Encounter at Tahquitz

We just spoke recently at a conference out in the desert in Palm Springs on the Jesus People Revival and Lonnie Frisbee’s impact in that move of God. We also had an awesome time sharing about all the retreats and radical times we had experienced with Lonnie in the desert also in Palm Springs back when it was a regular haunt for the group of us that were hanging out and hanging on everything Lonnie was doing in those days.

After this conference some of us took a hike up to Tahquitz Canyon, the place where Lonnie had his radical vision and encounter with God that became intimately connected with the Jesus People Revival.

When we finally got up to the top, at the little crystal pool where the waterfall flows down into the canyon, we happened to run into a few other hikers. It turned into a divine appointment as Mercedes and I began to witness to these hikers. After sharing the gospel with them for a bit, we ended leading a young lady to the Lord there and then praying for her friend, who was saved already, but who told us she was seeking the filling of the Spirit. It was quite a wild day already, but leading someone to the Lord and praying for her friend for the filling of the Spirit right in the spot where Lonnie had his vision and encounter with Jesus, was something truly supernatural and prophetic.

The Lord then also brought back to my memory a dream both myself and Patrick had in France the night after we had a car accident (a clear attack of the enemy). We both happened to dream the same thing on the same night. In our dreams, we both saw ourselves going up a mountain to a waterfall and there the Lord met us and began to intimately speak to us.

A little later on after praying with those hikers, I jumped under the cascading water coming down in the waterfall and then, suddenly, the power of God struck me and reminded me of the dream and showed me that this was the actual place in the dream I had seen—needless to say, there was quite the encounter with God under that waterfall as the Lord met me in quite a “refreshing” way. Being under the waterfall that you saw in a dream getting hammered by the power of God after a divine appointment where you were just leading one person to the Lord and another into the baptism of the Holy Spirit up in a canyon where one of the major leaders of two revivals encountered Jesus does have that “refreshing” effect –Glory!!

A Little Background...

Well, for those unaware, Lonnie was used radically in the Jesus People Revival. The Jesus People Revival is a real study in missiology, as Chuck Smith let go of entrenched cultural church traditions—to the scorn of many other leaders in that day—and opened up to contemporary music styles, modern forms of dress and language, and most importantly, connected via divine appointment with a Hippie named Lonnie Frisbee who not only was able to speak in the language and style of the Hippie subculture but was endowed with the power of God. Lonnie preached in the cadence of the Hippie people in a way that they could hear and relate to the Gospel message he was bringing, and both he and Chuck Smith found themselves falling headlong into a radical revival that eventually would extend out to other nations. A second wave of that revival emerged in a later context in the 80's in what would later become the Vineyard. This was yet again another missiological move towards contemporary music and styles “a la 1980's” to reach the culture of that time, which was connected with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that began under Lonnie's preaching at what was originally was called Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda—later to become known as the Anaheim Vineyard. John Wimber’s book Power Evangelism (pages 23-27) notes his very first power encounter ever with the power of God as a time when a young man—Lonnie Frisbee—preached at his church (the famed and well-reported Mother’s Day service) and a radical outpouring of the Spirit took place. Wimber’s four subsequent books after this “power encounter” all begin with the word “Power” and his whole ministry was marked by equipping the saints to operate in the power of God; thus, Frisbee’s influence on Wimber can be said to be no less than massive!

I was blessed to be involved in both movements, Calvary and Vineyard, and see the importance and impact of God's power and how essential and biblically central it is to the Christian life, as well as to learn how important the impact of contextualizing the Gospel without compromising the message is.

I encountered “the Frisbeen” at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and later was baptized in the Holy Spirit through Lonnie's ministry at the then Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda—later to become Anaheim Vineyard. Later we were able to experience even more and learn many things hanging out with Lonnie, a historically significant figure in regards to evangelism and the power of God of our time. It was truly a blessing to spend all those times in that blazing hot desert in Palm Springs and get to listen to Lonnie teach sometimes for hours on end on the importance of learning to walk in the power of the Spirit.

One of the craziest things happened on a hike up to Tahquitz when I was walking ahead of Lonnie and found half an old Bible buried in the sand; Lonnie found the other half a few moments later and began to lay out some prophecies over me. I told Lonnie later, "I thought we were going up that canyon for a hike. Instead, I end up rolling around in the dirt when I was struck by the power of God when you gave me those prophetic words." Wow, what an experience it was, hanging out with someone who had been used so powerfully in two major revivals!!

To get a little overview of Frisbee's ministry click here: http://www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html

Old Photo with "the Frisbeen" back in the day

"Keep your eyes on the prize"