Revival
Bereans,
You may have heard news reports that a "revival" is occurring at Asbury University in Kentucky. According to reports, at the end of the student chapel service last Wednesday, students stayed in the chapel and spontaneously began singing and praying, then various people began speaking. This has continued nonstop for nine days, with people coming in from across the country, and even internationally. It has even expanded into two other buildings on campus to accommodate the crowds. Participants and news reporters (both secular and non-secular) are referring to this as a revival. Many of you have forwarded reports to me and have asked whether I think this is genuine. I even addressed it in our Prayer Assembly Wednesday night. It would be a wonderful thing if this is a true moving of the Lord in our nation. However, as Bereans, we must approach any such news with caution before we draw the conclusion that this (or any similar) movement is from God.
On Wednesday we looked at 1 John 4:1-6, which gives a very clear command to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God," and even includes basic guidance about how to go about that testing. Some revivals in the past, such as the First Great Awakening, proved to be genuine, producing lasting fruit for the kingdom of God. Others, such as the Second and Third Great Awakenings, were much more suspect, producing much "bad fruit" (Matthew 7:15-20).
To begin with, testing involves time. Accurate tests involve waiting and measuring several variables. From the standpoint of movements of God, this is way too early to make a determination if it is from God. Additionally, every true work of God will exalt the name of Jesus Christ as Lord. Many false revivals of the past century have exalted the Holy Spirit, but Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit never exalts Himself, but gives all glory to the Son.
Another thing we should be careful about is the definition of words. In this particular movement, there have been a lot of reports about confessing of sin among the students. While that sounds good on the surface, we should be careful to ask or examine what sins they are actually confessing. What do I mean? Asbury is a United Methodist college and seminary. Most UMC seminaries, and most denominational leaders, have called on people in their churches to repent for not "affirming" children and adults who want to transition genders, for the sin of whiteness and ancestral oppression, for the sin of harming the environment by using fossil fuels, and for the sin of homophobia. These are not sins in God's eyes. If these United Methodist students are repenting of these so-called "sins," then this is not a revival.
There are many other things I could say, but instead I'm going to give you some links to read and watch that will help us to evaluate this "revival" and others in the context of Scripture.
Link 1: https://www.dennyburk.com/some-thoughts-on-the-asbury-revival/
Link 2: https://wretched.org/radio/is-this-a-revival/
Grace and peace to you,
J.W.
You may have heard news reports that a "revival" is occurring at Asbury University in Kentucky. According to reports, at the end of the student chapel service last Wednesday, students stayed in the chapel and spontaneously began singing and praying, then various people began speaking. This has continued nonstop for nine days, with people coming in from across the country, and even internationally. It has even expanded into two other buildings on campus to accommodate the crowds. Participants and news reporters (both secular and non-secular) are referring to this as a revival. Many of you have forwarded reports to me and have asked whether I think this is genuine. I even addressed it in our Prayer Assembly Wednesday night. It would be a wonderful thing if this is a true moving of the Lord in our nation. However, as Bereans, we must approach any such news with caution before we draw the conclusion that this (or any similar) movement is from God.
On Wednesday we looked at 1 John 4:1-6, which gives a very clear command to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God," and even includes basic guidance about how to go about that testing. Some revivals in the past, such as the First Great Awakening, proved to be genuine, producing lasting fruit for the kingdom of God. Others, such as the Second and Third Great Awakenings, were much more suspect, producing much "bad fruit" (Matthew 7:15-20).
To begin with, testing involves time. Accurate tests involve waiting and measuring several variables. From the standpoint of movements of God, this is way too early to make a determination if it is from God. Additionally, every true work of God will exalt the name of Jesus Christ as Lord. Many false revivals of the past century have exalted the Holy Spirit, but Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit never exalts Himself, but gives all glory to the Son.
Another thing we should be careful about is the definition of words. In this particular movement, there have been a lot of reports about confessing of sin among the students. While that sounds good on the surface, we should be careful to ask or examine what sins they are actually confessing. What do I mean? Asbury is a United Methodist college and seminary. Most UMC seminaries, and most denominational leaders, have called on people in their churches to repent for not "affirming" children and adults who want to transition genders, for the sin of whiteness and ancestral oppression, for the sin of harming the environment by using fossil fuels, and for the sin of homophobia. These are not sins in God's eyes. If these United Methodist students are repenting of these so-called "sins," then this is not a revival.
There are many other things I could say, but instead I'm going to give you some links to read and watch that will help us to evaluate this "revival" and others in the context of Scripture.
Link 1: https://www.dennyburk.com/some-thoughts-on-the-asbury-revival/
Link 2: https://wretched.org/radio/is-this-a-revival/
Grace and peace to you,
J.W.
Update
Bereans,
Since "revival talk" continues to be a hot topic, I thought I'd share this Conversations That Matter podcast that aired late last week. Jon Harris interviews two Reformed pastors that went to Asbury and sat in on the "revival" there. They even include video of a testimony of a young lady that said she had been "freed from sexual confusion." Their eyewitness analysis of the events and this video testimony are very insightful and helpful to anyone who wants to be more discerning about the true work of the Holy Spirit.
Link: https://youtu.be/EU_lJcLmFe4
Grace and peace to you,
J.W.
Since "revival talk" continues to be a hot topic, I thought I'd share this Conversations That Matter podcast that aired late last week. Jon Harris interviews two Reformed pastors that went to Asbury and sat in on the "revival" there. They even include video of a testimony of a young lady that said she had been "freed from sexual confusion." Their eyewitness analysis of the events and this video testimony are very insightful and helpful to anyone who wants to be more discerning about the true work of the Holy Spirit.
Link: https://youtu.be/EU_lJcLmFe4
Grace and peace to you,
J.W.
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