OVER 4,000 PEOPLE BAPTIZED AT EVENT COMMEMORATING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘THE JESUS MOVEMENT’

Over 4,000 people were baptized at Pirate Cove in Southern California last weekend as 280 churches celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Jesus Movement.

Oceans Church, a ministry located in Orange County, organized Baptize So Cal, an event advertised as “the largest water baptism in history.” Over 8,000 people watched as 4,166 people declared their faith in Jesus.

“What an amazing and historic day,” West Coast Life Church pastor Ray Gene Wilson said. “Thousands baptized at Pirates Cove, God is moving in California.”

The event was organized to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jesus Movement, which was ignited by a large number of baptisms at Pirates Cove. The movement spread throughout the 50s and 60s, leading many who had been a part of counter culture to know the Lord.

The Jesus Movement was celebrated earlier this year with the release of the hit movie JESUS REVOLUTION, which chronicled prominent pastor Greg Laurie’s coming to faith as the Jesus Movement was spreading in America.

The JESUS REVOLUTION moved both Christian and non-Christian audiences alike, and in some instances led people to erupt in worship and prayer while in the theatre.

“It was just an amazing symphony of timing,” he said, reflecting on how the Asbury revival coincided with the release of JESUS REVOLUTION.

Since its release, Erwin has seen the real-world impact the movie is having on audiences. 

“I’ve seen posts of people getting baptized in fountains outside the theater or in a lake the next day,” he shared. “Or a spontaneous praise and worship service starting in the theater, and then prayer happening in the theater long after the movie wrapped.”

“We felt it on set when we were doing the baptisms,” Erwin explained. “I’ve never felt that kind of spiritual power on a day of filming ever in my life, and I think it bleeds through the screen. I think you feel it in the movie.”

ALIAS: THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF GOD, KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS, PRINCE OF PEACE, ETC.

—Associating with known criminals, radicals, subversives, prostitutes and street people.

BEWARE: This man is extremely dangerous. His insidiously inflammatory message is particularly dangerous to young people who haven't been taught to ignore him yet. He changes men and claims to set them free.

HE is indeed. As the words of this Wanted poster from a Christian underground newspaper demonstrate, Jesus is alive and well and living in the radical spiritual fervor of a growing number of young Americans who have proclaimed an extraordinary religious revolution in his name. Their message: the Bible is true, miracles happen, God really did so love the world that he gave it his only begotten son. In 1966 Beatle John Lennon casually remarked that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ; now the Beatles are shattered, and George Harrison is singing My Sweet Lord. The new young followers of Jesus listen to Harrison, but they turn on only to the words of their Master: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

It is a startling development for a generation that has been constantly accused of tripping out or copping out with sex, drugs and violence. Now, embracing the most persistent symbol of purity, selflessness and brotherly love in the history of Western man, they are afire with a Pentecostal passion for sharing their new vision with others. Fresh-faced, wide-eyed young girls and earnest young men badger businessmen and shoppers on Hollywood Boulevard, near the Lincoln Memorial, in Dallas, in Detroit and in Wichita, "witnessing" for Christ with breathless exhortations.

Christian coffeehouses have opened in many cities, signaling their faith even in their names: The Way Word in Greenwich Village, the Catacombs in Seattle, I Am in Spokane. A strip joint has been converted to a "Christian nightclub'' in San Antonio. Communal "Christian houses" are multiplying like loaves and fishes for youngsters hungry for homes, many reaching out to the troubled with round-the-clock telephone hot lines. Bibles abound: whether the cherished, fur-covered King James Version or scruffy, back-pocket paperbacks, they are invariably well-thumbed and often memorized. "It's like a glacier," says "Jesus-Rock" Singer Larry Norman, 24. "It's growing and there's no stopping it."

There is an uncommon morning freshness to this movement, a buoyant atmosphere of hope and love along with the usual rebel zeal. Some converts seem to enjoy translating their new faith into everyday life, like those who answer the phone with "Jesus loves you" instead of "hello".

A ‘Time’ for Jesus By Greg Asimakoupoulos Mar 11, 2023 "Time" The “Time” magazine cover from June 21, 1971.

It was a time for Jesus! Literally, it was. I still have the “Time” magazine cover from June 21, 1971. There was something about that psychedelic image that arrested my teenage attention. The cover story was all about the Jesus revolution in our culture. Something remarkable was happening in our country back then.

Against the backdrop of racial turmoil, protests of an unpopular war and the hippie culture marked by drugs, sex and rock-n-roll, a spiritual awakening was taking place. Long-haired rebels were beginning to keep short accounts with God. And the Wenatchee Valley was not exempt.

