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Calvary Chapel

Full Program: The Jesus Revolution, Part 9

HUMOR MOMENT: Marine Defeated by Box of Cereal

We are so incredibly grateful for our men and women servicemembers who lay down their lives to fight for and defend our nation. They selflessly stand in the gap against our nation’s enemies. But what about a box of cereal? In this humorous moment, Greg reminds Steve of the humbling moment of how he began one fateful morning, like every other morning, preparing breakfast and eating his breakfast at his kitchen table. As Steve recounts it, he recalls making his bowl of cereal and setting it on his high-top kitchen table, and attempting to sit in a high top barstool type chair. “I just went to sit down, and I twerked just the wrong way… and AHHH UHHHH…I like pulled a muscle or something in my lower back”, and that was it. He was down for the count. Who would have thought? Attempting to enjoy a bowl a cereal, and now he’s on the floor, in the fetal position, in excruciating pain. What has the training of our military forces come to? Is this really America’s finest fighting force! The good news though, he had eggs for breakfast this morning, and he got rid of the high-top barstool chairs.

HUMOR MOMENT: The Dangers of Changing Your Eye Contact While Driving

Have you ever had the luxury of enjoying a casual cruise in a travel destination part of the world? Every part of the cruise, from the food to the sights and entertainment is top notch. The interesting part of the living quarters on the cruise is that every time you leave your room someone is there to tidy up your room and place another interestingly folded towel in the shape of some random animal. This random folded and contorted towel-animal is exactly what Greg felt like when he was driving down the road and one of his contacts suddenly decided to contort itself into a folded towel-animal while it was still IN HIS EYE. Not exactly the best of scenarios to find yourself in while driving. Even after pulling off on the side of the side of the road to adjust his contact, he kept having problems with his contact lens! What’s the point of contact lenses anyways? Greg decides to simply take it out of his eye and flick it to the floor. NOW HE CAN’T SEE OUT OF ONE EYE! The realization suddenly dawns on Greg, I NEED THAT TO SEE! Now he’s driving on the freeway with one eye squinted shut. All of this was taking place as he was headed towards a barbeque at the local sheriff’s office, as Greg was a former Escambia County Sherriff’s Deputy. Arriving at the barbeque, he is talking with the chief deputy exchanging a phone number. Suddenly Greg is reminded again of the importance of having BOTH contact lenses because he couldn’t even read his own phone to put the number in. He was so grateful that his nephew, Patrick McGlothren, was able to be there at this crucial hilarious moment!

IT WAS A SOVEREIGN MOVE OF GOD! The Jesus Movement Part 8

In the 1970’s, The Lord powerfully poured out His Spirit across the nation of America in such a mighty way that it was known as The Jesus Movement to many who witnessed it. This mighty move of God had such a tremendous impact that its effects are still being felt in America and across the nations of the world to this day. Charles Simpson was one of those who not only witnessed The Jesus Movement, but he was a part of it. Those who were in the world knew it was The Jesus Movement, but those who were in the Lord at that time, knew it as The Charismatic Renewal Movement. It’s one thing to have an opinion about something that happened, but it’s another reality to sit down and listen to those who actually experienced it. Greg was so incredibly grateful to be able to sit down with Charles Simpson and hear his perspective of what the Lord did during those unforgettable moments. As a spiritual father to Greg, Ken Sumrall talks about those moments when he was “compelled by the Lord” as when “God grabs you by the scruff of the neck and says, ‘you better do this thing’”. That’s exactly how Greg felt to have that meeting with Charles Simpson. It was so crucially important. After Greg was able have this incredibly interview with Charles Simpson, the Lord spoke to Greg in a dream and said, “It’s going to be the 1970’s again”. Initially he was very sad about that reality because many of the events that transpired in the 1970’s were horrific. But, amidst those moments, it was a powerful, sovereign move of God.

So what does it look like when a sovereign move of God begins to manifest in your nation? God begins to get a hold of people in all walks of life, even professional baseball players. When Albie Pearson was young, he went to Aimee Semple McPherson’s Four Square Church. As he got older, he was a professional baseball player for three different teams. During that time he was the short MLB player. While on an active MLB roster, the Lord speaks to Albie, “you can never play another game for another team, you’re on My Team”. When recalling the tremendous testimonies of the Jesus Movement, Bill Johnson and Lou Engle recount this incredible story. Albie didn’t realize just how significant that moment was as he still decided to play the next game. As Lou Engle shares, “he slides into third base and breaks his back.” You can imagine the excruciating pain that Albie Pearson is experiencing at this moment. The Lord speaks to Albie again, “they’re going to come to your door, sovereignly, to pray”. Hippies just started coming to Albie’s door to pray over and over. As Lou Engle describes it, “it was sovereign evangelism by God”. This is what a sovereign move of God looks at. All these years later Albie Pearson is still ministering for the Lord with the Father’s Heart Ranch. So many people are used to toting heavy water in their daily routine of drudgery. Sometimes you have to do that, but not when a sovereign move of God.

