The 'fingerprints' of Christopher Laurie were All Over This Year's Harvest Crusade in Anaheim
Greg Laurie, Christopher's father, pays a moving tribute to his son...
(Anaheim, CA)—Christians in Southern California and around the world were devastated when the news came through that 33-year-old Christopher Laurie had died on July 24 when his car hit the back of a Caltrans truck on Highway 91 near Corona, California.
Christopher was on his way to his father's mega-church in Riverside, where he was the artistic director, when the fatal collision took place.
No one was more shocked than his father, Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, and many thought he would call off his three-day Harvest Crusade in the huge baseball stadium which is home to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
But Greg Laurie bravely decided to continue with the annual outreach and when he stood up to speak before 29,000 people on Friday night (August 15), he received a standing ovation.
Just three weeks after the death of his son, he told the crowd that they should not "fear" the end of their earthly lives.
Laurie, his voice cracking with emotion said that when he received the news of Christopher's death, it was "the worst day of my life" but added that what made it bearable was that "he is in a far better place—he's in Heaven."
He went on to say, "How can I be mad at a God who holds my son safely in his arms tonight? I knew, and I know he went into the immediate presence of the Lord. I never doubted that. What hurts is I miss him."
Others [had] told Laurie he should not preach so soon after the accident, that he should be mourning instead. But he said he was preaching as a "tribute" to Christopher.
"I haven't lost my son, because I know where he is and I'll join him one day," Laurie continued. "He's not dead. When you are a Believer in Christ, you will never die."
John Collins, the Harvest Crusade's executive director, said that Christopher's "fingerprints" were all over the Angel Stadium. "He was artistic director of Harvest and oversaw the design of the stage, the event program and the Harvest Crusades bumper stickers."
Collins then pointed to the media badge that I was wearing around my neck. "He even designed that," he said.
Before Greg Laurie spoke on the opening night, photos and home videos of Christopher and his family flashed on the huge video screens.
The three day crusade ended on Sunday night with Michael W. Smith, Leeland, The Katinas and Crystal Lewis all performing before Greg Laurie again spoke and thousands responded to his appeal to give their lives to Jesus Christ, as they had on previous nights.
