Fifty years ago, Christian revival sparked during the Jesus People Movement. Aiming to fuel the flame of the same type of revival, Biola University will host a new annual Bible conference — the Ablaze Conference — on October 7-9.
Biola’s Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today, in partnership with the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, will host Ablaze featuring plenary speakers, workshops, worship and a special reunion concert from musical artists from the Jesus People Movement.
“Can the Holy Spirit do this again? YES! Some may be skeptical at this answer, but I propose you consider looking to the past for inspiration and into the future with aspiration,” said Oscar Merlo, director of the Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today. “Our Savior can do it again, regardless of our race or background, in the contexts of universities, in students, in our churches and in our lives and to compel us to pursue a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”
During the Jesus People Movement of the 1960s, the Holy Spirit provoked a spiritual awakening all across Southern California. Arising from the counterculture of the late 1960s, a resurgence of evangelical Christianity became known as the Jesus People Movement, or just the Jesus Movement, which heavily influenced churches and the Christian music industry. In his book “God’s Forever Family,” author Larry Eskridge says “the Jesus People Movement is one of the most significant American religious phenomena of the postwar period.”
The Ablaze Conference (www.biola.edu/ablaze-conference) hopes to fuel the same type of revival movement that happened six decades ago.
In addition, the documentary film “The Jesus Music” is scheduled to open on October 1. It traces the history of Jesus music from its humble beginnings at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Calif, through its transformation into the multi-billion-dollar industry of contemporary Christian music today.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice