The Jesus Revolution

[abcaines]

Went and saw it last night. Interesting. Short synopsis: It is the story of the "Jesus movement" of the early 70s through Greg Laurie's eyes. It tells of how Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee came together, ignited a revolution, then parted ways. It tells the story of Calvary Chapel and Harvest Christian Fellowship, warts and all.

I'll not extoll this movie nor will I tear it down. It is what it is. Go see it for yourself. I believe it will be a worthwhile use of just a hair over two hours of your time.

Our pastor here at Calvary Chapel of the Lewis-Clark Valley was saved and discipled at Harvest soon after it was started. He went on to join the staff there during the 80s and 90s before moving to this area and establishing this church. I have been part of this church for just over 20 years now.

I'd like to share a couple links which kinda puts things into perspective for me. The first is a link to Greg Laurie's blog which gives more insight on his relationship with Lonnie Frisbee.

The Long Strange Trip of Lonnie Frisbee

Lonnie Frisbee was exactly what the 1960s and '70s called for. It was time for change, and he was the right person at the right time.

harvest.org

The next is an article which blew my mind this morning... I was totally unaware of this but it will definitely spark some interest among the FFF.

Greg Laurie's Calif. Megachurch Joins Southern Baptist Convention

Greg Laurie s independent megachurch congregation, Harvest Christian Fellowship, has officially joined the Southern Baptist Convention, the California evangelist announced Monday

www.christianpost.com

 

[illinoisguy]

Wikipedia article on Lonnie Frisbie: "Frisbee functioned as an evangelical preacher while also privately socializing as a gay man, before and during his evangelism career . . . Although Frisbee's homosexuality was documented as a 'bit of an open secret in the church community' and that he would 'party' on Saturday night then preach Sunday morning, many in the church were unaware of his 'other life.'"

Lonnie Frisbee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An IFB pastor's view of Frisbie: "There were, no doubt, many young people who were truly converted and sincere in their faith. However, the Jesus Movement as a whole is not something that should be celebrated as 'revolutionary' or exemplary. . . . This lack of transformation can perhaps be most easily seen in their leader, a man named Lonnie Frisbee, who is featured in the 'Jesus Revolution' book and movie. . . . He was involved in starting several churches and even helped John Wimber formally establish the Vineyard Church Movement. Yet through this time he was also involved in a homosexual lifestyle and continued to experiment with drugs."

The Jesus Revolution?

The worldwide release of a new film entitled Jesus Revolution is set for today, February 24, 2023. The film is based on a book by the same title written by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest

www.proclaimanddefend.org

 

[ALAYMAN]

Wikipedia article on Lonnie Frisbie: "Frisbee functioned as an evangelical preacher while also privately socializing as a gay man, before and during his evangelism career . . . Although Frisbee's homosexuality was documented as a 'bit of an open secret in the church community' and that he would 'party' on Saturday night then preach Sunday morning, many in the church were unaware of his 'other life.'"

Lonnie Frisbee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An IFB pastor's view of Frisbie: "There were, no doubt, many young people who were truly converted and sincere in their faith. However, the Jesus Movement as a whole is not something that should be celebrated as 'revolutionary' or exemplary. . . . This lack of transformation can perhaps be most easily seen in their leader, a man named Lonnie Frisbee, who is featured in the 'Jesus Revolution' book and movie. . . . He was involved in starting several churches and even helped John Wimber formally establish the Vineyard Church Movement. Yet through this time he was also involved in a homosexual lifestyle and continued to experiment with drugs."

The Jesus Revolution?

The worldwide release of a new film entitled Jesus Revolution is set for today, February 24, 2023. The film is based on a book by the same title written by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest

www.proclaimanddefend.org

Yeah, because we all know moving preachers/wolves onto Garland Texas and Jacksonville Florida is the IFB certified way.

I think God sometimes works in spite of rather than because of us.

 

[abcaines]

I would simply draw your attention to Greg Laurie's blog I linked...

 

[fishinnut]

I would simply draw your attention to Greg Laurie's blog I linked...

I enjoyed the movie, the story as Greg L remembered & wrote it. It was a story I had not heard much about.

It was also a good love story.

Had I not read the blog article (as kind of a disclaimer) that you posted before seeing the film, I would have been quite disappointed. I see that Greg L is listed as one of the producers and as such he should have had more say in the small segment about Lonnie getting caught up in & introducing faith-healing into the meetings. The subject could have been talked about, debated and even taught about by the pastor but not necessarily depicted.

For someone that lived through the 60's like me and who has studied & rejected the Charismatic movement (with which Lonnie was enamored) and saw the film without having seen the article, it would have caused disappointment and confusion, IMHO.

