The Asbury Revival.

A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (liberal) critique….

What I witnessed this week at the Asbury revival--Laura Levens


There is outright prayer over the harms committed by the church. I learned that a few days earlier, a student wrote a prayer for acceptance of the sacred worth of queer students that was anonymously and harshly rubbed out, only to be rewritten on the board by someone else later in the night.
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Some who were present at the beginning of the current revival say it began in a mood of contemplation and a search for connection, repentance and calling. This revival is not preaching laden. On the contrary, it seems almost preaching averse. The one person who spoke directly from the podium pleaded for people “to stay in a posture of worship” and not be distracted by his efforts to find seats for the crowd. When preaching does occur, it likely resembles the form of testimony in keeping with the mood of spontaneity.
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I've missed most of the posts on this thread but I've picked up on enough to catch the gist... is this a real revival or something else?

A real revival will soon evidence itself in changed lives. If numerous people bow in repentance it will have an effect on their lives and will impact the community. I do not believe a real revival can stay local anymore than a forest fire can remain local to its point of origin.
 
abcaines said:
I've missed most of the posts on this thread but I've picked up on enough to catch the gist... is this a real revival or something else?

A real revival will soon evidence itself in changed lives. If numerous people bow in repentance it will have an effect on their lives and will impact the community. I do not believe a real revival can stay local anymore than a forest fire can remain local to its point of origin.
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The FFF gist, as has been the case for most reasonable outside observers/critics, is that time will tell (and be an objective measurement of spiritual fruit unto repentance). The other take-away IMNSHO, is that people often see what they want to see. Those that are rigid separatists in their doctrine have come away justified with the notion that the ecumenical spirit is enough to say that God can't bless that mess. And those that are on the far-left see the Asbury experience as not inclusive enough for their Loving Jesus.
 
Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (IFB) comments on the Asbury Revival. Basically these are general comments on what results we should expect from revival:

"It is as churches begin to intersect with the Asbury event that the fruits of revival will be either discovered or found wanting: When the passions settle, will true religious affections, practiced and cultivated within local assemblies, replace them? Will trite expressions of word, song, and testimony (which abound among new believers yet without shepherds) mature into serious and careful ones? Will false doctrines (which are routinely sown in any revival of religious interest) be exposed and denounced by the pillar and ground of the truth—the Christian Church (1 Tim 3:15; Titus 1:9; 1 John 4:1)? Will professions of faith be supplemented by the kinds of virtues that render one’s calling and election sure (2 Pet 1:3–11)? Will the long, slow work of sanctification begin?

"Fervency of religious expression does not discredit it; but neither does it establish true religion. Frankly, it tells us almost nothing. The litmus tests of pure and undefiled religion, so James tells us, are (1) readiness to learn the Word in attentive silence, (2) sustained suppression of sinful impulses in both word and deed, (3) meek and lasting growth in holiness, and (4) the cultivation of eagerness to engage in Christian benevolence (James 1:19–26).

"It is likely that in an event of this magnitude, at least some of these results will emerge. The question whether these will be isolated or widespread may take years to discover. We should not scoff at the possibility of God-wrought revival, but neither should we announce it hastily."

dbts.edu

What Should We Make of the Events at Asbury? - Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary

Evaluating the credibility of historical revivals is not a new exercise in the history of the Church. We are made aware that the multiplied “awakenings” of early American history are... Read More
dbts.edu dbts.edu
 
So I've been hearing that Christians have been getting together and it's like 24/7 praise and worship? So some are expressing reservations or asking questions is this a GENUINE revival or mere emotionalism or whatever.

So what is revival? Does the scripture state that something is born spontaneously that is for a certain region as in God brought revival. I know good things, manifestations from God will happen in certain places but how is it brought forth?

I believe we have the book of Acts to tell all Christians communities a pattern....a pattern that will bring powerful manifestations of God's presence and power or some might call it...revival.

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:41, 47

I think it's like a recipe. If one wants the same basic results follow the instructions. So is this Asbury location doing so? Are they continuing steadfastly in the apostles doctrines and teachings? I don't know. I don't know anything about them. Are they continuing steadfastly in fellowship? YES We do know this. You can't get any more steadfast in fellowship then 24/7 together. God rewards those who diligently seek him. Are they doing that. YES. The Bible says God inhabits the praises of his people. Are they praising God in a diligently, steadfast way? YES Will the Lord add daily to the churches in that region? Sure they are keeping the pattern of how to bring God's favor it would seem but the true pattern does need to have keeping the Apostles doctrine as a part of it. They might be doing that too I just don't know anything about them.
 
The "revivals" I see in the Bible aren't all praise and worship....they're repentance. I know that some have reported incidents of this, but how many? How much of it is true repentance? Time will tell. It's far too early to say that this is a "real revival."
 
AverageJoe said:
The "revivals" I see in the Bible aren't all praise and worship....they're repentance. I know that some have reported incidents of this, but how many? How much of it is true repentance? Time will tell. It's far too early to say that this is a "real revival."
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I started a brief series on revival last Wednesday in our midweek study, partially as a result of current Asbury coverage dominating news outlets . The format of our midweek service is generally conversational. Before presenting my teaching I asked those in attendance what they thought revival was, Biblically speaking, and how it should be characterized. Our church has, to my knowledge, never presented any substantive teaching on what revivals should look like, at least not in my 20+ years of membership. Our folk are not coached or taught to be instantly judgmental towards those of other denominations, but rather to use discernment like the Bereans to compare things with Scripture, as the Bereans did. Matter of fact, when I started my Adult SS class years ago I named the class "The Noble Bereans" for that very purpose.

One of the first statements made when I asked what they thought about the notion of revival was that preaching the word should either be part of it or should have preceded it, and that Asbury has been notably absent of this customary Biblical earmark of revival. Another longtime member commented emotions are subjective, and not necessarily wrong, but shouldn't be the measure of whether something is a move of the One True God. I then repeated much of the things to them that has been said in this thread and summarized very succinctly and aptly in this most recent post of yours, and said that time would tell, but cautioned not hastily making rash judgments dogmatically declaring it to undoubtedly be a true revival, nor rejecting the possibility that God could be doing something among our nation's young (and hopefully all people).
 
ALAYMAN said:
I started a brief series on revival last Wednesday in our midweek study, partially as a result of current Asbury coverage dominating news outlets . The format of our midweek service is generally conversational. Before presenting my teaching I asked those in attendance what they thought revival was, Biblically speaking, and how it should be characterized. Our church has, to my knowledge, never presented any substantive teaching on what revivals should look like, at least not in my 20+ years of membership. Our folk are not coached or taught to be instantly judgmental towards those of other denominations, but rather to use discernment like the Bereans to compare things with Scripture, as the Bereans did. Matter of fact, when I started my Adult SS class years ago I named the class "The Noble Bereans" for that very purpose.

One of the first statements made when I asked what they thought about the notion of revival was that preaching the word should either be part of it or should have preceded it, and that Asbury has been notably absent of this customary Biblical earmark of revival. Another longtime member commented emotions are subjective, and not necessarily wrong, but shouldn't be the measure of whether something is a move of the One True God. I then repeated much of the things to them that has been said in this thread and summarized very succinctly and aptly in this most recent post of yours, and said that time would tell, but cautioned not hastily making rash judgments dogmatically declaring it to undoubtedly be a true revival, nor rejecting the possibility that God could be doing something among our nation's young (and hopefully all people).
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Your people are doing well in this then. Our pastor preached on it last Sunday morning, and I have to say, I couldn't make head nor tails of whether or not he believe it was or not....He was FAR TOO VAGUE in my honest opinion, and I'm finding that he's this way in a LOT of his preaching lately. This is one reason my wife and I are questioning whether we should stay members or not.
 
