Asbury revival

Have you heard about the Asbury Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky, near Lexington? I am not referring to the 1970 revival that sparked the "Jesus Movement." As I write this, there is an ongoing revival at Asbury University. It began Wednesday, Feb. 8.

During a midweek chapel service, campus minister Zach Meerkreebs led an invitation for personal confession and testimonies. As people began to repent of their sins through public confession, people in the Hughes Auditorium began to feel the presence of God.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Beth Moore questioning the significance of Jonathan Edwards and his call to repentance in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," that led to the First Great Awakening. It appears that turning away from sin is a key component of revival. Theologians who abandon these principles will neither understand nor experience what is taking place at this small campus.

Even among conservatives, some are asking if this could really be happening in 2023. Some of my former professors and other denominational leaders have been traveling to the school to observe what is occurring. Brandon Porter has an article in The Pathway, the newspaper of the Missouri Baptist Convention. Baptist Press has interviewed eyewitnesses. Robert Coleman, Bill Elliff, Lawson Stone, Denny Burk, and Kenny Rager have written on social media about their experiences.

Dr. Tim Beougher wrote his Th.M. Thesis on the 1970 Asbury Revival and how it impacted Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was also on of two faculty members present for all the revival services at Wheaton College in 1995. Beougher has taught courses on Revival and Spiritual Awakening at Wheaton College, Cordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has studied the subject for four decades.

Beougher was there Monday, Feb. 13 in Hughes Auditorium. Here are his observations:

1. The manifest presence of God filled Hughes Auditorium. I experienced that same overwhelming sense of God's presence each day and night during the 1995 Wheaton Revival.

2. The leadership there did a magnificent job of balancing "freedom" and "order". As one of four faculty or staff at Wheaton College did for five days in 1995, I know the incredible challenges of trying to maintain that balance. Pray for those in leadership that they will continue to steward well this divine moment.

3. One unmistakable sing of genuine revival is repentance. J. Edwin Orr, the great historian of revival, once remarked that we really do not understand what we are praying for when we pray for revival -- we think we are praying for ecstasy, and yes, joy is a byproduct of revival. But true revival does not begin in ecstasy, it begins with agony. Not with laughter, but tears. The Bible teaching this afternoon and several of the testimonies focused on repentance -- not just feeling sorry for our sin but with the Lord's help seeking to remove it as far as we can from our lives.

4. There was teaching on dying to self that was followed by a directed prayer time asking God to help us do just that. The focus was clear: die to self and live for Christ and others. I do think that is biblical.

5. The worship leaders focused on leading the worshippers to the throne of grace instead of concentrating on their performances. Within the crowd there was a mixture of times of quiet deep reverence and loud vocal celebration.

6. There are three groups in every worship setting. The one being worshipped (The Lord), the worshippers and spectators. How can you tell if you are a spectator and not a worshipper? Because you will be critical of how other people are worshipping, without realizing you are not worshipping. For years my prayer when I enter a sanctuary has been, "Lord, help me today to be a worshipper and not a spectator." I whispered that prayer as I entered Hughes Auditorium this afternoon, and God graciously answered. I had sweet fellowship with my Savior, surrounded by hundreds of others doing the same.

Do you pray for revival? Are you willing to die to self? To God be the glory.