God's Forever Family

The Jesus People Movement in America

By: Larry Eskridge

Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray

Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The Jesus People movement was a unique combination of the hippie counterculture and evangelical Christianity. It first appeared in the famed "Summer of Love" of 1967, in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, and spread like wildfire in Southern California and beyond, to cities like Seattle, Atlanta, and Milwaukee. In 1971 the growing movement found its way into the national media spotlight and gained momentum, attracting a huge new following among evangelical church youth, who enthusiastically adopted the Jesus People persona as their own. Within a few years, however, the movement disappeared and was largely forgotten by everyone but those who had filled its ranks.

God's Forever Family argues that the Jesus People movement was one of the most important American religious movements of the second half of the 20th-century. Not only do such new and burgeoning evangelical groups as Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard trace back to the Jesus People, but the movement paved the way for the huge Contemporary Christian Music industry and the rise of "Praise Music" in the nation's churches. More significantly, it revolutionized evangelicals' relationship with youth and popular culture. Larry Eskridge makes the case that the Jesus People movement not only helped create a resurgent evangelicalism but must be considered one of the formative powers that shaped American youth in the late 1960s and 1970s.

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Flashback to my earliest days as a believer.

God's Forever Family captures a unique time in American Christianity - the triumphs, the failures, the merits and the flaws. I loved this book, and it honestly made me long for the simple days when it was all about Jesus - no politics, no hype, no performance based expectations. Jesus loves me, God's judgement is coming, Jesus is coming soon! Simple faith for a very difficult time.

Seems like we need a new Jesus movement!

Nostalgic and informative, but poorly performed.

Having lived through the Jesus People Movement in my high school years, this book brought back, refreshed, and filled the gaps in my memories of a period that, in retrospect, defined me. Though I was saddened to relive the demise of the movement, the legacy of those incredible times continues to inspire me to this day. I was amazed to realize just how much of my half-century of lived experience since high school was a result of the Jesus People Movement.

Unfortunately, I found the reader to be unprofessional and unprepared. His mispronounced reading of proper names of well-known places was inexcusable. Much of what happened in this book took place in Marin County, California (not MARin), an incorrect pronunciation that was repeated over and over again. I can't even duplicate the sound salad he repeatedly tossed out for "Koine," the language in which the New Testament was written.

A running theme of the book was the story of Calvary Chapel. That name appears dozens and dozens of times throughout the text. Sometimes, he pronounced it correctly as "CALvary." Mostly, he pronounced it, "CAValry." The former is a place in Israel; the latter is a military group of horsemen.

The misprounced words were so ubiquitous and annoying, I stopped listening and just bought the physical book to finish reading it.

Overall, this is a well-researched and well-written book. Do yourself a favor: read this book--but don't listen to it.

Why couldn't they check the pronunciations?

The book was just as good as I expected. The narration would've been fine, if the narrator hadn't continually mispronounced names of town and cities, as well as numerous words that would be absolutely common in Jesus People culture. (Words like "koinonia," "agape," "Maranatha," "Shekinah," etc.) I wish someone had checked the pronunciations before they released the final recording.

A Groovy Happening

Would you consider the audio edition of God's Forever Family to be better than the print version?

If your life was touched by this movement or the music, you'll enjoy the story. It was an easy listen for me. So much so that I didn't mind running a few extra errands.

What did you like best about this story?

I was amazed at the depth of research the author provided to give us a detailed backstory of the Jesus Movement. This is not a light-weight, quick read.

What three words best describe Michael Butler Murray’s voice?

If you're from the West Coast, you'll have to forgive the many mispronunciations of places (Marin County, Spokane) as well as Bible words (Agape, Koinonia). It's not a big deal but over the course of a book it was distracting. It actually made me wonder if this was a text to voice production.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Don't do it! It's already been done and the results are always cheesy.

poor narration

most memorable moments were the multiple mispronounced names & words. could have been much better

Reader needed to do research

Calvary Chapel not Calvery Chapel. The reader continually read this word incorrect throughout the book.

Fantastic book; Flawed Narration

What did you love best about God's Forever Family?

I knew almost nothing about the Jesus People Movement before listening to this book, which I was interested in after seeing it recommended as Christianity Today's Book of the Year a few years back. It was a fascinating history, tracing the origins, evolution, and sustained impact of the Jesus People Movement.

What other book might you compare God's Forever Family to and why?

A similar history of American evangelicalism that I found interesting was Molly Worthen's "Apostles of Reason"

What didn’t you like about Michael Butler Murray’s performance?

While I would recommend the book strongly, I found the narration frustrating, mostly because several words were consistently mis-pronounced. Most notably (because the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California is one of the key institutions upon which the book focuses), the narrator consistently pronounced "Calvary" (as in, where Jesus Christ was crucified) as "Cavalry" (as in, soldiers on horses).

Other words were mis-pronounced as well that betrayed the reality that the narrator was not familiar with the content of the book.

Very good book, marred by narration

Well written, manageable history, with deeply incompetent pronunciation. Though clear and well paced, there were so many words mispronounced - from names of towns to common Christian terminology to everyday words - I was glad to be done with it. Fortunately the book held my interest. Don't use the narration as a guide for how to pronounce words.

The text itself is engaging, and the reader had decent rhythm. I felt the ending was a bit but abrupt, and expected more detail on the long term influence and gradual petering out of the movement. Still a worthwhile read, if you can get past the bewildering reading. If this subject is of interest to you, the narration will not stand in the way of your enjoyment. I listened with ease at 1.5 x.

Incredible detail about a very important movement

Incredible detail about a very important movement! I learn a lot about a great, historic moment in Christianity, that unless you lived it, you would miss.

Solid research. Decent writing. Dismal reading.

Larry Eskridge is an excellent historian. His research was thorough and his presentation engaging. The only problem with this audiobook is the lack of professionalism in the reader. He did not do his homework in learning pronunciations. He obviously is not for familiar with evangelicalism. The most egregious and grating example is his oft repeated mispronunciation of Calvary. Without fail, he pronounces it cavalry. Biblical names and even the names of books of the Bible are often mispronounced.