Revival at Asbury
Revival at Asbury
I’m writing this on Feb. 18, 2023, just days after reports of a spontaneous revival in Wilmore, KY began circulating. On February 8th, in the Wednesday morning chapel service at Asbury College in Wilmore, there was an emphasis on confession and repentance, and apparently God walked in. Since then, students have stayed for hours singing, praying, and worshiping, basking in an unusual sense of God’s nearness.
News of this spontaneous revival has spread quickly. Within a week, busloads of students from over 22 different campuses had come to Wilmore to see what God was doing. News outlets and social media have picked it up all over the country. Just Google “Asbury revival.” Here’s an example from Christianity Today. Many are comparing it to a similar revival that took place at Asbury in 1970.
This is especially meaningful to me because I attended Asbury in 1966. And although I wasn’t a student there in 1970, I took a car load up from Tallahassee, FL and we experienced first hand this historic event.
Tipping Point?
My question is this: does “Asbury 2023” represent the breakthrough moment of revival that “Asbury 1970” did? Obviously there is a lot that precedes revival phenomena - primarily hunger, humility, united prayer, and confession of sin. But then revivals seem to have tipping points after which they radiate outwardly very quickly. That happened in 1970.
It seems to be happening again in 2023. Within days of Feb. 8, my friend, Terry, told me he was on his way to Lee University (Cleveland, TN) where revival had fallen. (Representatives from Lee U. were some of the first to visit Wilmore.)
That next day, my friend, Dale, invited me over to his church in Cookeville, TN where, the night before, he sat in a packed sanctuary in awe of the presence of God worshiping and praying for 2 ½ hours. They were continuing it the next night. I got texts this morning from others who are there. Two-mile bumper-to-bumper traffic coming into Wilmore, like “Field of Dreams.” Four-hour wait time in freezing temperatures getting into the auditorium for my friend, Kirk. He told of waiting in line with people from Dallas, Canada and Norway! I would imagine your phone is lighting up with similar texts and emails as well. I just heard of a woman from Chile who sold her car to be able to make the trip to Wilmore!
It all says to me, there is a broad hunger in our generation to experience the reality of God.
Ironically (?), a movie chronicling a related revival is coming out in a few days. Jesus Revolution tells the story about the California version of revival in this season.
Sympathy for Skeptics
Allow me to “push pause” on reporting the exciting news, and acknowledge that these events may be stirring up some pushback among some of us.
If you didn’t already know, I am basically a skeptical person. When I hear a dramatic testimony of something, my instinctive question is, “What do I divide by?” I am reluctant to quote anything that seems exaggerated. I resist quickly getting on anyone’s bandwagon. I think I am wired to trust more in the objective data than the subjective.
So here’s a firsthand testimony I deeply respect from Robert Cunningham (sent to me this week from Robert’s friend and my pastor-from-afar, David Cassidy):
Getting asked about the Asbury revival taking place here in Kentucky. I don’t know what it says about me that revival skeptics think I’m the one to ask, but yes, I’m a guy who values theological thoughtfulness and have critiqued emotional manipulation in the past, but our family visited today and it’s legit and powerful.
Revival cannot be manufactured, and this was unplanned though prayed for for years. Revival is centered on scripture, prayer, and most of all Jesus, and that’s exactly what I witnessed. Revival is a balance of reverence and joy, and that’s what I experienced. Very weighty even solemn, yet tears of joy (including me). Revival is an orderly openness to the Spirit, and that’s what’s taking place. Spirit-wrought spontaneity but in a non-chaotic way.
All to say, it has every Biblical/theological marker of revival, and I, the local decently-and-orderly PCA pastor, am giving you license to lay down your doubts and believe. More than that, open yourself up to the plausibility of revival in your life and community!
(For more from PCA pastor, Robert Cunningham about this, click here. )
What is Revival?
Revival is a phenomenon throughout history where God’s people become acutely conscious of his presence, which is the Holy Spirit. The “presence of God” is the “person of God.”
According to Tim Keller, in revival, the gospel become central to our thinking. He notes that during revival three things happen: 1) “sleepy Christians” awaken, 2) nominal Christians are converted, and 3) those with no Christian identification become Christians.
Also in revival, deep-level motivations change. We become much more attuned to the difference between natural desires and spiritual desires (see Rom. 8:5). Jesus’ rebuke to Peter probably applies to us more than we would admit: “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Mark 8:31-33). Encountering God’s glory changes us so that instead of measuring circumstances by how it affects us, we ask, “Lord, what are your purposes? What are you up to?”
Crisis and Hunger
To learn more about revival from both a historical and theological perspective, you should be acquainted with Dr. J. Edwin Orr. Click here for a sample. Billy Graham called him, “… one of the greatest authorities on the history of religious revivals in the Protestant world.” (In my twenties, I heard him speak at a prayer conference. Since then, there has been, front and center in my thinking, a fascination for revival.)
Orr observes that revivals and awakening usually follow times of moral decline and political and cultural crisis. Certainly, the late ’60’s were such a time - free love, psychedelic drugs, rebellion, radical politics. Harvard’s Timothy Leary cheered us all on with, “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” (I also heard him speak in my twenties.)
Today, the cultural issues are somewhat different, but the widespread rejection of stabilizing values and morals, and adoption of radical worldviews are very similar.
However, we must not forget that in times of darkness, God calls forth light.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone (Is. 9:2).
And,
Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you (Is. 60:2).
There’s so much more to consider regarding revival. How to prepare our hearts for it, what are the obstacles preventing revival, carnal excesses that often shorten revivals, etc.
But with news of a possible breakthrough revival happening in our midst, let’s pray, as the old hymn says, “While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.” Or maybe we should adapt it to say, “While on others Thou are falling, do not pass me by.”
Lord may you do all that you desire - in our hearts, in our fellowships and throughout our land!
Note: Even though Feb. 19th was the last of the daily evening meetings in Hughes Auditorium, other venues in Wilmore, continue and the ripple effects are ongoing. According to the Asbury website, the emphasis is changing from “come and see,” to “go and tell.”
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