One Divine Moment

Fifty-one years ago on this day in February I walked into the first of three weekly chapel services at Asbury College.  It was a snowy Tuesday morning and had chapel not been mandatory, I likely would have been one of those not present.  But, I went.  And, life has never been the same.  The Holy Spirit picked that morning to make Himself known in such a powerful way that a spontaneous revival broke out on the campus.  It went on around the clock, closing down classes for a week, and before it was done had spread across this country and even into other countries.  It was a revival that changed more people than can be numbered and even today I know I am numbered among them.    

One of things I learned that week was what it meant to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And as I was immersed in this work of the Spirit, I learned a new definition of revival.  As the years have moved along, I have prayed many times for such a Holy Spirit empowered revival to fall upon the church of our day once again.   I am convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is the great need of the church today.   

Some have looked at what happened in those days and declared it to be too much based on personal experience and not enough on the Word.  Others have pointed that people were making strong emotional responses which could not last.  Maybe there is some validity in those concerns.  But, as one who was there and whose life has been forever different, I know it was an experience which sent me forth as a disciple of Jesus in a way I never would have been without that one divine moment in my life.