Winners and Losers, Saints and Sinners by Greg Laurie
Greg Laurie has been called the Billy Graham of today's generation, and is known for his dynamic, modern approach to preaching. He is set to conduct a crusade at Anaheim, Calif. next week
Greg Laurie has been called the Billy Graham of today's generation, and is known for his dynamic, modern approach to preaching. He is set to conduct a crusade this weekend at Anaheim, Calif. July 15-17.
Much like his preaching style, Laurie's new book Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners: How to Finish Strong in the Spiritual Race shares key Biblical principles in a straight-forward manner.
Spun off from a central Biblical theme of running a race, Laurie came up with dozens of messages, but emphasized the importance of finishing the race well.
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"The good news is even if you have not started well, or if you've fallen after you started, you can still go on. The important thing is how you finish the race," Laurie told The Christian Post.
He added, "You don’t want to do something that will cause you to be disqualified in life. There are steps that we can take to help us be winners."
Laurie derived the 21 chapters from messages originally delivered to his congregation, Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and it is no surprise Laurie pastors one of the fifteen largest churches in America. Each message in Losers and Winners packs visual descriptions with real life examples, making the Bible's teachings immediate and applicable.
He explained forgiveness through Joseph's example, vanity through Solomon, obedience through Elijah, disobedience through Saul, and true kingship through David.
Here is an excerpt from the book comparing Saul and David, and the way each ended the race.
"Saul was the first king of Israel. On one hand, he had many wonderful attributes. He started off very well, but then he began to unravel and self-destruct."
"[David] came from the most humble of beginnings and rose to be the greatest king in the history of the nation Israel."
Though much more than a book on examples of winners and losers, he does profile quite a few, including the "ultimate winner," Jesus.
Laurie tells us, "Jesus has run before us. He is showing us how to do it."
Therefore, "Keep to your own lane, hold a steady pace, and that finish line will be at your feet any minute… Be a winner."
Just like in his new book, Laurie delivers messages filled with hope for the spiritual runner - seasoned or novice - in his annual Harvest crusades. Since 1990, his crusades attracted more than three million people.
In 2005 he held three crusades in Augusta, Ga., Athens, Ga., and in Santa Monica, Calif. He will hold three more crusades this year: in Anaheim, Calif. this weekend, and in Australia and New Zealand.
He reaches an additional 25 and 35 million people through his television broadcast, "Harvest: Greg Laurie," which appears in 22 markets and his radio program, "A New Beginning," which is heard on over 500 stations around the world.
For these millions of people, his message is to become like Christ, a winner.
