"The timing of this [film] is incredible, and I believe God's hand has been on it from the beginning," said Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California and Hawaii, who appeared on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday to discuss his new movie, "Jesus Revolution."
The film stars Kelsey Grammer, among others, and is based on a book co-written by Greg Laurie.
Pastor Laurie said he never expected the book he co-authored to become a film.
And yet, he said, "as we look at the despondency among [today's] young people, as revealed recently by a CDC report, where one out of every three teenage girls contemplate suicide, to an outbreak of prayer and repentance on the campus of Asbury College [in Kentucky], you see, here's the problem, here's the solution" — and so the timing does seem remarkable, he indicated.
Also appearing on the program was co-director Jon Erwin, who said of people today and the parallels with the ‘60s and ’70s, "We're desperate again."
KELSEY GRAMMER OVERCOME WITH EMOTION ABOUT NEW FILM: ‘BEST THING' HE'S EVER DONE
He added, "I wanted to make a movie that filled people with hope, and that was enjoyable to watch and entertaining."
He said, "I first love to entertain audiences."
He also said that yes, the film has arrived "at such an interesting time" in the culture.
Erwin noted that he and his wife drove from Nashville, Tennessee, to Wilmore, Kentucky, to witness the recent religious revival on the campus of Asbury College.
PASTOR GREG LAURIE DETAILS HOW JOHN LENNON FOUND GOD — AND WHY IT MATTERS TODAY
Added Laurie, "I'm hearing stories that people have gone into this movie theater [and then come out] and commented on social media, 'I wept, I laughed, we cheered at the end" of "Jesus Revolution."
Most of all, Laurie said, he's been taking comfort in the fact that people apparently are finding a new relationship with Jesus Christ as a result of the film.
The film focuses on Pastor Laurie decades earlier in his life, during the 1970s, as he meets a hippie street preacher named Lonnie Frisbee.
The two eventually connect with Kelsey Grammer's character, Pastor Chuck Smith.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Smith, who died in 2013, was the real-life pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa.
He played a role in the spiritual awakening that took place in Southern California in the 1960s and 1970s.
The film has just arrived in theaters.
Cortney O'Brien of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