As the story goes, Bob Weiner was one of those young men who was sovereignly led by the Spirit of God to show up at Albie Pearson’s door to pray for him. Just as how the Lord moved in Albie Pearson’s life, the Lord did the same in Bob Weiner’s life as he is still ministering for the Lord today. Bob Weiner founded Maranatha Campus Ministries, with over 150 campuses, and has trained over 50,000 youth in Russia for ministry. He is known for a rapid church planting movement. When people were coming to the Lord so incredibly, he would point people to be water baptized in bathtubs! When God moves suddenly, and powerfully, like He did in the Jesus Movement, the “way church was done” just goes out the window. What God did and what God is about to do again isn’t going to fit into a building.

The stunning reality about this sovereign move of God is how easy it was to share the Gospel. This is not the time to write a book about one’s ministry’s efforts. Instead, you’re just trying to survive it. Bill Johnson and Lou Engle recount the testimonies of The Jesus Movement and describe it with these words; “The most stunning result, or manifestation in the Jesus People Movement was the conversions and how easy it was to get people saved. You could almost, you know, “Mary had a little lamb or something, and people would just want to know Jesus.” Bill Johnson continues to describe the tangible atmosphere of this move of the Lord. “It was in the air. It was people just had an awareness of their need for God.” It doesn’t matter how well intentional our efforts to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We always have to remember that it’s only by the Spirit of the Lord that God draws people to Himself. When God’s Spirit is poured out upon the entire land, people can easily get saved. This is so powerful!

In those days, people would stand on the side of the road, sticking out their thumbs looking for someone to pick them up and give them a ride to wherever they wanted to go. It was called hitchhiking. It was commonplace. Bill Johnson continues to talk about how hitchhikers would encounter the Gospel everywhere they went. “There was this presence where they knew they needed God.” After Bill Johnson shared the Gospel to one hitchhiker, he left and went an hour North only to hear someone else share the same encouraging message of Jesus to him. “Everywhere I go people want to tell me about Jesus. So, he got saved, you know, an hour North of here. It was just that era. It was just an amazing period of time.” This is incredibly powerful. Can you imagine an atmosphere that is so tangibly impregnated with the presence of the Lord, that any mention of Him causes people to immediately recognize their desperate eternal need to have Him in their hearts and lives? It’s important to remember that we also cannot fall to the religious lie that we’re the one doing it. It’s only by the Holy Spirit.

Founder of International House of Prayer-Kansas City, Mike Bickle, went through a time in his younger years while at University of Missouri, where he felt it was his duty to minister to 10 people every day. One particular night while laying in bed, he realized that he only witnessed to 9, so he stomped out his dorm room and told one more person before heading back to bed. It’s not like that. It’s God Himself that draws people to Himself. On the flip side, we can also see how a culture is affected when there is a lack of the Spirit of God moving upon an entire generation. Looking around today, where is the Presence of God? Where is the oil? When the Holy Spirit is not moving, we can clearly see the results of not having a Sovereign Move of God. Across all areas of culture, there is an increasingly noticeable presence of darkness in the land. There’s a demonic move of darkness moving over the globe. If you don’t think is effecting the Church, think again. In a recent Barna Group Study, nearly 50% of pastors said they would leave pastoring if they could find another vocation. Truth of the matter is, the ministry is not a vocation. These are God’s people. We cannot simply leave them when things get difficult and trying.

This is exactly how it was in the 1960’s and approaching the 1970’s. It was a real difficult environment. There was immense tragedy taking place in our nation. Suddenly, God began to pour out His presence and that was the only thing that people were looking for! During the days of The Jesus Movement, Kathryn Kuhlman was a woman who was anointed mightily by the Spirit of the Lord to share the Gospel. She was so committed to share the Gospel to as many as she could encounter, that she would sleep in chicken coups in order to do whatever it took to be where she needed to be. She recognized that she was witnessing and a part of a sovereign move of God.

During those days, Kathryn Kuhlman also had her own television show where she would share the Gospel and interview people. On one particular episode, she was talking with Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, and a spiritual father to many thousands of young people who were coming to Christ in the Jesus Movement. While many across the nation were witnessing this sudden presence of God was taking the nation of America by surprise, people thought it was a “fad”. It was this particular opinion that Kathryn Kulman asks Chuck Smith about, “and millions are wondering whether it’s just a fad, or whether they’re just on another kick.” As Chuck Smith replies, “If it is a fad, it began, like I said, 2,000 years ago you know.” Chuck Smith continues to talk about the indescribable testimony of what the Lord was doing in their midst.

“The beauty, the glory of the whole experience as the beaches just lined with thousands of people singing the choruses and praising the Lord, then walking out into the water and bearing the pass, and then when they realize that all of the past is gone; that it’s all been buried, that God has absolutely nothing against them. The slate is clean. It’s a brand-new life now with Jesus. Not only that, even as the Spirit descended upon Jesus after His baptism, their hearts are open and they just receive the power of God’s Spirit to live that new life that the Lord wants them to live. And it’s indescribable.”

If we have any question about the fruit of Chuck Smith’s life, all we have to do is look at the many who are still faithfully serving the Lord today. Chuck Smith was a man that loved people and he loved the Word of God. It was the Word of God that strictly taught from when sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people. This was definitely not a fad! Isnt’ it amazing how quickly people can become critical of a precious move of God!

