Revival starts with prayer. Someone somewhere was asking God to start a revival within the next generation long before students at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY decided to stay and praise God after a regularly scheduled chapel meeting. It’s interesting that about the same amount of people who frequented the campus during the two week revival–50,000 people–was about the same amount of people who died in a horrible earthquake in Northern Syria and Southern Turkey around the same time. As Jesus would say, the people in Kentucky weren’t any better than the people in Syria or Turkey–“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Read Luke 13:1-5). “See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).”
It’s not that revival isn’t for all ages. It’s that in the history of revivals and spiritual awakenings, God has often used the young to spark the flame. I think there is something some people are missing in this latest revival and bringing this out in the open is the reason for this post. Who was Francis Asbury, anyways? In his book Revival And Revivalism, Church historian Iain Murray says this,
“By 1778, with one exception, every Methodist preacher who had been sent across the Atlantic had returned to England. The exception was Francis Asbury who had arrived in 1771. For nearly half a century Asbury’s calm leadership in the work of evangelistic itinerary and church organization did more than any other figure to establish Methodism in North America. The opinion of Abel Stevens on Asbury is perhaps overstated but it bears repetition: ‘Neither Wesley nor Whitefield labored as energetically as this obscure man. He exceeded them in the extent of his annual travels, the frequency of his sermons, and the hardships of his daily life.’ . . . unlike the Church of England, Methodism was inherently a spiritual movement.”
Could it be that God is still honoring this man and this movement amidst a university that has yet to bend the knee to its culture? If you’ve been keeping up at all with the Methodist church in America lately, you know there has been quite a divide amongst the churches over cultural issues such as LGBTQ+, etc. Read on,
In his book about “Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundations of Faith,” Pastor Robert J. Morgan writes,
“The Cane Ridge Revival was started by Presbyterian Barton Stone, but its combustion fired up the Methodists, whose circuit riders tackled the frontier—Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and points beyond. Two names top the list of those riders, and they were as different as lightning and thunder. Bishop Francis Asbury was lightning. John Wesley appointed him to oversee the Methodist work in America, and for nearly half a century Asbury traveled three hundred thousand miles by horse and carriage, preaching more than sixteen thousand sermons. He began his work in America in 1771, at age twenty-two, and he became part of the Second Great Awakening . . . When Francis Asbury arrived in America, there were fewer than six hundred Methodists in the country. By the time he died, the number had grown to two hundred thousand. But the middle of the 1800’s, one in every thirty-six Americans was Methodist.”
This post isn’t about putting in a plug for the Methodist church. It’s about recognizing a man who was aflame for God! God could use any man from any denomination if he so chose. He also could use a donkey and he has before (Numbers 22:21-39). Oh, that we would have more Asbury’s—itinerant evangelists—willing to travel this world over to save men’s and women’s souls from an everlasting hell.
The current Asbury revival touched many denominations and people around the world. As the revival spread to local colleges and universities, it’s interesting to note the circuitous path. The revival went to regions that Asbury himself would have been well familiar with. He traveled those same roads, albeit by horse. The current revival made its circuit primarily through the form of social media and word of mouth.
The thing I loved about this revival was how the school’s administrators handled it. In a school of only two thousand students, the campus itself didn’t have the infrastructure or capacity to sustain a large number of outsiders coming to campus. It got to a point where administrators would only allow those 26 and younger into chapel for the services. They emphasized the next generation because the next generation is our heritage (Psalm 127:3). We all need revival but church statistics will tell you our nation sorely needs a revival within the next generation. This revival gives The Church and America hope! God is not finished with our nation or the next generation! Let’s not give up on them or our country so soon. Jesus doesn’t, Asbury wouldn’t, and neither should we.
Our ultimate hope is in Christ! America isn’t going to last forever. Neither will this generation. The Bible tells us so. However, our attitude needs to be like the apostle Paul’s, “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.” Now, we don’t save people. Jesus does. But if we don’t get on our horse and go, who is going to get saved? Asbury knew this and that’s why he rode like the dickens. Paul knew it too and that’s why he made three missionary journeys (kind of looks like a circle to me).
I’ve heard it said that the gospel is a movement to be advanced and the church is an institution to be maintained. We could quibble some over the statement but there is some truth in it. Maybe it would be better stated that we need a gospel movement today in our institutional churches. What God has done before, God can do again! This wasn’t the first revival Asbury University had experienced. They had also experienced a revival around the time of the Jesus Movement in 1970. We could use another revolution today. We need churches willing to accept those who are different from them and give them time to explore the faith. This doesn’t mean we allow, for ex., the LGBTQ+ community to become members in our church. It does, however mean that we invite their community in and make them feel welcome. And if you want to go the extra mile, pick them up and bring them with you.
Our nation has changed and is changing. A Jesus Revolution will look different in the USA than it did in the 1970’s. In the 70’s, hippies by the scores were being saved by Jesus and allowed in his church. Sinners come in all different shapes and sizes. If we can’t be hospitable to sinners in the form that they come in today, why should we expect God to save anybody? Our job is simple. GO! Preach and live out the gospel regardless of the person standing in front of you. And don’t forget to pray. God will take care of the rest. If you need an evangelistic tool to help you along the way, give The 3 Circles a try.