Linkathon!
“Jesus Revolution” leaves out the tough stuff,but gets the music right…Â
Greg Laurie says “Jesus Revolution” taps into peoples hunger for faith...actually,it just taps into peoples love of nostalgia…
Don’t forget, there’s a lot right with the church too…
Friend of Frisbee fills in the gaps…
Finding the way through the dark…
The Asbury revival is over…what happens now?
Who will pay for the SBC’s abuse reforms?
For Gen Z revival is not a bandwagon…
Two thousand years of Christian strangeness…
Stronger than all evil things…
Christian health non profit saddled thousands with debt…
Bad numbers can’t change the Good News…
I viewed the Frisbee documentary last night, The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher” or whatever it was called–and it was really helpful ballast to the Jesus Revolution movie portrayal of the same. He was definitely a fascinating character in the midst of a fascinating plot. The themes are and will be debatable, but his depth exceeds the JR movie’s capacity to explore it.
fil,
It’s a good documentary…and both Smith and Frisbee create questions that make us uncomfortable.
Chuck’s son poses questions and statements that likely make a whole lot of CC folks uncomfortable…
Indeed, they did…
I loved “That’s Not In the Bible!” I like pithy sayings, and when I became a Christian, I was surprised to find out how many things I thought were in the Bible weren’t there.
The friend of Lonnie’s video is powerful! Child molestation, victimization, and yet God used a broken man like Lonnie. I’m so moved by this video. Thank you for posting.
The Lonnie Video was super interesting.
“Chuck’s son poses questions and statements that likely make a whole lot of CC folks uncomfortable“
I am trying to figure out which link this is?????
This cynic needed to read the link to “A lot that’s right with the church”. I am experiencing a revival of sorts in my own hard heart—subtle as it is—. Good to focus on something positive.
Sorry Nonnie, not a link listed above, but a documentary about L Frisbee by the title “The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher.” You can find it/order it on a streaming network.
Thank you, Fil. I shall look it up. I was really moved by the video Michael posted from Lonnie’s friend. very interesting. Especially the last 15 minutes.
The Frisbee documentary on Prime, $1.99, was fascinating.
Chuck Jr. on Frisbee
Part 2
I read as much as I could stomach of the healthcare sharing article. I looked into one of those prior to getting coverage through the “Affordable (Ha!) Care Act. I didn’t qualify due to pre-existing conditions. Boy, am I glad!
Interesting, it took the JR movie to finally get more info about Lonnie out there.
The movie did indeed highlight Lonnie well, but the stuff about Lonnie has been out there a while and could be found. Researching Vineyard and Calvary Chapel 10 years ago I found most of it… but there was, even then a revival of interest in him and the flowing out of the Roger Sachs books.
However, his name was suppressed by both Calvary and Vineyard for a while. Chuck told about him in The Reproducers, but ignored him in the much more widely circulated Harvest. Wimber’s ghost writer left him out of the early Wimber books but John never hesitated to tell about Lonnie in sermons.
The JR film was wonderful in the subtle portrayal of Lonnie and Chuck whenever Lonnie would be moved by the Spirit to heal. It neither caricatured Lonnie nor made Chuck look unbelieving. It really correctly showed the tension between those who want public charismata and those who eschew it.
It’s worth watching Lonnie’s funeral at the Crystal Cathedral in 1993… important for what is, and is not, said… https://youtu.be/AcFe3x777h8
Children do be careful what you read, watch and repeat regarding the Jesus Movement. There are so many of us that are still alive that were
actually there with Lonnie and Connie, Chuck and Kay and many of the
music groups ect…there is way too much false information, misleading assumptions and conclusions (as we hippie say) ‘it blows my mind!”
Ben, care to enlighten us some examples?
*with* some examples
I think Ben is about to bust out in “touch not God’s anointed’…
The Lonnie story continues to get told:
https://youtu.be/cc3QxgKwW8U
A good debrief to the JR movie is the 2/28/2023 (Tuesday) Calvary Chapel San Clemente afterglow service (on YouTube) where Holland Davis and Robert Charles — who were both there — discuss at length Calvary Chapel during the Jesus movent. They describe the movie tongue in cheek as being mostly about Greg Laurie, Lonnie Frisbee, and Chuck Smith, with supporting music by Love Song and a cameo appearance by Jesus. Good movie, good discussion.
Michael, LOL! That old song and dance? Pretty much what I expect.