We cannot be caught up in being critical of such a mighty move of God. People who were hippies one day, burning their draft cards and throwing Molotov cocktails at police one day, were being radically saved by the power of the Holy Spirit and following Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God the next day. God is still the same, yesterday, today, and forever. “It’s going to be the 1970’s again”. When we look at America, and the nations of the world, do we not see the same spirit of rebellion marching in the streets today burning down buildings? If God did it then, He is fully able to do the same thing again in our generation. Those in Antifa today, can be walking with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God tomorrow! Can you see it! Do you believe God for it? God can do these miraculous things IN A DAY!

Chuck Smith was a spiritual father to so many in this generation. This is what Paul was writing about in 1 Corinthians 4:15-17, “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” When Kathryn Kuhlman interview Chuck Smith on her show, she highlights how so many people waste their lives on insignificant things. But, for Chuck, he poured himself into an entire generation, “literally thousands and thousands of teenagers call you Daddy Chuck”. This is so beautiful! Chuck Smith was such a beautiful man to imitate. You want to live your life under someone that continually teaches the Word of God.

Chuck Smith talks about his journey in The Jesus Movement by recalling the days when they had to move to a new building due to the increasing size of the crowds, and while preaching the Gospel hippies just started to come in and sit on the floor, listening to his message. “I was there teaching and suddenly things got real quiet and I looked up, and here were all of these young hippies coming in and sitting on the floor”. What was so beautiful about these moments is how these new incoming hippies started showing up to help with whatever building project was taking place under Chuck Smith’s leadership. At first, he didn’t have the best perspective of these hippies. As he describes it, “my attitude was, dirty hippies, why don’t get a bath, go out and get a job and make something of their lives… you’d see them stoned, on drugs, and so forth and I had a very negative reaction towards all of that”. Interestingly enough, it was his wife, Kay Smith, whose heart was soft and broken towards these hippies. It was her brokenness towards these hippies that started to soften Chuck Smith’s heart towards them as well. You see, Chuck and Kay had their own kids who were the same ages as these hippies in their community. If they didn’t reach them for Christ, their kids could easily end up in the crowds of hippies that they were seeing in their streets.

Kay Smith would insist on driving to the beach with Chuck so that they could reach these hippies. Upon arriving at the beach, Chuck would be grumbling, sitting in the car next to his wife. “I would be mumbling about, ‘why don’t they make something of their lives, dirty kids and all’, and I’d turn over, and she’d be weeping”. Their daughter was reminded of her mother’s desire to want to know why these hippies were living the way that they were. One instance, she headed to the Laguna Beach Hotel, to leave their children in the car, in order to share the Gospel with some hippies. “It was the Holy Spirit that put this on my mom’s heart. She began to pray and God began to answer her prayer, and started bringing these hippies into the Church”. Chuck Smith began to notice what the Lord was doing in their midst and he made up his mind to follow the Lord in whatever he was doing. As their daughter recalls Chuck’s words, “I didn’t want to direct the Holy Spirit. I just wanted to find out how the Holy Spirit was moving and get in the boat, and move with Him.” This is what it’s all about. There was such a brokenness for these young people to know the love of Jesus, and to reach them with the Gospel. Chuck Smith began to understand what these young people were looking for, and he had the answer. “Their search was for love and their search was for peace, and what better message than the message of Christ. It’s a message of love. It’s a message of peace. And so they just took to it, you know like ducks taking to water…” In order for the lost to come to Jesus, we have to go out and be amongst those who don’t know Him so that they can hear and know of the One who does love them. Maybe the Lord is going to move in such a sovereign, and powerful way, that is going to remove the veil of darkness that is over their eyes so that they can see and understand their need for Jesus!

Can you imagine how many souls would have been lost in that generation if Kay Smith had not cried out to the Lord for His burden for the young people in their own hometown? Because she cried out, thousands upon thousands of souls came to Christ, and are still walking with the Lord today. We have to have God’s heart for the lost in our generation. Imagine how many souls can be impacted in our generation if we cry out to God, and ask Him to break our hearts and give us His burden for today’s generation. If we have to lean in and push through the wounds that we may have experienced in this life.

Greg recalls being at a unity meeting where pastors were talking about coming together in unity. While the meeting was taking place, Greg asked the question, “wasn’t it your church that didn’t accept his church?” Interestingly enough, after asking that simple question, it shut down the entire conversation. The reality was, unity really wasn’t the topic. What was going on at that time was that people who professed to be Christians were saying ‘you can’t come in my church’. 1 John 4:20 clearly states, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” Think about it. During World War II, people professing to be Christians were saying that about the Jews, and today people are saying that about African Americans. The exciting reality is that, when the Holy Spirit began to move in the Jesus Movement, He fixed all of that. When Charles Simpson was pastoring a Church in Mobile, Alabama, his congregation was primarily white people. But when the Lord began to pour out His Spirit, the Church began to be mostly African Americans, and he was totally okay with it. “This is what God wants to do”. God breaks down the color walls that we put up in our minds because He loves everybody! This was not God’s plan. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr once said that the most segregated hour in America is Sunday morning at 11 o’clock in the morning. There is segregation in America because there is segregation in the Church. The Church is supposed to be the ones letting everyone know that everyone can come to Jesus! Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated for standing up for truth! We cannot overlook the pain and brokenness that was taking place during these moments in history. But God! God moved amidst all this pain and brokenness, and poured out His Spirit, sweeping across the entire nation! It was a sovereign move of God!

