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The Jesus Revolution: A Review of the Hippies for Jesus Film

The Jesus Revolution: A Review of the Hippies for Jesus Film

Last updated on: November 5, 2025 at 12:00 pm by Adrian Warnock

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The Jesus Revolution: A Review of the Hippies for Jesus Film 2025-11-05T12:00:17+00:00 Adrian Warnock

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Image: Jesus Revolution Promotional Image https://jesusrevolution.movie/

Have you watched the Jesus Revolution film about when a remarkable move of the Holy Spirit hit three lives, Greg Laurie, Chuck Smith, and Lonnie Frisbee? Thousands of hippies turned to Jesus as a result and were baptised in the ocean. The Church was never quite the same again.

The movie had me in tears at many points, and is hugely encouraging. God can and does move in a dramatic way to change lives around for him. The film looks at what many believe to have been the last Great Revival in the USA: The Jesus Revolution which began in 1968. From the standpoint of 2024 it is possible that many other Christians are as unaware of the huge impact of this point of Church history as I was.

I strongly recommend you watch this movie!

The remarkable result of all this is that Chuck Smith, who was a pastor struggling to work out how to reach out to hippies founded the Calvary Chapel group of churches, now around 1800 strong as a direct result. But that movement also went on to multiply and birth the Vineyard Movement which also has over 2400 churches. Lonnie Frisbee also played a direct role in initiating the Vineyard movement introducing them to the prayer “Come Holy Spirit“. In addition Greg Laurie, who is a young hippie that gets saved during this movement, also went on to plant the mega church Harvest Church and leads the huge Harvest Crusades. Christian worship music was also hugely impacted with vibrant intensely physical expression in worship spreading far and wide.

I do realise that I am seriously late to the party on this one. I was not able to catch the Jesus Revolution Movie when it came out briefly on UK cinema screens about a year ago. It was also not available until recently to watch digitally over here. I have found myself reading a lot about the characters in this movie and their subsequent stories and I am sure I will be writing some more about the amazing impact of this move of God, which was the largest revival recorded in the West.

Even in the movie there are some hints of the fact that the Christian life is not all about wonderful experiences of God. Each of these three men and their wives are all flawed in some way and that comes across in the film. The reality of Christian life is that it is not all about enjoying the mountaintop, but it is about building faithfully in the long term, often in the valleys.

The movie had me in tears at many points, and is hugely encouraging. God can and does move in a dramatic way to change lives around for him. The film looks at what many believe to have been the last Great Revival in the USA: The Jesus Revolution which began in 1968. From the… pic.twitter.com/0yohU09oOr

— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) June 2, 2024

I do like the fact that the movie does not totally shy away from the challenges and disagreements that occurred. But I also like the fact that it does not go into what happened after this brief period as I think it is good to celebrate and commemorate what was clearly a dramatic work of God. If you are not yet aware of some of the controversies around the personalities in this movie, I encourage you to watch it first before looking into any of that. Enjoy this account of the way God can use ANY of us for his glory. There is much profit for us to have in considering this moment, and in later posts I will look more about what the outcome of it all was.

God is great both in the mountaintop and in the valley!

Greg Laurie writes,

” Many people have wondered how much of Jesus Revolution actually happened in real life. The truth may surprise you! While some of the events of the film were condensed, altered, or rearranged for the sake of storytelling, most of what you see on screen is based in true-to-life happenings . . the Jesus Revolution proved to be a true and lasting revival—a movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of thousands . . . Chuck had to rent a giant tent to contain all of the people who were coming to hear God’s words of life. The ripple effect of lives changed traveled throughout Southern California and far beyond. Many of the young men and women who came to know Christ in those days later began their own churches and ministries, perpetuating the effects of the Jesus Movement for decades.” READ MORE

Watch the Trailer

Watch the Movie

On Netflix in some countries
On Apple TV
On Amazon Prime in USA, UK and other countries

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About Adrian Warnock

Adrian Warnock

Medical doctor · Published author · Patheos writer since 2003

I have always lived within sixty miles of London, UK where I studied, worked and worshipped for thirty years. I began writing for this Patheos blog in April 2003, making it one of the longest-running individual columns on the Christian Internet. My writing here, on Substack, and in my books is influenced by my medical training, eight years of working as a psychiatrist in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), eighteen years working in medical research in the pharmaceutical industry, twenty-five years of serving as a pastoral leader in a growing multicultural church, and a difficult decade of lived experience with chronic illness, including blood cancer, and the unexpected losses, including early retirement, that resulted.

Together, these all shape a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach which I first wrote about on Patheos in 2013. This model offers us hope, compassion, and healing in all life’s challenges. This holistic approach is based on the idea that all truth is God’s truth.

At times, since my illness, my faith has been faint. I wondered if this was the end of my story. I was not strong enough to live for Jesus the way I wanted to. I could not change myself. And then hope reminded me: The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Just not all at once. Healing takes time. Compassion and patience sustain us over a lifetime of change. I aim to approach suffering with hope and compassion, and address tough questions including:

What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for you?

Raised With Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything (Crossway, 2010; 2nd edition, Amazon, 2025)
Why is change so difficult? What causes the resistance?

The Traitor Within: Understanding and Healing Our Deceitful Hearts (Amazon, 2026)
Why is change so slow? How does grace lead us over a lifetime?

Amazing Grace: How Faith Grows in the Human Heart (Amazon, 2026)
How do you become a Christian? Can you know if you really are one?

Hope Reborn: How to Become a Christian and Live for Jesus Co-authored with Tope Koleoso (Christian Focus, 2014)

Qualifications

I qualified with an MB BS from the University of London (equivalent to an MD in the United States), hold postgraduate qualifications in psychiatry (MRCPsych) and pharmaceutical medicine (MFFM, DipPharmMed), and took theological training courses run by Newfrontiers.

Connect With me

Substack: adrianwarnock.substack.com (the best way to ask questions)
Twitter/X: @adrianwarnock
Facebook: Adrian Warnock
Email: [email protected] (I may not be able to respond to every message)

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The Jesus Revolution: A Review of the Hippies for Jesus Film

I strongly recommend you watch this movie!

God is great both in the mountaintop and in the valley!

Watch the Trailer

Watch the Movie

On Netflix in some countries

On Apple TV

On Amazon Prime in USA, UK and other countries

READ MORE

Adrian Warnock

What was the name of the disciple who replaced Judas Iscariot?