Actor Steve McQueen's Life Proves Jesus Can Turn "Notorious Sinners into Notorious Christians"

Leah Marieann Klett : Jun 23, 2017
The Gospel Herald

“Steve McQueen [was] a modern day Solomon." – Pastor Greg Laurie

(Los Angeles, CA) — [The Gospel Herald] Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Ministries, believes Jesus specializes in turning notorious sinners into notorious Christians. (Photo Credit: Steve McQueen/ SundariPR via The Gospel Herald)

The pastor is so passionate about that belief, in fact, he wrote an entire book dedicated to Hollywood icon Steve McQueen - a star whose life of chasing worldly pleasures drastically changed after finding Jesus.

"Steve McQueen was a notorious sinner inasmuch as he lived a sinful life; he chased after every pleasure this world has to offer and was quite proud of it," Laurie told The Gospel Herald (GH) in an exclusive interview. "He was admired by many. That's probably why they called him the 'King of Cool' - he drove the coolest cars, had the most beautiful women, had worldwide fame, lots of money, but it left him empty and searching. Ultimately, it helped him come to the answer he was looking for."

Released June 11, Laurie's latest book, "Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon," explores how the wildly popular actor became a born-again Christian six months before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"McQueen's pastor, Leonard Dewitt, told me how Steve was growing dramatically in his faith after he prayed and accepted Christ, and they were having hour long Bible studies every week," Laurie said. "Steve was thinking about how he could use his platform to tell others about Christ. But then, he found out he had cancer about 6-8 months later, and he later said to Leonard DeWitt: 'My only regret is that I was not able to tell more people about what Christ had done for me.' I wanted to right that wrong, and that's why I wrote this book."

Laurie told GH that McQueen found Pastor DeWitt's church through Sammy Mason, a flight instructor he hired to teach him how to fly his newly purchased yellow bi-plane.

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The Gospel Herald