Asbury College Revival: Don’t Pass Us By
By Patti Jensen
Mitchell County
What began with 15 college students in their normal daily chapel time, has grown to, as I write this, over 130 hours non-stop, and hundreds of people from all across the country and even one person from Singapore, traveling to Wilmore Kentucky (a town of 6,000 people) to just be in the room where God is moving.
Some are calling it a revival. Some are cynics saying that it isn’t really a true revival. But there’s no question that with only a piano and a box drum, they are worshipping, praying, repenting, and loving on one another, both friend and stranger.
I’m not sure if there is a standard definition for revival, but Jennie Allen said it most concisely when she said revival is Prayer, Worship, and Repentance, and that’s exactly what the students (and now faculty, staff, and hundreds from the around the country) are doing on a little college campus in Kentucky.
These 20-something age students are going after Jesus with abandon. They are putting words into action as they demonstrate “Jesus Don’t Pass Us By.” They are a part of a generation, “Gen Z”, that the world in many cases deems lazy, all about protests and riots and fighting back. They are disregarded as a generation that will never be able to lead our country or our world out of the mess we have gotten into.
But there is a growing population of 20-something people who are on fire for the Lord. Who are pursuing Him and hungry for His Word, and His presence. They want to seek Him above all else and are boldly taking that fire to their college campuses, their homes, apartments, coffee shops, and their second home…social media. In a TikTok world that is known for lewd, demeaning, and trivial videos, the Asbury College Revival has now gone viral! What? As of February 16th, posts with the hashtag #AsburyRevival have generated 34.5 million views on TikTok. Who would have EVER imagined that?
They are worshipping Him with abandon, not caring who is watching or what they might say. They are studying his Word, and hungry to have God use them for His Kingdom.
They are in so many ways crying out to God and saying “Don’t Pass Us By”. In that small chapel, which looks like so many of our “main street” churches in our communities that sit silently 5 days out of the week, they have been worshipping and praying and filling the altar for 130+ hours nonstop.
The accounts from those who have witnessed this revival, say that it all began with a simple chapel service followed by a time of worship and a call for those who wanted prayer. Students began to sing, worship, and go to the altar…then friends joined others who were praying at the altar. The worship music continued. The praying continued. Others on campus heard the music long after chapel should have been over, and wandered over in curiosity to see what was happening. And they stayed. Then others came. And they stayed. The worship leader continued to play and sing for 10 hours straight. At that time others stepped onto the stage to relieve them. Not professional musicians. Just students who stood on the chapel stage and led simple worship songs.
If you are a Christian, and that doesn’t move your heart while convicting it at the same time, I might suggest some prayer time is needed. As adults, we become so comfortable in our church “schedule”. Sunday and Wednesday….that’s when we worship the Lord. That’s it. And we really like what happens and the people we know inside our four walls just like it is. That guy with the tattoos covering his face? Nope… not really comfortable with him coming in. And frankly, most aren’t really comfortable taking Jesus out to him either.
WHAT ARE WE DOING? If we knew for a fact that Jesus was coming back next year, what would we be doing? Would we be flinging open the doors of our churches and opening the altar day and night? Would we worship with abandon? Would we repent and call out all of the things we love more than God? Would we pray for the guy with tattoos covering his face, for our family members that don’t know the Lord, for the person at work that gets on our nerves? Would we share God and what He has done for us all over our social media so that He goes “viral” throughout social media? Would we look for every chance we could find to serve others and show them the love of Christ?
Or would we instead still start to get a little perturbed when the preacher goes past 12 noon on Sunday morning? Would we give the side eye to the lady at church who raises her hands in worship? Would we fuss a little when we walk out of church about the choir/praise band not singing the songs we like or know or for being too loud? Would we still roll our eyes about that “one person” at church who we don’t think should be a leader/teacher/volunteer?
Dear Lord….let the young people at Asbury College be our turning point. Let what You are doing there spread throughout this nation, and this world begins in our own hearts. Right here.
Lord, please Don’t Pass Us By.
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Patti Jensen is the writer and creator of the lifestyle blog “A Grateful Girl” which features encouragement, a focus on gratitude with some lifestyle tips and recipes thrown in for good measure! Patti is married to Jack and has two daughters, two great sons-in-law and a new granddaughter, Georgia Grace. You can find her posts on Instagram and Facebook and on her blog at http://www.agratefulgirl.com.
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