The Crowd gathers

6:30 - Good evening and welcome to the third and final night of the Rochester Harvest Crusade here at the Blue Cross Arena. We are looking forward to what God will do tonight and invite you to spend the next few minutes with us. Last night's "Youth Jam" was attended by 10,500 people in person and viewed by 2,498 on Internet. Over 1,300 people made a commitment to follow Jesus. Tonight caps off the 1998 Harvest Crusades and it has been a wonderful work of God.

6:45 - Several thousand people are already seated and more are arriving. People mull around the tables in the lobby looking over the various products available for purchase at the Crusade.

Tonight's musical guests will be Tommy Walker and the Harvest Crusade Band, Big Tent Revival, Dennis Agajanian and Jennifer Knapp. The title of Greg's message tonight is "Signs of the Times." As we get closer to the year 2000 this is a subject of increasing interest to many people.

7:10 - The Harvest Crusade Band has stepped onto the platform and we will begin in a few minutes.

Sing Praises to the Lord!

7:15 - A video is shown asking "what bugs you about preachers?" "Car dealers...anyone who puts a scam on you, I don't like that." "You know the ones who dress all flashy." "I like Greg Laurie becasue he's real, you know, not all that big hair. He doesn't have any hair!"

Tommy Walker and the Harvest Crusade Band opens up the evening with "No Greater Love". "There's no greater love than Jesus, there's no greater love than He gives, there's no greater love that frees us so deep within..."

"Welcome!" Tommy Walker says. "And stay standing, cause we're gonna sing!" The crowd joins him in singing "Mourning Into Dancing."

The band leads into the next song, "I Could Sing Of Your Love". Some people remain standing with arms raised, swaying to the music. An interpreter for the hearing impaired sings with her hands. She crosses her arms in embrace, then raises them as she sings, "I could sing of Your love forever..."

Bob Shank greets the audience and introduces Pastor Ron Domina who opens in prayer. Then Bob Shank introduces the "fastest flat-picking guitarist in the world" Dennis Agajanian. As he strums his guitar faster and faster, the crowd cheers and claps their approval. After a guitar intro, the band joins him in "Via Dolorosa". "There's no greater life than knowing Jesus Christ," Dennis says. "I love playing the guitar and playing the guitar for Him!" Bill Batstone from the Harvest Crusade Band joins Dennis to sing "Nothing But The Blood of Jesus".

Dennis and the band lead into the first line, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!" The crowd stands back up to their feet clapping in rhythm and singing along. Dennis finishes the song with more of that fast pickin' and the crowd cheers and applauds.

Bob Shank introduces Big Tent Revival. BTR has been together for four years and this is the second year they have ministered with Harvest Crusades. Bob tells the crowd that "they took the roof off in Philadelphia last week" but this gathering is sure to be as lively. Their first song is "Star In The Book". "Howdy New York!" the lead singer says. "I want you to know I'm glad the Yankees won the World Series because I'm not a Padres fan." (Claps and laughter reveal he's not the only one!) Right into their next song, "I Sing Praises..."

Jennifer Knapp joins BTR for the next song, "Two Joneses".

At the conclusion of this Crusade, more than 2 million people will have been reached with the Gospel and more than 150,000 will have made a decision to follow Christ. Expenses for this crusade are shared between local churches, businesses, and proceeds from product sales. An offering is taken at the event to help with costs. Greg Laurie and the Harvest Crusade Staff do not receive any compensation for this ministry. All proceeds go to the work of evangelism through the Harvest Crusade. "We have seen God do amazing things in the hearts of people through these events," Bob Shank tells the audience. "You should know that there are over 100 churches in the local community who have taken part in bringing this event to the Rochester area. These are christians who believe that the Word of God needs to go out and so they want to share in this work."

"Jennifer Knapp is a name you're going to hear more of in the next few days," Bob Shank says. A video is shown with Jennifer giving her testimony. "By the time I got to college I was sick of people telling me what to do...there were girls in the dorm who shared Jesus with me...I thought it was sissy stuff and I was having none of it...by the end of that year, I knew I needed to give my life to Jesus....all the things of the world, sexual immorality, drugs, broke me down and I saw that I needed Jesus and that He died for me..." The video ends as Jennifer picks her guitar and sings, "In The Name".

Right into her next song, "Whole Again". "If I live my life, if I lay it down, can you turn this life around? Can I be made clean by this offering of my soul, can I be made whole again?"

Bill Batstone and Steve Williams sing "Choose Life" as the audience prepares to hear the message that Greg Laurie will give this evening.

The gospel is preached

"Good evening," Greg says. Greg tells the audience how many people have logged in on the Internet the last few nights, and Greg says, "For all of you who are watching by the net, welcome--we're glad you surfed this way!"

Greg tells the story of a little boy who loved to visit his grandparents and listen to their grandfather clock chime. One day however, something went wrong. Instead of stopping at 12, it kept right on chiming, 13-14-15 times. The little boy ran in to the kitchen shouting, "Grandma, it's later than it's ever been before!"

"Never, in all of human history, have we been closer to the end of the world than we are today," says Greg. "People are desperate to know what the future holds, and I want to tell you that the Bible is the only book that dares to predict the future." God can speak of the future with absolute certainty because He sees it all before it happens. He has told us what the future holds. This is the basic test of a true faith, of a true prophet, can they predict the future accurately? The Bible is the one book that does this. Not once, not twice, but hundreds of time. It's worth noting that nearly 2/3 of the Bible is prophecy and that 1/2 of that prophecy has already happened. This means that when God says something is going to happen, you can "Take it to the bank!"