When we look around at the events taking place in America, there is constant division and pain. This is the working of the adversary. This is the devil’s plan because he knows his days are coming to an end, and Jesus is coming back soon! We are in the last days. That is for certain! In past moves of God, they may have carried on for decades at a time. With the way things are looking today, this last move of God’s Spirit may be a suddenly! A rapid explosion of God’s Sovereign presence to bring in as many souls as possible before the Second Coming of Christ. If you feel so bogged and overtaken in your daily life, just looking for another opportunity to escape into the myriad of insignificant entertainment that is easily accessible at your fingertips. The engineers decide these technologies KNOW THIS! God is OUTSIDE of media. Think about it! In the Jesus Movement, people were all over the streets, on the beach, and God was moving! That’s where Chuck Smith would go. He would go to the beach and preach for hours, and people would listen, for hours.

You don’t have to be distracted or find escape in media. You can press through all the distractions and heaviness, and seek after the face of the Lord. God has clearly said, “it’s going to be the 1970’s again”, and He confirmed it. We can either focus on the devastating things that took place in the 1970’s, or we can focus on the miraculous movement of God, and decide in our hearts that we will be a part of this great coming move of God’s Spirit! As Tommy Tenney says in his book The God Chasers, “God has this idea that Church is about Him”. Think about that. Is your experience of church about, programs and organizations, or is about Him? The enemy is doing everything he can to cause people to walk away form God. This is a purging that is taking place. The same thing happened to Jesus when He simply preached the truth to all of those who were listening. As John 6:66 reveals, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” After the people turned and left, Jesus didn’t move. Instead He turned to His disciples and asked them the following question in John 6:67, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.” They knew there was nowhere else to God. Jesus is the answer! This is not a religious experience. Understand the Creator of the Universe loves YOU and He wants a relationship with YOU! If God has called you to Himself, and called you to connect and relate to His body, don’t be surprised when the devil attacks with every imaginable attack to get you to leave your place. Hold on to God! You need to stay there! Yes, this is a very difficult season right now. Many people are leaving the Church right now. It may be smaller compared to previous days, but the Church is going to be stronger. Be encouraged today knowing that the Lord loves you. He has an awesome and mighty plan for your life. He wants YOU to be a part of this mighty coming move of His presence.

120721 TGLS

1970’s Calvary Chapel Chuck Smith Church History Discipleship Faith Glory Stories Hippies Holy Spirit Hope Jesus Movement Jesus People Jesus Revolution Kay Smith The Greg Lancaster Show

Those Saved in the Last 100 Years Can Be Traced Back to Azusa Street Revival! The Spiritual Heritage that Birthed the Jesus Movement

There was a mighty move of God’s Spirit that took the entire nation by surprise. It was as sovereign move of God that drew millions of hearts and souls to the Lord. It was so sudden, and so mighty, that even Time Magazine dedicated on their front page magazines to recognizing the “Jesus Revolution”. There was such a mighty presence of Lord’s Spirit, that people were simply aware of God and turning their hearts to Him overnight. This understanding brings us so much encouragement and hope when we realize the recent words the Lord recently made known to Greg Lancaster, “It’s going to be the 1970’s again!” What is incredibly impactful to realize, is the spiritual heritage of what took place BEFORE the Jesus Movement occurred.

When people share about the exciting miracles that took place in the Jesus Movement, it’s not long before someone brings up the name, Lonnie Frisbee, the hippie who was radically touched by God, who played a significant role during this move of God. Well, it was also Chuck and Kay Smith that were ministering the California area, who welcomed Lonnie Frisbee into their home to share the Gospel with him. Chuck and Kay Smith, the founders of Calvary Chapel, was impacted mightily by the ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson’s Four Square Church, which was birthed out of the Azusa Street Revival. This is so significant to note. When Bill Johnson and Lou Engle were recently talking about the miracles of the Jesus Movement, Bill Johnson shares this notable reality, “every move of God that we read of, around the world, since 1906, is somehow an offshoot of Azusa Street, if you track the people involved, if you track the manifestations, the display of power of the Jesus People Movement”. Bill Johnson continues to highlight the hallmark characteristics of what took place in the Azusa Street Revival, “the faith that was released, the gifts, the church growth, the conviction for sin, the manifestation of God’s presence”. Johnson culminates his point by stating, “missy-ologists trace the amount of people that have been saved in the last 100 years, so much of it is traced back to what was released in Azusa Street”. Think about the significance of this reality! To know this history, to know what God did, and to know that God has said that He is going to do it AGAIN, you can prepare now for this coming move of God’s presence. Can you imagine seeing an entire stadium filled with men who are on fire for the Lord.

