Pastor Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside and Irvine, California, recently broke down one of the powerful lessons that he believes King Solomon — a central Old Testament figure — can teach us all about fame and possessions.
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“Solomon had unparalleled wealth, global fame, women,” Laurie said. “And Solomon wrote a whole book about it called the Book of Ecclesiastes.”
In the end, Laurie said that Solomon saw all he had and equated the chase for worldly things to an “empty” quest that was akin to “chasing the wind.” Take, for instance, Ecclesiastes 2:11, which reads, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
Laurie made these comments during a recent visit to the Faithwire newsroom to discuss his new movie, “Steve McQueen: American Icon,” which premiered on Sept. 28 nationwide and has encore performances in theaters across the U.S. on Oct. 10 and Oct. 19.
The pastor’s research for the film, which is about legendary actor Steve McQueen’s life story — including the entertainer’s conversion to the Christian faith — left Laurie comparing McQueen to a “modern-day King Solomon,” as McQueen was at the top of his acting career when he discovered God.
Hear Laurie discuss the film in detail in a previous interview with “The Billy Hallowell Podcast” below:
In the end, Laurie said that he’s hoping “Steve McQueen: American Icon” will send a pointed message to audiences about the power and scope of forgiveness.
“[I want them to see that] no matter what they’ve done in life, God can forgive them,” he said. “They can have a second chance and they can have hope for the afterlife.”
Filmmaker Jon Erwin, who directed the documentary, told Faithwire that he believes audiences will be “entertained and inspired.”
“This is an untold true story that is very powerful,” he said, adding that it’s a story about where people “really find fulfillment and happiness in life.” Find out more about the movie here.