From everything I’ve read, they’ve done a stellar job. Especially with logistics. Sometimes I think we forget the human price paid for an endeavor like this. Kudos to their president and administration!
Went to see the JESUS REVOLUTION movie last night. I wasn’t part of the original Calvary Chapel scene but brushed up against it in the mid to later 70s. I would go maybe once a year with friends who attended there but had my own home church in Long Beach. It would be interesting to me to hear from those who were inside the movement at that time. How accurate is the movie? What did they leave out? What did they varnish over? The movie seems to be a recounting of what happened through the lens of Greg Laurie.
Overall, the movie was fairly well-made, although I ‘m not sure what a person with no context would think about it. I know those behind it see it as an evangelistic tool, but from the crowd filling the theater, it seems much more like a nostalgia piece for people who had some experience with Calvary Chapel. I imagine it will fall off the box office charts quickly.
The theater was full of white-haired senior citizens. Just a reminder how long ago the Jesus Movement took place.
I’m not going to see it anytime soon…I’ve spent most of the last twenty years having long and private conversations with many who were there and this film is a partial view at best.
I also wonder how many more movies Greg has to make about himself before he feels completed…but I’m not a very nice man…
Oh yeah, very much a partial view. And yes, Greg does like to create a lot of media that reflects himself. I’ve often thought that Greg lives in a bit of a bubble that leaves him a bit unself-aware. If he really came out of the hippie movement, there’s not much hippie left in him. Way more corporate. I grew up in a wealthier part of Orange County and so many of my peers/classmates seem entitled. Not un-nice people, just entitled. The fact that Greg started a Harvest Church in Hawaii tells me he likes his surroundings to be very nice.
“The main players as I understand it, were Chuck, Lonnie, and the musicians.”
Yes, the movie presents it as such.
One thing I thought was this: The actor who plays Lonnie is of course the same actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen. I thought going in, how in the world am I not going to keep thinking about his Jesus character as he’s playing Lonnie? But he nailed it. He embodied the Lonnie part really well.
For me the most redeeming part of the movie was the decision whether or not to let the hippies come to church. Once again, I wasn’t there so I don’t know if what was portrayed was true to history. But, for all of Calvary Chapels foibles over the years, that seemed to be a righteous decision.
As long as the humans are involved, the odds of things getting screwed up (to one degree or another) are astronomically high. If there is another big movement of God in the US, we can be sure it will quickly be co-opted and misdirected. Pride, greed, sloth, and jealousy will show up in no time.
“The outpouring wasn’t just a California thing…it seemed to break out simultaneously all over North America.”
True. In Southern California, it wasn’t just a Calvary Chapel thing either. But this story, as every story, has to be told from a perspective, and Calvary Chapel was Greg Laurie’s story. I’ve been asked if I’m going to see the movie, I wasn’t going to at first, but am reconsidering.
Tom Stipe was the central figure among musicians and Saturday night concerts. It wasn’t until after a few years of regularly attending there that I heard for the first time, this long-haired guy who was the pastor of Calvary Chapel Riverside. Greg does appear overly ambitious, but I do have to say, in the few times I had conversations with him, he appeared genuine and was kind. He also wasn’t afraid to call out some of crazy comments that were made at conferences. Like all of us, it’s a mixed bag in our souls.
Like I said in my first comment, the biggest disillusionment from my evening at the movies was thinking about all the older CC people who were cheering for the inclusion of hippies in church in 1970 are presently angry and fearful about refugees coming to our area.
The movie did a great job of making the viewers re-examine inclusion/exclusion. It was indeed a Baby Boomer event but let’s see if it has legs. Also let’s not count out the Boomer generation’s ability to have a Chuck-like shift.
Though… Chuck did eventually put suits on most of the hippies and get them to bathe and shave.
The time frame is hard to work out… Laurie in interviews minimizes the time that Frisbee was a central figure and seems to say that he was not there during the Tent days despite the movie depiction. I thought Lonnie was there from 69-71 but it is not clear.
Also … what’s the deal about Greg… has he made other movies about himself? I am normally distanced from movies for the last 10 years or so
And he likes to make movies about celebrities that may have been Christians. He did one about Steve McQueen. I think there’s at least one other, just can’t remember who it’s about.
It’s all yours today…
How Asbury protected the revival…
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html
From everything I’ve read, they’ve done a stellar job. Especially with logistics. Sometimes I think we forget the human price paid for an endeavor like this. Kudos to their president and administration!
Just some ramblings…
Went to see the JESUS REVOLUTION movie last night. I wasn’t part of the original Calvary Chapel scene but brushed up against it in the mid to later 70s. I would go maybe once a year with friends who attended there but had my own home church in Long Beach. It would be interesting to me to hear from those who were inside the movement at that time. How accurate is the movie? What did they leave out? What did they varnish over? The movie seems to be a recounting of what happened through the lens of Greg Laurie.
Overall, the movie was fairly well-made, although I ‘m not sure what a person with no context would think about it. I know those behind it see it as an evangelistic tool, but from the crowd filling the theater, it seems much more like a nostalgia piece for people who had some experience with Calvary Chapel. I imagine it will fall off the box office charts quickly.