Greg Lancaster, VFNtv · 113021HL – 4 Those Saved In The Last 100 Years Can Be Traced Back To Azusa Street Revival!

1970’s Calvary Chapel Chuck Smith Church History Discipleship Faith Faith Mountain Glory Stories Hippies Holy Spirit Hope Jesus Movement Jesus People Jesus Revolution Kay Smith Ken Sumrall The Greg Lancaster Show

IT WAS LIKE AN EXPLOSION! The Jesus Revolution! Part 7

There was a mighty move of God’s Spirit that took the entire nation by surprise. It was as sovereign move of God that drew millions of heart and souls to the Lord. It was so sudden, and so mighty, that even Time Magazine dedicated on their front page magazines to recognizing the “Jesus Revolution”. There was such a mighty presence of Lord’s Spirit, that people were simply aware of God and turning their hearts to Him overnight. This understanding brings us so much encouragement and hope when we realize the recent words the Lord recently made known to Greg Lancaster, “It’s going to be the 1970’s again!”

When we look around at the things happening in the nation today, crazy decisions being made in leadership, while people rioting in the streets of America, this happened the same in the 1970s. Today it’s ANTIFA, but in the 1970’s it was the hippies filling the streets. When you remember the moments of what the Lord did, as chronicled in the Time Magazine article, young people proudly wore the words, “Jesus is my Lord”. Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, is seen carrying a paralyzed man to be water baptized. Lonnie Frisbee, who was mightily touched by the Lord, can be seen going after the Lord. Lonnie Frisbee was the hippie that was welcomed into Chuck and Kay Smith’s house, was like a match head that sparked what the Lord did in the Jesus Movement. It was during the Jesus Movement that people witness a Charismatic move of God that was sweeping over Catholics as one image captures a Catholic being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Messianic Jews were coming to Christ. Athletes were gathered in the middle of a 50-yard line, on the field, to come together in prayer. People are demonstrating repentance, clothing themselves with sackcloth and ashes. One woman can be seen in a building that was previously a strip club. How powerful is that! These were the days when Jesus Christ Superstar was being released. In the same Time Magazine Article, the question is asked, “Would Jesus Carry a Draft Card?” Would you be surprised to know that the military draft is coming back again? Jim Bakker prophesied that he saw the draft coming back and many young people crying, not wanting to be drafted. Imagine this powerful moving of the Lord happening AGAIN! Imagine a sovereign move of God that just TAKES OVER with no barriers and no boundaries! When a flood comes, there’s no stopping the water. Wherever it can move, that’s what happens.

Considering this mighty move of the Lord’s Spirit, would you be surprised to know that much of the “church” actually rejected what the Lord was doing? There was so much going on that people didn’t what to make of it. God was doing such a radical new thing, many weren’t sure how to approach it. As Greg recalls, Jack Hayford commented to “the Church itself was losing its place in general”. You have to understand the unprecedent events that were unfolding during these days. As Greg explains, “people that were in the Church were called ‘The Charismatic Renewal Movement’, and people that were in the world called it “The Jesus Movement”, because of the hippie movement. But the reality is, it was just a sovereign move of God that was going on”. So many people were getting saved in these moments, the traditional church rejected them. This is why we are coming to you this very moment, because we want to prepare our hearts and not reject this coming move of God’s Spirit. It easy to look over someone that has beat you, bruised you, and burned down that which is important to you. Do they hate the country? Do they hate what America stands for? Sounds familiar. But, these are the people that Jesus loves. It’s incredibly crucial that we have the Lord’s heart for the lost. As Greg underscores this important truth, “you can be hurt and you can miss the call because you don’t believe that God can actually save those people that hurt you.” Be encouraged not to let your heart be hardened. Ask God now the soften your heart to that which the Lord’s heart burns and years for. Take the time now to prepare for this coming awesome sovereign move of God!

John Ruttke was another one of those men who personally witness and lived through the Jesus Movement. He was one of those hearts that was mightily and powerfully transformed by the love of Jesus Christ. As a man who has experience and wisdom in his voice, he cries out to those who want to be a part of this next coming move of God, how to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that his generation suffered and witnessed. “We’ve learned enough to go, ‘DON’T GO THAT WAY! GO OVER THERE! THAT TOOK TWO YEARS OF OUR LIVES!’” Ruttke continues to express what it was like when thousands upon thousands of people were coming to Christ. “In the Jesus Movement, if you read both the New Testament and the Old Testament, you were now the leader.” As people chuckle in response, he continues to recall the types of exchanges that people would seriously have; “Did you actually read the Book of Revelation? Okay, well then you’re an elder”. When Holy Spirit is fully present, things happen to simply work themselves out.

So many people have a deep heart cry to be a part of what God is doing. Imagine only have one gallon of gas in your car. How far would you go? Now imagine having ten gallons in your car. Imagine how much further you would go. If you know the Lord, you can hear His voice, and have given your life to learn about Jesus His commandments in His Word, you’re like the one with ten gallons of gas in his car! When we are the ones that have a history with walking with the Lord, we can help those don’t know Him yet. There are those who have to endure the pain of growing in their character. That’s a normal part of growing in maturity.

