Credit: SoCal/Facebook capture
Following Greg Laurie’s SoCal Harvest crusade, held July 1 to 2, 2023 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where 6,794 people made a commitment to Christ, a week later 4,500 people were water baptized at Pirate’s Cove in Corona Del Mar, California.
According to reports, the line-up of those waiting to be water baptized stretched for half a mile along the sea wall.
Mid-week, Greg Laurie commented that SoCal had already received 4,000 requests for water baptism, and the numbers continued to grow for the baptism held on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
However, not everyone who was water baptized had been saved at the SoCal event held the previous week.
Some had also been impacted by the recently released movie, Jesus Revolution, based on Greg Laurie’s book about the Jesus People movement that swept America in the 60s and 70s.
Such was the case of a woman from Arizona by the name of Shelby who brought her three nieces to Pirate’s Cove to be baptized, CBN reports.
“I saw the [Jesus Revolution] movie at first, and then I realized that we all needed to get baptized,” Shelby said. “I feel wonderful, it’s a new life.”
During the Jesus People movement, Pirate’s Cove was also one of the locations used to baptize the tens of thousands of people who were saved as the Holy Spirit swept through the hippie drug culture.
Laurie added that he and his wife had both been baptized at Pirate’s Cove 50 years earlier.
Some are suggesting this may have been the largest water baptism in history, breaking the previous record held at the same cove on May 28, 2023, Pentecost Sunday, when 4,166 people were water baptized.
Over 280 churches participated in that event sponsored by Oceans Church.
It is suspected that the early church also had similar mass water baptism events.
In the book of Acts, we have an interesting verse about how over 3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost following Peter’s sermon.
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41 NASV)
Peter specifically adds that these 3,000 people were also baptized. It is generally believed that this baptism, similar to Pirate’s Cove, was likely a mass baptism event.
It would have followed the pattern set by John the Baptist who also held mass baptisms as people flocked to him at the Jordan River (John 1:28, Mark 1:5, John 10:40-41) and also a place called Aenon:
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— (John 3:23 NASV)
Is this an indication, that the Holy Spirit is starting to move similar to what we saw in the Book of Acts?
READ: Major Sign of Revival as Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship Baptize 4,500 Souls at Pirates Cove AND Major Sign of Revival as Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship Baptize 4,500 Souls at Pirates Cove
OpentheWord.org 
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