The Jesus Movement

 

The Jesus Movement

It has been 50 years since we experienced The Jesus Movement, so here are some of my thoughts on that wonderful time from a Cincinnati area guy’s perspective. 

The Jesus Movement was the Fourth Great Awakening of The Holy Spirit and to those that experienced it, it was life changing.  In it's simplest form, it was God, His Son Jesus, and The Holy Spirit moving throughout the world. 

Spiritual Revolution Day
Cincinnati 

D-Day in Cincinnati was March 27th of 1971 when an event called  Spiritual Revolution Day occurred. Now fifty years later I can reflect on this event and the impact it had on my life. 

I was only 18 years old and still in high school. I began wearing a cross, and carrying my Bible with me so I could read it in my free time. At the time I was ridiculed for being A Jesus Freak.  But as a friend of mine wrote in a song, "I just want to be a Jesus Freak for the rest of my life."  Although I am now approaching 70 years of age, I am still a Jesus Freak.

Back then the leaders of the movement that I encountered seemed so old, but truth be told they were probably no more than ten years older than me. I was fortunate to become involved with people that were dedicated to Bible study and building each other up through teaching, prayer, and sharing their faith. I miss those people and those sweet days.

Cincinnati Christian University

I played guitar, sang and wrote some songs that I was able to play for others which people seemed to enjoy. This took me to some places I never expected to go. Many of my friends at the time were going to or had attended Bible Colleges. Due to circumstances I was unable to follow that path, but tried to make up by reading and studying on my own. 

Now for some thoughts on those days that I am writing in these early morning hours.

The Jesus Movement

As stated, the Jesus Movement was Jesus moving across the United States, like a mighty wind, from the West Coast to the East Coast and then across the sea to the rest of the world. During this era we were entrenched in a terrible war. We watched the nightly news and witnessed the carnage. The death toll was much like that of today's pandemic. Young men were forcibly drafted into the military. Many did not want to go and fled to Canada, where they were branded as Draft Dodgers. Others were conscience objectors (to war) and refused to participate. 

During this time a cultural movement for peace and love sprang up, although that movement eventually succumbed, because the free love came with a price, and the peace marches sometimes resulted in violence. I believe that in this time the cries from God’s people were heard which resulted in The Lord God taking pity on us and sending His Holy Spirit to show us His real peace. This was The Jesus Movement. It happened then and it will happen again. Of that I am certain. 

Cincinnati Jesus Paper

And we started with sincere hearts. But as in the parable of the sower, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. The words of Jesus mirror life. I have friends from that blessed time that love The Lord and have blossomed, but I also have friends that have gone on to reject God and His Love. Which brings me to this observation. 

Jesus Movement in
Cincinnati 1971 

Of the people I encountered fifty years ago, one archetype I ran across I call  "The Crusader." Thankfully I only ran into a couple people that fit this category. During those days they rose up as leaders and seemed to sink their whole being into the cause of The Jesus Movement. I followed a few of these men.  And yes, I know there were women that fit this description. I met some later in life when I was wise enough to avoid them.

In my case, as my life moved forward. I married, had children, and this took precedent over the Bible study and prayer groups and those that I had befriended and even lived with in the past. 

Spiritual Revolution Day

However there were times when I missed my friends and returned to visit them or attend an old friend's wedding. It was then I  encountered these men that I had not seen for a few years. In each case I found that they had moved on from The Jesus Movement to other causes that they now embraced, putting in that very same fervor to the new crusade just like they put into the cause as leaders in The Jesus Movement. And of course they were very vocal in these new their new found schemes.  As usual they had to be the center of attention. It was most eye-opening. I now avoid them and pity them.

Cincinnati Jesus Paper

A second observation is that The Jesus Movement was evangelistic and a number of groups involved felt they had the handle on salvation. It was their way or the highway. They could not buy into the concept that God might be bigger than their particular box they put him in. These folks had it all figured out.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, the biggest  problem with the Jesus Movement was people. In most every synagogue on Shabbis, the words to Psalm 133 are sung.  Hine ma Tov u'ma-nayim, Shevet akh-im gam ya-chad, Hine mah Tov umah naʿiym sheveth aḥ-iym gam ya-ḥadh. Translated this is "Behold how good and how pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity." Our youthful minded goal at the time was for this to happen. But denominational prejudice and bone-headed leadership got in the way.

