The Children of God

The Lord had predicted in January of 1968, regarding the message: “The Lord gave the Word: Great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11). Though this great company of publishers was mainly themselves, they had also experienced help in publishing the Lord’s message from small secular companies in a small degree from the very beginning (local radio, television and news coverage). But beginning in 1971, it seemed that the major media were falling all over themselves in an effort to publicize them to the world. NBC national television was the first.

Arriving in early December, a television crew from NBC’s “First Tuesday” documentary program spent three weeks filming colonies in L.A., TSC, and Cincinnati. The producers had originally planned to present the Children of God along with other Jesus People groups in its January 5, 1971 airing, but the film of the other groups turned out bad. All they were left with was the COG, who “stole the show”—all 45 minutes of it, on prime-time nationwide television!

The reaction to the show was so tremendous that NBC made up dozens of film copies of the program to sell at $300.00 a film to those who requested it—educational institutions, church groups, clubs, etc. Some responded that they would supply housing if the COG would just come and start something in their town like they had seen on television. As a result, within the next couple of months, new colonies had been established in Detroit, San Diego, and Merkle and Zion, Texas.

The ranks began to swell with truth seekers who had seen the program. One boy, Gaius, who saw the show at the University of Detroit where he was a student, said, “Something about them turned me on and I became determined to find them.” He packed some clothes in his car and headed out to find the Children of God, even though all he knew about where to find them was that they lived somewhere in Texas—but Texas is BIG! He drove his car around the state for five days with a sign on the car saying: “Children of God, where are you?” Finally finding out from a church pastor that they were located near Thurber, he immediately drove up. He received Jesus, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and joined on the day he arrived, the first of over 50 who joined as a direct result of the show, and of hundreds who joined from the repercussions of it!

Another consequence of the NBC show was that it focused the rest of the media’s spotlight on the Jesus Revolution, broadcasting the message far and wide. In the one week of January 25, the COG was on three live television shows, one of which was seen in 15 states on the East Coast, and two hours of nationwide CBS radio. Then “Look” magazine, in its February 9, 1971, issue, did an article entitled, “The Jesus Movement Is Upon Us,” and the February issue of “Nova” magazine carried the Jesus Revolution to Britain with a large, multi-pictured article entitled “Turn on to Jesus, Baby”.

Even “Rolling Stone,” the international rock music magazine, did their bit, dutifully reporting on a Children of God conversion in a full-page article that rocked the rock world: “Fleetwood Mac Stolen Away”! The instigator of this incident was Apollos, who was witnessing on Hollywood Boulevard and stopped a diminutive young man with a bird-nest hair style, velvet suit, and snakeskin boots. Apollos’ friendly offer to play a song for him was brushed aside, but he followed him down the street, persisting until the young man finally relented. It took only a few songs and convicting scriptures and preaching for him to decide to pray right then and there with Apollos to receive Jesus.

That young man was Jeremy Spencer, who had just flown in to L.A. the day before with his group, Fleetwood Mac. They were two weeks into their sixth American tour and were supposed to perform that night at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go on Sunset Strip.

Jeremy had just stepped out of his plush hotel to go browsing in a Sunset Strip bookstore. He never went back to his hotel—neither did he show up for the evening’s gig. Instead, in what one rock magazine later dubbed “one of the most bizarre episodes in rock history,” he was back at the Skid Row mission, singing at evening inspiration with all his new brothers and sisters and having, as he said, “all my questions answered by the Bible”.

Among those he had left behind, Jeremy’s departure caused no small stir. As “Rolling Stone” reported:

That Monday, the band remembered, he (Jeremy) had left the Hotel Hawaiian, just blocks away from Hollywood and Vine. It was about 2 p.m. when he left, bags still unpacked, to go to the grocery store with some $200 in his pocket. He never returned…

Fleetwood cancelled opening night and club owner Elmer Valentine, along with people from Warner Bros., employees at the British Consulate, and finally the police, joined the band’s managers in searching for the guitarist.

Quite a search party! Jeremy said later that he should have phoned; his mysterious disappearance generated pages of articles in underground magazines and newspapers – and every paper was a witness, with Jeremy’s example encouraging more kids to “drop out” for Jesus!

And dropping out they were! By March 1971, only one year after the bedraggled group of 120 Gospel Gypsies had pulled into TSC, the ranks had grown to over 500 full-time disciples, who had won thousands to faith in Christ, started seven colonies, and burst into national and international headlines with their sample of actually living God’s love. The Children of God were on their way—into a year that would see hundreds of them being evicted from all the Jordan properties and scandalized in the press, but a year that was going to be their best yet!