On February 8, 2023, students at Asbury Christian University had a chapel service. Since then, they have not stopped worshipping. There are no “celebrity” pastors or adults demanding that they do this. People are going there from all over America trying to discover what is happening there. Some people call it a revival. Some people say it is not a revival unless you feed the poor. (Why do Americans love to quote Judas?) Some say it is just kids being over emotional. Why do humans placate what God is doing? The answer is that humans do not understand the heart and work of God. In this small Christian college in Kentucky, God is working on the hearts of the students. Maybe, just maybe, we should allow God to do His work without our interferences.
I have no idea what is occurring in Kentucky at that small Christian college. I do know that it is a tough time to be a young person in our society. Everyone is screaming from all directions of how young people must think and believe. As a former youth pastor, I have grieved the students who have walked away from God because they are pulled to the desires of their flesh, whatever those desires may be. What I do know is that I have to allow God to work.
God doesn’t need us telling him how to revive someone’s heart. God needs to do his work of reviving hearts. We must pray. Many people claim that Christians don’t know who Jesus is because Jesus hung out with sinners and had dinner with them. While that is true, they also don’t continue reading the Bible with a few verses later in which Jesus tells the Pharisees that he came for the sick not the healthy. Jesus didn’t come to hang out with the sick but to heal them. In Kentucky, some hearts are being healed because they chose to hang out with Jesus.
What I have discovered in the past few years is that I must listen to the voice of God over the voices of humans who think they know the voice of God. I also discovered that before I can do any act of service or goodness, God must heal my heart.
People are coming to Jesus at this chapel meeting in Kentucky. People are on their knees praying. God is moving through the people to heal their hearts. The movement is growing to other Christian universities that are now having their own spiritual gatherings. The beauty of it is indescribable. Instead of wondering or criticizing, maybe it is time that we join them in this movement.
As a teacher of high school students and a former youth pastor, I am thrilled that it is young people leading the way with this movement. Young people are not the church of tomorrow, but they are the church of today. I hear wisdom from young people all the time. These young people are learning the Word of God in their classes. I remember my Bible college days. I learned so much of how to read and understand the Bible. I remember conversations with other students who were learning with me. My time at Bible college was one of the best growth periods in my walk with Jesus.
Here in Southern California, our church camp resides in our mountains. God’s beautiful creation surrounds you there. With mountain peaks, trees, animals, and stars in the sky. The presence of God is felt by all who enter. Worshipping on that mountain was indiscernible and incredible. The young people with me always had their hearts healed at that camp. I did too.
The young people in Kentucky are having a healing of their hearts. No matter what else is occurring, their hearts are being healed. If one person decides to live their life for Jesus, it is worth it. The changes may not happen within a few weeks or even a few months or years, but change will happen. Let us embrace it. Let us join in at our own churches in this country. Let Jesus heal our hearts.
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