"Every sin and idiosyncrasy of Lonnie's has been publicized””often without attention to chronology. The most embarrassing features of his life are those at the beginning of his Christian profession, and those into which he fell after the peak of his ministry. Lonnie was very flakey and unsophisticated. His personality was very much like that of a child””which may have caused God to delight in him.
His discovery of Jesus was independent of exposure to Christians or churches. He used drugs prior to his interest in Christ, and it was while he was on drugs that he came to believe in Jesus, whom he began to grasp through his private reading of scripture. He was professing faith in Jesus before he gave up his drugs and mysticism””largely because he did not know any Christians, and did not know the Bible well enough to know these were sinful.
He had struggled with homosexuality from childhood (having been molested by a male for many years in his youth), but, after being converted, he married Connie in a good faith attempt to live as a straight Christian. His marriage failed, but not (as I understand it) due to homosexuality, but because he, like many preachers, did not balance his commitments between ministry and marriage. My impression is that Connie divorced him, not vice versa””though I am not certain.
To my knowledge, he was never very balanced, though I have no doubt that he loved and sought to live for Jesus. He was thrust into celebrity status almost as soon as he was converted, and did more preaching than actual learning.
Eventually, after (it seemed to me) his ministry had crested and was on the decline, he experienced rejection from both of the movements that he had helped to establish, and he began to backslide. The testimonies of those who describe him partying on Saturday nights and preaching on Sunday mornings appear to be describing that season. He spent some years in this condition, but after getting AIDS, I believe he repented and died faithful to Christ. God alone knows his heart, but I have always been persuaded that the above summary is correct.
There are many people who were closer to him than I was, and who may be able to correct some aspects of this timeline. However, I have always believed that Lonnie's original commitment to Christ (or his understanding of its implications) was somewhat incremental in its development (as has often been the case, as with Apollos””Acts 18:25-26). Some of his earliest exposure to Christian ministries was to that of extreme Pentecostals, which obviously appealed to him.
His association with Chuck would have provided a balance to this, since Chuck was himself a "recovering Pentecostal," who rejected all extremism (except for in eschatology). Lonnie never really moved far in Chuck's direction concerning the moderation of Pentecostal practices. It is this fact, as I understand it, that caused a rift between Chuck and, both, Lonnie and John Wimber.
In the heyday of the Jesus Movement, I believe, Lonnie was a true Christian, who never acquired much balance, before he slipped back into sinful behavior. It is difficult for an outside observer (like the maker of the video), decades later, to look objectively at that season during which God really brought forth much fruit from Lonnie's ministry. In retrospect, his failures loom too large to see much of anything else clearly.
The founding of the Calvary Chapel Jesus Movement occurred, I believe, in that time when Lonnie was at his best as a Christian. He was weak, however, and did not last long in his struggles against the world, the flesh and the devil.
Some of his friends were offended when, at his funeral, Chuck compared Lonnie with Samson. However, it seemed to me a very apt comparison. Both men failed to ever become very saintly, and were ultimately destroyed by their lusts and compromises. However, both were also chosen and uniquely empowered to accomplish many things for God. Samson is now in the the Book of Hebrews' hall of faith (Heb.11). I am not willing to say Lonnie does not also belong there.”
”” Steve Gregg (present at Calvary Chapel in the earliest days of the movement and knew the players personally)
