Thoughts On Asbury…
So far…here are a few reasons why people on social media don’t believe God is at work at Asbury.
It’s too woke…
It’s too right wing…
Too many white people…
Too many gay people…
Not enough gay people…
Nobody is wearing masks indoors…
Some people are wearing masks indoors…
It doesn’t fit into the proper theological box of my sect…
All of this convinces me that God is doing something at Asbury, but not for any of the people above.
One of the less preached messages about Jewish leaders of the 1st century is the fact that they missed their visitation because the Messiah that came did not meet their criteria for a proper Messiah.
I expect a certain amount of weirdness and mess to accompany these surprise visits from God…most would agree that the Jesus People movement was a move of God…did you ever hear Lonnie Frisbee preach?
Talk about a mess…
I’ve been contacted by people I trust and told that something special is happening…what it all means… is above my pay grade to deduce.
John Stackhouse on revival and then what?
How a Presbyterian views Asbury…they always use quotation marks around the word “revival”…
Asbury, revival, and Christian cynicism…
What if the foundation of discernment is hope, not suspicion?
I have heard from my grandmother’s first hand experience of a true revival at Azusa Street.
I have been a part of a different form of revival via the earliest days of the Jesus Movement / Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
I have been a part of a church which participated in what time has shown was a false revival, or became such, KwaSizubantu, including going to So Africa.
I have read most of the great revival books through the ages.
I hope this proves to be a real movement of God to restore his people. I do hope…
… and yes Michael, at the time, I knew Lonnie personally. He was messy and sincere.
Alex,
He was critical to that movement…and his “preaching” was usually scattered and often bordered on heresy.
Yet…God still used him.
That annoys me…but it didn’t seem to annoy God…
I hope its real and that Todd Bentley and the other mid/upper level management dont ruin it for folks just looking for hope.
Michael, as a 19 year-old invited by a friend to CCCM in February of 1970, I was truly astounded by what was happening. The Love Song sang, Lonnie preached, and suddenly all of the “seeds planted” in me over the previous 6 months came to fruition and I responded to the invitation to follow Jesus. It was a profound experience and I was deeply and unalterably changed. But you’re right, Lonnie butchered the English language, was far from a polished public speaker but God used him to speak to me and to thousands of other kids like me in Southern California. I resisted standing up when the invitation was given but I could hear God say to me, “You may not have another chance”. Immediately Lonnie looked in my direction and said, “You may not have another chance”. God used him in all of his inadequacies and lack of education and experience and he was a major mouthpiece, component of the last great revival in the US. Yes, time revealed that he was troubled and conflicted. But who can argue that God wasn’t up to something huge? As I’ve reflected over the past 53 years, I’m reminded of Jesus’ words about the Spirit’s unpredictability, that He moves where and when He will and uses whichever broken, flawed vessels he chooses. Such is the nature of a “revival”. I’m thankful and privileged to have been at the epicenter of that historic move of God.
PS. Time will tell whether or not this Asbury thing is a revival. If it is, I will rejoice. If not, so be it. I’m glad there was no social media in 1970 to enable people to post their snap judgments on what was happening there.
DavidM,
Your testimony is why I hope something fresh is happening in Asbury.
I’ve tried to pick apart the Jesus people revival…but one cannot argue that it bore fruit.
Frisbee and Smith were both broken and sinful men…but that’s all God has available…
God used a reluctant prophet named Jonah who finally (after three days in the belly of a big fish) to bring revival to Nineveh. And, even after all that, Jonah sat up on a hill, probably still waiting for God to destroy the city. Gif does revivals His way, and the fruit we see from this one will let us know if it is authentic or not. The Jesus People movement touched me through the music and the message of true repentance. I found out about it because of news reports. They challenged my thinking about who Jesus was.
“Let’s celebrate Asbury’s revival, therefore, as what it is—an opportunity, a special moment for very basic confrontation with God, oneself, and one’s neighbours. And let’s pray that, as mixed as the results surely will be, enough seed falls on enough good soil to make all this disruptive excitement worthwhile.”
– from the Stackhouse article
From the CT article:
“Some are calling this a revival, and I know that in recent years that term has become associated with political activism and Christian nationalism. But let me be clear: no one at Asbury has that agenda.”
To which I add PRAISE GOD!!!
The Heidelblog entry makes me sad. Talk about putting God in a box.
15 years ago my colleague excitedly told me about a powerful move of God in Florida, with healings, many conversions etc. His friend was even planning to travel there (from Australia) to experience it. I read more and wasn’t a fan of the crazy stuff, but it seemed like the kingdom was advancing and weirdness was a small price to pay. However before long we heard that the leading figure had gone off the rails and disqualified himself.
That was the last time I heard about anything on that scale in the western world. This time, it is without the crazy stuff. But more remarkably, it doesn’t even have a big name (either pre-existing or emerging). It looks positive so far, different from that other time but similar in that many believers want to go and feel God more strongly or get some reassurance that the God we’ve followed all these years is still alive and active.
These things are fun for the kids. It feels great to be a part of something like this. Good for them.
A similar revival swept thru college campuses (including the campus I was at) and some churches in the mid 1990s if anyone recalls that one. Not sure if it was confined to the Midwest.
Rock concert or move of Holy Spirit? Dunno, but God keep them
“Christians, you want to have a real “revival”?
Stop singing.
Start emulating Jesus.
Get out of the church building and go feed the hungry, heal the sick, care for the poor, welcome the immigrant, and love the least.
It takes no effort to sing.
Singing helps no one.
Leave the building.
Go and love.”
John Pavlovitz