Jesus Revolution. A film about revival that has been bathed in prayer. Greg Laurie (whose story is told in the film), pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship based in Riverside, Cal., has challenged us to set our alarms to pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 every morning and/or evening at 7:14; Lou Engle is launching a 40 day fast starting Ash Wednesday, February 22 (which is the opening night of Jesus Revolution in select markets), and the film’s marketing team hosts prayer calls every Friday.

Join others crying out to the Lord day and night.

View Comments (14)

The film shows a central story of the Jesus Movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s through the eyes of a young Laurie — specifically how Chuck Smith (played by Kelsey Grammer) invites Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie preacher (played by Jonathan Roumie, who also plays Jesus in The Chosen) into his church. It’s a picture of Christians loving those rejected by most churches of their day, and how that love expanded the Kingdom of God.

DeVon Franklin, who plays a reporter for Time magazine in the film, led the first prayer call for the film. Franklin pointed out how the 1971 cover of Time “really legitimized this movement, and also legitimized contemporary faith at that time.” He believes “that the movie has the opportunity to do very similar things. The fact that the movie is coming out in theaters from Lionsgate – a major Hollywood studio, been around for a very long time – it adds legitimacy to the message.”

On the February 10 prayer call, Jon Erwin, co-director and producer of the film, drew several connections between the culture at the time of the Jesus Movement and today. During his talk he pointed out that there’s a revival happening on the Asbury University campus, where chapel went for 185 hours in 1970. Erwin said, “Then they went out to all these colleges in the region after that.” In my interview with Jeannine Brabon, who was at the heart of the 1970 Revival, she said there were 500 Asbury students who went out as far as California. Erwin said, “That was a huge part of the Jesus movement, and that’s literally happening right now.”

Kevin Downes, a producer of Jesus Revolution, has been making films that point people to the Lord since he was a teenager. In the interview you can see below he said, “During filming, doing some of the baptism sequences out at Pirate’s Cove, God was so present in that moment we had people getting baptized for real while we were shooting the scenes.” And baptisms have also marked the screenings of the film. Downes said, “Literally the first time that Jon went out and screened a rough cut of it, it was in a church, [and] 16 people got baptized right after the movie.”

Can Jesus Revolution Tug People Back to Their First Love?

David Almgren, CEO of Advance Team Films, which is helping to market Jesus Revolution to Christian audiences, said during the Jesus Movement:

In California alone, there were 400,000 that came to Christ. This spread from the 60s and early 70s around the country and the world. I’ve heard a few stories of people that are in their 70s that are still serving the Lord, but how many have fallen away, and could this movie be that one element or tug or story that brings them back to their first love and serving Christ?

Almgren is already seeing lives changed as the Holy Spirit is speaking into souls during the screenings. One man testified he threw out a cell phone he was using for sinful activities. The night Almgren screened the film in Harlem, NY, a woman said she identified with some of the characters who were looking for all the right things in all the wrong places. It encouraged her to use the film as a calling card to reach those who are where she once was.

Willie Perez, a team leader with Cru Inner City, brought several team members to the screening in Harlem. He said Jesus Revolution is “a movie that brought us to a decision where we can actually say, ‘Okay, am I willing to put myself to the side and reach people for Jesus?’ not make it about me, but actually make it about showing Jesus’ love to those who maybe were the misfits or the outcasts, or those that not many want to love.” He’s looking forward to the release because “it’s another tool for churches to…invite those that don’t know Jesus.”

Perez’s colleague Glen Kleinknecht, who has been focused on ministry to inner city New York for decades, said:

I think believers like myself and like you will really resonate with the message and be maybe reinvigorated to trust God in a new way. I want to see non-believers see this message. See the realism. See the changed life. See the message that for those who are hurting — and there are a lot of people hurting these days — that Jesus can really meet their needs.

A Civilization Moment

On the February 9 Pray with America’s Leaders IFA CEO Dave Kubal quoted Os Guiness, who has said that we are in a “civilization moment”: Either we must reestablish our foundations, replace them, or diminish as a society.

I mentioned “God’s Strategy for SatanCon,” to Downes. He was surprised to learn of SatanCon, but glad to know IFA is praying for many who are planning to attend. Downes believes:

Jesus Revolution can speak to anybody, and I would never put a limit on what God can do. I’ve seen in my life so many miracles and so many things that I didn’t think would go a certain way. And God certainly has the power and the ability to change hearts and to change lives, and even those that might be trapped or mired in their sin. God has the power to be able to [deliver] you from that.…Prayer is a significant piece of that….We just don’t spend enough time in prayer. I think that is the truth in our country. And we need to have that connection and that one-on-one relationship with God, and not just ignore it and put it off. But if we put on the attributes of God as defined in the Bible, wouldn’t our country be a better place? It certainly would. And to start, it does take prayer. It takes constant communication with God to be in alignment with Him to be able to get to that place.

Speaking before there was a standing ovation for Satan worship at the Grammys, Franklin spoke with an urgency:

The faith-based space in Hollywood is shrinking, and the opportunities that did exist even five, six, seven years ago, those opportunities are few and far between. So, you know, I personally believe that if the Jesus Revolution movie is not successful at the box office, that it may put a moratorium currently on the faith-based business, at least for the foreseeable future, as it relates to major studios making theatrical releases that are predominantly faith in content. So I do think the stakes are high. And I think that it’s important for the community to understand the moment because it’s about sending another message to Hollywood, that we are a vibrant audience, we’re not going anywhere, we want more content, we want more movies, and when we get them, we’re going to show up.

Almgren sees Jesus Revolution speaking directly into the current culture, and he, too, is excited about the timing of the Asbury Revival, in its 121st hour as I write. He texted Sunday night: “I am more curious to follow what’s happening at Asbury than what the score is with the Super Bowl.” In another text he wrote, “There will be revivals breaking out in theaters.” Lord, hear our prayer!

You can buy tickets now for the film, which will be released February 24, 2023 in 3,000 theaters nationwide.

Post your prayers that the Lord will use Jesus Revolution for such a time as this.

Rich Swingle has taught and performed in 39 nations on six continents, mostly with his own one-man plays. He’s performed in more than 45 film projects, and he and his bride Joyce Swingle, another contributing writer for IFA, have 39 screen children. The Swingles live in New York City. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: Jesus Revolution.