Legendary Producer Rick Rubin Asks Greg Laurie About God & The Meaning Of Life
Rick Rubin is considered by many to be the greatest music producer alive today. His work spans the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Run-DMC, Adele, U2, Neil Diamond, and his legendary American Recordings with Johnny Cash.
He has also become one of the most influential voices in culture. His interviews include Paul McCartney in McCartney 3,2,1 and Jay-Z in the HBO series JAŸ-Z in 8. On his podcast, Tetragrammaton, he recently sat down with Neil Young.
Now add one more name to that list: Pastor Greg Laurie.
In this unusual episode, legendary producer Rick Rubin turns the microphone around and interviews Greg about his life, faith, and the Jesus Movement that shaped him. The conversation moves at the pace of a long dinner between curious friends. Greg answers Rick's questions about faith, baptism, communion, the Holy Spirit, the Sabbath, and whether the God of the Old Testament really differs from the God of the New. He also speaks candidly about losing his son Christopher and what grief taught him about ministering to people in pain.
Listen to the original episode on Rick Rubin's Podcast:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pastor-greg-laurie/id1671669052?i=1000793610276
Youtube: https://youtu.be/KGR27hIf8Ow?si=v6Zp5ihvgBCQB2Wv
Timestamps:
00:00 Open
00:06 Welcome and how the Rick Rubin interview came together
04:17 Salt and light: pastor vs evangelist
06:46 Growing up with a Marilyn Monroe mother and seven stepfathers
08:46 Meeting the Jesus freaks and Lonnie Frisbee on campus
11:54 Who Lonnie Frisbee really was
17:00 Chuck Smith, the steady father figure
18:46 Conditions that sparked the Jesus Revolution
23:00 Was it just LA, or everywhere?
25:53 Deepening faith and losing his son Christopher
32:31 Always learning: how understanding Scripture grows
39:51 Learning about Jesus after conversion
42:02 Starting Harvest without meaning to start a church
46:36 Friendship with Billy Graham
50:09 Jesus's teachings vs church theology
51:53 What faith actually is
55:06 The Holy Spirit explained
58:47 When burnt offerings stopped
01:00:43 Baptism and the recent baptism movement
01:03:25 Communion and the Last Supper
01:07:00 How Greg prepares a sermon
01:12:23 Is the Old Testament God more judgmental?
01:15:31 Music, Love Song, and the birth of Christian music
01:22:36 Church as grassroots vs industry
01:25:08 What's stayed the same since Jesus's time
01:27:12 Social media, TV, and the vet with the loaded gun
01:29:34 The Sabbath and resting
01:31:17 Bob Dylan's conversion and Slow Train Coming
01:33:07 Did you choose Jesus or did Jesus choose you?
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In 1990, Laurie founded the Harvest Crusades, a series of large-scale evangelistic events designed to present the gospel to broad audiences. These events have since drawn more than 11.5 million participants in person and online. In 2012, he launched Harvest America, a nationwide outreach event that utilized HD livestreaming to broadcast to thousands of venues across the United States. Collectively, these efforts have resulted in over 700,000 documented professions of faith.
A prolific author, Laurie has written over 70 books, including House of David, Billy Graham: The Man I Knew, Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, Revelation: A Book of Promises, and Jesus Revolution.
His filmography includes Lost Boy: The Next Chapter, Hope for Hurting Hearts, Steve McQueen: American Icon, and Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon. In 2023, Greg and Cathe Laurie’s life and conversion during the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s were depicted in the Lionsgate film Jesus Revolution, starring Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie.
Greg Laurie has been married to Cathe Laurie for over 51 years. They have two sons and five grandchildren.
Want more from Greg Laurie? Visit harvest.org
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