O.C. Uprising Looking a Bit Like the Jesus Movement of 40 Years Ago

Aimee Herd : Aug 26, 2011
Patrick Butler – ResonateNews.com

"There is just this sense that God is doing this and not man." -Pastor Bill Welsh

Patrick Butler, writing for Resonate News documents how a week of evangelistic tent meetings in Orange Co., California came about seemingly miraculously, as there was little to no planning involved and yet everything "fell into place."

When he'd heard about the Orange County Uprising taking place this week, Butler spoke to Calvary Chapel Beachside pastor Mike Harris about the event that was taking place in the same area where the Jesus Movement caught on like wildfire.

According to Harris, it began when "Circuit Riders" from Hawaii and Denver "showed up" about a month ago asking about a meeting place and housing for 200 people who would be coming there in 4 weeks. They specifically asked for a tent to hold the meetings in.

Harris told them it would be next to impossible since there had been no prior planning with the city, and the city regulations would not allow it.

But when Harris received a letter two weeks later from a man in prison he'd not spoken with for three years, telling him of a dream he'd had, the pastor realized God was getting his attention.

Harris described what the man had told him, "He woke up at three in the morning and said, 'I had a dream and I need to write to you and say you're supposed to get involved with something evangelistic. And I saw a tent in my dream.'"

He shared the letter with his congregation and people began to get on board.

Another pastor, Bill Welsh, of Refuge Calvary Chapel church in Huntington Beach noted, "What they wanted wasn't possible, but here we are tonight with 200 people and the Gospel going out into the streets."

"There is just this sense that God is doing this and not man," Welsh added.

In another article, Patrick Butler compares and contrasts The Uprising to the Jesus Movement of the late 60's—early 70's, and to The Response—a prayer meeting called by Gov. Rick Perry and held last month in Texas where some 30,000 people attended.

"The Uprising is already different from The Response. This is not a call to the state's churches to bring Believers out for prayer and repentance as the Texas Response was. The Uprising is not heavily advertised in Sunday bulletins or CCM radio outlets," says Butler.

"The Uprising is a passionate outreach for life as it was in 1971; to those sullenly sitting on the beaches of Orange County or surrounding sun-soaked spots and invite them to come to a tent meeting located on Huntington Beach. For those not familiar with Orange County or the Jesus Movement, this is a classic archetypal set-up and certain to stir up lots of memories from long-time residents. There are thousands still living here touched by the Jesus Movement and need a big breath of fresh air—especially here in Orange County, where many still believe that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.

"The result 40 years ago was the changing of a generation at risk from drugs, directionless despair and outright self-destruction. As it was back then, it is now; a generation is at risk, and once again we need God to get us out of it."

Read more on The Uprising from the source link provided.