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The Jesus Hippie Movement


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So does anyone think the Jesus hippie movement was a movement of/by God ?

My first gut level on this was "wow - I don't know".

I mean for sure it was a movement of hippies attracted to the love in the Bible and centered around the Bible. The stories I've read are real genuine. And for sure if someone reaches out to God He is there for them and responds.

Accounts I've read that touch on TWI are the Heefner/Doop stories, which by all accounts sound like something genuine that VP rode in on and usurped putting his less spiritual Corps grads in charge and replacing them. So no, that part was a movement by VP, not God.

So to me maybe this isn't a black and white answer to the question.

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Yes, there are people who think this.

My personal opinion is that the Jesus hippie movement was a cultural reaction to current events and conditions of a turbulent era..

I also think the answer isn't "yes/no" and that's it.

I think there was definitely something of God in people being drawn to God and choosing to

embrace peace rather than hate or violence.

I think the cultural zeitgeist paved the way for that, and lots of youths looked in lots

of directions for their answers. Some found them in drugs, some in no-strings sex or

drugs, some in Eastern philosophies, some in permutations of some or all of the above.

I also think that some of the kids who dabbled in those brought that with them when they

became "Jesus People" and so on, which is why, ultimately, I can't UNRESERVEDLY just say

"yes" when pointing to them.

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Interesting topic......I definitely remember the movement. There is a group called the JESUS PEOPLE based in Chicago that came out of the Jesus movement I think in Michigan. They live in a 10 story building...and you can read about it on internet. It has many "Old" hippies in it. Sounds like a group similar to TWI.....but, I have never been there (don't intend to go) so my information is only what I have gleaned from other people and over internet. I have met Glen Kaisner and heard him play and sing. And he is very talented and one of the pastos there. This group sponsors the Cornerstone Music Festival every year in July in Central IL.......Everyone tents out, all kinds of music going on....and thousands come for it every year.

They have Pastors, elders, etc and etc......If you read anything on Internet, which you can't always believe, they believe in spanking....but not just children, but adults also. They have a lot of rules etc. Well, you can read for yourselves and see what you think.

But, I think many times different groups start with people who are truly seeking God....but ends up with authoritarian rulership and it has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with God. I see it as mankind becoming "God" for people instead of them having a relationship with God and following his guidance and lead. Christ becomes vanished as the head of the church. It's dangerous, it's damaging, it's evil at it's base. But you see it happening in ALOT of groups. Man can never be God for people, it's a system that fails every time.

We know the story, so many hurt, so many deceived, and on and on and on.

I am truly thankful, I do have God in my life and He is my God....not a man.

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Thanks Ex for the links and video....they were awesome!! I had never heard of Lonnie F.....but I can see in the interview with Katherine that he was bursting with joy, and the Word of God......

Seems like God used that era of time to "Wake up" religious people to see, God can work, can save, will save anyone, any where....It was a new freedom to having a relationship with God, not a strict, confined religious one. Isn't it too bad that VP went right out to CA, and NY and started drawing all of these young people away from the freedom they were experiencing and having?

Which brings me to say....how did it go back to groups like we have experienced and have known?

Listening to him speak really inspired me and even "woke" me up!

Thanks Ex for your posts....they were great!!!

I wish I knew some of those people that you talk about Doop, Hefner....and just the history of that era. You seem to know a lot...would you mind posting some of those things??

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vpw knew he was a fraud from the beginning, but he had the gift of gab, and could recognize

the real deal when he saw it.

The sad thing for him is...God works with us sinners and our faults all the time, and in spite

of our sins and faults all the time. If vpw had changed his heart, God could have worked

with him instead of vpw having to fake the entire relationship.

So, vpw saw an article on these new Christians, and immediately set out to subvert them.

He put forth that himself was some great one, and some of them- young and naive- didn't

consider the possibility that he might be lying through his teeth- and fell for it entirely.

So, he found them working for God, and, through small steps, got them working for HIM

and NOT God. So, he watered down their message and sold it as twi, and a LOT of people

joined twi for that and were indoctrinated into "it's pfal, it's twi" rather than what

really happened.

However, not all of them went along. There were still people in that movement that were

never derailed and subverted into twi. Too bad there were so many that WERE.

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newlife thank you. we have to find the thread about lonnie and haight ashbury. i know sunesis was a big part of that thread. maybe it was started around when jimmy died. i'm not sure.

i do agree with you wordwolf so much

and what the heck did i want to say? damn

oh yeah i have to find the manuscript jim sent me and i think i have a book called the house of acts

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Ex, did Jim ever print his manuscript or send it to publishers?