Also the baptism was, in my words, "hollywooded-up."

 

[illinoisguy]

Kent Brandenburg's review of Lonnie Frisbie and the "Jesus Revolution:"

"Frisbee dressed like the popular, secular notion or stereotype of Jesus with flowing robe and long hair, using soft-spoken tones also ala the flower children. It played well with the rebellion of the hippy subculture. At first the hippies met on the beach and baptized in the ocean. They used 1-2-3 pray-with-me evangelism, where someone prayed the prayer and was dunked under the waves shortly thereafter. Their view of grace brought forgiveness and eternal life, while still being and living like a hippie. . . .

"Professing Christian leaders now justify the Jesus revolution as ‘God using broken people.' He used Samson and David, is the explanation. God used Peter, but Peter was a believer, filled with the Holy Spirit, obedient to Jesus Christ, when he preached on the Day of Pentecost. He does not use unbelievers, these 'broken people,' for a flurry of conversions.

"God does not use believers, who are living in sin. They are vessels unto dishonor, who are not meet for the Master’s use. The Jesus revolution was not a blessing to Christianity, to the church, or to the world. This revolution started something new and wrong. It was a bad revolution, like many other revolutions in the history of the world."

This focuses on Jesus Revolution in a series on revival.

A recent feature film represents a so-called revival in the 1960s, called the Jesus Revolution by Time Magazine. This gives analysis to its orthodoxy.

kentbrandenburg.com

 

[AverageJoe]

I can't say I totally disagree with Kent on this.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

This is worth watching. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this crowd does not speak for all of the "Jesus People." Dave Wilkerson was a Pentecostal but he had his head on straight!

 

[ALAYMAN]

Kent Brandenburg's review of Lonnie Frisbie and the "Jesus Revolution:"

"Frisbee dressed like the popular, secular notion or stereotype of Jesus with flowing robe and long hair, using soft-spoken tones also ala the flower children. It played well with the rebellion of the hippy subculture. At first the hippies met on the beach and baptized in the ocean. They used 1-2-3 pray-with-me evangelism, where someone prayed the prayer and was dunked under the waves shortly thereafter. Their view of grace brought forgiveness and eternal life, while still being and living like a hippie. . . .

"Professing Christian leaders now justify the Jesus revolution as ‘God using broken people.' He used Samson and David, is the explanation. God used Peter, but Peter was a believer, filled with the Holy Spirit, obedient to Jesus Christ, when he preached on the Day of Pentecost. He does not use unbelievers, these 'broken people,' for a flurry of conversions.

"God does not use believers, who are living in sin. They are vessels unto dishonor, who are not meet for the Master’s use. The Jesus revolution was not a blessing to Christianity, to the church, or to the world. This revolution started something new and wrong. It was a bad revolution, like many other revolutions in the history of the world."

This focuses on Jesus Revolution in a series on revival.

A recent feature film represents a so-called revival in the 1960s, called the Jesus Revolution by Time Magazine. This gives analysis to its orthodoxy.

kentbrandenburg.com

I think I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a Chuck Smith-style laissez faire congregation, nor Brandenburg’s where 1 Cor 11:14 is used to automatically shun men with “long hair”.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

I think I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a Chuck Smith-style laissez faire congregation, nor Brandenburg’s where 1 Cor 11:14 is used to automatically shun men with “long hair”.

In defense of Calvary Chapel, most of the time the name "Lonnie Frisbee" has come up, they have been quite honest and open about his issues and the "Sin" he was entangled with. No excuses, covering up, or glossing over!

 

[abcaines]

I think I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a Chuck Smith-style laissez faire congregation, nor Brandenburg’s where 1 Cor 11:14 is used to automatically shun men with “long hair”.

I'm not sure what it is about Chuck Smith you're seeing as laissez-faire; perhaps you could elaborate on that a bit if you please...

I don't see anything about Pastor Chuck as laissez-faire; loosey goosey; anything goes. I think he realized that the more conservative churches at the time built up a bunch of rules that became stumbling blocks to believers. If you haven't yet, read his book, Why Grace Changes Everything it chronicles his upbringing through the pentecostal/four-square holiness movement and how external rules do little to change the heart.

I thought The Jesus Revolution did a good job of bringing out what Lonnie did well and his effect on Pastor Chuck in breaking down his prejudices. It also showed where the two parted ways because Pastor Chuck was grounded in the Word whereas Lonnie was hung up in "theatrics". The scene in the movie when he and his wife Kay were talking back stage before a meeting after Lonnie's departure does an excellent job of showing where Chuck's heart was and the lessons he learned.

