Just as the Asbury Christian Revival is winding down, the message of Jesus and salvation is staging another huge comeback as the Kelsey Grammer film “Jesus Revolution” hits theaters nationwide this weekend.
Believers, including one of the film’s directors, are saying that the timing is more than just mere coincidence. Indeed, he shared in an interview that the serendipitous timing reveals a “divine hand” aiding with the timing of a serious religious comeback in America.
“For years, we’ve been working on this story. We almost got it made, and then COVID got it shut down,” co-director Joe Erwin said. “I just think there’s a divine hand on the timing of the film. And the reason we made it was … the thing that we’ve said for years is, if it happened then, it can happen now. If it happened once, it can happen again.”
Erwin shared that he had traveled to Asbury to witness the incredible revival for himself.
“It felt just like the scenes of the movie, like it felt identical, just the emotion of it, which was why we made the movie,” he said. “I just want it to feel awakening, a little bit; renewal, a little bit. And you felt it in that room.”
Breitbart News wrote that the film stars Cheers and Frasier alum Kelsey Grammer stars in the film. Grammar has recently been candid and outspoken about his life-long faith and belief in God.
Starring Kelsey Grammer, Jesus Revolution tells the true story of pastor Chuck Smith (Grammer) who welcomed hippies into his traditional congregation at the height of the Jesus movement in California during the 70s. Lionsgate is opening the movie nationwide Friday after holding special screenings on Ash Wednesday.
Speaking to Fox News, Grammar spoke about the role he was taking on and that, in some ways, it was different because he felt like he’d been preparing for it his whole life.
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“It strikes me, you know, I probably have been preparing for [this role] all my life, honestly. It was a pretty seamless transition into playing Chuck,” he said.
“I’m kind of a Bible guy. I’ve been reading the Bible all my life. I turn to it for prayer, for reflection, for information, and I just always have. It’s just always been sort of at my fingertips throughout my life, ever since I was a boy,” he added.
“So I have a relationship with the Word of God, as they call it, that it was probably akin to what Chuck Smith’s relationship was with it,” Grammar stated.
Grammar continued, even hoping that the film would appeal to both believers and non-believers alike. Addressing the latter, he acknowledged that the film might even show them what is possible with a faith-filled life.
“There might be something to it, might be something to this movement that happened then, and maybe it’s worthwhile to think about … the way we’re positioned in terms of faith and society. A great society can embrace a great faith, and probably enhance both. That’s what I’d like to see happen.”
See the film’s powerful trailer below:
The film’s official website promotes that film as telling the true story of a 1970s pastor who sought to spread the word of God to the greater American culture.
“In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is searching for all the right things in all the wrong places: until he meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher. Together with Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), they open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and newfound love, leading to what TIME Magazine dubbed a JESUS REVOLUTION.”
Feature image: Screen shot from embedded YouTube video, Lionsgate