Asbury Revival

Weekly Update – March 2nd, 2023

Over the last few weeks, I have had numerous conversations about the revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky.  Honestly, it is hard to form a solid opinion on exactly what is going on there without having seen it or experienced it.  It is easy to say that based upon the large numbers of people and the clips that have been shown on social media that something is occurring on this college campus.  But is it revival?

What is occurring at Asbury University began the morning of February 8^th.  It was right after the morning chapel service on campus when a group of students stayed behind to “confess their sins” and “worship the Lord.”  Shortly after, more students joined in, then more and more.  In the following weeks, many other schools such as Samford University in Alabama and Cedarville University in Ohio reported revival occurring.  Now the question is not only, “Is this revival?”, but “Has this revival spread?”

With that, lets answer this question first, “Does revival spread?”    I think it might be helpful to look back into American history to answer this.  Perhaps the most common place to start would be the First Great Awakening.  It was the year 1740 and a man named Samuel Blair looked out of the landscape of the American Colonies at that time and he said, “Religion lay as it were a dying and ready to expire its last breath of life in this part of the visible church.”  By the spring of the next year, there began to show a “seriousness about God among the young”, as thousands began to listen to God’s word as revival broke out across the colonies.  The Second Great Awakening was similar as revival began in Logan County, Ky., followed by 25 years of reports of revival occurring all across the United States.  Fifty or so years after the Second Great Awakening began, there were reports of something similar occurring with what was called the Prayer Meeting Revival.  Jeremiah Lanphier began a noon prayer meeting on September 23, 1857, at the North Dutch Church in New York City. Within a year it was reported that these prayer meetings were occurring, not just in the United States, but across the world, with over 1,000,000 coming to Christ.  Additionally, the United States has experienced the Civil War Revival (1861-1865), the Urban Revivals (1875-1885), the Azuza Street Revival (1906) and more.  What characterizes all of these American examples over the last few hundred years is that they spread, not just locally, or even nationally, but typically all over the world.

Let’s return back to our original question now.  When considering what is happening at Asbury University, “Is this revival?  The answer to that question is simple, “We don’t know.”  Here is why I say that.  According to Timothy Beougher, revival is not determined by “how high you jump, it’s how straight you walk when you land.”  In other words, when people draw near to God, they become more aware of their sin (Is. 6:1-8), God’s word is prioritized (1 Thess. 1:5; 2:13; Neh. 8; 2 Chron. 17:9), there is an increased focus towards the church (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37), joy in God increases (Ps. 16:11) and people are converted.  Sure, revival may begin with services that are full of people who want to know God in a deeper way, and yes, history records many revivals occurring among college aged students, but the results may take weeks, months or even years to see what exactly it is that God is doing.  Is revival occurring across our nation right now?  I pray that it is.  But I believe the results will show, not just through extended worship sessions on college campuses, but ultimately in our local churches as those who are awakened long to sit under the preached word of God and live in service to one another. 

Therefore, as Denny Burk encourages, in light of what is occurring at Asbury and perhaps across the nation, let us pray in two ways:

• First, pray, “Oh, God. Let it be. Let your mercy pour down in genuine revival, and let these reports be true. And let it not end in Wilmore.”
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• Second, pray, “Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.”

Would you join with me in the coming weeks, praying for these two things.  Pray that genuine revival would overtake our churches all across the nation, and if God so chooses to grant revival, pray that he would not pass us by when he does. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson