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Greg Laurie Remembers How Teen Drug Use ‘Opened Me Up to Evil’ Before Christ

Photo from Pastor Greg Laurie’s Instagram

Greg Laurie Remembers How Teen Drug Use ‘Opened Me Up to Evil’ Before Christ

By Movieguide® Staff

Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, recently recounted his time before faith in Christ, and how interaction with drugs “opened [him] up to evil.”

“After taking acid one night in my teen years, I had a ‘bad trip,'” Laurie shared on Facebook. “It was an experience that really shook me up; I felt it opened me up to evil.”

Laurie said that while he first approached drugs with caution, his friend encouraged him to try marijuana, which quickly grew into using more potent drugs like LSD.

“I thought, ‘Hey man, that is where it’s at. They’ve got the answer,'” Laurie said of the “free love” culture around him in the 1960s. “I started dropping LSD, taking acid. [I] thought I was coming into a whole new awareness of thought.”

However, as his use increased to sometimes six times a day, his relationship with LSD changed after a terrifying experience.

“One day, I think the thing that probably every person who takes drugs maybe fears happened to me,” Laurie said. “I took acid one night I had a bad trip. I started to panic. I just started going wacko.

“The room started spinning. I started seeing all these strange faces. And I kept hearing this voice yell out to me, ‘You’re going to die. You’re going to hell.’… I started screaming,” he added.

Laurie later came to saving faith in Jesus but is thankful to God for protecting him from his drug addiction.

Some of you may not know this story… after taking acid one night in my teen years, I had a “bad trip.” It was an…

Posted by Greg Laurie on Tuesday, September 13, 2022

The Erwin Brother’s upcoming movie, JESUS REVOLUTION, will highlight Laurie’s conversion and ministry.

Movieguide® previously reported:

The Erwin brothers of Kingdom Story Company announced that they would follow up their blockbuster hit, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, with another movie based on a true story, JESUS REVOLUTION.

The movie follows the true story of the “spiritual awakening” of the 1970s and the nationwide impact of evangelists and pastors such as Greg Laurie on Americans.

“The true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970’s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California,” the IMDb synopsis reads.

Laurie recently visited the set of JESUS REVOLUTION and talked with Jon Erwin about the upcoming biopic.

“I love this movie,” Jon told Laurie. “I’ve wanted to make this movie for years. It’s original. It’s personal, there’s such a cause behind it, like, ‘God, let’s see this happen again.’ But it’s also going to be really funny. It’s going to be really funny and it’s going to be really heartfelt… It’s one of those movies that’s going to make you laugh as much as it makes you cry. I think it’s going to be this incredible emotional experience in a way people don’t expect.

“This will be my fifth or sixth adaptation of a true story in a row since the movie WOODLAWN,” the Movieguide® Award-winning director continued. “The difference between this is a lot of those other stories were well known, like I CAN ONLY IMAGINE or AMERICAN UNDERDOG. This is a story, it was almost like finding a diamond that no one knew was there or that people have forgotten about. When I found this magazine, Time Magazine cover ‘The Jesus Revolution 1971,’ four years after the Time Magazine cover was ‘Is God Dead?’ It was just this story of this hippy revival and this revolution of love and Jesus sweeping the country with people that the church didn’t even let in the door. We just discovered this really fun, heartfelt, rebellious, beautiful story.”

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.