Spiritual Revolution Day
Cincinnati

I became involved with a church that most all of my friends at the time attended.  We were young and lead by a young pastor that was steeped in his denomination’s views. One Sunday my wife had spoken up, without his permission, and invited people to come to our home for Bible study and ‘intercessory prayer’. 

The pastor took this as an affront to his theology. He let me know in all certain terms that my wife was being too Catholic, and I had better straighten her out or else. 

Since I refused to "straighten her out", the “or else” occurred shortly after this encounter when her, myself, and my children were shunned by that church and given The Left Boot Of Fellowship. It hurt for many years. 

I am sure that some of the people that went to the church were probably not aware that this ever  happened. So much for brotherhood, and unity when a person's inherent perspective of what Christianity should look like butts heads with the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 22:36-40.

My take-away from this, after years of pain, is if they do not want me or my wife or my family than they do not deserve our friendship and it is their loss. Heck, I am a great guy! 

In hindsight I can now also see it was a blessing because I do not want to be confined to a group that adheres to the belief in a God that is confined only to their own parameters. Through the years I have been blessed in my life to encounter many diverse people, churches, and groups that I believe came from the seed that fell on good soil. 

Spiritual Revolution Day
Cincinnati 

Another observation is that we were young and making it up as we went along. We were Free Range Christians hoping to do the right thing. We felt the need to save the world, and share our new found love and joy.  As Larry Norman put it, "There's an underground church and it's following Jesus and hoping to meet people's needs. But we don't have the time to build nice little churches. We're holding our church in the street." At the time we didn't appreciate the fact that some institutions probably had their starts by experiencing what we were experiencing. We were distrustful of many of those mainstream churches. 

By Merlin Carothers

During this era there was also a big push for Christian books. that were valuable, and there were many fine authors that shared their knowledge.  However this could not replace the wisdom of Scripture. I had a dear friend that confided in me that she read just about every Christian book that came down the pike, but seldom studied The Bible. That was sad. In 2015 the biggest chain of Christian book stores went out of business.

Larry Norman's First LP

The same can be said for the Christian music business.  There were so many great singers and songwriters that came out of that era. The trouble is that when Christian music becomes business, what is emphasized by that industry is BUSINE$$. This is not the reason most all of those folks began singing and sharing their songs. I know of several artists that got thoroughly and bitterly trounced by record companies, who controlled the rights to songs that they had written.

  

TBN and CBN
and their campuses

I also recall a time also when I was told there was going to be a Christian television network that would be on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  At the time, as a young believer I thought Wow that was incredible. There were at least two of these networks, and though they are still on the air, they too have put God in their own little box and are serving up their own brand of Christianity to us. In my opinion they have become pathetic.

Another observation is that as the movement grew we were being peddled the latest new thing. For example some Christians and churches believed you had be be totally immersed to be baptized. Other churches merely sprinkled you with some water. I know of one denomination that had to immerse a new believer three times underwater before they received salvation. 

Baptism in the Ohio River

My first baptism occurred on the night I accepted Jesus at a Methodist church revival. I walked out the door, then came back and asked if I could be baptized. The pastor sprinkled me with some water.. A few months later at Spiritual Revolution Day my girlfriend (now my wife) and I went to the Ohio River and were baptized. Many years later when I thought about joining a church in a new city where I was working they demanded I be baptized again since there were no records.  I decided twice was enough and did not join. 

At this time in my life I find this to be inconsequential. I am sad that there are churches and denomination that dwell on such points. 

Speaking In Tongues

Another event that arose out of that era, although not new, was speaking and praying in tongues. It grew in popularity for a while and became quite controversial for those that opposed the practice due to their interpretation of scripture. It caused derision within Christianity, which is never a good thing. And that is a shame. I am of the opinion that we need to work out our own salvation and follow the path on which God leads us. Why do we dwell on the minutiae? Behold how good and how pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Azuza Street Gospel Mission
 Where The
Charismatic Movement Began 

Perhaps it was the emphasis of speaking in tongues that lead many people from The Jesus Movement to The Charismatic Movement. Although actually The Charismatic Movement actually had it's start during the Third Great Awakening and the Azuza Street Revival in 1906. I believe the new Charismatic Movement possibly signaled the end of The Jesus Movement. It is sad that this a division over speaking in tongues quite possibly fractured The Jesus Movement and our First Love. But I believe other factors were involved, including the fact that most of us just matured in our lives and in our faith.

