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The Prophetic Sign from Asbury We are Missing

God is moving in the churches of every pastor I know. It is astounding and it all started about the same time as Asbury.

Asbury did not start this move. Asbury was a prophetic sign about this move. It wasn’t started in the seminary, it was started across the street at the Bible college among students who wanted to be transformed by God.

It wasn’t started at a revival meeting. Of course, no revival has ever started in a revival meeting. It was started at a chapel where people were being challenged to be better.

I think we have a window of opportunity to encounter God in this season. There are a whole lot of man-made movements happening right now. I don’t say that to put them down or discredit them. But there are a lot of movements that have come out of our stream that focus more on our efforts (prayer, worship, intercession) then they are focused on God, His grace, and what He did so we can encounter that grace.

And Lord knows if our movement can build something, they can definitely promote it, market it, and make some leaders famous and rich from it.

Asbury the Sign

Asbury was none of these things. They simply let God do what he wanted to do and tried to keep everyone with an ulterior agenda off the stage. Jon Tyson, Pastor of Church of the City New York, said there was no hype in the meetings. He said he wished there was 20% more hype. It was just a “bad Baptist college service with a nuclear bomb attached.”

In other words, it was God among the poor in spirit. That is the sign. That is the fruit that can’t be produced with marketing, email blasts, or Instagram stories.

I hunger and thirst for a move of God like that. I am so tired of what our stream has produced. Every time God does anything it has been labeled an outpouring or revival or awakening. It’s been marketed on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook along with a handful of ways to make the leader more wealthy.

Early in the Asbury meetings they put up a sign not to stream the services. Can you imagine any of the famous people in our stream doing that? Not a chance.

It’s Time for Something New

I’m tired of celebrity apostles. I’m tired of prophets who put their hope in the American government. I am older now, and no longer need the bells and whistles of revival. I desperately want a move that produces people who love God and love their neighbor in radical ways. I desperately want to be in a room where people are convinced of their need for Jesus and convicted of their lust for the American dream.

I pray that I’m around long enough to see something pure and holy stoked again.

4 comments
  1. David Copeland

    Reading this made me weep again. I’m with you. I’m tired of almost everything our movement has put out. And I am the guy with revival in his ministry name. I want…I must have a genuine move of His Spirit. Without the goofiness.

  2. John

    But… Was Asbury a Revival?

    Personally, I don’t think so. It is great that people, especially youngster, are becoming more dedicated to serve the Lord, but I can’t imagine a girl saying in an interview that she thinks it’s time to stop, because she has trouble combining it with her academic study.

    Or a neighbor who complains about parked cars…

    We’ve seen the great Revivals in the past. Where bars were emptied or converted to small churches, where the police had nothing to do because no crimes were committed anymore. Where judges got unemployed because there were no cases.

    Where people came to the venue spontaneously and confessed their sins in tears and asked God to forgive them.

    Have we seen anything like this at Asbury?

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