HIPPIE GOSPEL

Thinking of Larry Norman’s music after his death yesterday brings back memories for me. In the early 1970’s I worked with high school kids through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. I lived in Florida and spent the summers at Crusade headquarters in California. It was the peak of the hippie era.

While in California I became friends with a guy and two gals who enjoyed sharing their faith. We would go down to San Bernardino and Los Angeles and meet kids on the streets.

On one trip to Sunset Strip we met Arthur Blessitt. Arthur had chained himself to a cross on the sidewalk after he had been evicted from a building hosting his Christian coffeehouse. Over the years Arthur has carried the cross all over the world while he shares his faith. http://www.blessitt.com

The Californina streets were my first exposure to the drug culture, with “reds” and “acid” easily available. We turned kids on to Jesus and saw them experience a real spiritual “high” far better than any counterfeit experience with chemical substances.

With other friends I went to the Watts area in LA (a few years after the horrible racial riots) where we went door to door witnessing. On other occasions we had outings to places like Newport Beach where we sat in the sand and shared Jesus.

Rock festivals were a big thing in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Sometimes promoters offered free passes to Christians like me who would come share their faith. It seemed one of their motivations was a public relations attempt to cool the anger of those opposed to the invasion of “druggies.”

Performers at the June 1969 Newport Rock Festival in California included Jimi Hendrix, The Animals, Joe Cocker, Ike & Tina Turner, Creedence Clearwater, Jethro Tull, Marvin Gaye, Three Dog Night, Booker T and the MGs, Byrds, and the Rascals.


I came to share the “good news” and I was shocked by what I saw. It looked like many of the 50,000+ people were stoned out of their minds. Crowds knocked down chain link fences and some climbed on the stage. It was so gross to me seeing a guy full of drugs drawing blood out of his arm with a syringe and drinking it again to repeat the high.

Another big rock festival I attended was the Palm Beach Rock Festival in Florida on Thanksgiving weekend 1969. Among the musicians were Johnny Winter, Grand Funk, Iron Butterfly, King Crimson, Jefferson Airplane, PG&E, Rolling Stones, Vanilla Fudge, and Janis Joplin.

I remember meeting Glenn Schwartz from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG & E). Their biggest song was “Are You Ready?” Glenn impressed me. Like me he was a fairly new Christian. In between sets of his own band, he was out in the crowd sharing his faith in Christ.



I sorta wish I still had photos of me in my “hippie gear.” I for one, though, am glad that era ended. Yet I do need again that kind of passion to tell the good news of Jesus!