A clever marketing company has laid out the red carpet for this new leader. Is it the Jesus we all know, the One our grandparents introduced to us through the Holy Bible? I could give you a quick answer, but I would like you to decide.
'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. (Revelation 2:2)
These are the words Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus. He also said, 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:4)
How can Jesus compliment the church in picking out false teachers yet be fronted with losing their first love of Christ – the real Jesus? In our culture, the masses have emphasized overcharged “love,” so the church has lost its ability to discern who the false teachers are. So, what kind of love is Jesus referencing?
The short answer is that God is love (1 John 4:16).
The longer answer might shock some readers. The “kind” of love that replaced God is love that the Ephesus church initially believed is nothing short of a demonic “love” that embraces sins, lifestyles, gender identification, or other self-identified identities. We grace teachers once called it the movement of Gracilism – excessive grace that embraces salvation WITHOUT coming to the end of yourself, repenting of all sins, and accepting the indwelling Life of Jesus.
I was also a part of the first Jesus Revolution in the 70s. Not once did the revivals I attended address these issues. It was a full-on love fest with “Jesus” at the center of the gatherings. We were discouraged by the state of the organized church, hated wars, and were revolted by the thought of submitting to authority – of any kind. I was “proud” to be called one of the “Jesus People.” However, I didn’t receive Jesus INTO my life at our rallies.
I hunted down a pastor in the local community who explained the finer points of salvation and led me to the real Jesus. Even then, I intuitively knew something was wrong with our Jesus Revolution. It wasn’t long before I realized this movement was soon to fade. And it did.
Months back, a ministry leader friend asked if I wanted to participate in the Jesus Revolution film promotions. I said I wouldn’t commit until I reviewed the details and footage of the film. I did my homework and found many disturbing highlights in the film and the research books it was based on.
First of all, Jesus is not a revolutionist. The word itself derives from revolt. The real Jesus is the Son of God, who happens to be God, who came to us as a Savior. The movie accurately depicts the Jesus People using Jesus to overthrow existing authorities – the church, governments, and other power players. When the real Jesus walked the earth, He never fought to overpower other powers. He respectfully demonstrated proper submission to governing authorities.
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1)
Jesus and His disciples demonstrated this mandate with the utmost respect. The movie leaves viewers with a probable “woke” view of the “Jesus” portrayed. Highly charismatic and accepting of all subculture lifestyles. Setting the movie aside, I can tell you personally, as an x-Jesus People, before the word woke was cultural, the Jesus that was introduced to me during this movement is NOT the same Jesus I know today. In the movie, the main character named Lonnie Frisbee, finds “Jesus” while on an acid trip – begging for this Christ to reveal himself. He saw a “Jesus.” While on this “trip,” he saw thousands of people being baptized. After coming out of this acid trip, he decided to dress and act like Jesus – to be a Jesus to the people in the flesh. Lonnie was one of the primary leaders of our Jesus People movement.
Throughout Mr. Frisbee's ministerial career, he continued experimenting with drugs to elevate his “visions.” Furthermore, he maintained a homosexual lifestyle until his death, which resulted in contracting HIV and dying of AIDS in 1993.
The most alarming theological error was in real life. Lonnie was an American Charismatic evangelist and self-described "seeing prophet," primarily through drug induced preaching, in the late 1960s and 1970s. He maintained a hippie appearance to draw followers to a man. He was notable as a minister and evangelist in the signs and wonders movement ignited through, at the time, the Charismatic Revivals of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career with Calvary Chapels, he placed most of his teachings on the Holy Spirit versus the doctrines of the Bible. At the time, he did not emphasize that new converts needed to be grounded in Biblical doctrines for obvious reasons. Thus “converts” found hope and life in the movement of the Holy Spirit through worship while maintaining their chosen lifestyles. While it is a separate topic, this movement began our present “following” (seeker-friendly) based worship seen in most churches. While this bio openly incriminates him, the theology he believed in was based on charismatic doctrines he embraced through the Charismatic Revivals.
WHY WOULD “CHRISTIAN” PRODUCERS GLORIFY FRISBEE’S STORY?
Now that is a great question. The Jesus Revolution movie is beyond woke. Frisbee’s life was less than an ideal authentic salvation testimony. It openly diminishes the real Jesus, promotes acceptance of deplorable lifestyles, and sets the youth, or old folks, up for the new Millennial Jesus. A “Jesus” that uses the Grace of God as a license to lead the masses to worship a false god that is in the habit of denying Jesus Christ through the centuries.
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
This movie is dangerous and cloaked with theological weaknesses. However, there is just enough small letter truth in the movie that droves of “believers” will defend it line, hook, and sinker. I am not one of them. My sources tell me that millions of dollars back the marketing group behind this new Jesus Revolution moment sweeping our nation. In fact, rumor has it they plan to spend 3 billion dollars in marketing over the next few years.
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
The closer we get to the Rapture, the more mini-antichrists will surface. The Millennial Jesus is one of them. While nominal “Christians” will get excited about the mention of Jesus' name, I do not. A fake Jesus can come in all shapes and forms. That is why the Word calls them “anti-CHRIST.” Revivals, movements, and the revisiting of supposed leaders are a dime a dozen. As long as the masses are subject to the emotive aspects of worship and want to be entertained, there will always be a fake Jesus ready to emerge from behind Satan’s dark curtain.
Most “Christians” are hesitant to speak out against any revival, or forms of entertainment, particularly when the name of Jesus is used as their leading character. However, a few authentic believers have a high level of discernment. If you are one of them, speak out, and stand against any replica of our blessed Savior, the Jesus spoken of before the woke translations permeated our culture. I suggest the ESV, Geneva, KJV, NKJV, or NASB.
While I remain joyful of all authentic conversions IN Christ, we should be sober and diligent to test the spirits and seek out the fruit of the Holy Spirit in others. Refrain from an overcharged hormone-induced type of worship & beliefs. Take all movements at face value, do your homework, then rightly divide the Truth from replicated truth, which our Lord calls lies.
It is not my job to judge the authenticity of Lonnie Frisbee's salvation or the movement that was birthed through his legacy. My primary purpose in witting this opinion piece of truth is to awaken the Body of Christ to discern spirits of darkness that can erupt from movements.
I remind everyone reading this of the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13. Jesus sows the good seeds into the world, but false teachers are sown by Satan. We are not to be the one to uproot the false teachers, but Yahweh will handle them when the time comes. There were many good seeds that took root in this movement. They were watered well later and came to full harvest. Many unfortunately (like me) ended up in the Pentecostal movement chasing miracles without eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
Praise be to Jesus that he continued to advocate for me in spite of my blindness. After 30 years of blindness, I finally saw the light…
I have been guilty of applauding anything or anyone that uses the name of Jesus, or Christian, without digging in to find out what they really mean. It's stupid to assume. Only the Holy Spirit indwelling can provide the discernment needed to weed out the fakes.