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newlife thank you. we have to find the thread about lonnie and haight ashbury. i know sunesis was a big part of that thread. maybe it was started around when jimmy died. i'm not sure.

i do agree with you wordwolf so much

and what the heck did i want to say? damn

oh yeah i have to find the manuscript jim sent me and i think i have a book called the house of acts

Is this it Excie?? - - - - > > > My link

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i will be in touch i know it's about time

Hi there Excie. If that was meant for me, fine. If you want to take your time before sending the manuscript, that's fine too. My friends that I used to work for in the printing business are still in business, and they have the folks there with the know how to do a book/ manuscript up right. Those guys (and gals) are great when it comes to page lay-out, graphics, and the final printing thereof, but they cheerfully admit that they suck when it comes to marketing the final product.

I'd be glad to toss in some of my own money (and I ain't got much, but I do have some "discretional cash") to help get this published in a format that could be easily copied and passed on from one person to another as the need arose, even in a "bulk printing". Learning is an exciting adventure. Time for folks to learn, eh? smile.gif Are there any legal limitations to getting Jim's manuscript published? He was a first hand witness to a lot of this, and his story of it all should have been told long ago. Better late than never. cool.gif

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Hi there Excie. If that was meant for me, fine. If you want to take your time before sending the manuscript, that's fine too. My friends that I used to work for in the printing business are still in business, and they have the folks there with the know how to do a book/ manuscript up right. Those guys (and gals) are great when it comes to page lay-out, graphics, and the final printing thereof, but they cheerfully admit that they suck when it comes to marketing the final product.

I'd be glad to toss in some of my own money (and I ain't got much, but I do have some "discretional cash") to help get this published in a format that could be easily copied and passed on from one person to another as the need arose, even in a "bulk printing". Learning is an exciting adventure. Time for folks to learn, eh? smile.gif Are there any legal limitations to getting Jim's manuscript published? He was a first hand witness to a lot of this, and his story of it all should have been told long ago. Better late than never. cool.gif

As to legal concerns, if it was Jim Doop's manuscript, ownership now rests with his estate or his heirs.

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  • 7 years later...
  • 1 month later...

I do believe the Jesus Movement was a revival of God.  Before Jimmy Dopp passed, I had been studying the "movement" and Lonnie Frisbee.  He was the man God used.  I don't care what he was or wasn't, he won thousands, he had a true ministry.  But I wanted to know more.  I wanted to talk to true men of God, those on par with (or maybe not totally) the Apostles of the first century.  I believe we had some of those people still living, who had been a part of this revival and I wanted to talk to some of them before they passed.  Excath was nice enough to arrange a phone call and an introduction to Jimmy Dopp for me.  I got in the Word in Rye, NY under the Heefners - my first hearing of the Word was Steve preaching in Tim Bishop's living room and I was electrified - why had no one told me this before???!!!  I was a high school Junior.  This is just background.

Anyway, I had been musing about the great apostles and men of the 1st century, true men of God who were given extrordinary apostolic power to preach the Word of God and Christ to the known world.  After learning about Lonnie I had to know more.  My brother-in-law from California knew Lonnie but couldn't tell me much.

After Exci connected me with Jimmy, we had several, for me, life changing conversations.  We'd talk until the early hours of the morning or until he fell asleep.  We connected and we had amazing conversations.  He told me of the House of Acts back then and how Lonnie had a little basement room.  You had to go through the living room to get to the stairs that led to Lonnie's room.  He said in the evening they'd be sitting there and kids would start walking through the living room, nodding good evening and just keep going, Lonnie would preach to 30, 40, 50 kids at a time and after it was over, would come upstairs and say, 30 people born again tonight! or 25 people, whatever the number, the man had a true ministry.  They witnessed to everyone in the Haight including Charlie (Manson) who they eventually had to kick out - LOL to Jimi Hendrix.  The Word spread like wildfire, then on to the rest of the country.  

VP read an article about this movement and hightailed it to SF.  He played the PFAL for Lonnie and I believe it was a person named Chuck Wise who was an older man who was a leader in the movement and worked with Lonnie and other "main players" in the movement.  Lonnie and Chuck said they would not be a part of it, but VP did get Heefners and others and invited the to the farm.  The rest is history for The Way.

VP was able to co-op a small section of this movement.  The rest didn't follow him.  This is all what JIm told me.  He was there.  He also hosted VP.  Also, while during the day the wives did things together, VP had Jimmy take him down to the porno movie houses in the Tenderloin district.  Jim thought this was very weird, but VP soon went back to Ohio and he didn't think too much about it.

I do believe the Jesus Movement was a true revival.  Those of us still living have hopefully tried to teach our children and grandchildren.  As long as we live, I do not think we will see another revival like that in our lifetimes.  That's enough for tonight.

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