Human nature remains constant, so the pattern never changes. In an age of lies, people seek truth.
The latest evidence for this axiom appeared last week when the hit movie “Jesus Revolution” began streaming on Netflix.
Friday on Instagram, Pastor Greg Laurie, subject of the biographical film, celebrated news that “Jesus Revolution” had soared to No. 4 on the Netflix list of top trending movies.
“Exciting news! @jesusrevolutionmovie was just released on @netflix and it is already trending as the #4 film on the entire site! Let’s get it to #1! Netflix has over 75 million subscribers. Let’s pray God uses this film to touch their hearts with the Gospel,” Laurie wrote.
Laurie’s Instagram post echoed a sentiment he shared more than a month ago on Twitter, not yet known as “X.”
“BIG NEWS! @JesusRevMovie coming to @netflix July 31st, 2023! A whole new audience is going to see this film now. Let’s all be praying that God uses it to touch lives,” Laurie wrote in a July 4 Twitter post.
BIG NEWS!@JesusRevMovie coming to @netflix July 31st, 2023!
A whole new audience is going to see this film now. Let’s all be praying that God uses it to touch lives. pic.twitter.com/iz05n8CuN8— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) July 4, 2023
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“Jesus Revolution” tells the story of a group of young California hippies whose religious awakening helped spark a nationwide Christian revival in the early 1970s. Like many teenagers then and now, Laurie felt lost until he found Christ.
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And Laurie was not the only one of the film’s central figures who faced earthly struggles. Andy Erwin, the movie’s producer, described hippie street preacher Lonnie Frisbee, one of the 1970s-era preachers who led the “Jesus Revolution,” as having lived a “messy life,” according to a story that appeared Friday on the Christian news site Christian Headlines.
“If you look at the history of the church, there are a lot of messy people…God’s redemptive power will use anyone that’s available,” Erwin added.
Judging by the film’s early success, God might indeed be using it to reach millions of people, as Laurie hoped.
In his Instagram post, Laurie noted that “Netflix has over 75 million subscribers.” Globally, however, that number approaches 240 million.
Furthermore, the streaming service continues to grow. According to Variety, Netflix exceeded expectations by adding nearly six million paid subscribers in the quarter ending June 30.
This matters because, as Laurie told The Washington Times on Thursday, “Jesus Revolution” also has established an international presence. Moviegoers in England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia and Latin America already have had a chance to see the film.
No doubt the state of the modern world has something to do with the movie’s appeal.
“The timing of ‘Jesus Revolution’ is incredible,” Laurie told the Christian news site The Christian Post on Friday.
“I believe God’s hand has been on it from the beginning. The Jesus Movement was the last great American spiritual awakening. Some historians have said it was the greatest revival of all time. Our prayer continues to be that this film will prompt Christians everywhere to say, ‘Do it again, Lord!’ And He is!” Laurie added.
Indeed, “Jesus Revolution” appeared in theaters and on Netflix at a time when many believe the world has gone mad.
The proper diagnosis for the world’s ills, however, is not insanity but lies. In fact, when we begin to think in terms of truth and lies, the challenge lay not in identifying regime-supported lies but in finding even one recent establishment-media narrative that proved true.
From 2016 to the present, I cannot think of one.
This daily bombardment of establishment-driven falsehoods, from Russia collusion and the latest sham Trump indictment to what constitutes a woman, has Americans starved for something real.
In Christ, they find the ultimate source of truth.