come from? Isn't it from the army of evil desires at war within you?" We have the ability to choose to do right or wrong.

"Sometimes," Greg continues, "God can even use sickness to bring us to Himself." He speaks to us in tragedy or hardship. Maybe a loved one dies and we reevaluate what life is all about. Maybe you lose your job, and it shakes you up. "God can take rotten stuff and turn it around!" The crowd applauds. Greg points out that God can make "beauty out of ashes" and turn life around.

Greg's says another excuse we use: How can you say, "Jesus is the only way?" People want to believe there are many ways to get to heaven. But the Bible says there is only one way. Pastor Greg asks if it is enougg just to be "sincere" no matter what you believe. But being sincere is not enough. We need to have a set of absolutes to live by, and we need to live by those, not just sincere. "You can be sincerely wrong." Pastor Greg points out that we cannot simply make up the rules as we go. "What would you think," he asks, "if you got on a plane and the pilot came over the speaker and says 'Ladies and gentlement, welcome to flight 293 bound for Honolulu, Hawaii. I see the gauge is indicating we don't have enough fuel to reach our destination, but I feel good about this. I'm not really using our navigation devices or any maps today because that would be too narrow-minded and bigoted. Besides, all roads lead to Hawaii.' I don't know about you, but I would want off that plane!"

Pastor Greg responds to this excuse by saying that only Jesus Christ was both God and Man, and only Jesus is qualified to bridge the gap between God and man.

Pastor Greg says a third excuse people give is "How can a God of love send people to Hell?" He answers by saying that Hell was never created for man. It was created for the devil and His angels. God doesn't want anyone to go there. But man has the choice to go wherever he wants. Just like if you were heading down a road where the bridge is out and you choose to ignore the signs that say "bridge out". If you are determined to go down that road, whose fault will it be? "No one will be in Heaven or Hell by accident," Pastor Greg says. If we reject God's words "Whoever believes in Him will not perish," we cannot escape.

The fourth excuse Greg talks about is "There are too many hypocrites in the church." This is true, he points out, but it is equally true that there are so many godly people who really live the life well. The point Pastor Greg makes is that it is Jesus Christ Who comes into your life, not other people. Jesus did not say, "Follow my people..." He said "Follow me."

"So why don't people really come to Christ?" Pastor Greg asks. What's the real excuse? He quotes from John 3:19 "Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." The Bible says that "today is the day of salvation." Life's most dangerous word is "tomorrow". Don't count on tomorrow.

Pastor Greg explains that the word "repent" means to change your direction. If you change your direction in life you are repenting. Pastor Greg encourages those who want to repent--to change the direction their life is going to pray with him. He asks them to come down to the floor of the arena to make a public acknowledgement that they are accepting Jesus Christ.

As the music begins and the floor starts to fill with people, Greg tells the crowd that God is not looking for the "religious type" of person. He is looking for the person who wants to be forgiven and changed. He asks the crowd to be silent and pray as people come to accept Jesus.

Pastor Greg says that "the Bible says,'Seek the Lord while He may be found.' Jesus can be found tonight. You can find Him tonight by coming to Him. The Kry sings, "He Won't Let You Go" as the arena floor fills with hundreds of people wanting to come to Christ. A steady stream of people pour down the aisles as Greg says, "Remember, to not be for Jesus is to be against Him. You determine where you will spend eternity. To not say yes is to say no. Do you want joy and peace? You can have it if you come to Him."

As you view this, you can make the same decision that those coming forward here at the First Union Spectrum are making. If you would like to stop making excuses and accept Jesus, you can pray this prayer: "God, I'm sorry for my sin. I thank you for sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God to die on the cross for my sin and to rise again from the dead. Jesus come into my heart. Be my Savior, my Lord, my God and my friend. Fill me with Your Spirit and help me to walk with you from this night forward. Thank You for forgiving me and for making me Your child. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

If you prayed this prayer, please let us know by pressing the feedback button and we will send you the same booklet that each person here at the Spectrum is receiving. This is the "New Believer's New Testament". Welcome to the family of God!

As the event closes, you can hear the soft hum of people praying and speaking to counselors about how to follow Christ. The counselors are encouraging new believers to pray, read the Bible, find a church to become a part of, and to tell others about their experience here tonight. These are four simple steps towards growing into a strong, healthy believer.

Join us again tomorrow night for the third night of the Greater Philadelphia Harvest Crusade. The final night will be Sunday night, when Greg will be joined by Crystal Lewis, The Katinas and the Harvest Crusade Band. Goodnight and God bless you!

The work of the Holy Spirit