Michael, no that is not in my repertory! LOL First you would have
to find someone that was truly God’s anointed to even suggest not to touch them. Does anyone know of anyone in say the last 100 years
that would fit the Biblical standard of God’s anointed?
https://www.phoenixpreacher.com/touching-the-lords-anointed/
Lonnie wasn’t a homosexual. Back in Haight Ashbury days Lonnie was bi-sexual. In fact, he obviously struggled with it at various times during the down turns in his life, this bend in his life was most likely do to early childhood molestation. There where seasons when Lonnie was in fact, living in the sins of the flesh, and other seasons he was living a life of purity, fasting, prayer consecration. Even Lonnies brother and friends can verify this, who are in fact very honest and open about Lonnies moral failures in seasons of his life. But when he got born again, he got married. In fact, he was married 2x, which isnt talked about. Both wives had affairs with pastors, these where very hurtful to him, as Lonnie was out ministering day and day winning souls to Jesus. But Lonnie was with me John Ruttkay, around 1980. Way after the Jesus revival of the late 60s and early 70s.
Does every Christian leader have to have a soap opera life in order to be listened to? It seems like we in the church are thriving on drama all the time. I just don’t think we are running our churches like God told us to and that gets us in a whole lot of messes. Are we just trying to be in competition with the World on conflict in order to get a story out? The more sensational the better. I am really confused.
Kay,
I’m not sure what you’re referring to…
I hear you Kay. And things seem to have gotten weird in the church world. But God, for some reason, I don’t understand, uses very flawed people. Abraham was a liar, Gideon made an ephod that took people away from god, David committed adulatory and collusion to murder, peter denied Christ and on and on it goes.
Not justifying these men’s actions but as a demonstration of god’s power he can use these men and others for accomplish his purpose.
Crazy isn’t it.
Bugs me really. As a pastor for 30 plus years I worked hard and diligently to be a good example for Christ. I had a modest sized church while the guy across town who was having sex with staff and members of his church had a church that was large and prosperous.
I understand that sinners come in all flavors but that whole reality TV show is INSIDE the church. It seems that even after salvation we believers are drawn to and practice soap operas. I just don’t get it. Look at any blog like this or Ministry Watch…it use to be the crazy of the year…then we went to the crazy of the month..now we have crazy of the week. What is going wrong here? We in the church think the abnormal is normal now.
Kay,
I can think of at least two reasons:
1) Many people are in the ministry for themselves and not for the flock. They choose to use the ministry as a place where they can fulfill their own dreams of power without (they think) ever being noticed.
2) Churches are weak and do not provide enough supervision. People who are not held accountable can soon become unaccountable. People in full-time ministry have a lot of unstructured time. Churches need to hold them accountable for how they use their time and church resources.
A third reason-some congregants are okay with it. I was in a church for a few years where the pastor was found to be a serial adulterer. He was forced out, but with no consequences. Long after he was gone (and the church had split), congregants I spoke with (current or former) would often tell me that the pastor should have been left alone because he was such a “great” preacher. By that time I was a missionary on furlough and I would listen to these stories as I sat at dinner with people in their lovely homes, trying to stifle the smoke coming out of my ears.
Many churches do not employ the Scriptural standards for leadership already given in Timothy and Titus. We prefer to go our own way. There have always been problems with church oversight, but I think the current situation reflects the general downward moral trend of our society.
Linn, appreciate your reply. I am not saying what I see is just Calvary Churches or that male pastors are to blame. I am seeing the same thing played out over and over again in many churches across the board. Women certainly have a part in this cycle. I find it hard to believe with all the blogs, programs, and length of time doing this we aren’t more proactive. We don’t seem to learn from our mistakes. Surely there are churches that are doing it correctly from a scriptural standpoint so what can we learn from them? Keep in mind that many “stories” I read are from parachurch groups that a pastor has no authority over. It is a failure of the boards. Too many conflicts of interest in their set ups.
All in all, I think that our churches are becoming more cultish rather than the NT churches our Bibles prescribe. I think that might be what you are seeing too. Correct me if I am wrong. I just don’t think our churches are safe anymore. There are people in leadership in many cases that cause more victims than disciples. Members are going to churches based on their favorite person leading rather than learning the Word of God. I think that is giving leaders too much power over us.
Kay,
I’ve never been part of Calvary Chapel. I was not in areas where CC had a big physical presence, but I was very familiar with their music. However, I’ve been a Christian almost 50 years, and I know about the rise and fall of many churches (one of them one I attended). I flee churches with celebrity pastors and an emphasis on bigger and better.