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Ivelisse Miranda-Wilson/Contributing Photographer Folks of faith gathered for prayer in the parking lot of Blairsville Cinema last week prior to viewing the movie Jesus Revolution. -
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Blairsville, Ga. – It all started with an invitation.
When Debbie Decker of Calvary Chapel Church in Murphy saw a preview for the upcoming movie, Jesus Revolution, she and a few friends wanted to check it out.
She wondered if other members of the church she attends would also be interested.
Decker asked the Rev. Trent Abling, her church’s pastor, what he thought and the two worked together to purchase 70 tickets hoping they would be able to sell them to church members.
The invitation went so well that at Blairsville Cinema, its Theater 1 could not accommodate such a large group. Decker asked for Theater 3, a larger auditorium that could hold their entire group. Because there were more seats available, she had to pay extra. Abling gave his OK and Decker bought the extra tickets.
Theater 1, meanwhile, had enough seats for members of Fellowship of the Hills Church in Blairsville, who were also interested in seeing the premiere. As for Theater 2, it would be used for Philadelphia Baptist Church in Blairsville, as well as church overflow and the general public.
On Feb. 22, about 330 folks from the different churches attended the Jesus Revolution movie premiere two days before its scheduled release to the public, filling the entire three-screen theater.
As folks arrived, they were invited to participate in a group prayer in the theater parking lot.
Jesus Revolution is about a hippie movement in the early ’70s in which drug using, barefooted, free-spirited youth were drawn together to find hope in something other than drugs. They found it in Jesus Christ.
As they invited others to join them and help spread the word of Jesus, their movement began to grow which started to include adults as well.
With the faith and support of Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, played by Kelsey Grammer, Greg Laurie’s vision to start his own church was born while still a young man, as played by Joel Courtney in the movie.
Laurie’s Bible study group of just 30 people grew into Harvest Christian Fellowship Church of about 15,000 people today, in which he is the senior pastor.
Marty Duncan, pastor of Fellowship of the Hills, said, “It’s obvious that the Lord has a spiritual revolution going on right now, and I believe it’s beginning to take place right here in Blairsville.”
Moviegoers appeared happy, praising God and enjoying the fellowship and evening out.
Nine-year-old moviegoer Jaylynn Anderson said, “I thought the movie was awesome and it showed the love of what Jesus has done for us.”
Decker, who purchased the tickets for Calvary Chapel, said, “The cinema people handled the crowd amazingly well. I think a lot of people were blessed and I hope it fans some flames.”
Calvary Chapel pastor Abling said with a big smile, “It’s awesome to see the body of Christ coming together like this. I’m so blessed.”