God is shining through the Darkness!
with a spontaneous hunger for God, God moves
Jim Burns
Just a few days ago I read some staggering statistics about what’s happening to the Christian movement in America, how Christianity is making a mass exodus in the United States.
This research has affirmed that secularism is growing while religion is declining in the US. Being non-religious is cool today – being applauded by the government, movie stars, celebrities, by the national media, and promoted by the educational system from pre-school to graduate school in the US.
Abortion and same sex marriage is applauded in those same groups above, while many in the church is still frowned upon with abortion and same sex marriage as sin.
Youth are leading the way to the mass exodus because they are being led by the powers that be – government, celebrities, educators, and many parents have become too lax on themselves and on their children.
This research gives some hard facts about why Christianity is slipping down the slippery slopes to destruction.
54% of children in this country are growing up in a one parent home;
40% of babies are being born outside of marriage;
36 % of millennials are unattached to religion, most are secular attached;
23% of GenX were unattached to religion;
17% of Boomers were unattached religion;
You can see the how the slippery slope is gaining progressively downward among the youth of our nation.
84% of mainline churches have NO support system for newly weds
48% of mainline churches have NO marriage preparation system
8% of mainline church have a ministry for healthy dating systems
A few years ago, being non-religious was frowned upon – being touted a Christian nation, however being non-Christian today is applauded, being a non-Christian is “cool.”
From those statistics, one must assume there is a dark cloud over the United States of America where Christianity is making a mass exodus, especially with the youth in America.
However, the darker the cloud, the brighter the Son shines. There is a glimmer of hope for a mighty move of God coming upon our nation.
The nation is being captivated by a stunning revival breaking out at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, as students, faculty, and people from outside the Christian campus flock to the school’s chapel to participate in a multi-day revival.
From singing to sermons and overt praise for Jesus, the worship service, which started Feb. 8, hasn’t stopped. Day and night, students and professors are passionately worshipping Christ. “Right now, I think we’ve reached over 120 hours of nonstop worship, praise, confession, testimony, Scripture, reading — you name it,” Alexandra Presta, a senior at Asbury University, told CBN’s Faithwire on Monday.
It’s a scene that has left Presta, who also serves as editor of the student-run website The Asbury Collegian, in awe. She has been writing about what she experienced after attending what she thought was a typical chapel service last Wednesday. But that service was like none other, resulting in a situation she called absolutely “incredible.”
The move of God started on February 8, and by February 15, 2023 this revival has spread from Asbury U, to the Ramp, Jackson Georgia High School, Cedarville University, OH; Ohio Christian University; Lee University, Tennessee; Bethel, TX; Park Hill, MO; Indiana Wesleyan U, IN; The Gate, NC; Kings Highway, AL; Kingdom Life, Maine; University of Kentucky, KY; Eastern Kentucky U, KY; Kentucky Christian U, KY; Christ for the Nations, TX; Israel; Uganda; Jimmy Swaggard College, LA; and God only knows where it will go.
Jana Alcorn says, “I am hearing of this Spirit-led movement on the campus of Asbury University, also known as Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. No human leader. Spontaneous hunger! Chapel service on Wednesday has not ended. Students are staying all night. No bells and whistles. So refreshing! Here is a report: God is moving at Asbury – in 1970 a 10 day revival broke out at Asbury. Currently they are on day 3 no plan of stopping. It is now spreading to other universities. Busses are coming!! Never planned all spontaneous Holy Spirit driven. People prostrate, shoes and socks off as the tangible presence of God is among them. My question….do we hunger for God? What are the conditions to revival? Would we sense this outpouring? We need to become desperate for God. It’s clear we are but we each have to know it. That thought alone should drive us to the ground. Come Holy Spirit Come!!!!”
Madison Pierce says, “I’m hesitant to post my thoughts on what’s happening in Wilmore. A few of you may have heard about the “Revival” at Asbury University. I attended the gatherings from the first day til now. A chapel service that didn’t stop but continued spontaneously for 9 days now. It was an intimate space for students, but it is now the focus of global intrigue, mass pilgrimage, and digital evaluation. I am aware that not everyone has a paradigm for this form of spirituality, but I want to be honest to my own understanding.
I come from a spiritual background that has left me weary of hype in a culture of spectacle. I’ve grown tired of disintegrous representations of divine work, but it is clear God is moving in a surprising and transformative way. However, when you think of “revival”, what comes to mind might not be what’s happening.”
To quote Professor McCall, a theology professor at Asbury Seminary, “what we are experiencing now—this inexpressibly deep sense of peace, wholeness, holiness, belonging, and love—is only the smallest of windows into the life for which we are made.”
Pastor Dewey Moed says, “I am heartbroken to see churches with a good sized building with so few congregants, with unused rooms, up keep costs, heating bills, etc. That money could be used to fund missions and feed the hungry. Look what is happening in our college campuses across America! Tear down your walls! It is not about you and me! It is all about Jesus! Denominations and walls mean nothing to those students in revival.!
I know I am stepping on toes when I say this…BUT! I see too many churches with only 10 to 15 people in attendance. I have suggested merging churches to some pastors and elders in the past
Look what is happening at our college campuses across America! WOW! I believe with all my heart, with what has started at Asbury, is a message to the American Church! Tear down your walls! It is not about you and me! It is all about JESUS! JESUS! Denominations and walls mean nothing to these revivals!
Long-time Pastor Don Kimbro stated in his message about the Asbury Revival, “Oh, how we need our younger generation to come alive in the Spirit of God and teach and remind us of older folks, that God is alive and far above our heralded denominational traditions. We need revival in our land more than ever. The best thing we can do, if we can’t go and be there, is to pray for the students and ask God to keep this Move growing and not allow recalcitrant hands from trying to stir the pot and take it over.”
I have been praying for and advocating for almost twenty years for a resurgence of the church Jesus established – a unified body of Christ.
What has happened to the church Jesus established? Man has gotten his own ego into the equation. We think that we are more intelligent, more educated, and more spiritual than Jesus. Yet there is still one central idea of a “true church.” We have changed, diluted, added to, taken away from, and created our own “church.”
If we are to fulfill the great commission Jesus gave us to reach the world, I believe we need to build some bridges to a fragmented church. The church is divided; weakened and are losing our influence for the cause of Christ. We have become a social club with all our own ideas about church and letting the world go to hell. Jesus warns about being divided, about building foolishly. It is evident that we are NOT reaching the numbers we should be reaching because our foundations are not solid. We are losing ground as the non-Christian crowd is gaining.
I believe this move of God starting at Asbury and moving across college campuses is an opportunity for us to build bridges to a fragmented church, to be filled with the Holy Spirit empowered to reach the world of Christ in our generation.
God is shining through the darkness with a spontaneous hunger for God, God moves. We have a tremendous opportunity to follow the students, completely surrender our lives into the hands of God and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us up to the brim so that we can do what Jesus commanded us to do.
Check out my paper “Building Bridges to a Fragmented Church” on my website:
www.jimsramblings.com
JB 021823