I watched the movie "Jesus Revolution" last night. I loved it!             I couldn't find one frame in the movie I didn't like. It was real, honest, and I think an accurate account of what took place over a two year period when Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith met, and The Holy Spirit moved in the tiny church "Calvary Chapel." 

Jesus movement beginnings

The origin of the “Jesus People Movement is traced by most to a handful of young people who had left the hippie culture, had recently become Christians, and in 1967 had started “The Living Room,” a Christian street mission (coffeehouse) for the hippies in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. As communal homes were part of the hippie culture, a Christian communal home (rescue mission/halfway house) was also established to undergird the ministry of The Living Room. This home, House of Acts, was located just to the north of San Francisco in Novato, California, and it gave the opportunity for the care and discipleship of recently converted hippies.

 

Jesus Freaks, as the hippie converts to Christ were mockingly called, proudly embraced and owned that name, carrying it as a badge of honor to identify with the one who was also mocked and ridiculed by the world.

Through The Living Room and similar Christian coffeehouses, many hundreds of hippies began giving up drugs, sex, Eastern religions, and the occult, and instead turned to Jesus, the Bible, and sharing Jesus with everyone they met.

 Ted and Liz Wise were early adopters of the hippy revival in San Francisco in the late sixties. Ted was an arty beatnik, grafting on yachts and tripping out on drug highs. Meanwhile, Liz was a regular at the conservative First Baptist Church of Mill Valley (alongside her dope lifestyle). Reading the New Testament Ted says, “Jesus knocked me off my metaphysical ass!” Then, following a bad trip on LSD in early 1965, he responded publicly to a gospel invitation at Liz’s church.

Ted and Liz were soon spreading the word to their contemporaries yet, despite their best efforts to evangelize hippies through their more traditional church, they eventually pioneered an independent Christian commune, The Living Room, in Haight-Ashbury in spring 1967. Located in a 20 foot by 40 foot storefront, they offered food, rest and gospel chat. By the following year they were seeing 20 or more people making commitments to Jesus each week.

Meanwhile, Hare Krishna devotee Dave Hoyt had a revelation of Jesus’ uniqueness. Mentored by theological student Kent Philpott, together they teamed up in evangelism and saw hundreds come to faith. 

Lonnie Frisbee

One notable hippie convert, who was part of the team that started "The Living Room," and who also lived and worked out of "The House of Acts," was 19-year-old Lonnie Frisbee. Frisbee became very influential in evangelistic work along the west coast, and wherever there was a flare-up of activity he appeared to have been the spark behind it all.

►Frisbee was invited to be part of the Calvary Chapel church in Costa Mesa, California. At the time Calvary Chapel only had 80 people in attendance (on a good day). After Frisbee’s arrival, attendance soared to 2,000 in 6-months, and it became one of the largest churches in the world. This also led to the multiplication of over 1,500 Calvary Chapel churches throughout the world.

►Frisbee was also involved with the multiplication of communal homes as Calvary Chapel multiplied its ministry to hippies through that type of setting. The first home they started was the House of Miracles.

►On Sunday night, May 11, 1980 (Mother’s Day), Frisbee was on hand to create a spark which gave the Vineyard Christian Fellowship its big push forward. The number of churches in that fellowship now numbers over 2,400 worldwide.

►Frisbee was also used to be a spark for revival in South Africa and Europe, as well as in the lives of many men and women whom he had spent time with.

Communal Homes / Halfway Houses

Associated with Calvary Chapel was a group that moved to an Oregon Christian commune and started a network of communal homes, which was called Shiloh Youth Revival Centers.    

That Oregon commune ultimately started 178 communal homes throughout 30 states and 100,000 people have eventually been part of that ministry. At the same time other ministries had also started Christian coffeehouses in large cities and small towns across the United States and Canada. Following the same pattern as Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, hundreds of Christian communal homes were also established. Between 1967 and 1972, there were 800 communal homes established in the USA.

Street Preacher

His Place: Coffeehouse operated by Arthur Blessitt on Sunset Strip     

  Arthur Blessitt, having grown up as a Christian, made his mark beginning in 1967 through his bold street-witnessing to Hell’s Angels groups and along the streets lined with strip clubs. Blessitt opened “His Place”, a combination coffeehouse and counseling center which on some nights had 500 young people come through for free food and to listen to music and testimonies. In two years, 10,000 decisions for Christ (average of over 12 per night) had been recorded. 

Hippies Rejected by the Churches

Many churches were appalled when newly converted hippies began attending their churches. They could not endure the bare feet, beards, long hair, beads, etc. The street preacher Arthur Blessitt, though highly successful with evangelism, agonized over the churches that would refuse to welcome and disciple the hippies he had recently led to the Lord.

Further down the coast in Costa Mesa, Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel exploded with growth. Five hundred new converts were baptized each month at Pirate’s Cove on the Pacific coast, as the church embraced a wave of hairy, hippy youth turning to Jesus.

Billy Graham

The controversial and powerful pastor Billy Graham quickly embraced the movement, writing a best-selling book on the subject and using it as a vehicle for recruitment.

Secular Magazines 

Secular and media exposure in 1971 and 1972 ( (Time, Life and Rolling Stone magazines) caused the Jesus Movement to explode across the United States, attracting evangelical youth eager to identify with the movement.

Coffeehouses

Coffeehouses began springing up in every city and small town throughout the United States. These were gathering places for young people so they could have “church services” that were aligned with their own culture. These coffeehouses and worship services were accompanied by bands playing “Jesus Music.”

Jesus Music

Contemporary Christian music is said to have had its beginnings with the Jesus Movement. A few of the well-known recording artists at that time were: Matthew Ward, Chuck Girard, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Larry Norman, Children of the Day, Nancy Honeytree, Phil Keaggy, Scott Wesley Brown, Kelly Willard, Andraé Crouch, John Michael and Terry Talbot, The Way, Agape, All Saved Freak Band, Petra, Resurrection Band, and Servant. 

Results of the Revival

• By 1977, an estimated 2 million new born-again believers came into the Christian faith. That does not include those who came to Christ as the revival spread to Canada, South America, and Europe.

• The 1970 Asbury Revival took place at this time period, as did the 1971 Saskatoon Revival.

• Many thousands of young men and women across the United States received their calling into the ministry (pastor, evangelist, missionary).

• The generation that rejected the “establishment” continued to do so during and after the movement had begun to wane. Most of them did not join traditional denominational churches, but instead established new fellowships of churches (loosely associated denomination).

Chuck Smith, pastor of Calvary Chapel

Two notable ones were Calvary Chapel and Vineyard Fellowship. House churches were also part of this new transition away from the mainline denominational churches.

At the height of the revival, through the ministries of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, alone:

• 200 were won to Christ each week.

• There were 500 baptized every month for a period of two years.

• At the baptism services, crowds of 3,000 would gather and the occasion was used to preach the Gospel, with many more coming to Christ.

• Chuck Smith, pastor of Calvary Chapel, stated in his book The Reproducers, that during just two years there were more than 20,000 who accepted Christ and there were over 8,000 baptized at Pirate’s Cove, which is part of the Corona del Mar State Beach.

• Calvary Chapel trained hundreds who were sent out to start churches, first in California, and then up and down the Pacific Coast. Then churches began to be planted throughout the United States and the world—reaching well over 1,700 churches.

• Calvary Chapel was highly instrumental in giving contemporary Christian music its start, with many groups being formed through the church and many songs written.

In December 1971 Calvary Chapel started Maranatha Music/Publishing to promote and sell Christian music. 

Catholic and Mainline Denomination Renewal

Throughout the nation Catholics were experiencing a renewing of their faith in Christ with Pentecostal-type services being held on various nights of the week. Other mainline denominations (Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etc.) were experiencing similar movements that contained a strong charismatic flavor.

Hunger for God

There was a hunger for God among people of all ages. If Christians were willing to pay the price and engage in evangelism, it was normal for an evangelistic team to lead dozens to Christ on a daily basis—this was reported as having happened on Haight Street in San Francisco. It was also reported that on a “bad” night, only ten people would come to Christ.