Spiritual Revolution Day
Cincinnati 1971

But that is OK. For those of us who lived and participated in The Jesus Movement we enjoyed the blessing of that time by celebrating our second birth and childhood in The Spirit of The Lord. We then grew up to become adults. We were all quite young at the time. Hopefully the seed fell on good soil and blossomed and we still feel called to be Christians and trust God's Word.  I have always been sad that my children did not get to experience the joys of that time. 

Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit

 

Excerpted from an article in Brain Picking written by Maria Popova.  She wrote it, and I am sharing it for your edification.

In view of the fact that we are in the midst of the "Silly Season" aka presidential elections, I think it appropriate to post Carl Sagan's 9 Rules for Bull-shit busting and Baloney Detection.

In his book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, he states, "Through their training, scientists are equipped with what Sagan calls a “baloney detection kit” — a set of cognitive tools and techniques that fortify the mind against penetration by falsehoods: The kit is brought out as a matter of course whenever new ideas are offered for consideration. If the new idea survives examination by the tools in our kit, we grant it warm, although tentative, acceptance. If you’re so inclined, if you don’t want to buy baloney even when it’s reassuring to do so, there are precautions that can be taken; there’s a tried-and-true, consumer-tested method."

Sagan goes stating, "The kit, isn’t merely a tool of science — rather, it contains invaluable tools of healthy skepticism that apply just as elegantly, and just as necessarily, to everyday life. By adopting the kit, we can all shield ourselves against clueless guile and deliberate manipulation." 

Now that we are rapidly approaching the culmination of the election season and subsequent manipulation of the media's version of reality, I thought it might be worthwhile to present Dr. Sagan's method of detecting falsehoods, half-truths, and essential horse pucky that we are being fed from all sides.

So here are Sagan's rules for critical thinking in a world of deceit, baloney that can be utilized when evaluating candidates, religious leaders and pundits that would make P.T. Barnum proud.

1. Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts.”

2. Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.

3. Arguments from authority carry little weight — “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.

4. Spin more than one hypothesis. If there’s something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each of the alternatives. What survives, the hypothesis that resists disproof in this Darwinian selection among “multiple working hypotheses,” has a much better chance of being the right answer than if you had simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy.

5. Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it’s yours. It’s only a way station in the pursuit of knowledge. Ask yourself why you like the idea. Compare it fairly with the alternatives. See if you can find reasons for rejecting it. If you don’t, others will.

6. Quantify. If whatever it is you’re explaining has some measure, some numerical quantity attached to it, you’ll be much better able to discriminate among competing hypotheses. What is vague and qualitative is open to many explanations. Of course there are truths to be sought in the many qualitative issues we are obliged to confront, but finding them is more challenging. If there’s a chain of argument, every link in the chain must work (including the premise) — not just most of them.

7. Occam’s Razor. This convenient rule-of-thumb urges us when faced with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well to choose the simpler.

9. Always ask whether the hypothesis can be, at least in principle, falsified. Propositions that are untestable, unfalsifiable are not worth much. Consider the grand idea that our Universe and everything in it is just an elementary particle — an electron, say — in a much bigger Cosmos. But if we can never acquire information from outside our Universe, is not the idea incapable of disproof? You must be able to check assertions out. Inveterate skeptics must be given the chance to follow your reasoning, to duplicate your experiments and see if they get the same result.

Just as important as learning these helpful tools, however, is unlearning and avoiding the most common pitfalls of common sense. Reminding us of where society is most vulnerable to those, Sagan writes:

"In addition to teaching us what to do when evaluating a claim to knowledge, any good baloney detection kit must also teach us what not to do. It helps us recognize the most common and perilous fallacies of logic and rhetoric. Many good examples can be found in religion and politics, because their practitioners are so often obliged to justify two contradictory propositions."

