Pastor Greg Laurie says what he noticed most in his Harvest Church congregations over Easter, was the number of people who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
He reported 500 salvations during his church’s Holy Week services, with many of them young men.
He also noted that far more boys than girls are joining Bible clubs in public schools.
Pastor Laurie told CBN News he believes it’s a reaction to men being told it’s “bad to be masculine,” over the past decade
Many churches across the US experienced more than the normal “Easter bump” in attendance.
CBN News reports the catalyst appears to be “younger men filling the pews and saying yes to Jesus.”
WHAT HAPPENED AT HARVEST CHURCH OVER EASTER
Pastor Laurie revealed his churches saw a “great turnout” on Easter Sunday.
He was surprised by the large number who gave their lives to Christ.
“It was fantastic. I can’t remember an Easter where we had a response like that,” he told CBN News.
Harvest Church, like many others across the country, is seeing Generation Z, the under-thirties, show up in much bigger numbers this year and seek salvation.
Many of those who respond to invitations are on the younger side and male — which is in line with a national trend.
Greg Laurie said: “I was just talking with a teacher yesterday who teaches in a public school, and she has a little Bible club on campus where the Christian kids meet.”
“She said: I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years of teaching: 28 out of 30 of them were boys.”
“And that’s so unusual, because hey, Girl Power: Girls lead the way in spiritual things and guys are sometimes passive, at best, or resistant. But there’s been a complete shift,” Greg Laurie observed.
WHY YOUNG MEN ARE FLOCKING TO CHURCH AND SEEKING SALVATION
“I think one of the reasons for this phenomenon is just that men have been so beaten down in the last decade or so,” the pastor opined.
“They’re tired of being brow beaten and young men specifically being told it’s bad to be a man. it’s bad to be masculine.”
“And there’s been a reaction. And I think it’s a good reaction,” the pastor reflected.
David Kinnaman, CEO of the Barna Research Group, told CBN News that a new study supports these findings among young men.
It also shows an overall increase of nearly 30 million Americans who say they’ve committed their lives to Christ compared to five years ago.
“I think it represents the idea that commitment to Christ, spiritual openness, it’s bubbling over into unexpected places of our society today,” Mr. Kinnaman explained.
INFLUENCE OF MOVIES AND FOCUSING ON THE GREAT COMMISSION
Greg Laurie also cites the success of recent Christian films in influencing young people.
“The Chosen and something called The House of David, that a friend of mine, John Erwin, has done. It’s on the life of King David.”
“It hit the number one spot of all the things they offer on the Amazon platform.”
“So all of these things are indicators that people are looking for spiritual answers, people are looking for truth.” the pastor proclaimed.
While we’re definitely seeing signs of revival, Greg Laurie says what the church really needs to focus on right now is the Great Commission.
“The Great Commission, of course, is going into all the world, preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations.”
“I just urge everyone that these are effectively the final words of Jesus before he ascended to heaven.”
“So, this is important to Jesus. It should be important to us,” he concluded.