"All around us right now are signs of the times," Greg says. "There are reminders around us that the Bible is predicting the future exactly as God said. I'm going to mention a few." The Bible says that as it was in the days of Noah, so the signs of the last times will be.

One sign is a rapid increase in violence. You might say, "Come on Greg, we've always had crime. It's no different now than it's ever been." But over the last three decades there has been a 560% increase in violent crime! Teenage violent crime has increased by 172% since 1985. Experts say in the next decade that the nation's #1 criminal will be between the age of 15-19. Time to regain control is running out.

Another sign of the time is that there will be more conflicts and wars. The Bible says "In the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars." You might say, "But Greg, we have always had wars throughout history." But we've never had the destructive power that we have at our disposal today. We have the potential to bring Armageddon upon ourselves. For instance, in World War II 89 million people were killed in battlefields, bombings and concentration camps. But we have the technology of mass destruction to surpass this. Our newest atomic submarine, the USS Pennsylvania, cost 3 billion dollars. It carries 24 missiles, each with 15 separae warheads which can be targeted individually. This one ship has 40 times more killing power than all the weapons combined that were detonated in World War II.

"I bring all this up," Greg says, "because we are going to look at the story of a man who ignored the signs of his time." Greg reads from Daniel 5. King Belshazzar was a man who went out of his way to openly defy and mock God. But the interesting this is that the prophet Jeremiah foretold exactly how Belshazzar's kingdom would fall. He told the name of the man who would overthrow Belshazzar 175 years before it happened.

Belshazzar had a drunken party and as he and his men were drinking, Cyrus' army came in through the open gates. You would think that Belshazzar would pay attention, but he didn't. Maybe he thought he was so powerful that he could thumb his nose at God, that he could ignore God. Sometimes we think that way.

Greg tells the crowd how he used to mock the christians on his high school campus. But one day he got close enough to listen. "I stopped mocking," he says. "That's the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ." Some of you may be in that position.

"Back to our story," Greg says. "A hand starts writing on the wall. Just a hand. And you never saw a drunk guy sober up so fast!" Belshazzar asks for someone to interpret the writing. The prophet Daniel is brought in, and he tells Belshazzar what the writing means. "You have defiled the Lord...you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny...this is what the words mean: God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end." Daniel told Belshazzar the story of how his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar looked out at the great city of Babylon that he had built and he was filled with pride. But God struck Nebuchadnezzar for a time and when the bottom dropped out, he gave his life to the Lord. "Sometimes that's what it takes for us to come to the Lord," Greg says. "But Belshazzar didn't listen to what happened to his grandfather."

"Now listen," Greg says. "With knowledge comes responsibility. Daniel told Belshazzar, 'you knew all this.' Belshazzar was placed in God's scale and he was a lightweight." There was nothing to his life. "Now when we get on the scales we want it to be light, right?" Greg asks. "But God's scales are different. He weighs us spiritually. Now some of us think that if they do enough good works, God will let them into heaven." Some people believe that God grades on a curve, but the bad news is that God doesn't grade that way. The only way to get to heaven is to be perfect. Can you be perfect? "Be honest," Greg says. "You haven't even come close!"

"Now I have some good news for you," Greg says. "The Bible says that we must be perfect and no one can make it by those standards. But God Himself came to this earth and stood in that gap that separates us from Him." Tonight you are being weighed in the balance of God. The scales of God are accurate and He does not weigh as we do.

We might give credit to the wealthy or famous for doing good works. We remember Princess Diana, who died a year ago. She had a life that could have sounded like a fairy tale, but in many ways she was very sad. Princess Diana was quoted as saying, "When I was born, I was unwanted. When I married Charles and joined the royal family, I was unwanted. I want to be wanted." You see, death comes to everyone, even to those who have been wealthy and famous and even done good works.

Are you ready for death? Are you ready to meet God? "There are no opportunities after death," Greg says. "Here was Belshazzar, who was being given an opportunity and he rejected it." Every time you hear the gospel and you say no, your heart gets a little harder and a little more callous. The question isn't whether Jesus will forgive you, but it is whether or not you will want to be forgiven. "When you die," Greg says, "Either you will hear God say 'Well done good and faithful servant, enter into joy...' or you will hear Him say, 'depart from Me, I never knew you'." You decide if you will be forgiven of your sin. Do you want that chance?

If you want to do this, you must acknowledge that you are a sinner. You must receive Jesus Christ into your heart and say I accept you. And you need to make a public stand for Jesus Christ. "Listen," Greg says. "You have an appointment with God tonight. Let Him come into your heart so that you will have the assurance that when He comes again, you will go to heaven with Him."

It's time to get right with God. Don't put it off.

The work of the Holy Spirit

Greg invites anyone here at the Blue Cross Arena to come forward and pray, asking Jesus into their heart. You can pray this prayer along with the hundreds of people who are streaming down to the floor right now.

If you want to be ready when Jesus comes again, if you want to commit your life to the Lord, 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 and shed His blood for every sin I've ever committed. Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God and be my friend. Fill me with Your Spirit and help me to follow You from this night forward. Make me ready for your return. Thank you for accepting me and for forgiving me. Come into my heart. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

If you prayed this prayer, welcome to the family of God! Greg tells those here at the arena that they will be receiving a "New Believer's New Testament" before they leave this evening and we want to send you this same Bible. If you would like to let us know that you prayed and accepted Jesus, press the feedback button and we will send you a copy of the "New Believer's New Testament".

The evening comes to a conclusion as counselors encourage new believers to read their Bible, pray, join a local church where they can have fellowship with other believers, and to share their experience with others. Doing these four simple things will help you grow into a strong, healthy believer.

So the 1998 Harvest Crusade here in Rochester draws to a wonderful close. Thank you for joining us, and God bless you!