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Posts tagged ‘Asbury University revival’

Cedarville University experiencing ‘outpouring of the Lord’ in campus Revival


By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor | February 16, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/ohio-school-having-outpouring-of-the-lord-in-revival-event.html/

Chapel worship at Cedarville University of Cedarville, Ohio, February 2023. | Facebook/Cedarville University

A Christian university in Ohio is seeing spontaneous prayer and worship among its student body days after a revival began at Asbury University in Kentucky.

Cedarville University President Thomas White described what was happening as “a special outpouring and sensing of the presence of the Lord,” adding that it “will be left to the historians” to determine if it was truly a revival.

According to White, the outpouring began during Cedarville’s Monday morning chapel service on campus, as students were going through the Old Testament passage of Psalm 86.

“So, we took a moment to pray and to sing a song,” recounted White. “And during the song, without an altar call or invitation of any kind, we had some students who began to come forward and pray.”

“And so, when I went back up to the stage — the sermon was over at that point — we just began to pray and began to sing. And, before the chapel was over, there was an altar full of students just praying and some were weeping, others were hugging one another.”

Chapel worship at Cedarville University of Cedarville, Ohio, February 2023. | Facebook/Cedarville University

White explained that “chapel just continued” after its regular time to end at around 10:45 a.m., with most students staying into the next class period for prayer and worship, with some students returning to the chapel after class.

The typical chapel service at Cedarville University has around 3,000 students, with approximately 1,000 opting to stay for additional prayer and singing, according to White.

“When I left work that day to go home to get dinner at 5:30, we still had a small group of students,” said White. “We came back to the chapel that night to do an eight o’clock prayer meeting.”

“I would guess we had about 1,000 students who showed back up that evening, and we prayed, we sang praise songs to Jesus, we read Scripture, and we were still there after 10 o’clock.”

On Tuesday, during chapel service, White made an altar call with many students coming forward. The campus again held an unplanned evening worship gathering on Tuesday at 8 p.m. that lasted until after 10 p.m., with some students still praying around 11 p.m.

For Wednesday, White said Cedarville students who felt called to do so went out to other schools in the area to evangelize, praying that “the Lord will have a unique outpouring on those campuses.”  

The spontaneous worship at Cedarville University started days after a similar revival took place at Asbury University during its chapel service, in which students stayed after the official end of worship to continue in praise and prayer.

Alexandra Presta, a senior at Asbury who is also the executive editor for the campus newspaper, The Collegian, told The Christian Post in an earlier interview she estimated that at one point, as many as 1,000 people were worshiping after the service had officially concluded.

“This is a pure act of the Holy Spirit pouring out love, peace and healing — hearts are being transformed and that should be praised,” Presta said.

“[Chapel speaker] Zach Meerkreebs has acted as a leader throughout the revival and has reminded us periodically that this comes out of radical humility, humbling ourselves before the Lord.”

Regarding any parallels between the two spiritual gatherings, White told CP that he did not “think it has been continuous” like at Asbury, adding that he felt God was “not working here the same way that He is working at Asbury.”

“He works in different places in different ways and that’s great,” he said. “We’re just happy He’s working all across the country.”

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Asbury University revival: What to expect in a spillover effect


By Greg Stier, Op-ed Contributor | Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/asbury-university-revival-what-to-expect-in-a-spillover-effect.html/

Students gather at Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University during a revival event that began on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. | Sadie Gayheart

Reports from Asbury University are so very encouraging! Since last Wednesday, there’s been 24/7 prayer, worship, testimony, confession of sin, Scripture reading, silence, and more in the chapel at this Kentucky school. People from across the United States are flocking to the campus to experience what God is doing.

One of those who attended is evangelist Jon Burdette, my good friend and co-conspirator in the advancement of the Gospel.