Think about this national sweeping, consuming, sovereign move of God happening AGAIN and you already know the Lord! How incredibly encouraging is this considering that one of Jesus’ last words to His disciples was to make disciples. As Matthew 28:19-20 reveals, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” So many people are going to be consumed with a hunger to know who Jesus is. If you are on who is walking with Jesus Christ today, you have answer within you right now and can be one of those leading people to Jesus and raising them up as disciples, just as Jesus commanded us all to do.

Helping to recall what it was like to find yourself in the middle of the Charismatic Renewal Movement, as Charles Simpson shares in his interview with Greg Lancaster, “it was like an explosion”. It’s so easy to have an opinion about something that we have never experienced. But, when we consider the words of those who have gone before us, and experienced such a sweet, sudden, outpouring of God’s presence, it helps us to shift outside of our limited mindsets of today. You don’t have to be caught by surprise when this coming move of God is here. Good surfers are always looking with expectancy that waves are coming, and when they see the wave coming, they start immediately paddling! Jesus said in John 8:31, “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” If you find yourself in the middle of an explosion, all of your sensory perception goes out the window, and you simply rely on what you’ve been trained to do. Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples. For those who found themselves in the middle of Charismatic Renewal Movement, like Charles Simpson, Ken Sumrall, and so many other, that’s what they began to do.

Greg Lancaster, VFNtv · 113021HL – 3 IT WAS LIKE AN EXPLOSION! The Jesus Revolution! Part 7

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Foolish, Weak, & Despised, YET! Loved by God & Used by God. Part 4: The Jesus Revolution 

“IT’S GOING TO BE THE 1970’S AGAIN!” This is what the Lord told Greg Lancaster would soon be happening. Granted, the 1970’s was a difficult time in the nations of the world. Yes, there was negativity in the news of the world. But simultaneously, God poured out His Spirit mightily upon America which caught the entire nation by surprise. Today it is the same. Don’t focus on the negativity of the news. God is doing something mighty and wonderful that is beyond even our greatest imaginations and expectations. Be encouraged in the depths of your heart. God is not going to let the enemy have the upper hand in any situation. This is why it’s so important that we remember what happened in the 70’s because God IS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN! It’s important to remember that so often we glamorize history, but then complain about the present reality we are experiencing. What God is doing now could be BETTER than what He has done in the past. Don’t miss where God has you NOW.  

There is so much pain, division, heartbreak, and strife taking place in our nation. If we’re not careful, those realities can make turn us into hard hearted, and callous people. We must keep a soft and tender heart towards people and the things of God.  At the same time heartbreak, and division were taking place in the 1970’s, God began breaking people’s hearts for the lost. Out of the love of one woman, Kay Smith, wife of Chuck Smith, God began to move mightily and reach the hippies. Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, took part in a discussion of the “Oral History of the Jesus Movement.” Chuck said it was Kay, his wife, who pressed him to reach out to the hippies in their city, San Francisco, California.

Former hippies, now part of Chuck’s Church and who are speaking in this oral history remembered how impactful Chuck and Kay were to those around them. As one man shares, “Chuck and Kay [Smith] are two people that loved the hippies when they were completely unlovable.” Chuck Smith responds with the reality of how it was Kay’s love for the hippies and how his initial response towards them wasn’t exactly the same. “I had the typical redneck, you know, dirty hippies, when are they gonna get a bath and a job.” It was Kay’s gentle heart that reminded Chuck of how they needed to respond. As he continues, “She would say, ‘but honey, they just, you know they’re lost. They need the Lord’”. This is so important for each of us to remember. We can have that very similar hard and calloused heart towards the very ones that Jesus wants to reach. We must be honest with the Lord and ask Him to break our hearts with what breaks His heart.  

Ken Sumrall, founder of Liberty Bible College in Pensacola, Florida, had a similar encounter with a hippie during those days. When Sumrall traveled on a bus, due to to small of an offering he received to be able to fly home where he had just ministered, one fateful day in the 1970’s, a hippie sat next to him who proceeded to smoke a cigarette. Sumrall asked the hippie to put his cigarette out, which he did. The hippie kindly responded, “no problem at all”. Sumrall thought to himself, “nice hippie”.  He had a few more encounters with this same hippie on the bus.  As he got off that bus, Sumrall knew he immediately had to meet with the leaders of his church and allow hippies to come to their services. As Sumrall recounts that meeting, “the meeting didn’t last long because I was the only one that didn’t let them in”.

Kay Smith had prayed for the hippies so much, yet, she had never actually met one. One day Kay told her husband and John Nickels, who worked with her and her husband in their ministry, “I want to meet a hippie”.  Soon, John would bring a hippie to meet them at their home. John would always look for hippies that were hitchhiking so that he could witness the love of Jesus to them. What seemed like another day, John stops to pick up a hippie that was hitch hiking. Once the hippie got into his car, he asked him, “Where are you going?” The hippie responded, “I’m really not going anywhere. I just hitchhike so that I can witness to whoever picks me up.” That was the day that John Nichols met Lonnie Frisbee, for Lonnie was the hippie John picked up. That was the fateful day that John introduced Lonnie Frisbee to Chuck and Kay Smith and Chuck and Kay met their first hippie.