 

[abcaines]

In defense of Calvary Chapel, most of the time the name "Lonnie Frisbee" has come up, they have been quite honest and open about his issues and the "Sin" he was entangled with. No excuses, covering up, or glossing over!

Right. And to see how CC continued to grow and flourish after Lonnie's departure speaks volumes about being grounded in the Word.

 

[AverageJoe]

I think I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a Chuck Smith-style laissez faire congregation, nor Brandenburg’s where 1 Cor 11:14 is used to automatically shun men with “long hair”.

Like I asked him 40 years ago in college...."Who determines what "long" is?" Never did get a solid answer on that particular item.

 

[ALAYMAN]

I'm not sure what it is about Chuck Smith you're seeing as laissez-faire; perhaps you could elaborate on that a bit if you please...

I was being excessively simplistic in my pronouncement, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I simply meant, in the grand scheme of things, if I were to be looking for a new church that neither "type" would be my first prerogative in the search. Regarding the "laissez-faire" statement, it was a reductionistic (but true IMNSHO) view of the casual environment often encouraged in the C.C. model. That doesn't mean I like my worship to be high church and stuffy, but that it is sufficiently somewhere to the right of some of the trappings of the modern church movement(s) I am acquainted with. That statement very well could be taken more as an indictment upon me than the churches I am referencing, as things like "style" are subjective preferences. I could say things regarding the potential doctrinal differences, but I don't think that is necessary to answer the question you asked. Lastly, some of what I said in defining what I meant by "laissez-faire" would be applicable to many baptist churches as well, and that doesn't mean they are wrong, just wouldn't be my cup of tea, all things considered by a measure of my own prioritization in worship.

 

[abcaines]

I was being excessively simplistic in my pronouncement, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I simply meant, in the grand scheme of things, if I were to be looking for a new church that neither "type" would be my first prerogative in the search. Regarding the "laissez-faire" statement, it was a reductionistic (but true IMNSHO) view of the causal environment often encouraged in the C.C. model. That doesn't mean I like my worship to be high church and stuffy, but that it is sufficiently somewhere to the right of some of the trappings of the modern church movement(s) I am acquainted with. That statement very well could be taken more as an indictment upon me than the churches I am referencing, as things like "style" are subjective preferences. I could say things regarding the potential doctrinal differences, but I don't think that is necessary to answer the question you asked. Lastly, some of what I said in defining what I meant by "laissez-faire" would be applicable to many baptist churches as well, and that doesn't mean they are wrong, just wouldn't be my cup of tea, all things considered by a measure of my own prioritization in worship.

IOW, CC isn't your cup of tea. Fair enough.

 

[FSSL]

Hmmmm... Kent went to a movie theater? That raises more questions than anything else, IFB!

 

[prophet]

Hmmmm... Kent went to a movie theater? That raises more questions than anything else, IFB!

I thought the misapplied "vessels of dishonor" stuck out.

 

[biscuit1953]

Kent Brandenburg's review of Lonnie Frisbie and the "Jesus Revolution:"

"Frisbee dressed like the popular, secular notion or stereotype of Jesus with flowing robe and long hair, using soft-spoken tones also ala the flower children. It played well with the rebellion of the hippy subculture. At first the hippies met on the beach and baptized in the ocean. They used 1-2-3 pray-with-me evangelism, where someone prayed the prayer and was dunked under the waves shortly thereafter. Their view of grace brought forgiveness and eternal life, while still being and living like a hippie. . . .

"Professing Christian leaders now justify the Jesus revolution as ‘God using broken people.' He used Samson and David, is the explanation. God used Peter, but Peter was a believer, filled with the Holy Spirit, obedient to Jesus Christ, when he preached on the Day of Pentecost. He does not use unbelievers, these 'broken people,' for a flurry of conversions.

"God does not use believers, who are living in sin. They are vessels unto dishonor, who are not meet for the Master’s use. The Jesus revolution was not a blessing to Christianity, to the church, or to the world. This revolution started something new and wrong. It was a bad revolution, like many other revolutions in the history of the world."

This focuses on Jesus Revolution in a series on revival.

A recent feature film represents a so-called revival in the 1960s, called the Jesus Revolution by Time Magazine. This gives analysis to its orthodoxy.

kentbrandenburg.com

I believe many young people were truly converted in the late 60's and early 70's. The hippies became a subculture for sure. They were having sex with everyone and called it "free love." Homosexuality was common among many of them and getting drunk or high on drugs was part of their culture. Chuck Smith was very clear in his preaching on repentance and never compromised on demanding a change in their sinful lifestyle.

