We went to see the Jesus Revolution last night. The church bought out an entire theater for the show, so we went as a church.
I loved the movie. I’ve been at a Calvary Chapel for over 30 years now, but my history with them stretches back even farther.
Back when I was in high school, they used to have concerts on Saturday nights, and we would go there, listen to the bands, and then hear a message. That was in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
I was attending a small Baptist church at the time, but after getting married, the guy who had been the youth pastor left and moved up to Monrovia to take over a small Baptist church there. He asked me to move up there and take charge of the youth ministry. I did. That was in 1985. But I had no idea whatsoever what I was doing. I thought I’d just show up and do the same type of things we did before. But the kids we had in Monrovia were not the same demographic. The kids that were coming were basically not church kids at all. They were from what would be called now a ‘diverse’ neighborhood, and they hadn’t grown up in church, they came because they were looking for something to do. The things I had done in my church were not what was needed there. After 5 years of frustration and going nowhere in the ministry, I moved on.
I had heard that good things were happening at Calvary Chapels, and there was one not too far from us, so we went there. 9 months later we moved to Whittier, so I thought I’d better find a church closer. In Jan 1991, I was driving down the street and noticed a banner advertising Calvary Chapel La Mirada. I went in that Sunday and have been there ever since.
The thing I learned at Calvary was to listen to the Holy Spirit. I of course knew of the Holy Spirit already, but we were taught in the Baptist church that listening to the Holy Spirit was a pentecostal thing, and pentecostal things were at best, delusional, at worst, demonic. But what I saw wasn’t delusional or demonic- it was people who were genuinely committed to the Lord and wanting to serve Him.
Part of my frustration in ministry was because I had not bothered to ask the Lord what I should be doing to minister to the kids. I just figured I’d do what I had seen. When that didn’t work, I was lost.
I had heard from a bunch of the ‘old timers’ about the tent days, but that was already well in the past.
Even when I was going to the concerts in the late 70’s, the current building was already in place.
The movie had some really funny moments for me.
When the daughter brings Lonnie home and Chuck sees him in the house, he pulls his daughter aside and asks what the hippy is doing there? She says- well you said if God brought you a hippy, you’d ask him what it’s about?
Chuck answers, “I said that… but I didn’t mean it.”
Then there’s the spot in the movie where the band love song has just finished playing their worship music at the church, and the band leader says, ‘We’ll be here next week. Except for the drummer. He has to finish serving a drug sentence.” And Lonnie says, “Yeah, that can happen.”
Then the scene where the commune gets Greg a car. He asks, “Does it run?” And Lonnie says, “Oh yeah… we all prayed over it this morning.
Greg gets in, turns the key and the engine sputters and dies. Lonnie says- “alright everybody, let’s pray some more”, while Greg continues trying to start it up. Lonnie is praying, “Lord if you could just help us out here…..”
Overall, I really enjoyed the humor, but there is also some sadness in the movie.
But I’m always encouraged to see stories of faith. It reminds me of God’s love and faithfulness. The movie, along with a recent review, encouraged me to find ways to connect with those today who might be considered on the outside. Interestingly enough, I’ve had two groups of people who I found tough. When door to door, the only people I ever had any trouble with were older people. And I found myself wary of approaching houses that had Trump paraphenalia outside. Most were ok, but some met us at the door to yell: Go AWAY!
Young people, even if they had the full on rainbow stickers and NOH8 stuff, were usually at least decent in their rejections. But in drive-thru prayer, the usual one’s who will yell curses or flip us off are the green-haired SJW types. I still smile and wave at them because hey, Jesus loves them too, and everyone, I don’t care who you are, needs the love of God.
Even as I think now of so many young people, they are seeking some sort of place to fit in, and desperately looking for some truth to believe in. I don’t think much of what is floating around out there politically is truth-based, and these are the things people are latching on to in order to make sense of their lives and the world they fit in. But the answer today is the same as it has always been: Jesus.
It’s always good to be reminded of that.