OPINION:
For decades, I have read about spiritual awakenings happening in American history. But this year, it’s beginning to feel like we are in the middle of one.
I’ve had a spiritual premonition that some sort of big spiritual revival was coming and I believe what we are seeing now is only the beginning.
In the summer of 2019, my friend Malachi O’Brien called me and said, “I feel like we are supposed to call one million young people to fast and pray as we enter into the Roaring Twenties.” We had the sense the 2020s would be a time when God would do something significant and powerful in America. Little did we know what was coming.
We shared the invitation to fast and pray and in January 2020, churches across the country joined us. We had no idea the chaos, difficulty and pain that was about to sweep the world, but fasting and praying was a great way to prepare for what was ahead.
The censorship of big tech, the gaslighting of mainstream media and the tyranny of big government over the last few years have been intense. This has woken many people up and caused many Christians to be desperate for God to do something. People are desperate for the corrupt elite to face any semblance of justice. People are broken, tired, and weary of the woke attack on American values. There is an urgency in the air for God to do something in our country, and that spiritual desperation is clearly being met this year.
On Feb. 8, 2023, Zach Meerkreebs a minister in Kentucky was preaching at the chapel at Asbury University when something unusual and extraordinary happened. It started with a handful of students who didn’t want to leave after service was over. They sensed they should keep praying.
Over the next few hours, more students filled the chapel and this snowballed into a 24-hour service that lasted 16 days. More than 200,000 people converged on the small town of Willmore, Kentucky – a town of just 6,000 residents. There was no desire for publicity. No famous Christian speaker or band played. The only draw was the unusually strong presence of God. What was it like to be in the room?
“It felt peaceful. We need peace and rest right now, especially Gen Z who feel anxious and carry so much pressure. The Presence of God was intense and gentle at the same time…it drew us into repentance, worship, intimacy with God, and community with each other. I was moved by the testimonies of people being freed from suicidal ideation,” said Mr. Meerkreebs. “Many men shared stories of sexual abuse, which is unusual because men often hide because of shame or tensions around sexuality. Many testimonies people shared during this time were rooted in our affections being realigned and eclipsed by Jesus.”
Mr. Meerkreebs shared stories of people who traveled for hours and from countries around the world to take part in the revival. Most waited in line for hours just to spend a few minutes in prayer. All because they recognized the sacred work God was doing. There is no explanation for something like this.
The spiritual clamor spread from Asbury to 37 other college campuses across the country that allowed young people to experience spiritual freedom, renewal and calling. There have been more than 200 teams of students testifying about the revival in churches since then, with hundreds more going out this summer.
Mr. Meerkreebs and Jeannine Brabon, a student prayer leader from a similar revival that took place at Asbury University in 1970, joined me on my podcast, Think Eternity with Matt Brown. Although the 1970 gathering lasted about a week, many people still read and talk about what took place and its impact on people’s lives, more than 50 years later. It’s safe to say people will be talking about the 2023 revivals decades from now as well. It is significant and unusual, and should greatly encourage believers.
And what happened at Asbury is only one example of the revival that is sweeping the nation.
Pastor Robby Gallaty in Hendersonville, Tennessee, grew restless from the pressures of ministry in 2020 and he dedicated time on his porch to silent prayer for almost a year. Then he sensed God leading him to call for a spontaneous baptism at his church. That was a highly unusual concept with the way he normally did ministry, but he sensed it was God. So he did it.
Over the next year, revival swept the church with more than 1,500 people expressing their faith through public baptism.
And on May 28, 2023, on what is known as “Pentecost Sunday,” Pastor Mark Francey felt led to hold a public baptism at Pirates Cove, California, one of the sites of the Jesus Movement. He invited other churches to participate, and 280 churches from across Southern California came together.
In total, 4,166 people were baptized at one time. This was the largest baptism in California history, and some people are calling it the largest baptism in American history.
We are living through that moment right now. And there’s more to come.
Pastor Greg Laurie is planning a baptism at Pirate’s Cove on July 9, to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the SoCal Harvest Crusade. This is the longest-running evangelistic event in American history where hundreds of thousands of people have found faith in Jesus. Mr. Laurie was part of the original Jesus Movement in the 1970s and his story was recently released in the movie “Jesus Revolution,” which surprised critics and Hollywood with $53 million in box office receipts.
The pastor admits that “only time will tell” if this is the start of another Jesus Movement.
“We did not know it was a revival until later. There was no point of reference. We just thought what we were experiencing was church. It was not until I got out more, and went to speak in other churches that I came to recognize what we were experiencing was unique,” said Mr. Laurie.
How should we respond to these stories?
When times are difficult and the news is often negative, let’s share the positive stories too.
Let these revivals remind us that God is not silent and inactive in our world. He responds to people of faith, and He moves in mighty ways when we pray to Him. He hears our cries for help, and He cares about this generation just like He did for past generations of Americans.
Be encouraged.
Renew your passion for God. Pray fervently. And spread the good stories of what He is doing. As my friend Mr. O’Brien says, “the fame of revival spreads the flame of revival.”
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Matt Brown is an evangelist, author of Truth Plus Love, host of Think Eternity with Matt Brown, and founder of Think Eternity, an evangelistic ministry helping people find fulfillment in God.
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