Chuck Smith recounts that first initial meeting with Lonnie Frisbee. “That’s where my heart was changed. Lonnie was so genuine and so open, and really filled with the Spirt. Great discernment and all. That’s where my whole attitude was changed towards [hippies], and I did see the opportunity to reach out to these kids.” What was so powerful was that what began as a hard heart towards hippies, would be transformed by God’s Spirit through Lonnie Frisbee living at Chuck’s house, to Lonnie beginning to bring other hippies to Chuck and Kay Smith’s home and baptizing them in their pool. During those days, hippies didn’t have anything in their lives to tie them down. They would be powerfully transformed by God, and many would go out to the mission fields to the nations of the world. This is exactly what God does. One life touched powerfully by God, can do something mightily in our nation. When we reach beyond the space between the strangers in our everyday lives, imagine what Holy Spirit can do?

All it takes is just one. one life powerfully touched by God, and God can bring about a great and mighty transformation in our community and in our nation. This is exactly what happened when Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie in the 1970’s, gave his life to Jesus Christ.  One man shares a powerful testimony of what took place when a woman brought her husband, who was blind, to a church service, and ended up encountering the power of Jesus Christ. “We were over at Calvary Chapel, and they told us to come over here, that somebody would pray for my husband. He’s blind. [Lonnie Frisbee] looks at the guy and says, ‘IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, YOU CAN SEE!’ And the man got his sight back.” Contrary to what many believed, God was using a hippie. Many people thought that hippies couldn’t get saved, but they were wrong. What many weren’t aware of, is that this is what God was doing to wake up a hard-hearted church.  God used Lonnie and many other hippies to break loose religious strongholds in the church.   

So many people believed that this couldn’t be happening. Until it was. There was such a mighty transformational change happening in the nation,  that Time Magazine dedicated the front cover of their June 21, 1971 Magazine. IT WAS A JESUS REVOLUTION! As the article continues, they talk about how Pope John XXIII also commented on this mighty move of God. “The Catholic establishment in the U.S. has not [blushed], but it has not turned red with enthusiasm, even though Pope John XXIII himself called upon the Holy Spirit to “renew your wonders in this, our day, as by a new Pentecost.” We may come up with our many denominations, our ideas, but the truth is, there is only One God, One Lord, One Spirit, and we can only be saved through One Son, Jesus Christ. God was moving everywhere in the nation. In that day, Catholics were getting baptized in the Holy Spirit, and many didn’t know what to do with that because being baptized in the Holy Spirit was so radically different than what many Catholics believed.  

In response to these mighty moves of God’s Spirit, many Catholics were gathering because of an overwhelming hunger for the Lord. Time Magazine’s article continues, “On Trinity Sunday last week, 450 Catholic Pentecostals held a “Day of Renewal” at St. Theresa Catholic Church in San Diego; this weekend 3,000 Catholic Pentecostals from all over the country are expected to gather at Notre Dame for their annual national conference.”  One of the leaders of the Charismatic Renewal Movement, Charles Simpson, shared how Catholics didn’t know how to respond to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit by holding conferences to talk about how to respond to this. All it takes is just one. One life powerfully touched by God, and God can bring about a great and mighty transformation in our community and in our nation.

When God touches our lives, we are completely free to live a life devoted to following the leading of Holy Spirit under the leadership of Jesus Christ, in our lives. We don’t have to get caught up in what people think about us, or their opinions. If you are loved by God, and love following God, don’t be surprised when not everyone likes the life that you live. Just focus on those lives who will be impacted for Jesus.

When Lonnie Frisbee was powerfully touched by God, James Gohr  was one of the lives that would be forever changed. As Gohr shares, his mother described Lonnie Frisbee to him as “a modern-day John the Baptist, and he moves in signs and wonders, and miracles follow him”.  Gohr noticed a distinct difference in his mother after she went to a meeting with Lonnie Frisbee. Gohr had to see for himself, which he did. “I had really gotten saved”.  Lonnie walked across the room towards Gohr to greet him, Gohr greets Lonnie back, both seeing each other for the first time and Lonnie says to Gohr, “you have just stood in God’s face. Who do you think I’m talking about? What did God look like?” Gohr was shocked because he had never told, or even met Lonnie to tell him that he had an encounter with God, or better said, God with him. Gohr, who had recently came out of a coma, responds, sharing about the encounter, where God revealed Himself to him telling Lonnie “His eyes and mouth were the color of the sky; the heavens have this violent purple blue color you’ve never known or seen. He was giant. Shiny silvery white. I was looking into His face. I couldn’t make out any features, but all I knew was one thing, that I finally felt like I mattered. I finally felt like I was loved and that I belonged.” Lonnie listening to his response replied with certainty, “I knew it”, and walked away. As Lonnie walked away, he began boldly declaring to all of those around. “PEOPLE! PEOPLE! Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And what is the Kingdom of God, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” As Gohr recounts, immediately 

the power of God fell mightily in that place. That was the night he met Lonnie Frisbee. It’s so important to remember, this wasn’t Lonnie Frisbee that was moving powerfully. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that was moving THROUGH Lonnie Frisbee.  

