Well there were a lot of flashbacks in seeing the new movie today.....the title of it....is the title of this post....which starred Frazier....Kelsey Grammer. My wife and two friends....fifteen years old at the time....would have gone forward at a Billy Graham crusade in Pittsburgh....in 1965....a few years before the time period in this movie. Rev. Graham had a cameo in the film....from one of his crusades. I was in Vietnam during most of the events in this film.
There were more flashbacks for me. The one scene in the film was just about exactly what I experienced in 1972 after having just got out of the army. I'll describe my end of this. My friend had invited me over to his hippie pad for the night. There were about....(I'm guessing....it was a long time ago).....ten of his friends living there....male and female....essentially in one room. They all cooked marijuana in a pot as if it was spaghetti....and drank it as if it were herbal tea. As in the film....one of the girls had a drug related medical episode....and the other girls took her to the shower. She survived. It was the middle of the night....dark obviously....and one of the ladies was walking by me sleeping on the couch....possibly on her to the way to the bathroom. My response startled even me....as in an instant I woke....jumped up....and grabbed her arm. Everyone was up at this....and just looked on in astonishment at this guy....me....fresh out of the army...still wearing my field jacket....who woke with a start at soft footsteps. I was out of place and never went back.
The film revolved around the true story of evangelical pastors....Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel fame....and Greg Laurie of Harvest Crusades fame. The relationship of Greg Laurie and his mother was a bit too close to home concerning my own life. It was sobering.
It's a wonderful film....and I hope that it gets a broad audience. It seemed accurate to what I have read of that West Coast movement....with thousands of baptisms of young people in the Pacific Ocean....and it was also accurate as to church services....as for about ten years I lived the Pentecostal/Charismatic church life....albeit about ten years after the events in the film.
As for commentary....I thought of this while in the theater. Those first days....and years....of a new life in Christ.....were wonderful. The film depicted that very well....but the concept of army basic training kept coming to my mind. For in my case....as Greg Laurie was shown in the film....I left our household of my mother and me....having no perceivable maturity whatsoever....(Laurie was more grown up than me)....and was thrown into a life that was totally different. There were no girls in basic...to think about all the time...and I had no hair to comb if there were. I did not live on baloney sandwiches and Twinkies and Pepsi. I ate healthy food....and drank milk....and had authority over me. I remember the final two-mile run....with the Drill Sergeant yelling encouragement in my ear over the last fifty yards. We won the best platoon....and I was one of the top scorers in the overall PT test....and awarded a week-end pass. (I finally stuck to something)
I would not bring these things up if not for this....basic training can be exhilarating for an immature young man....for many only in retrospect....but for me....also as it was happening....so I look back at this time and thank God....but you cannot live forever in basic training. It has a purpose....but there comes the time in the Christian life....to be a soldier. You cannot just sing Kumbaya forever....as pleasant as that memory may be. There are dangers....and failures....and wounds....and great discouragements at times....and much more learning needed. You may not wind up in the brig....but you may very well indeed spend time in....as John Bunyan described it....Doubting Castle....with Giant Despair beating on you.....but you always have that key called....Promise!
The film describes the 'good' and the 'bad'....but not really the 'ugly' of the Jesus Movement. It gives you hints....but is more concerned with the simple love to this wonderful Jesus....and I know exactly what that was like....and is like....even greater love the more that it is not just the emptiness or the alcohol or the drugs or the hedonism that we are saved from....but the darkness of our own heart....and also it is more than the mercy of God that we are enthralled with....the kind face of Jesus of Nazareth.....but the awesome presence of holiness....that would keep us lying prostrate as if dead....if we were not given strength to stand....so as to commence to walk....on a lighted path.
"We Are Now Boarding Flight 1127 To Pittsburgh"
Preface...the following post is from last October....and I thought it might fit in well with the post on the film....Jesus Revolution:
They met in the waiting area of United Airlines flight 1127 from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh. I'll call these two men.....Bob and Evan. Sitting two seats apart....Evan....twenty years old or thereabouts....and bored apparently....bored enough to look over and ask Bob....a graybeard....
Evan...."Excuse me....you must be a minister I guess?"
Bob....."No I'm not....I'm just an everyday pilgrim type of Christian who knows that this....(tapping the open
Bible on his lap).....is really God's words to us."
Evan just smiled.
Bob....."Were you going to ask something if I were a minister?"
Evan..."Well....I was going to ask a question....I came out here to L.A. to visit a friend....and he apparently
became a born again Christian."
Bob didn't say anything....and after a pause....
Evan...."I would have never believed this a week ago....but it seems that I became a Christian sometime in
the past two or three days."
Bob just smiled and nodded his head....paused again and asked...
Bob...."And what was the question?"
Evan stared straight into Bob's eyes...
Evan...."What do I do now?"
Bob glanced at his watch....and then the departure time on the overhead television....and calculated....
Bob...."First of all....my name is Bob....and yours?"
Evan...."Evan."
Bob....."OK Evan....assuming your friend accurately described the gospel of Jesus Christ to you....that your faith is real....you have to right now begin to do what is right."
Evan...."Which is?"
Bob...."Take seriously what happened when with your friend.....this isn't a game.....and to treat it as some kind of experiment would be worse than if you ignored your friend. So you are taking this seriously....begin to learn....open a Bible....(pointing down to his own)....get a study Bible....I recommend something called the John MacArthur Study Bible."
After pausing....
Bob again....."You might want to write that down."
Evan pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket.....and on the back of some kind of spy novel he was carrying....began to jot down....
Evan....."Study Bible....John Mac....Mac what?"
Bob...."MacArthur."
Evan...."Does it have to be MacArthur?"
Bob...."No....but I don't have time to give you a list....and you can't go wrong with this one."
Bob again...."Study Evan....as much as you can....and until you find a church....that may take quite a while just to figure out if there is a good church in your area....until you find that church....listen to good sermons online....write this down...."
Evan put the pen to the book's paper...
Bob...."desiringgod.org....you got that?"
Evan...."d.e.s.i.r.i.n g...g....two Gs?"
Bob....."Two Gs"
Evan...."d.e.s.i.r.i.n.g.g.o.d...dot....o.r.g."
Bob....."Listen to three or four or five sermons a week.
Evan....."A week?"
Bob...."Evan...you do know that you were lost....and now your are found....right?"
Evan...."Yes....I believe that...."
Bob....."Three or four or five sermons a week....then take some control of the things you normally do in life..
....if you waste a lot of time on sports.....cut it back drastically. There is going to be some pain
.....press on....keep on going....don't quit....it will be more than worth it!
One of the United employees spoke loudly so that everyone could hear...
United Spokesman....."We are now boarding United flight 1127 to Pittsburgh."
Bob stood up....as did Evan....and as they took a position in the line being formed....as Bob continued...
Bob...."Start acting like a man who honors this God he has just come to begin to know.....
Evan was still jotting these things down even though they both were inching towards the check-in stand....
Bob...."You'll need fellowship Evan....other true believers to care for and be cared for by.....find them!
Evan....."That's it....just....find them....how?"
Bob...."Evan....if when you get in your car after we arrive in Pittsburgh....pull out on the highway....and the car stops....the gas tank is empty....you would find a gas station....same thing.....emergency.....find other believers."
The flight attendant took Evan's papers....stamped them and gave them back....and then asked for Bob's paperwork. Another attendant was leading Evan up a ramp....as Bob shouted out....
Bob...."Another thing.....love....it's no longer you Evan....it's everyone else! (raising his voice even a little bit higher)....one last thing....go to 2nd Peter....write this down....(Evan was jotting and being led at the same time).....2nd Peter....chapter one....read the notes in the MacArthur Study Bible which I'm sure you will also find. God bless you brother!"
Evan's seat was in the very back of the plane....Bob's in the front.....they never saw each other again.....but Bob prayed for him every day....right up....till now.
