As thousands of people lined the stony pathways leading to Pirates Cove, an elderly man made his way down to the water to publicly express his commitment to the Lord. It was a moment the 85-year-old man’s family thought would never come, yet the eternal decision was made Saturday during a mass baptism hosted by Pastor Greg Laurie, an event that saw 4,500 people submerged in water over the course of a faith-filled day.
The event, inspired by “Jesus Revolution,” a hit film depicting events surrounding the Jesus movement of the late 1960s and 1970s — a time of spiritual transformation when young people, tired and desperate from a challenging culture, turned to Christ in droves. The film, among other powerful stories, weaves in Laurie’s journey from a lost young man experimenting with drugs and trying to find his way to a Christian, husband, and revered preacher. The film’s global impact continues to reverberate, with Saturday’s baptism drawing people from across the globe.
“At one point, the line really got slowed down because an older couple — the gentleman was 85 years old — was taking longer to get down the stairs,” Laurie told CBN’s Faithwire. “But when we met him, his story was so amazing because he watched the movie at 85 years old and accepted Jesus into his life.” Laurie said the man “was not a believer” before seeing the movie, but that he accepted Christ afterward, and then headed to Pirate’s Cove — the location Laurie himself was baptized as a young man — to publicly affirm his faith in Jesus.
“His family said, ‘We never. ever thought he would come to Christ,” Laurie said. The man is just one of many to be ministered to through “Jesus Revolution,” with great storytelling helping bring him along the path to better understand the Gospel message.