Another stinker?

Last week, I wrote about the revival taking place in the chapel at Asbury University in Kentucky.  There are many opinions circling the Internet about it, and as I said, its legitimacy will be seen down the road by the fruit borne from it.  I am praying for great things to happen as a result!

Some back stories are starting to come out about how all this began.  One of them comes from the preacher on the day the revival began, February 8.  A volunteer soccer coach at the university gave what news reports are calling an “improvised sermon” about real love, and invited students to come forward if they wanted to receive prayer to experience a better love than the world (or, sometimes, even the church) had shown them.

He closed by saying, “I pray that this sits on you guys like an itchy sweater, and you gotta itch, you gotta take care of it.”

The soccer coach-preacher, off the platform, then texted his wife to say his sermon was “another stinker” and that he would be home soon.

As the last couple of weeks have demonstrated, though, that sermon was anything but “another stinker”.  God showed up and moved in the hearts of those present, and those who would come later, even days later.

I tell you this to remind you that words matter.

Whether you’re a preacher or not, your words have an impact on others.  And when your words are spoken to the glory of God, the Holy Spirit can take your efforts and multiply them many times over.

I’ve experienced this myself.  There are weeks, as a communicator, that I don’t think I’ve offered the best I could give.  Yet, invariably, when I feel that way, someone will express to me how the Lord moved that person because of what I said (or, sometimes, what she or he thought I said!). 

As I often tell students and preachers alike, what happens from the time the words fall out of your face and into the ears of listeners is not up to us:  the Lord can do amazing things.  

That doesn’t mean we should be less careful with our words, whether spoken publicly or privately; we should always give our best, and speak to the glory of God, all the while understanding that in the end, it’s not up to us.

Who knows?  Maybe the Lord will use your words to spark a revival in your home, or your school, or your church, or your community!

“[W]hatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father” (Colossians 3.17, NLT).

Revive us again!

In case you haven’t heard about it, there is currently a revival going on at Asbury University in Kentucky.  For several days now, there has been a steady stream of people entering the university chapel to pray and worship God.  It all started when a chapel service ended, and nobody left.

That building has now been occupied with worshippers, sometimes a full house, for over a week.  Why does this matter?

If nothing else, it demonstrates that God is at work in the world!

At a deeper level, it shows us that the human race has not been forsaken by the Lord. 

Among the most socially impactful revivals were the Great Awakenings in New England in the 18^th century, sparked in large part by the faithful biblical preaching of Jonathan Edwards.

Even a cursory study of history will show that periodically over time, in various places in the world, movements of the Holy Spirit have taken place that have had an impact on society.  Perhaps you remember the Toronto Blessing from the 1990s as an example of this.

A dear friend and colleague and I drove to Toronto one snowy Sunday night to witness this movement.  Seated with some seminary professors in the back row, we took it all in.  People were laughing, people were doing “carpet time” (as it was called), being slain in the Spirit.  It was vastly different from what my service that morning had looked like!

But in all honesty, as one with the spiritual gift of discernment of spirits, I was not alarmed.  

While it might not have been “my thing”, I found it difficult to doubt that God was at work in the midst of that.

Revivals are great.  Everybody likes a show.  What really matters, though, is the fruit that is borne from it.  As my friend, John G. Stackhouse, Jr., wrote recently, the revival at Asbury will have been a remarkable work of God if there is some seed of growing discipleship demonstrated among the people affected by it.  

Should we pray for revival in our hearts, our homes, our churches, our nations?  Undoubtedly, yes!  And as we do, let’s likewise pray for the desired result of revival:  changed hearts and lives.  Otherwise, we will have enjoyed the sizzle, but not feasted on the steak.

God is still active in our world.  He has not forsaken us, the pinnacle of his creation.  Let’s pray that many, many people are directed to follow Jesus with greater devotion as a result of revival.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15.5, NLT).