"It ain't over till it's over." - Yogi Berra. In the case of the Asbury Revival, it appears that at this point, "it's over."

protestia.com

After Asbury Revival Leaves Campus for Non-Existent 'New Location', Attendance and Interest Collapses

For twelve days, tens of thousands of revival chasers from around the world descended on...
protestia.com protestia.com

"Though Asbury University’s president said, 'we cannot stop something we did not start,' the fact that the Asbury Revival died the minute they chose to discontinue it says a lot about whether or not it was a true revival, or merely just a marathon praise and prayer worship service."
 
illinoisguy said:
"It ain't over till it's over." - Yogi Berra. In the case of the Asbury Revival, it appears that at this point, "it's over."

protestia.com

After Asbury Revival Leaves Campus for Non-Existent 'New Location', Attendance and Interest Collapses

For twelve days, tens of thousands of revival chasers from around the world descended on...
protestia.com protestia.com

"Though Asbury University’s president said, 'we cannot stop something we did not start,' the fact that the Asbury Revival died the minute they chose to discontinue it says a lot about whether or not it was a true revival, or merely just a marathon praise and prayer worship service."
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Well, the perspective of "I told ya so" turns me off from that dude's writing, because we do need revival in this land and ought to desire to see it come to fruition. From an analytical standpoint however, I don't doubt his opinion is accurate.
 
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ALAYMAN said:
Well, the perspective of "I told ya so" turns me off from that dude's writing, because we do need revival in this land and ought to desire to see it come to fruition. From an analytical standpoint however, I don't doubt his opinion is accurate.
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I really want to see REAL revival but revival is far more than endless worship music and testimonies! We also do not get to just "Move" the revival around to a different geographical location! Finally, during every other historic "Great Awakening," society continued to work and go about their lives! Cows still needed to be milked, fields still needed to be plowed, goods still had to be transported to market, and so forth! Revival affected every aspect of people's lives bringing about repentance and faith and a genuine concern for one's spiritual condition!

I believe the "Jesus Revolution" was a genuine movement of God and I credit this movement as having a significant impact on my personal conversion in 1981 when the hippies were all starting to cut their hair and the corporate people were figuring out how to make bookoo bucks off all the great "Jesus Music" that was coming out during that time! Even if Jesus didn't return before the end of the 80s, all the talk of the "Rapture" and getting "Left Behind" certainly opened more than a few conversations!
 
Baptist Renegade said:
I believe the "Jesus Revolution" was a genuine movement of God and I credit this movement as having a significant impact on my personal conversion in 1981 when the hippies were all starting to cut their hair and the corporate people were figuring out how to make bookoo bucks off all the great "Jesus Music" that was coming out during that time! Even if Jesus didn't return before the end of the 80s, all the talk of the "Rapture" and getting "Left Behind" certainly opened more than a few conversations!
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I agree it did. The Thief in the Night movie really stirred things up as I know many were impacted by the thought....Don't be left behind....and I Wish We'd All Been ready.

Even if ones have different eschatological views one should always have in their mind be ready to meet the Lord even if it's by natural death. Generally know one knows when that could be so be ready.

 
Kent Brandenburg's critique of the Asbury Revival:

"The Asbury leaders say that God brought a revival there starting on February 8. They also say they can’t stop it, since God brought it, even though they did stop the regular meetings there just this last week in part because of a case of measles. As you might comprehend already, I don’t think the Asbury 'Outpouring' or the Jesus Revolution were revival. I don’t need to wait to see on those two. I’m saying right now. They’re not."

Brandenburg says that Jack Hyles was a lot better than Asbury at whipping up a "revival," but he's not impressed with Hyles' revivals, either.

"When Jack Hyles was alive and in his heyday, in many instances I was in meetings where almost everyone in massive auditoriums came forward at his invitation. They streamed forward with only a few people left in their seats. I would think that Hyles could easily vie with any revivalist in his production of effect. If immediate outward manifestations measured revival, Hyles did better than anyone I’ve ever seen and on a more consistent basis. At one point, independent Baptist, revivalist churches in the Hyles movement were the largest churches in the world. Huge crowds gathered to hear a line-up of revivalist preachers. They were pragmatic and doctrinally errant, but people felt intense closeness to God."

This evaluates the Jesus Revolution the Asbury "Revival."