He told me this:

“Attending the revival at Asbury was an unforgettable experience. We could literally feel the ‘weighty’ presence of God as soon as we walked into the building. Sensing God’s presence in that way and knowing that this was an unplanned service that had continued since Wednesday morning, I got emotional within the first few minutes of being there.

There was passionate, authentic worship, brokenness, people praying at the altar, people praying at their seats, and people praying with each other in groups around the room. For this particular segment of the service, there was just one person leading worship on a piano. No microphone, no words on a screen, no service rundown. Just Spirit-led worship that ranged from calm, quiet harmonies to eruptions of loud singing, clapping, and testifying.

My daughter Shailynn was there with me, and she said she couldn’t describe it in words. She wanted to stay all day!

The best way I can describe it is that you felt a sense of tranquility all throughout your being that made it difficult to leave the room. No programs, but complete peace. There were no ‘rules,’ but it was totally in order. There was lots of emotion, but no emotionalism. I can’t wait to see how God uses this to advance the Gospel near and far.”

What now?

Social media is abuzz with stories from those who’ve experienced what’s now tagged #asburyrevival. And the reports give me hope that we could once again see a sweeping awakening across this nation.

But throughout church history, there’s always been a spillover effect of true revival. What is it? Evangelism!

We see this spillover effect in the Welsh Revival of 1904; in the spiritual movement that happened in and through the Moravians; in the First Great Awakening, led by George Whitefield and John Wesley; and in the Jesus Movement, just 50 years ago in the United States. Every significant spiritual movement results in evangelism.

A biblical precedent

In Acts 4:31, we get a clear glimpse of the spillover effect in the midst of a powerful move of God:

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

1. The power of prayer shook the building

“… the place where they were meeting was shaken …”

As exciting as being in the chapel at Asbury University is right now, imagine what it would be like to be in the room when the hand of God literally shook the building in response to the early believers’ prayers. Talk about an amen! Talk about a literal move of God. He moved the building!

2. The power of the Spirit shook the believers

“… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …”

The early believers in this passage prayed in unity and got filled with the Holy Spirit simultaneously. God was doing something special in that room 2,000 years ago.

From every report I’m getting about the Asbury Revival, the exact same type of thing is happening. Believers are praying and praising in unity. It’s not an out-of-control show. It’s not hype. It’s a Spirit-orchestrated meeting with Spirit-filled believers, with the focus on Jesus — and Jesus alone.

3. The power of the Gospel shook the city

“… and spoke the word of God boldly.”

But the revival didn’t stay in the room. It spilled over into the streets. The power of the Gospel shook the city! These believers “spoke the word of God boldly,” despite the recent religious declaration that outlawed Christian evangelism.

These believers would not be stopped. They’d just experienced the power and presence of God, and now they were taking it to the streets!

A defining characteristic of true revivals is that they never stay in the room. They always eventually spill out onto the streets!

A historical precedent

According to a Ministry Watch report by Kim Roberts, when a similar revival broke out at Asbury University in 1970, “2,000 witnessing teams were sent out from Asbury to churches and colleges across the country.”

The original revival that started at Asbury University spilled out onto the streets.

I’m very hopeful that what’s happening now at Asbury University will end up with evangelism teams, once again, being mobilized around Kentucky and across the nation.

Pray with me that this happens.

We need revival now in this country more than ever. We need what’s happening right now at Asbury University to experience the spillover effect of true revival: the Gospel being proclaimed beyond the chapel walls.

Greg Stier is the Founder and President of Dare 2 Share Ministries International. He has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of Christian teenagers through Dare 2 Share events, motivating and mobilizing them to reach their generation for Christ. He is the author of eleven books and numerous resources, including Dare 2 Share: A Field Guide for Sharing Your Faith. For more information on Dare 2 Share and their upcoming conference tour and training resources, please visit www.dare2share.org.

Greg Gordon Op-ed: Asbury University revival: Will we miss the next revival?


