Christian media – mainstream and social – have been full of it. I’ve been receiving glowing notifications on WhatsApp, Messenger and by email. Christians everywhere are wildly excited about revelations that – a genuine ‘Holy Ghost’ revival has broken out at Asbury University, Kentucky, a Christian institution.

The Spirit moves

It started just last Wednesday (Feb 8th), when students gathered for their regular chapel service. During a call to confession at the close of the service, at least 100 people fell to their knees and bowed at the altar. After the benediction, and the singing of a final chorus, the congregation did not want to leave, being struck by a quiet but powerful sense of transcendence. Many who did leave asked their professors if they could return, and within a few hours the chapel was packed. The service continued – and has continued ever since.

For days, peoplehttps://twitter.com/TransformVille have been giving testimonies, worshipping God, praying and expressing repentance and contrition for sin. Students, professors, and local church leaders have taken part. One visitor noted how “Some were reading and reciting Scripture. Others were standing with arms raised. Several were clustered in small groups praying together. A few were kneeling at the altar rail in the front of the auditorium. Some were lying prostrate, while others were talking to one another, their faces bright with joy.”

Within 24 hours, students had begun to arrive from other universities, and reports and video-clips from mobile phones were being shared widely across social media. Meetings quickly became packed beyond capacity, and soon people were coming from all over the country to observe and participate.

it’s difficult to view some of the hours-long video footage from Asbury's Hughes Auditorium and not be deeply moved, sensing something very real and authentic is happening here.

Certainly, it’s difficult to view some of the hours-long video-footage from Asbury's Hughes Auditorium and not be deeply moved, sensing something very real and authentic is happening here. The worship is passionate and reverent and devoid of hype. No big names have been invited to speak at meetings; "Jesus is the only celebrity here", observed one participant. Such has been the depth of contrition that a visiting pastor said the carpet near the stage was literally damp from tears.

A legacy of outpouring

This is by no means the first time that Asbury has tasted revival. Indeed, the College has an unparalleled legacy of significant moves of God’s Spirit sweeping the campus and reaching well beyond.

The first occurred in February 1905, when, during a blizzard, a prayer meeting in the men’s dormitory spilled out to the rest of campus and the town of Wilmore. Further movements occurred three years later, and again in 1921. In February 1950, worship and prayer services continued for 118 hours and were reported nationwide.

the College has an unparalleled legacy of significant moves of God’s Spirit sweeping the campus and reaching well beyond.

Asbury’s best-known revival broke out in February 1970. Classes were cancelled for a week during the 144 hours of unbroken revival meetings. The Jesus Movement had begun a year or two earlier, but the Asbury Revival accelerated it dramatically. Eventually, teams of students left Asbury and went across the country, telling their story. In many places, spiritual awakening broke out. Asbury’s most recent revival occurred in 2006.

Curiously, every one of these movements took place during February (or occasionally March). And most have been very short-lived, usually a couple of weeks at most, though overall impact has often been of a lasting nature.

God is very present

Is the current movement genuine? Virtually everyone who has spent time here in the past week is of no doubt that it is. A Baptist pastor of over 50 years wrote, “God is very present…. The worship is glorious, unified and simple. The altar is almost always full. There are wise leaders from the university who are helping shepherd the moment. Everything is extremely orderly but vibrant, spontaneous and powerful.”

And indeed, the awakening has already been spreading. Cedarville University, Ohio and Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, among others, have been greatly invigorated by reports from Asbury, and are experiencing their own revival breakout. There are also claims (unconfirmed) of other current significant spiritual stirrings, independent of Asbury – such as in Barbourville (also in Kentucky); Waterville (Maine); and Charlotte (North Carolina).

Media invasion

I've studied revival movements in some depth for several decades,¹ and I've been very encouraged by what I've heard so far, despite the condemnations of heresy hunters, who love to pour scorn from their self-righteous pedestals. But I do have one concern about present events at Asbury. Media attention from day one has been unrelenting. Reporters from (mainly) the Christian press have been flocking to the scene. Charisma News has published a feature on goings on every day since the start. Now the secular press have caught in on the act, too. And revival video-clips have gone viral on Tik-Tok and Instagram, racking up a staggering 35 million+ hits. 

What started as a beautiful, quiet, inauspicious time of spiritual refreshing is quickly becoming a national spectacle.

All this puts enormous pressure on those leading the meetings, as well as on participating students. After all, the whole world is watching; nobody wants to disappoint. The pressure to keep the excitement going and for interest to be maintained as long as possible – ultimately, the pressure to ‘perform’ – is enormous. What started as a beautiful, quiet, inauspicious time of spiritual refreshing is quickly becoming a national spectacle.

If hype and human effort become prominent players at Asbury, it will change everything. The Holy Spirit is highly sensitive – and He will not stay around. We’ve seen before the consequences of the glare of worldwide media on spiritual movements; witness the so-called Lakeland ‘outpouring’ of 2008, or the Tongaat revival, South Africa in 2013. Although thoroughly different in style to what is occurring at Asbury, God TV’s live nightly airing of services to a worldwide audience exerted unacceptable pressure on leaders to create an entertaining and noteworthy ‘show’ – with disastrous results.

Counterfeit revival

Ultimately, the media’s obsession with Asbury is a reflection of the Church’s yearning to see a fresh move of God’s Spirit in our midst. We read dramatic accounts of revival in history books; we hear them preached in sermons. Despite endless theories of how they operate, few of us have ever experienced what can genuinely be termed corporate ‘revival’. Revival continues to evade us, leading to increasing desperation for God to ‘rend the heavens’ and come down.

Despite endless theories of how they begin, few of us have ever experienced what can genuinely be termed corporate ‘revival’.

Indeed, our ardent longing for a move of the Spirit can produce a tendency – when all our praying fails to effect one – for humans to attempt to reproduce revival by our own efforts. This has been the essence of so many charismatic ‘outpourings’ we’ve heard about in recent decades (especially in the States). But, rather than being ‘prayed down’ from on high, many of these are invariably ‘worked up’ by man.

The difference is chalk and cheese. The former, being led by the Holy Spirit, is marked by contrition, repentance and an overflow of peace, joy and love; resulting in changed lives, with lasting effect. The latter, being led by man, is full of hype, exaggerated claims, and sensationalist, fleshly excitement – its effects are invariably short-lived.

What lies ahead?

So many are now turning up for meetings that four overflow buildings have been opened up, all packed to the brim. The revival is quickly turning into something that distinguishes it from the purely localised awakening that characterised all previous Asbury revivals. Church leaders are already talking up events at Asbury – one seeing it as “the big one, the one we have longed for, the revival that could go global”, potentially leading to the Third Great Awakening. (Pure hype, for sure). 

Nevertheless, so far, so good. The revival is being guided senstively, and leaders have now asked that there be no more livestreaming of services. They have also apparently turned down a very lucrative offer of involvement and resources from other ministries. They are further encouraging believers to allow events at their campus to inspire us to pray for similar in our own communities and churches. These are all good signs.

God the Spirit is ever true to His name – Holy. I hope and pray that God will bless and protect all that which is of Him at Asbury; and that it will not be dampened or aborted by undue pressure from a wishful, watching world. Rather, may it result in beautiful, life-energising fruit that will stand the test of time - and even, one way or another, as we open our hearts to Him, have an impact on us all.

Endnote
1 See, for example, Tom Lennie, ‘Glory in the Glen: A History of Evangelical Revivals in Scotland 1880–1940’ (2009), which includes a unique analysis of the main features of revival movements. Other studies include 'Land of Many Revivals' (2014) and 'Scotland Ablaze' (2019).