He admonishes against the twenty most common and perilous ones — many rooted in our chronic discomfort with ambiguity — with examples of each in action:






ad hominem — Latin for “to the man,” attacking the arguer and not the argument (e.g., The Reverend Dr. Smith is a known Biblical fundamentalist, so her objections to evolution need not be taken seriously)

argument from authority (e.g., President Richard Nixon should be re-elected because he has a secret plan to end the war in Southeast Asia — but because it was secret, there was no way for the electorate to evaluate it on its merits; the argument amounted to trusting him because he was President: a mistake, as it turned out)

argument from adverse consequences (e.g., A God meting out punishment and reward must exist, because if He didn’t, society would be much more lawless and dangerous — perhaps even ungovernable. Or: The defendant in a widely publicized murder trial must be found guilty; otherwise, it will be an encouragement for other men to murder their wives)

appeal to ignorance — the claim that whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa (e.g., There is no compelling evidence that UFOs are not visiting the Earth; therefore UFOs exist — and there is intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. Or: There may be seventy kazillion other worlds, but not one is known to have the moral advancement of the Earth, so we’re still central to the Universe.) This impatience with ambiguity can be criticized in the phrase: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

special pleading, often to rescue a proposition in deep rhetorical trouble (e.g., How can a merciful God condemn future generations to torment because, against orders, one woman induced one man to eat an apple? Special plead: you don’t understand the subtle Doctrine of Free Will. Or: How can there be an equally godlike Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in the same Person? Special plead: You don’t understand the Divine Mystery of the Trinity. Or: How could God permit the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — each in their own way enjoined to heroic measures of loving kindness and compassion — to have perpetrated so much cruelty for so long? Special plead: You don’t understand Free Will again. And anyway, God moves in mysterious ways.)

begging the question, also called assuming the answer (e.g., We must institute the death penalty to discourage violent crime. But does the violent crime rate in fact fall when the death penalty is imposed? Or: The stock market fell yesterday because of a technical adjustment and profit-taking by investors — but is there any independent evidence for the causal role of “adjustment” and profit-taking; have we learned anything at all from this purported explanation?)

observational selection, also called the enumeration of favorable circumstances, or as the philosopher Francis Bacon described it, counting the hits and forgetting the misses (e.g., A state boasts of the Presidents it has produced, but is silent on its serial killers)

statistics of small numbers — a close relative of observational selection (e.g., “They say 1 out of every 5 people is Chinese. How is this possible? I know hundreds of people, and none of them is Chinese. Yours truly.” Or: “I’ve thrown three sevens in a row. Tonight I can’t lose.”)

misunderstanding of the nature of statistics (e.g., President Dwight Eisenhower expressing astonishment and alarm on discovering that fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence);

inconsistency (e.g., Prudently plan for the worst of which a potential military adversary is capable, but thriftily ignore scientific projections on environmental dangers because they’re not “proved.” Or: Attribute the declining life expectancy in the former Soviet Union to the failures of communism many years ago, but never attribute the high infant mortality rate in the United States (now highest of the major industrial nations) to the failures of capitalism. Or: Consider it reasonable for the Universe to continue to exist forever into the future, but judge absurd the possibility that it has infinite duration into the past);

non sequitur — Latin for “It doesn’t follow” (e.g., Our nation will prevail because God is great. But nearly every nation pretends this to be true; the German formulation was “Gott mit uns”). Often those falling into the non sequitur fallacy have simply failed to recognize alternative possibilities;

post hoc, ergo propter hoc — Latin for “It happened after, so it was caused by” (e.g., Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila: “I know of … a 26-year-old who looks 60 because she takes [contraceptive] pills.” Or: Before women got the vote, there were no nuclear weapons) meaningless question (e.g., What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? But if there is such a thing as an irresistible force there can be no immovable objects, and vice versa)

meaningless question (e.g., What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? But if there is such a thing as an irresistible force there can be no immovable objects, and vice versa)

excluded middle, or false dichotomy — considering only the two extremes in a continuum of intermediate possibilities (e.g., “Sure, take his side; my husband’s perfect; I’m always wrong.” Or: “Either you love your country or you hate it.” Or: “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”)

short-term vs. long-term — a subset of the excluded middle, but so important I’ve pulled it out for special attention (e.g., We can’t afford programs to feed malnourished children and educate pre-school kids. We need to urgently deal with crime on the streets. Or: Why explore space or pursue fundamental science when we have so huge a budget deficit?);

slippery slope, related to excluded middle (e.g., If we allow abortion in the first weeks of pregnancy, it will be impossible to prevent the killing of a full-term infant. Or, conversely: If the state prohibits abortion even in the ninth month, it will soon be telling us what to do with our bodies around the time of conception); *NOTE: These are Sagan's thoughts, not mine as I believe abortion is wrong.

