If you haven’t heard yet I’d suggest tuning in to what God is doing at Asbury University in Kentucky. Here’s the way Jake Taylor put it on NBC News, “A Christian service at a college chapel in Kentucky has ballooned into a nonstop prayer and worship session that some are calling a “revival” — and people are traveling thousands of miles to take part in it after seeing viral videos on TikTok.”
“The first day we had a very ordinary service, I would call it unremarkable,” said university President Dr. Kevin Brown. Following a morning service on Feb. 8, a multicultural gospel choir sang on stage. Some students stuck around afterward, and by evening more and more had trickled into the sanctuary creating something special”, said Brown.
“It has absolutely been social media that is the mechanism that people found out about this,” said Mark Whitworth, Asbury University’s vice president of communications.
The setup is simple. No projector screens or high-tech integrations, just wooden sanctuary chairs filled with people, and an open altar call with an invitation to prayer that still hasn’t ended. As it should be.
As in any newsworthy event, especially if the name Christian is associated with it, the critics are not silent on the matter.
But, Jonathan Edwards, in The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, lays out the marks of a genuine revival (based on 1 John 4):
- Jesus is exalted.
- The Holy Spirit acts against the influence of Satan’s kingdom by preaching sin and repentance.
- The Bible is exalted and held in high regard.
- The Spirit of understanding and truth opposes spirits of falsehood.
- Love to God and man is promoted.
The list Edwards provides lines up well with the reports on the ground. In the end, though, God gets all the glory, and our prayer is that those unfamiliar with the saving grace of Jesus Christ are welcomed into His Kingdom in the process.
Time will tell, as in past revivals, the fruit will be known.
In my lifetime, the Jesus Movement comes to mind as one of those revivals. Many in that so-called “hippie” generation were transformed into Jesus followers seemingly overnight. Greg Laurie is spotlighted, as is Chuck Smith and others at the epicenter of it all, in a soon-to-be-released movie called The Jesus Revolution. Be sure and check it out.
All this says to me, and should to you also, is Jesus’s return is close at hand and many will join His flock in the final days. I’m rooting for that to be true right before our very eyes. My prayer is that whatever is happening in Kentucky will spread throughout the entire country and around the globe.
We need Jesus now more than ever.
And that’s the Memo.
Steve