By Greg Gordon, Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/voices/asbury-university-revival-will-we-miss-the-next-revival.html/

Students crowd the altar at Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University during a revival event that began on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. | Josh Sadlon

In the Asbury University newspaper we read: “Very few seats remain empty, but people crowd the walls, the floor and the balcony. It’s been almost 60 hours since a pure Holy Spirit revival broke out.” Others declare they have never seen the student chapel with so many people. It started in a normal chapel service where there was a confession of sin by a student and 30 people stayed behind to seek God.

As we browse social media and look up hashtags such as #asburyrevival, one cannot miss all the criticisms, judgments and doubts about what is happening. The critical voices seem to be very loud shouting over some of the rejoicings by others.

The services have been not four or five hours but virtually non-stop for the last 100+ hours. Some are decrying this as “emotionalism.” This sort of thing is not just breaking the mold but making a lot of people feel uncomfortable or convicted!

If we consider revival history, there have always been the unusual, with God working in ways that broke the molds of those days.

Often, the generation after a revival seeks to sanitize it and the radical things God did through it. It is best to let God be God and not try and explain away everything or discard what was seemingly extreme.

Here are a few reasons why we often doubt when revival takes place:

1. When it goes beyond our ability or experience

When God called Moses or any other person by faith, it went against the natural reason and ability of the individual. If God’s call can be accomplished in our own strength, it’s not a call from God. Revival always empowers believers to do what they cannot do on their own.

God’s work always requires God’s strength to accomplish it. The Bible goes so far as to say that whatever is not done in “faith” is actually sin. If we are not acting in ways beyond our strength and ability, we are not acting in faith.

When God is doing a work by His Spirit, we need to tread slowly, carefully examining the fruit by His Word. God will not act contrary to His written Word, but neither will He act in-line with our preferences in order to please our carnal minds or appetites. We pray like this: “God, send revival but just do it when we want and how we want it!” Of course, words like that don’t really fall from our lips, but if we’re honest, that is really what is in our hearts.

2. When it goes against our rational mind

We can fall into the danger of ignoring what the Spirit of God desires in a revival.

One way we can position ourselves is by humbly praying: “God please send revival; do it how you want; when you want; in whatever way you want; with whomever you want.” Or, at the very least, we can come to God asking Him to bend our wills to His own so we think and pray according to His will.

Revival is considered too loud or emotional by some. Sometimes revival breaks a traditional mold that has been in place for many years. The fact is that from time to time, God starts to run the Church in the way He desires, not in ways that we find acceptable or comfortable.

3. When it is something new

John Wesley, early in his ministry, started doubting the work of God in his midst. He was later part of the great Methodist Revival in England.

In his journal we read, “Sat. 16. We met at Fetter-lane, to humble ourselves before God, and own he had justly withdrawn his Spirit from us, for our manifold unfaithfulness. We acknowledged our having grieved him by our divisions and above all, by blaspheming his work among us, imputing it either to nature, to the force of imagination and animal spirits, or even to the delusion of the devil.”

The work of God was so powerful and “new” that he doubted God’s work.

We read again in his journal, “In that hour, we found God with us as at the first. Some fell prostrate upon the ground. Others burst out, as with one consent, into loud praise and thanksgiving. And many openly testified, there had been no such day as this since January the first preceding.”

God had mercy on Wesley and the move of God continued.

If the presence of God is not with us, are we grieving Him? May we humble ourselves and pursue Him as our first love.

God can have mercy and help you in carrying forth His purposes through the revivals He initiates.  

Is God sending revival in Asbury College? At the very least we know something strange is going on. May we be careful not to doubt, grieve or criticize God’s work. 

Greg Gordon is the founder of SermonIndex.net, which was established in 2002. Millions of audio sermons have been distributed through this world-wide ministry. He has also been involved in organizing over 12 international historic revival conference events where thousands of lives were impacted. Website: https://www.sermonindex.net/. email: greg@sermonindex.net

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