The only difference between Chuck Smith and many fundamentalists is he allowed them the liberty in Christ to dress differently as long as it was modest. I'm sure you all have seen paintings of John Wesley and his hair length, but this is what he said, "For a man to have long hair, carefully adjusted, is such a mark of effeminacy as is a disgrace to him." There is a difference between a man wearing his hair longer than you or I and a man wearing his hair dressed up like a drag queen.

Lonnie Frisbee was molested as a child and struggled with homosexuality even after his conversion. His deathbed message as he was dying of AIDS was transcribed from tape recordings and he was very clear that homosexuality was sinful and warned about that lifestyle in no uncertain terms. He said at no time did he ever identify as a homosexual. I know he got caught up in the Vineyard Movement and other questionable doctrines and there were reports about miracles taking place connected with him. But Greg Laurie said he never personally witnessed any of that. Solomon was consided the wisest man who ever lived and yet he fell aside by marrying pagan wives and built pagan altars for them while participating in such worship himself. I don't know how long this happened, but God allowed Solomon to live long enough to write these words before he died, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Ecclestiastes 12:13-14

As far as God not using dirty vessels. That is true if put in the right context. There are qualifications for pastors and deacons but we are all imperfect. I was brought to Christ by someone leaving a gospel in a flower pot in a grocery store where I worked in 1971. If someone is giving the gospel out it doesn't matter if he is the worst Christian in the world. It is the power of the gospel that saves (Romans 1:16). No saved man will go into total apostasy. I believe in the perseverance of the saints.

Another example of someone saved under Chuck Smith's ministry during the Jesus Revolution is Chuck Girard. He fell back into alcoholism twice but he repented. No true Christian will try to justify and embrace a sinful lifestyle as is commonly practiced today.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

I believe many young people were truly converted in the late 60's and early 70's. The hippies became a subculture for sure. They were having sex with everyone and called it "free love." Homosexuality was common among many of them and getting drunk or high on drugs was part of their culture. Chuck Smith was very clear in his preaching on repentance and never compromised on demanding a change in their sinful lifestyle.

The only difference between Chuck Smith and many fundamentalists is he allowed them the liberty in Christ to dress differently as long as it was modest. I'm sure you all have seen paintings of John Wesley and his hair length, but this is what he said, "For a man to have long hair, carefully adjusted, is such a mark of effeminacy as is a disgrace to him." There is a difference between a man wearing his hair longer than you or I and a man wearing his hair dressed up like a drag queen.

Lonnie Frisbee was molested as a child and struggled with homosexuality even after his conversion. His deathbed message as he was dying of AIDS was transcribed from tape recordings and he was very clear that homosexuality was sinful and warned about that lifestyle in no uncertain terms. He said at no time did he ever identify as a homosexual. I know he got caught up in the Vineyard Movement and other questionable doctrines and there were reports about miracles taking place connected with him. But Greg Laurie said he never personally witnessed any of that. Solomon was consided the wisest man who ever lived and yet he fell aside by marrying pagan wives and built pagan altars for them while participating in such worship himself. I don't know how long this happened, but God allowed Solomon to live long enough to write these words before he died, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Ecclestiastes 12:13-14

As far as God not using dirty vessels. That is true if put in the right context. There are qualifications for pastors and deacons but we are all imperfect. I was brought to Christ by someone leaving a gospel in a flower pot in a grocery store where I worked in 1971. If someone is giving the gospel out it doesn't matter if he is the worst Christian in the world. It is the power of the gospel that saves (Romans 1:16). No saved man will go into total apostasy. I believe in the perseverance of the saints.

Another example of someone saved under Chuck Smith's ministry during the Jesus Revolution is Chuck Girard. He fell back into alcoholism twice but he repented. No true Christian will try to justify and embrace a sinful lifestyle as is commonly practiced today.

Excellent points! The LGBTQIA+ crowd really wants to capitalize on Lonnie Frisbee's "Sexuality" and try to throw it in our face but it is clear that it was something he STRUGGLED with, not something he was "OUT AND PROUD" with! Huge difference here!

As you pointed out, Lonnie Frisbee was "Messed With" just as many others in the homosexual world were! Children who have been molested often "act out" and psychologists acknowledge such things but refuse to connect such with homosexual behavior!

Frisbee struggled with homosexuality and perhaps one of the reasons were because people in the Church didn't really know how to handle or properly deal with it? I believe we can look at this and have compassion for those who struggle with this sort of sin while also calling them to repentance and yielding themselves to God as we all must regarding whatever it is we happen to struggle with!

I have not yet seen the movie but from what I have heard, they were quite open and transparent regarding Church Smith and Lonnie Frisbee.