It was the talk of the charismatic world just a few short months ago. You couldn't get through the day without someone boasting or bragging about this revival going on in Wilmore, Kentucky at Asbury College. The long and short of it is that following a scheduled church service, the students refused to leave. Using Christianese, they began 'pressing in." The more they did, the more they seemingly desired God. The Christian college obliged and gave them more worship, more prayer and an occasional biblical word fragment. One witness stated that when they called the college to ask why this revival was so light on the preached word the answer provided was that they did not feel it was needed. Ouch. Only a Charismaniacal revival could decide the word of the Lord was not needed. Either way, this desire for the presence of God from the students carried on for almost two weeks until the local folk began complaining that the visitors were taking all of their parking spaces. Reflecting on all of the times in the Book of Acts, Paul left town because of parking, the powers that be decided to end the revival. That's right, they decided they had enough of the outpouring of the presence of God because their grocery stores were running low on parking lot spaces. So, they stopped the perpetual services and told God He had to leave. They tried moving God to a larger auditorium in the town proper, but you know how finicky God can be. Thus ended the great Asbury Revival. I mean outpouring. Heck, here ended the Great Something's Going on at Asbury, circa 2023.
With two months now removed, it seems fair to analyze these events since we know others with agendas will soon be framing it to suit their needs. Let me start with the youth. I do not doubt for a second the zeal or fervor these students had. That said, let us not lose perspective. This was a Christian college. It is a shame that when students at a Christian College decide they want more of Jesus that it becomes a national church issue. That said, please do not confuse the commentary as a critique on the genuineness of the students. They receive the benefit of the doubt. They were of course used at every turn as their desire for God was hijacked and twisted into a false revival.
We must first understand the nature of the apostate, NAR, Dominionist church is to chase this mythical state of revival with the misplaced passion that Captain Ahab had for Moby Dick. They pursue this nebulous revival despite the bible promising no such end times event. What the bible does promise is a great end times apostasy, of which they are already leading the way on. Why such displaced desire? Because they love this world and the sin it offers. The same reasons the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus. They are in the seats of power in their church system. Reviving this country delays the judgment they know deep down is coming. So, they scour the horizon for any sign that can be twisted into this caricature of revival they have in their head. They did it in 1994 at the Toronto Demonic Outpouring and all we got was the Holy Laughter nonsense. In 1995 we saw the Brownsville Kundalini Spirit Infestation. Some say the Toronto Heresy lasted over 12 years and Brownsville at least six years. I guess they had better parking than Wilmore Kentucky. Even the absurd Lakeland "let me kick you in the face to heal you" Revival lasted seven months. I guess the Lakeland Kroger's Supermarket had a bigger parking lot.
So where did the two-week Asbury Revival go wrong? Other people heard about it. Suddenly everything was couched in supernatural terms. Charisma News ran ten articles per day on it. Doubters were quickly attacked as having no faith. An occasional story of healing or exorcism was dropped into the daily banter. Then Greg Locke announced he was going. Then Todd Bentley, formerly of the Lakeland Revival, said he was stopping by too. People from all around Kentucky were flocking to Wilmore to chase the presence of God, which of course they had full access to in their own hometown. This seemingly innocuous story about some Christian college kids seeking God become a faux-statement on God and the church today. Was this the great revival the NAR operatives claimed it was? Of course not. The Great Welsh Revival changed things permanently. The Azusa Street Revival formed the foundation for what Charismania is today, for better or worse. What fundamentally changed after Asbury? Nothing. Sure, perhaps there were a few folks who came out of it more dedicated to God than before and praise His mighty name for that! For most though, it was just a two-week break from classes while outsiders tried to convince them they were ground zero for a dramatic shift in the atmosphere.
The problem is that is the same shift the Charismaniacs are always chasing. But everyone left Wilmore. Locke left to go back to burning books and pretending God votes Republican. Bentley left to pal around with his pet angel Emma and wildly slap people in the face to "impart healing." Charisma News? They packed up and moved onto the next great thing Stephen Strang can write a book about. The sleepy little town of Wilmore went back to sleep. The students of Asbury College went back to class. The residents of Wilmore Kentucky went back clear streets and open parking spots. God? Guess He just moseyed out of town, looking for the next big wave to ride.
Except, does anyone truly believe this is how God operates? Yes, if you press in you can easily find Him because God is usually not hard to locate. NAR Charismaniacs always portray God in the most mystical, gnostic way possible, but the truth is the opposite. The students at Asbury College were not satisfied with whatever they were being taught so they wanted more. Isn't it sad though that a revival for the word of God never breaks out? Instead, it is always this Bethel-esque seeking of presence, which always trumps the word. That is the entire premise of experiential Christianity. So, the minions of the apostate church are constantly pursuing the next experience. Whether it be at a Friday night prayer with an itinerant false prophet or going up for the same altar call each week to make sure you "get yours" and be knocked to the ground. Or maybe it was a two-week carnality-fest disguised as a Christian revival at a sleepy town Christian college. But then I can't park, and I pay state and local taxes to ensure I do, so to heck with this experience. Tell these revival chasing, experience desiring apostate believers it is time for them to go and pack up their false god with them. Next time someone mentions Asbury as a revival, ask them what exactly was revived? It was just another in a long line of experiential, NAR moments packaged as a move of God, marketed as a revival, and sold to the unsuspecting masses as something equal to the word of God, which if you remember, was not needed.
Reverend Anthony Wade - April 11, 2023
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