I came across this video again the other day and watched it with great enjoyment. Having watched it in 1977 when it was first released on the big screen, I was again delighted with the quality of cinematography that is common with a productions by Bob Jones University. The story takes us back to a simple time in America when most of the Appalachian Mountains area needed gospel preachers. The story opens with a confessional confrontation between a guilty ridden young man and the preacher Robert Sheffey. We are taken into a flashback very soon of the life of Sheffey and how he eventually comes to Jesus. The acting is first class, the music fits and the editing is superb. You will enjoy the light hearted moments and might even get a lump in your throat during the compassion of the Evangelist. The underlying theme of this movie is evangelistic. For people satisfied with their lives of sin, this movie will make a plea for you to get your life right with God. For people satisfied in their lives of religion, it will make a plea for you to get closer to God. This movie breaks the boundaries that were established in the 1970's by many denomonations in that day. Watch for the symbolic meaning of the lady with the rose who comes to the revival meeting! I found this movie thrilling, uplifting, clean and honest with the human condition as it is today. Even though this movie was produced over 30 years ago, it still has great relevance today.

This is a truly wonderful movie. It really tells me how my great,great,great grandfather was and how he helped people. But I only wished that it had a little more to do with his first wife. There is a lot of descendants from his first wife out here and we just wished it had some of our heritage in it also. But besides that it was a very good movie. He was a spectacular man. I just wished there were still good people out there in the world today. He was a very honorable man in my part of the woods, and I am very proud to be kin to him. I also went to a school that is named after him, if that doesn't tell you he was a good man I don't know what will.

For a family-safe film showing the gospel and Christian values espoused by our forefathers, this movie is great. It was produced in 1977 by Unusual Films at Bob Jones University, at that time one of the top three films schools in the nation. Although by current standards some effects are a bit cheesy, the story stands strong.The story is to show how one man, looking for something he is missing, finds God and then finds that not all "Christians" act like one. Like many older sawdust trail preachers, he did what he was led to do and in turn touched lives all across the United States. This is his story, and the issues he had over the years as he watched those with learning try to tear down the Bible. The new DVD version has an interesting making-of documentary that shows how the movie came about, its filming, the special effects, and shows how God blessed this movie all through its filming. For example, at the revival at the campground, some of those coming forward were not acting.All in all, highly recommended. It is a good period piece filmed in beautiful scenery with humor and pathos, and strongly presents the gospel - but not watered down.

If you are an evangelical Christian, and you don't expect professional cinematography from a Christian movie, you may like this one.This film chronicles the life of circuit-rider Robert Sheffey, who travelled in West Virginia, Virginia, etc. preaching the gospel.It takes you back to the "good" old days, wishing that you were alive then, and thinking that Christianity has gone straight to hell now.It's neat to watch, and an interesting story. Evangelicals will like it; progressives will not.A few problems I do have with the movie: 1. Since he couldn't get licensed to preach the gospel due to lack of training, why didn't he go to school or study theology on his own? Isn't this just an example of "zeal without knowledge"?2. Is alcohol really sinful in and of itself? Does the Bible say so?3. Why does the fading away of the camp meeting necessarily a bad thing? Camp meetings were popular in the day when there were no radio/TV broadcasts of preachers, and many rural folks only heard a sermon once a month or so. As automobiles became affordable and radio took off, the _necessity_ of the camp meeting subsided. Just because less and less people come to it does not mean that the whole of Christendom is sliding into liberalism.4. Why did they not identify him as a Methodist? He was.Anyhow, there are some anacrhonisms and hokey things if you're a history buff, but overall a fun family film. Just don't walk away convinced that the Church is not still a bastian of truth.