The theater was full of white-haired senior citizens. Just a reminder how long ago the Jesus Movement took place.
In our church, we have a few people who came to Jesus through Calvary Chapel in So Cal. Many more in our community. What’s strange to me is how many of these people are Fox-news chugging conservatives. More in line with this article about how so-called Christian Patriots are flocking to North Idaho:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/christian-patriots-are-flocking-from-blue-states-to-idaho/ar-AA17TeLn
I’m not going to see it anytime soon…I’ve spent most of the last twenty years having long and private conversations with many who were there and this film is a partial view at best.
I also wonder how many more movies Greg has to make about himself before he feels completed…but I’m not a very nice man…
I would also commend the Lonnie Frisbee documentary to any who are interested in this story…
https://www.amazon.com/Frisbee-Life-Death-Hippie-Preacher/dp/B00L40IW1Y
Oh yeah, very much a partial view. And yes, Greg does like to create a lot of media that reflects himself. I’ve often thought that Greg lives in a bit of a bubble that leaves him a bit unself-aware. If he really came out of the hippie movement, there’s not much hippie left in him. Way more corporate. I grew up in a wealthier part of Orange County and so many of my peers/classmates seem entitled. Not un-nice people, just entitled. The fact that Greg started a Harvest Church in Hawaii tells me he likes his surroundings to be very nice.
Greg was a bit player at this juncture.
The main players as I understand it, were Chuck, Lonnie, and the musicians.
Tom Stipe was the central figure among the musicians …organizing and then recording them.
The outpouring wasn’t just a California thing…it seemed to break out simultaneously all over North America.
“The main players as I understand it, were Chuck, Lonnie, and the musicians.”
Yes, the movie presents it as such.
One thing I thought was this: The actor who plays Lonnie is of course the same actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen. I thought going in, how in the world am I not going to keep thinking about his Jesus character as he’s playing Lonnie? But he nailed it. He embodied the Lonnie part really well.
For me the most redeeming part of the movie was the decision whether or not to let the hippies come to church. Once again, I wasn’t there so I don’t know if what was portrayed was true to history. But, for all of Calvary Chapels foibles over the years, that seemed to be a righteous decision.
Also, I sure appreciated Tom Stipe.
PH,
I think that part of the film is closer to the truth.
There is no doubt in my mind that God orchestrated something there that we haven’t seen since…and Chuck and Lonnie were greatly used of God.
Both were deeply flawed in different ways and that should amaze and encourage us all.
As long as the humans are involved, the odds of things getting screwed up (to one degree or another) are astronomically high. If there is another big movement of God in the US, we can be sure it will quickly be co-opted and misdirected. Pride, greed, sloth, and jealousy will show up in no time.
“The outpouring wasn’t just a California thing…it seemed to break out simultaneously all over North America.”
True. In Southern California, it wasn’t just a Calvary Chapel thing either. But this story, as every story, has to be told from a perspective, and Calvary Chapel was Greg Laurie’s story. I’ve been asked if I’m going to see the movie, I wasn’t going to at first, but am reconsidering.
Tom Stipe was the central figure among musicians and Saturday night concerts. It wasn’t until after a few years of regularly attending there that I heard for the first time, this long-haired guy who was the pastor of Calvary Chapel Riverside. Greg does appear overly ambitious, but I do have to say, in the few times I had conversations with him, he appeared genuine and was kind. He also wasn’t afraid to call out some of crazy comments that were made at conferences. Like all of us, it’s a mixed bag in our souls.
Just to be clear…I don’t have and never have had any “dirt” on Greg.
Like I said in my first comment, the biggest disillusionment from my evening at the movies was thinking about all the older CC people who were cheering for the inclusion of hippies in church in 1970 are presently angry and fearful about refugees coming to our area.
The movie did a great job of making the viewers re-examine inclusion/exclusion. It was indeed a Baby Boomer event but let’s see if it has legs. Also let’s not count out the Boomer generation’s ability to have a Chuck-like shift.
Though… Chuck did eventually put suits on most of the hippies and get them to bathe and shave.
I think we need to nuance the time we are speaking of.
The outpouring itself was from about 68-72.
The period after that was the working out and attempting to institutionalize what happened.
The time frame is hard to work out… Laurie in interviews minimizes the time that Frisbee was a central figure and seems to say that he was not there during the Tent days despite the movie depiction. I thought Lonnie was there from 69-71 but it is not clear.
Also … what’s the deal about Greg… has he made other movies about himself? I am normally distanced from movies for the last 10 years or so
He had another biographical pic made… “Lost Boy” or something like that…same producers I think.
And he likes to make movies about celebrities that may have been Christians. He did one about Steve McQueen. I think there’s at least one other, just can’t remember who it’s about.
Yes, books/movies on Steve McQueen, Johnny Cash, and a combined book about John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Alice Cooper.
Yep. Thanks Piney.
Kevin
I think he produced the movie “Cash”