Mickey Starling
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
If you’re looking for something worthwhile to watch on TV, consider renting “Jesus Revolution.” The film features Kelsey Grammer, of “Cheers” and “Kramer” fame, in the lead role as the late Pastor Chuck Smith, of Calvary Chapel. Also featured is Jonathan Roumie, of “The Chosen,” portraying Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie preacher who played a major role in the spiritual revolution that is portrayed in the film.
“Jesus Revolution” is based on the true story of a spiritual awakening that began in California in the 1960s and 70s, just as a rebellious generation of teenagers and young adults, mostly hippies, questioned pretty much everything. The movie confronts problems that still face churches today, such as how to reach a population that is leaving the church in droves and finds itself estranged from the average church culture.
In “Jesus Revolution,” Pastor Smith is confronted by Frisbee concerning how well his ministry was reaching lost people who were searching for answers to their many questions about the meaning of life. As a result of their conversations, Smith radically changed his approach to ministry and the pair began reaching hundreds of hippies for Jesus. That number quickly expanded to hundreds of thousands over the next decade.
The film depicts plenty of situations where young folks were miraculously set free from drug addiction and healed of numerous conditions, all while some doubted the authenticity of the movement. Plenty of dissension and disagreement surface between Smith and Frisbee during the course of their time together, which eventually divides followers into several different camps of belief. Unity was as difficult to achieve then as it is now.
Nevertheless, their issues did not hamper the move of God that eventually impacted several million people, giving way to the establishment of Calvary Chapel-related churches all over America. Vineyard Music was born of this movement as well as numerous other ministries.
The story is told through the eyes of a young convert under Smith and Frisbee, Greg Laurie. He now pastors a large Calvary Chapel church in California. The movie does a great job of depicting the difficult lives many of the founders of this historic movement endured and overcame. Their stories aren’t sugar coated for a Christian audience, which I found refreshing.
“Jesus Revolution” will challenge your devotion to reaching this generation with the same zeal that is depicted from 50 years ago. If we are to see more fresh moves of God, choosing to be relevant, at the expense of conformity is probably a must. There’s still a vast number of “Jesus People” around who can testify to that truth.