I was a teenager at the time and have vivid memories of that unforgettable season. A couple years prior to the Time magazine issue, there were stirrings of faith. It was felt in our local schools. Our Christian club at Wenatchee High School was called Revolution for Christ, or RFC. That home-grown Christian group led by students met in the choir room over lunch. Attendance grew among churched kids and those who were curious. It was exciting!

Meanwhile, a twenty-something pastor and his wife moved to town from California. Larry and Devi Titus began to minister to a fringe group of teens in the city parks. Those who had been high on pot became high on Jesus. What emerged was a growing revival in the valley.

It included a half-way house for runaways and those who were spiritually seeking. The House of Mercy was a gathering place for Bible study, worship and recovery. A café opened on Orondo Avenue called Good Sam’s. A Christian radio station on Wenatchee Avenue was launched.

Most notably, the old Monitor school became home to a growing church and an eventual Bible college. Critics (justifiably concerned about mismanagement of the movement) were outnumbered by those being genuinely converted.

About the same time, a small church in Costa Mesa, California, by the name of Calvary Chapel was experiencing exponential growth. Pastor Chuck Smith served as a spiritual labor and delivery physician, as countless hippies were “born again.” “Free Love” decals gave way to “Honk if You Love Jesus” bumper stickers.

Simultaneously, a Southern California writer by the name of Hugh Steven and Smith wrote a book documenting the unprecedented happenings as they were unfolding. In “The Reproducers: New Life for Thousands,” Steven refers to 19-year old Greg Laurie, who responded to the acceptance and hope he’d been denied in his dysfunctional family. It’s a story that lays the foundation for what millions of Americans are currently flocking to theaters to see.

The popular film “Jesus Revolution” is based on Greg Laurie’s autobiography and describes how the Jesus people movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s catapulted him from a drug-using loser to a successful, highly respected pastor.

As I watched the movie, I was immersed with memories from a half-century ago. What I saw on the big screen triggered a confidence that lives of disenchanted and marginalized people we know can find healing and transformation. Scenes of those being baptized in the Pacific Ocean recalled a simpler time when public affirmation of one’s faith was not limited to a stained glass sanctuary. I wondered if it could happen again.

Amazingly, the “Time” magazine cover I saved actually factors into the movie. The reporter who wrote the cover story for that 1971 issue is woven into the script.

And get this: at the same time the “Time” correspondent was researching his story, the author of “The Reproducers” was collecting material and taking photos of the Calvary Chapel explosion. His oldest child witnessed the phenomenon in person. She worshiped in the huge circus tent that served as a church building. She attended concerts of Christian bands born out of that movement.

As she left the theater after seeing “Jesus Revolution,” Steven’s daughter commented just how accurate the movie was to what she experienced. I heard her comments as I walked her to the car. You see, I married the daughter of the guy who wrote the original history of the Jesus movement. Hugh Steven is Wendy Asimakoupoulos’ father.

https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/lifestyles/a-time-for-jesus/article_a633816c-bed5-11ed-858c-c3f2eaedfbc6.html

I had heard of the Jesus Freak movement,,, and I experienced it on a small scale in my small town of Port Angeles Washington... I came to Christ the year of 1973 and remember being called a Jesus freak.. after that when asked if I was a Christian I would tell them no, I was more of a Jesus freak..but I had no idea where the term came from or just how huge a thing it was every where else...i just found out from this movie there was even a Time magazine article,,,,and I found out just how wide spread it was from this movie,,, I had met Chuck Smith when our little Jesus freak group went and heard him speak in Victoria b.c..Calvary Chapels have been my home church...i have been to vineyard,, I have been to Greg Laurie harvest but I never knew they all were born from this genesis....this next article expresses a lot of my reactions to the film that I also thought were unique to me and now see were also wide spread...the movie was a real blessing and encouragement to me since I have felt such failure in my own walk..if you feel discouraged too you should watch this movie ...just...awesome.

When asked, Erwin had no comment on how much offering was pledged and collected

Jesus loves you bert.

Praise God. The greatest revival in America’s histoir.

Really? There were some pretty significant revivals in the 18th Century. Maybe in your lifetime. But in America's history? I need to research this a little bit more. God can spark revival wherever and whenever He wants. But if you believe we're in the end times, the falling away is mentioned more in the scriptures.

Praise God. The greatest revival in America’s histoir.

Really?

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In terms of #’s accepting Jesus it probably is

As for most baptisms in one spot in one day ,, ,, undoubtedly so.

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