This post evaluates the Jesus Revolution and the Asbury Revival. Men call them great and good. I'm calling them fake and dangerous, worse than nothing.
kentbrandenburg.com

Check out the interesting comments at the bottom. David Thompson says, "I watched a few hours of the livestream so I could give first hand account of what was taking place. I never heard the gospel preached. There was an assumption that everyone there was saved. They emphasized ecumenicalism. And the music was all contemporary. My thoughts were, that if they are truly revived, they will have to reject everything they’re doing right now in order to get right with God."

"Kevin" says, "It’s easy to discredit stuff because we see somethings wrong. But let me ask, why isn’t revival happening in our Independent Baptist churches? Why isn’t revival happening at the churches that have it all right? . . . I happened to tune into one of the services and I heard a very clear Gospel presentation. Much scripture was given. Repentance was even addressed. Would I have done things a little different? Yes! But the fact is Christ was preached."
 
illinoisguy said:
Check out the interesting comments at the bottom. David Thompson says, "I watched a few hours of the livestream so I could give first hand account of what was taking place. I never heard the gospel preached. There was an assumption that everyone there was saved. They emphasized ecumenicalism. And the music was all contemporary. My thoughts were, that if they are truly revived, they will have to reject everything they’re doing right now in order to get right with God."

"Kevin" says, "It’s easy to discredit stuff because we see somethings wrong. But let me ask, why isn’t revival happening in our Independent Baptist churches? Why isn’t revival happening at the churches that have it all right? . . . I happened to tune into one of the services and I heard a very clear Gospel presentation. Much scripture was given. Repentance was even addressed. Would I have done things a little different? Yes! But the fact is Christ was preached."
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According to David they need to get right with God because there was contemporary music.
Kevin wonders why revivals aren't happening in churches that have it all right.

Maybe the churches and people who think they have it all right really don't.
 
Baptist Renegade said:
I believe the "Jesus Revolution" was a genuine movement of God and I credit this movement as having a significant impact on my personal conversion in 1981 when the hippies were all starting to cut their hair and the corporate people were figuring out how to make bookoo bucks off all the great "Jesus Music" that was coming out during that time! Even if Jesus didn't return before the end of the 80s, all the talk of the "Rapture" and getting "Left Behind" certainly opened more than a few conversations!
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'Zactly.
 
voicecrying said:
According to David they need to get right with God because there was contemporary music.
Kevin wonders why revivals aren't happening in churches that have it all right.

Maybe the churches and people who think they have it all right really don't.
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I took Kevin’s response to be in the same vein as the latter portion of yours.

And maybe it’s due to all of my recent participation in the Calvinism threads😁, but maybe part of the problem in this paradigm is with the people’s expectations that God must do their bidding. So in the cases of Brandenberg and David being somewhat censorious towards those Christians not just like them, regardless of how much the IFB School of Elijah potentially have right or think they have right, their unrealistic expectation seems to be that God moves only on their blueprint cookie-cutting machine.
 
Rockson said:
I agree it did. The Thief in the Night movie really stirred things up as I know many were impacted by the thought....Don't be left behind....and I Wish We'd All Been ready.

Even if ones have different eschatological views one should always have in their mind be ready to meet the Lord even if it's by natural death. Generally know one knows when that could be so be ready.

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During my Navy training in Millington, TN, I attended an IFB Church that showed the "Thief in the Night/Distant Thunder/Mark of the Beast" trilogy and many of my Navy and Marine Corps buddies professed Christ as a result. It also marked the beginning of my time in the IFB world as I started attending regularly and was baptized there. Got my first Scofield Bible while I was there along with a few Larkin books and Ruckman Commentaries!

I have not changed my eschatological position (not by much anyway) but I am much less stressed by those having differing views. I believe that orthodoxy demands the belief in the literal, physical return of Christ. I would like to add to this that Christ's coming is IMMINENT as it has been since his ascension from the Mount of Olives but not sure if such is a requirement for orthodoxy. Those who are IN CHRIST are waiting and longing for his appearing!
 
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