ASBURY REVIVAL FIRE (Part Three) … Saving Power
“Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power?” (Isaiah 53:1 NLT).
Isaiah asks two wonderful questions to provide the prelude to his famous 53rd Chapter prophesy about the coming Savior, Jesus.
First, “Who has believed our message?” That’s simple. I believe. And millions more. Your golf club is full of ‘believers’.
But the second question is better, and quite relevant on the subject of Revival. “To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power?”
This raises the bar. There are millions of believers but not many have seen his ‘saving power’.
On February 8, 2023 at Asbury University, the Lord revealed His saving power to a whole new generation of college kids. Those college kids did not just believe- they saw His power to save and reconcile and love. And I saw the same thing in 1970. CLICK HERE for a video about 1970- “When God Comes”.
What does the ‘saving power’ of this revival mean for me? Three quick points.
First, God’s saving power is available for all generations. The revival of today confirms for me (at age 72) that my personal encounter with God in 1970 was not some youthful fantasy. It was real! And conversely, my old-timers’ testimony should be proof for the kids of this generation that their experience can last a lifetime! They can still be testifying in 2076!
Second, I must admit that the 1970 revival experience tainted my future church life. My own dissatisfaction with ‘church’ is partly the result of what I saw with my own eyes in 1970. The typical modern-day Sunday service is a one-hour event with a few songs, a sermon with three points, a pastor who disappears behind the stage after sharing his Biblical thoughts, and a final song. It has little resemblance to my revival experience.
Where’s the altar? Where’s the tears? Where’s the urgency that for somebody, ‘today is the day of salvation”? The real action in 1970 was around the altar with tears of repentance and joy.
But third, I am sure that these revival times are not just for churches and holy auditoriums with lots of ecclesiastic symbols. The sign over the platform at Asbury says, “Holiness Unto the Lord”. Indeed, Hughes Auditorium is a modern Holy of Holies for Wilmore, Kentucky.
But my question is this. Is revival possible at the “Unholy of Unholies”- the local golf or country club where we live and play? Or maybe your workplace? Is revival possible in the marketplace of 2023?
I am happy to report that the answer is YES. The same Holy Spirit which came to Asbury on February 8, 2023 is finding His way into my golf club in south Alabama. He is ‘changing the conversations’ at our golf course. Jesus is no longer just a curse word after a shank. He is a Savior seeking and saving the lost. It happens in our small groups that meet in the Locker Room. But it also happens in conversations on the course, in the pro shop, in the bar. Jesus is showing up everywhere.
You may remember the twosome walking down the 1st fairway of Emmaus Country Club? Jesus appeared and walked the seven miles with them. He even caddied for them. All they could say was “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He talked with us…” (Luke 24:13-34).
How about your golf club? Have you seen Him there? Do you hear the winds of revival blowing through the trees and down the fairways?
Or how about your workplace? Have you seen him in the courthouse? Or you factory? Or your business?
Or hopefully your church? Have you seen Jesus there? Are you wishing that the Sunday service would go on and on? Has your pastor decided not to preach his sermon because the Holy Spirit is at work with no sermon? Is there a “sweet, sweet, Spirit in this place”, as the song goes?
It is now a month since the revival started at Asbury on February 8. I am asked almost daily, “Is the revival still going?” My answer is simple: “Of course, it is. The Spirit in me is on fire. How about you?”
So, Isaiah asked, “To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power?” I hope YOU are the answer to the prophet’s prayerful question. “Yes, Lord, send me to spread the revival fires.” Amen.
P.S. And by the way, in case you are trying to determine when the next revival is coming, consider this……… in 1970 the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, in 2020 when we celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the revival, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and you guessed it, in 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Maybe we found the sign! (Just kiddin’).