The Asbury College Revival?
“Like wildfire, news services across the country have become infatuated with a revival that is occurring on the campus of Asbury College in Kentucky…. you want to know what I think? My answer is ‘I don’t know.’” - P&D
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https://www.dennyburk.com/some-thoughts-on-the-asbury-revival/
Based on this verse, Edwards offers nine “signs” that are no sure sign of revival followed by five signs that are true evidence of the Spirit’s work:
I remember that the pastor who ministered to my grandfather and preached his funeral had been an Asbury grad, and having grown up in the UMC, I must confess to a bit of “cognitive dissonance” when my mother and the pastor were talking about the expressions of piety there. Knowing the rest of the UMC, especially what I saw in cities and university towns, my thought was “can such things be real?”
So maybe, within the limitations of an appraisal of revivals that can be made in the short term, this is a great encouragement to me that Asbury may be “for real” in great degree. And for that I am grateful.
Regarding the reality, it strikes me that the best way of evaluating a revival is, well, if that which was dead is made alive again. Anybody who was living for self the night before can pull one all night prayer session credibly, but real revival ought to be manifested by a long-term adoption and implementation of Biblical theology, no?
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I have a very slight but interesting (to me) connection to Asbury. My great-grandfathers on my Mom’s side were ministers in the Pilgrim Holiness church. One of my great uncles, Lt. Col. Clarence A. Olsen, who I am named after (the “A” is for Andrew), taught at Asbury for a time. He was a highly decorated intelligence officer for the Army during WW2 and taught at West Point for many years. All that to say, he was invited to speak at chapel at Asbury back in 1972 and you can actually listen to that chapel program online. If any of you have Bill Arnold’s commentary on the 1&2 Samuel in the NIV Application Commentary series, the author, who is a professor at Asbury, includes my Uncle Clarence in his dedication to his commentary, and lists many of his achievements from his military days. So, that is my connection.
I’m not really sure what to make of this revival event at Asbury, either. I have issues with the music, and so it doesn’t look to me like what I would expect a true revival to look like. I’m not sure what is going on in the hearts of the people there. Is revival just a chapel service that keeps going? I haven’t spent that much time investigating it, but it seems like people are not leaving and thus a worship team is continuing to provide music. I’m not sure if there are people speaking on a regular basis. It does seem like people are praying together, and so that would be a good thing. I just think it is hard to evaluate what is actually happening.
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