Many people can feel the very same thing that James Gohr is talking about. You matter, and you are important to the Lord. Some might not be able to articulate that, or be able to know that is what they are wanting to know, do I matter? The answer is a resounding YES! The very fact that you are reading these words is because God orchestrated this very moment for you to know that He loves you and sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for your sins. The encouraging reality is that God is into YOU! He wants to know if you want to know Him too.  

As believers in Jesus Christ, it’s important that we follow the leading of Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit makes known to us the thoughts of God, and we must listen and obey those thoughts. When God poured out His Spirit in the 1970’s in the amazing Jesus Movement, lives were being touched and transformed all throughout the nation. One of those lives was Lonnie Frisbee. Not only did the Lord move mightily through him to reach America for the Gospel, Holy Spirit also led Lonnie Frisbee to carry the Gospel to Sweden!  
Debbie Kerner was one of those that followed the Lord alongside Lonnie Frisbee as the Gospel was carried to Sweden. As chronicled in a voice mail message that Kerner shares with others, she recounts the unforgettable memories of what it was like ministering with Lonnie Frisbee. Kerner shares about the first time that she met Lonnie Frisbee at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Riverside. As she entered the gathering that morning, she saw Lonnie in the front standing before all the people and it appeared that he was about to sing. There appeared to be a delay, as Dennis, their usual guitarist, was absent.  Someone chimed up suddenly, “well Dennis isn’t here this week, but Debbie is here, and she’ll sing!” Debbie was shocked! She would sing but she didn’t have her guitar. To her surprise, someone said “I have a guitar out in my car! I’ll run out and get it.” Debbie found herself worshipping the Lord with Lonnie.  When she finished playing this quickly put together worship moment, she says, Lonnie, who was sitting beside her, fell out of his chair on to the floor and began laughing uncontrollably. That was the moment the Lord used to team them up for His purposes.

Kerner continues to talk about how memorable their relationship was. “My relationship with Lonnie was very light. We did things that were joyful, and we didn’t take ourselves too terribly seriously.” What is so beautiful to hear her describe is how there was an expectancy for the Lord to do something mighty in their gatherings. “It was just kind of this thing that we knew that God was going to show up and do something wonderful in spite of us.” Kerner also shares how she was able to meet Kathryn Kuhlman with Lonnie Frisbee when they were invited to be on her television show. Finding themselves together on her television show opened even more doors of opportunity to take the Gospel to Sweden along with their team of 6 people! Finding themselves in Sweden in a tent meeting that was not abnormally large by any means, they were invited to come back the next day by their hosts as they told them, “We want you to come back tomorrow night too and come back the next day.” 

What started off as a small gathering resulted in overflowing crowds that even got the attention of the media to show up as well. Their hosts wanted Lonnie to preach this same message all over Sweden. And that is exactly what they did. Not only did they go, but so did the media, as they followed them wherever they went for their host purchased train tickets for Lonnie and his team to travel Sweden with the Gospel and the press road on the very same train with them. As Kerner continues, she talks about how they were ready for that moment when God called them. “We could do it because we were willing, we were prepared, and we were expecting that God was going to show up.” She also encourages everyone to have that same expectancy for God to show up in your lives. “Be ready. Be prepared and expect God to be there for you because He will be, and expect the miraculous!”  Her perspective and experience are such a refreshing truth for all of us to remember. God moves in spite of us. It has nothing to do with any religious work, or how good we perceive ourselves to be. God does these things because He is good. 

How many people are expecting God to move in their lives because of what THEY have done or how good THEY are? Do you expect God to do something good today in your life? When you gather with your Church family, do you expect God to do something good? So many times, we can easily get caught up looking at people who have been used mightily by the Lord and compare ourselves to them and think that we could never be used by God falsely believing that could never happen in our lives.  Remember the words that Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, from 1 Corinthians 1: 26-29 

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” 

Many people can become defeated thinking that to do something for the Lord requires some large behemoth organization. That is not what God is looking for. God’s checklist is those that are foolish, weak, and despised, yet humble. If the world has looked over you, that’s exactly the ones that Jesus chose. That is who His disciples were. If you find yourself being criticized by religious pharisees, that’s a good thing. 

During the Jesus Movement in the 1970’s, God was breaking outside the buildings, on the beachside. People who were hungry for the presence of Jesus Christ were worshipping the Lord on the beach, with the sound of the crashing shore behind them.  Many of them decided to follow Jesus’ command to become water baptized in the ocean surf. One thing, among many, that is awesome to know, what was begun on this very same cliff line beach shore where Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee and so many others baptized so many in the 1970’s, that same practiced has continued to this very day as Pastor Jack Hibbs, of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, California, still continues to baptized the very same way and same cliff lined beach as it was started in the 1970’s.

We are reminding you of these powerful moments to stir your faith to believe God, with expectancy, to do it again in our generation, in your city.  

Greg Lancaster, VFNtv · 102621HL – 2 Foolish, Weak, Despised, YET! Loved By God & Used By God. Part 4- The Jesus Revolution