You go! Keep on goin’ Asbury, we’re with you! Today’s the day to build our lives upon the Rock instead of on the shifting sand. Let’s go the distance together!
I was regenerated inside (yes, spiritually reborn, converted, “saved” as the Bible describes it) in the Spring of 1977 after repenting of all my party-animal-sins etc (aka Lots of wrong-doin’s).
Having been raised in the Roman “ecclesiastical organization”, I had felt bored out of my gourd ’til that day. Where did the change happen? Well, I decided to pray, turning my life over to the Lord through a process of default pretty much after trying so many things grasping for fulfillment. This was up the coast near Newport Beach in a Turtle Rock home Bible study group and was during the days of the Jesus Revolution as Time Mag called it (during the late ’60s and the ‘70s).
There had been some Jesus (freaks — they never minded hearing that term) people friends around me up to that time who I enjoyed going surfing with. They would from time to time explain it all.. not push.. but they’d clearly share their faith with me. They weren’t ashamed of the gospel of Christ at all. We often played volleyball with would witness to me of Jesus and would invite me to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa where I ended up going some 1 to 3 times per week. Saw a lot of rock bands play and I loved how Chuck Smith Sr., Jimmy Kempner, Greg Laurie, and Randy Ziglar would couple expository evangelism with the new tunes. What a great fishing combination — excellent bait with Bible-loyal lyrics that most just loved!
I hung out with my Jesus people high schoolers from Dana Hills High a whole lot in small Apartment Bible Studies and on the sand in and in San Clemente, Dana Point, Newport and Corona Del Mar California.
It’s been estimated that up to 3 million (mostly young people worldwide) came to know Christ during this Jesus Revolution (as Times Magazine called it). It really doesn’t matter what the church historians call it, a movement, a revolution, a revival connected to the last spiritual awakening this nation (USA) has seen — call it what you want, but please don’t miss experiencing this relationship thang firsthand! It ain’t about dead religion, it’s about a right relationship first vertically and then horizontally. It’s about forgiveness from the only One who can forgive sins.. Jesus Christ.
We sang fresh and truthful lyrics accompanied by contemporary music in coffee houses and on the beach. I played the congas and other drums but was always mediocre at this because I like surfing and volleyball better. Most churches at that time weren’t open to having drums beating inside and only occasionally would allow a guitar. Later they allowed acoustic guitars in some, but Jesus Music and Contemporary Christian worship grew out of Jesus people seeking Christ together in my Costa Mesa church. It all grew in popularity to say the least as a new generation was learning to authentically praise and walk with the Lord. The natural outgrowth was bold evangelism from the heart. From a life lived under the lead or Lordship of Christ and seed planting and reaping.
I became a part of several youth organizations and grew in my faith and a bit of Bible knowledge (I love this Book and can’t seem to get to the bottom of it). I well remember the mocking, the scoffing, the criticism against the Jesus people movement and against the new music. People said it was just a fad and that we were a cult, or were loaded, or that we really weren’t Christians.
I remember hearing Larry Norman in Stuttgart with a group of teems I had bussed up there on the Autobahn. On the way there and back we were talking about impacting Europe and the world with the simple gospel message for Jesus!
Many decades later many of us are still gathering, still singing to Him, still fervently praying alone and together, still studying the Bible and teaching our grandkids about Jesus Christ! Yes, telling anyone who will listen to His Living Word.
Will What’s happening in “Asbury” and all over Texas now, (including at Baylor and at A&M last? Maybe some people will fall away or lose the momentum as did happen with some in the Jesus Movement. But thank God for the changed lives and the harvest that remains. I pray they all advance with the Lord long after many of us are gone!
The 2023 Asbury “revival” has been called a Christian revival where? Well, at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky and it lasted from February 8, 2023 through ___?___.
Is the Asbury revival a genuine work of God?
You know how an awakening is for the lost and a revival is for the saved. Let’s pray for a fifth great awakening here in the USA — we need one badly. So what exactly is a Christian revival?
What is the meaning of the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price?
What is the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15–24)?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Minas?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Vineyard?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Dragnet?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Wedding Feast?
What is the meaning of the Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Prodigal Son?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Rich Fool?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Leaven?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Friend in Need. Remember the Persistent Neighbor?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Leaven?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Talents?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Rich Fool?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Fig Tree?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats?
Why in the world did Jesus teach in parables?
What can we learn from the parable of the persistent widow and unjust judge?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–13)?
What is the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon?
Why did Jonah try to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh?
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Growing Seed (Mark 4:26–29)?
I personally remember how Lonnie Frisbee got distracted by some of the theatrics of Charismania, lost his focus and fell away for a time. I remember how Chuck Smith and many of the Calvary Chapel pastors under his mature watch-care held fast to the Word (stayed focused on Christ) and how their fruitfulness went on for decades ..even to this day.
Jesus “told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: ‘Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! 9 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’
10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables,
For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,
‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes —
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’” Matthew 13:3–23 nlt
Who was Paul in the Bible? He’s an Apostle from the very first Jesus’ Movement found in the book of Acts.
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
What is the gospel message? The most important mesage all people need to grasp and by faith wisely respond to.
What is the gospel of the kingdom?
Questions about Salvation?
The Fame of Revival Spreads the Flame of Revival.
What God’s done before, He can easily do again. Ask. Mr. E.M. Bounds said, “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”
Q: How can you shift from trusting yourself or trusting methods to trusting and obeying God to both transform you and use you?
