God is speaking. On February 8, 2023, Asbury University students didn’t leave when the chapel service was dismissed. Students continued to worship. After nearly three weeks the event has become a legendary, spontaneous revival. Is the sight of this small university near Lexington the start of a great awakening?
They come from all over the country. Thousands of students heading to the worship experience of a lifetime. Is the timing of this spiritual event due to the fallout from the unsettling years of COVID19, or the great need of young people to find a source of peace and forgiveness? It will be analyzed by spiritual leaders everywhere but the truth of it is that God speaks, and young people are flocking to listen.
Social media has taken the revival viral. Youth groups are loading up buses and pastors and leaders are driving for hours. Young and old are arriving daily. Tables have been set up complete with scannable QR codes for those needing housing. Snacks and water are offered. Vans of food are delivered and volunteers stand at the doors helping.[i]
Unlike the well-rehearsed fog and light display of many modern worship services, the lights in the chapel are low and the music is quiet, spontaneous, and often just a lone guitar with drums. A popular quote was spread, “no glitz, just God”.[ii] People are praying, singing, and crying. One reporter who attended the service mid-morning on Valentine’s Day viewed all ages of people. “Seniors in college in the front row with senior citizens. Families with multiple children, rows of teenagers, babies, men in their early thirties, college athletes - and so many were singing.”[iii]
Joshua Swanson, Editor-in-Chief of Worship Leader for Authentic Media expressed his encounter with Asbury as “revival was thick in the room”. He goes on to state that the room was full of humble hearts displaying the body of Christ.[iv]
Teenagers are seekers. They are hungry to fill their needs, figure out life and make sense of themselves in the world. The Barna Group Research says 1.2 million will leave their faith in 2023. 70% of kids will lose their faith in their freshman year of college.[v] The awakening of the Holy Spirit in the lives of thousands who have and are experiencing the work of God at Asbury has a far-reaching potential to change lives for this generation. Similar revival-type movements are beginning to take root in other colleges and universities.
Rob Fultz, the campus pastor at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee said “revival started breaking out at his school Monday morning…we’ve seen salvation, deliverance, healing over the last 24 hours. It’s just been a phenomenal, humbling, incredibly delicate move of God.”[vi]
God is moving through a very different mode of communication than the days of Billy Graham. Tik-Tok has spread the word to millions via #asburyrevival. No matter, God is talking. Pray that the movement will continue and reach millions more worldwide.
For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15
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[i] https://baptistnews.com/article/what-i-witnessed-this-week-at-the-asbury-revival/ [ii] https://worshipleader.com/worship-culture/asbury-revival-or-is-it-an-awakening/ [iii] https://baptistnews.com/article/what-i-witnessed-this-week-at-the-asbury-revival/ [iv] https://worshipleader.com/worship-culture/asbury-revival-or-is-it-an-awakening/ [v]https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS727US728&sxsrf=AJOqlzVqOZ7CGM0IiouTEH_xDj670ziZbw:1676825401253&q=barna+research+kids+lose+their+faith+in+their+freshman+year+of+college&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiikpGzhaL9AhWDIkQIHV4YCK8QBSgAegQIBxAB&biw=1293&bih=697&dpr=1 [vi] https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2023/february/the-spirit-of-god-is-moving-revival-at-second-college-reaches-60-hours-of-salvation-deliverance-healing
