The Jesus Movement

The Jesus Movement, what a great time that was!

This was a time of what I believe was a genuine spiritual revival that took place in the late ’60s through the early ’70s. Many of the mega-churches that are impacting our culture today were born during this time of the outpouring of the Spirit of God.

It was during this time, in 1970, that I came to faith in Jesus Christ. I have a whole section on the Jesus Movement in the film, Lost Boy: The Documentary, and have even thought of writing a whole book on it someday.

A key figure of the Jesus movement was Chuck Smith, the pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. Chuck was willing to let young people with long hair (I was one of those kids!) into the church without a haircut. Now I wish I had any hair!

Chuck’s contribution to late 20th-century and early 21st-century Christianity has been significant. Our church, Harvest Christian Fellowship, was one of the very first Calvary Chapel outreaches in the early ’70s.

Chuck and I will be on TBN tonight!

I bring this all up because Pastor Chuck, along with my friends Raul Ries (Calvary Chapel of Golden Springs) and Mike Macintosh (pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship) and I, will all be guests on TBN tonight. They are having a “Jesus People”-themed program on their Praise the Lord broadcast.

It all starts at 7:00 P.M., Pacific Time, and can be seen around the world. I hope it will be part of your world tonight too!

So check it out, if you can.

Ben Born Again

During those early days of the Jesus Movement, I came up with a cartoon character named “Ben Born Again”. (Get the play on words… “Been Born Again?” Hey, I never claimed to be Shakespeare!)
🙂

Some people said Ben was just a cartoon of myself. That may have been true. So, here is a drawing I did today of Ben to take us down memory lane from the old days, and then a new, updated version for 2008.

PS
When you see Ben in the future, he will not look like the ‘older’ version but the young one. That is one the great advantages of being a cartoon character. You only need 3 fingers (think Mickey Mouse) and you never, ever age (think Charlie Brown)!