confusion of correlation and causation (e.g., A survey shows that more college graduates are homosexual than those with lesser education; therefore education makes people gay. Or: Andean earthquakes are correlated with closest approaches of the planet Uranus; therefore — despite the absence of any such correlation for the nearer, more massive planet Jupiter — the latter causes the former)

straw man — caricaturing a position to make it easier to attack (e.g., Scientists suppose that living things simply fell together by chance — a formulation that willfully ignores the central Darwinian insight, that Nature ratchets up by saving what works and discarding what doesn’t. Or — this is also a short-term/long-term fallacy — environmentalists care more for snail darters and spotted owls than they do for people)

suppressed evidence, or half-truths (e.g., An amazingly accurate and widely quoted “prophecy” of the assassination attempt on President Reagan is shown on television; but — an important detail — was it recorded before or after the event? Or: These government abuses demand revolution, even if you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Yes, but is this likely to be a revolution in which far more people are killed than under the previous regime? What does the experience of other revolutions suggest? Are all revolutions against oppressive regimes desirable and in the interests of the people?)

weasel words (e.g., The separation of powers of the U.S. Constitution specifies that the United States may not conduct a war without a declaration by Congress. On the other hand, Presidents are given control of foreign policy and the conduct of wars, which are potentially powerful tools for getting themselves re-elected. Presidents of either political party may therefore be tempted to arrange wars while waving the flag and calling the wars something else — “police actions,” “armed incursions,” “protective reaction strikes,” “pacification,” “safeguarding American interests,” and a wide variety of “operations,” such as “Operation Just Cause.” Euphemisms for war are one of a broad class of reinventions of language for political purposes. Talleyrand said, “An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public”)

Sagan concludes with a necessary disclaimer:

"Like all tools, the baloney detection kit can be misused, applied out of context, or even employed as a rote alternative to thinking. But applied judiciously, it can make all the difference in the world — not least in evaluating our own arguments before we present them to others."

Julianne O'Hara - My Little Sister - September 1, 1954 - July 30 2020

My sister Julianne O’Hara passed away on the morning of July 30th. She had spent three hours in surgery the previous day to repair a hiatal hernia. She was in great spirits on the night after the surgery, and was talking and laughing with her sister-in-law. And even this morning she was alert. However at around 9 am a nurse checked on her and found her to be unresponsive. Julie was coded, but she never came back.

I called her Julianne, but to her friends, of which she had so many, she was known as Julie, Miss Julie, "Owie" or "Ohie", and Aunt Julie. She was indeed a terrific Aunt, and never forgot birthdays. She loved to see her nieces perform in musicals.

Every year at Christmas she got her mother tickets to The Showboat, which was an old ship that was docked on the edge of the Ohio River. It had been converted into a theater. The staff at The Showboat actually came to know Julie and Mom by name.

Julie is one of a few people I know that kept in close touch with many of her childhood friends and class mates. They all got together several times a year for a reunion. Just last week she and her friend took a drive through the old neighborhood to recall those good days before going to the hospital.

Julie (or Miss Julie) spent her entire life teaching daycare in Newport and Ft. Thomas, and I bet she took care of many of your children when they were in her care. When she was much younger, she spent a lot of time each May putting together musical plays for the four years old kid’s preschool graduation.

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that she is gone. I am going to miss her laugh, and sweet spirit. I am sure she would want you all to know how much she loved you all and appreciated your friendship. I will sure miss my sister.

I am preparing to go the funeral home today, August 2nd, 2020, as I write this remembrance. We will all say good-bye and talk about the times we had with her. Tomorrow she will be laid to rest at the cemetery. I wish this did not happen. She was so full of life and laughter and should have been able to live another 20 years

Good-bye Sis.

She signed her letters and cards with this hand drawn emoji: