A New Partnership

With cows in the pasture and the line of round hay bales running out, we start longing for grass around here long before most folks want to drag out their lawn mowers.  Grasss in the pasture means no more hauling hay and most of all, it reduces the likelihood of having to buy hay.  There are at least two signs of grass in the field.  One sign is seen and one is smelled.  The sign the eyes give is the vision of the greening of the pasture and hay bales that are being ignored.  The sign the nose gives is that a different smell begins to be caught in the wind and carried across the fence line to anyone who passes by.  The smell of manure from grass is certainly a richer smell than the one derived from cows eating hay.    

Most folks who take a drive into the country where cows might be part of the landscape seen out the closed car window never notice such a thing.  And while this is true, it also speaks to a larger issue of how we have separated ourselves so completely from the creation.  It is as if we have become spectators in the creation instead of paricipants in it.  If our ancestors lived on a farm and many of them did, they lived midst the creation in a kind of day to day partnership with the Creator.  Unfortunately, we have become such an urbanized culture that many people go from the womb to the grave without really knowing the creation as a great blessing.   

For most of my life I lived as one of those who lived in the creation, but still somehow managed to live apart from it.  Such becomes easy when life is lived confined inside an automobile, or lived in an air conditioned office where windows are not even made to raise for the benefit of fresh air, or in places where walking on the grass is forbidden by prohibitive warning signs.  I am grateful for these days when I end up bringing in the house some of that holy dirt on my clothes.  The farm has become a place of signs and wonders of the working, walking, and still creating Creator and for this new partnership I am deeply grateful.    

The Blessing of Chickens

There are some spiritual communities which offer a service called "The Blessing of the Animals."  People are invited to bring their pets for a blessing from the priest, or pastor.  Perhaps, it is something which came out of the Saint Francis tradition since he was one who seemed to have a unique relationship with the birds, and donkeys, and even wolves.  Animals are an important part of our lives and the blessing of them as a part of our faith tradition is not a bad thing.  It is a good thing to live with an attiude of blessing everything and everyone that touches our lives.    

Of course, it is also true that animals bless us.  There is no religious ritual they perform over us, but their presence is so often a blessing not really understood by people who want nothing to do with animals.  There is no dog around the farm these days, but there are chickens.  Chickens bless me every day.  When I go out to let them out of their pen, they clamor around the door and when it is open they follow me all over the yard until I can manage to get them interested in scratchinng and digging.  And when I go back just before dark to shut up the gate for their protection from noctural predators, they run toward me and stay underfoot so close I can hardly walk as I make my way back to the chicken pen.    They make me laugh as I watch them run, or waddle.  God made them with a funny walk.  And, as I stumble around trying not to step on one, I find myself talking to them as if they were children underfoot.  

Of course, there is also the benefit of finding freshly laid eggs in the chicken house for which I am grateful and so I always tell them.  Yes, these five hens do bless me.  They bring me pleasure and are as much a part of our life here on the farm as anything else that is around us.  God knew what He was doing when He made them.  They bless us with food for our stomach, laughter for our spirit, and a sense of belonging to them and them to us.  

The Anchor

Some preachers have no use for a physical pulpit because they think it anchors them to one place.  What they want to do is to move one waiy and then another without anything restricting that chancel area wandering.  Over the years of preaching it never seemed that the pulpit forced me to be stationary in preaching, but instead, it kept me anchored lest I wander too far.  There is no argument here about the pulpit being an anchor point, but sometimes we fail to see to what we are anchored.    

One of the first things I often did when arriving at a new preaching appointment was to get out whatever historical record might be available and read the list of preachers who had come to my new pulpit before me.  It helped me be serious about my preaching to realize upon whose shoulders I stood in that pulpit.  Another thing which I always did was keep an open Bible on the pulpit.  It is ok to have one to wave around in the air, but the open book of Scripture reminded me to keep my preaching anchored in the authoritative Word of God. Maybe some might find the past tradition and the Scripture to be outdated anchoring points, but they both are important for relevant preaching in the present.  

And finally, the pulpit anchored me to the "Thus saith the Lord"  tradition of the Word of God.  When the prophet's messages thundered across the landscape, it carried more clout than just a man's opinion.  Both the prophet and the people undestood that the Word being spoken was the voice of God being spoken through a human preacher.  Perhaps, this is the most frightening thing to today's preacher.  To speak in such a tradition requires not just a boldness in proclamation, but a strong conviction that preaching is not just a speech given at a civic club luncheon, but something unique and holy that is not spoken anywhere else in the world.  To this bold conviction faithful preachers are anchored and the pulpit as unique as it is in our world shouts a clear reminder of what is at stake.

The Loss of Power

A call to preach quite naturally would take the one called to the pulpit.   What is the  case nowdays is that many are called and go preach, but with some disdain for the pulpit.  The rationale is understandable.  For some the pulpit is a physical barrier that separates the preacher from the people.  Instead of preaching from behind a pulpit, many are choosing these days to attach the microphone around their ear and go out among the people and preach.  Being closer seems to be something which seems to be better to those who would walk away from the pulpit.    

I guess old habits are hard to break for this old worn out Methodist preacher who has found the pulpit to be an important place in preaching as well as in the silent message it proclaims about preaching the Word of God in the sanctuary.   As I reflect on years of preaching with a pulpit either in front of me, or near me as an anchoring point, I have come to see it as visible reminder that there is only one thing worth preaching about and that is the Word of God.  The pulpit is a visible sign of the "Thus saith the Lord..." tradition of the Old Testament.  To stray from this tradition is something which truly compromises the power and authority of preaching.   

Of course, in some circles preaching is no longer seen as the authoritative Word of God.  In many places when the Scripture is read, the preacher will say, "The Word of God for the people of God,"  and the people complete the ritual by saying, "Thanks be to God."   Not many who preach would be comfortable today leading the congregation in the same ritual at the conclusion of a sermon.  When the preacher is uncomfortable making such a bold assertion about preaching, it is no wonder that the sermon has gone from being the Word of God to one person's opinion.  And, it is no wonder that the pulpit has lost its power.   

Final Revival Thoughts

As great as it this outpouring of God's Holy Spirit at Asbury University and beyond, it is and will go largely unnoticed by the vast majoritiy of people.  It is not that it has not touched tens of thousauds of folks who were either present there, or became witnesses and believers through the sharing of social media, but that given the population in which God chose to work, only a minority know about it and were touched by it.  The majoritiy of the population of the country went about their business without ever knowing that something so life changing and powerful was stirrring just up the road from them.   

While we may have prayed that the fire of this Revival would spread to every campus, every church, and every community, God probably did not have this as a requirement for accomplishing what He wanted to accomplish through this divine moment.  He has always worked with a minority, a remnant to use a Biblical word, or a small group of people to do His work of changing the world.  A spiritual enterprise as big as "the ends of the earth"  was launched with twelve men, great moments of church reform and renewal have been set in motion by the vision of one man, and a few people praying in the unseen places of the world have been used to set in motion many revivals and seasons of renewal in the church.  

We pray for a crowd, God does not need a crowd.  He only needs one.  We pray for signs of this revival to spread into every corner of the world.  God only needs those who have been touched to faithfully go where He has planned for them to go.  What is true is this.  What God has set in motion has not eneded.  It is only beginning.  A great wave of newly spiritually transformed and energized people have been set loose upon the world and they will make a difference in the corners of the world where teachers are teaching, servants are serving, business people are working, and preachers are preaching.  The majority which has not heard is not beyond being touched by this great outpouring.  The Holy Spirit is on the way to them. 

A Revival Memory

I cannot tell you the spiritual impact that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit which started at Asbury Universtiy will have over the years.  I cannot tell you why God chose Asbury again to begin such a powerful spiritual movement.  And, I cannot tell you where the last rippling of the Holy Spirit will be felt in this current awakening.  There is much I cannot tell you or anyone else.  What I can say with certainty is that God is about something in these days and it will only be known as those who have been spiritually transformed and energized go forward.    

Fifty three years ago I was at Asbury College when a similar movement of the Holy Spirit took place.  As I reflect on that holy week in which the Holy Spirit did signs and wonders, I find that there is much about it that I do not know.  What I do know is that the moment I spent at the altar that Tuesday afternoon in 1970 has never been far from my memory and forever shaped my personal spiritual journey and the ministry God entrusted to me.  I never sought to make a shrine out of what happened, I did not talk about it until people were weary of hearing what had happened, and I never felt it was something which could be duplicated or programmed and shoved down the spiritual throat of the churches I was serving.   

What I do know is that the Revival of '70 gave me a hunger for God that has never been satisfied.  It made me thirsty.  It caused me to always want to make more of myself available to the work of the Holy Spirit.  What it did not make me was perfect, neither did it make me feel that I had arrived spirtually, and here toward the end of the journey with that memory still fresh I confess to knowing that there is so much I do not know about the way God works to make Himself known among us.  I am grateful for that day long ago.  It has been an anchor that has held me steadfast to the Cornerstone.  (I Peter 2:6)

The Rest of the Story

When we read the story of Pentecost in the early pages of the book of Acts we are able to continue reading the rest of the story.  We know immediately what happened when the wind and fire left the room it filled.  We know it went blowing and burning into the rest of the world to bring into being spiritual communities which continued to recreate themselves to this very day.  That first fire has been inextinguishable and that first wind has never ceased to blow.  We are all here today because of it.  That first great outpouring of the Holy Spirit has left its mark on the world and continues to do so to this very day.   

As we behold the great outpouring of God's Spirit at Asbury University and now in countless other places as well, we cannot see where it all is going.  We see the beginning of this chapter of the Kingdom story, but we cannot yet see the ending to it.  Actually, we cannot even see what is between the beginning and the end.  Some may say that like the Pentecost that day in Jerusalem this outbreak of the Spirit will have no end, but will continue to ripple across the world in an endless manner.  If such is true, may that holy ripple persist until every place is touched and every heart has been transformed!    

The Word speaks of the Spirit coming without any explanation.  The Wind of God comes and goes and blows where it will without any push from anyone of us.  This Holy Wind which we are seeing signs of in these days is of God.  It was pushed forth by Him for purposes which are still to be seen.  We know only that it is a mighty outpouring of the Spirit that is causing a great spiritual awakening in every place and in every heart it touches and for this we continue to offer our praise and thanksgiving to God.  

Continued Outpourings

What the Holy Spirit is doing through Asbury University and other spiritual communities across the world is astounding.  The administration has made the decision to bring to a close the current phase of this revival on campus by ending the public worship services being offered.  And while everyone can understand the way something of this magnitude is overloading the infrastructure of the university and the small town of 6,000, the question still lingers in the air as to how do you shut this off, or down?  How do you turn off the faucet that is flowing and overflowing the places into which it is going?  How do you tell the Holy Spirit to stop?   

Of course, no one is saying such a thing.  Instead, it seems that there is a serious search for new vessels of sharing this powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Today there have been reports of outbreaks of God's Spirit in Romania, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  And surely there are more than just these few.  The  Holy Spirit  is obviously doing something important in the life of the Kingdom of God.  Exactly what it is we cannot see and seeing it may be something which will only be seen in the future through hindsight.   

One thing is certain.  If God is not through with whatever He is about in pouring out His Holy Spirit on spiritual communities in our world, we will continue to see signs and wonders.  It has been such a long time since signs and wonders have been so evident before us.  It has been so long some are unable to recognize them for what they are.  But, we are being blessed in this generation by a work of the Holy Spirit that is unparalled for most of us. The only response I know is one of praise and thanksgiving.  May the blessings continue to overflow until even those who are unable to see find themselves immersed in the holiness of God's Spirit.

The Blowing Wind

The Wind is blowing, 

    where it wishes,

       the why of it

         not known to us, 

          only the Father

who said, "Blow, Wind!"

The not yet seen Wind

    uproots, blows over

      dug in deep sin, 

        scatters debris

         of what once was

creating the new.

Blow, now Holy Wind,

    tear down, build up,

      bring bitter tears

        tears of grief, 

         tears of sorrow, 

the tears of joy.

Blow, blow, Wind of God,

    till nothing stands

      all hearts filled, 

        souls set afire, 

          a consuming fire, 

Wind of fire, Blow!

 

Revive the Church Today

The current outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the campus of Asbury University has touched me in a deep place.  It has touched me at the place where the Spirit dwells in me and the place where spiritual memories that kindle the fire of the soul are stored.  While it has not been possible for me to go as have so many others, my spirit has soared with each report read and my hope for a greater renewal than just a single university campus has incresed.   There is such a need for what is happening at Asbury in so many places.  

Our country seems constantly in turmoil and so many churches seem confused about what it means to be an offspring of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost.  I have been convinced for a long time that so many of our political problems and so much of the breakdown in the life of the church are not about left or right issues, but about core spiritual issues.  Particularly does this seem to be the case in the church.  Everything everywhere has become so politcized that we sometimes forget that the church is not a community defined by sociologists, but one which is a spiritual community.    

A spiritual community runs amuck when it strays from core spiritual issues.  The church needs to remember whose it is.  It belong to the Christ.  It must not forget that its source of power is not in councils or committees, but in the hands of the Holy Spirit.  And, finally it is imperative that the church find some way to separate itself from the agenda of the culture so that it can be free to go after the agenda of the Holy Spirit.  One thing is clear.  None of this is going to happen if the church continues to pursue its present course and only a powerful spiritual awakening such as we are seeing at Asbury will have the shaking power required for it to reset its course.  

A Revival Prayer

"Lord, I wonder what it is like for You to see thousands of people leaving all those important things in their lives which consumed their time and placed retrictions on what they could and could not do and going to that place where Your glory is overwhelming every physical barrier and every human notion of what it is to stand in the midst of Your holy presence.   I wonder, too, Lord, what it must be like for You to receive such an outpouring of praise and worship from the people Whom You have called to gather in that place filled with what we call Shekinah glory.  I wonder, Lord, if it warms Your heart even as it warms mine to be on this side of what You are doing.    

I praise You, Father God, I praise You for this incredible gift of grace You are giving to us.  I praise You, Jesus the Son, for the way You are leading people out of the darkness and into Your marvellous Light.  And, I praise You, Holy Spirit, for the drawing power You are sending forth to bring Your people into this moment of holy presence.  I praise You!  Though I am here and not there, I praise You with all those who are raising their hands and hearts in the midst of the glory, I praise You along with the angels who are in the heavenly place accompanying the praise of Your people here, and I praise you along with the saints, the cloud of heavenly witneesses who must surely be dancing around the throne.    

I praise You, Holy Father, Blessed Son, ever present Holy Spirit.  I pray You will hold back the veil between here and there until everyone You have drawn has come and walks away filled with heavenly glory.  And, I thank You, Father God, for doing what we cannot understand, for blessing so many in ways that will be remembered and have sustaining power until breath leaves their body, and for the way what is happening midst the called people will give life again to Your Church.  Blessed be the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen."

A Compelling Word

To hear the call of God is to live life under a compelling and unshakeable Word.  Even if the call is rejected and its demands are pushed away, the weight of the call of God still is suspended over any living that we do.  The story of Jonah in the Old Testament is a call story.  Jonah heard the call.  About this there is no doubt, but he chose to do everything he could to get away from it.  Called to go to Nineveh in the east, he bought passage on a ship sailing west.  But, even in his outright turning away from what he knew to be true, he still found himself living under such a compelling word that he finally realized obedience was his only option.  So by way of the belly of the big fish, he went to Nineveh and to God's bidding.   

There were others who would have chosen to turn away from the call of God.  Moses, the great man of faith in the Hebrew narrative, was also a man who wanted nothing to do with what he knew to be the call of God in his life.  Ananias, the one who finally went to the newly converted Saul of Tarsus, had his moment of asking God if He knew what He was doing in calling him to go.  But, in both cases, they went and did at great risk to themselve what God was calling them to do.   

To truly hear the call of God is to live with the realization that there is no alternative except heeding the call.  Many a person who has chosen not to heed the call of God also bears witness to an awareness that somewhere in the past God's calls lies unheeded, but not forgotten.  The call of God is not a trifling thing.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffeer wrote from prison,  "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."  (The Cost of Discipleship)

Revival Then and Now

It is hard for someone who was at the Asbury Revival of 1970 not to look at the current outpouring of the Holy Spirit through a lens filled with memories.  In some ways the two events seem very similar, but in other ways they are so different.  Of course, the common denominator is the fact that both were unplanned and very much a surprise.  Both were initiated by the Holy Spirit and both were moments when the room was filled with holy presence.  Shekinah glory, or a powerful manifestation of the presence of the Lord, filled the room back in '70 and it is happening again today.    

One of the things distinctive about the Revival in '70 was the way the telling of the story of what was happening at Asbury seemed to have a power all its own and would be accompanied by a divine outpouring of the Spirit in the place where it was being told.   A distinctive characteristic of this current Revival is found in the drawing power of the Holy Spirit.  People are being caused to drive long distances and leave schedules which controlled their lives to make the journey to Asbury.  The only explanation for the extradordinary crowds of people who are gathering is the drawing power of the Holy Spirit.  He is working to bring people to that place where the Shekinah glory is making itself known.    

And while there are other things which could be lifted up, the truly important thing then and now is the way the Spirit is working in so many lives.  People are being impacted by a spiritual work in their heart and they will leave never to be the same.  The memory of what was experienced there will be like a spiritual anchor for the rest of their lives.  This I know to be true.  No one told me.  It has been my experience.  My life was changed at the altar of the Revival of 1970 and thousand of people are encountering the life changing Holy Spirit even now as the outpouring of God's Spirit continues.  Thanks be to God!

After Revival

Watching the Asbury Revival that is currently taking place and remembering my time at the one which took place in 1970 has caused more than just a few moments of reflection.  It has also sent me to the first few chapters of the book of Acts again to once again read of the Day of Pentecost and the life of the faithful in the days which followed that first great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Thousand of people who happen to be present found that their lives were radically changed and because of their witness even more came to know the reality of a living resurrected Christ in their lives.   

Even though it is easy to define a beginning point for this act of spiritual intervention, it is not so easy to see exactly when it ended.  Of course, some would rightly say it has not ended, but has continued throughout the centuries sometimes in the center of things and sometimes on the fringe of the faithful spiritual community.  And though this is true, there was still that point where what was happening in Jerusalem drew to a conclusion and the moments of that holy experience rippling into the world around it seemed like a still mirror of water.  As we see the story unfolding, there are two things evident as the winds and fire began to subside.  One was people started gathering and paying attention to what could be learned about the faith.  They listened to the teaching of the Apostles and they did it with other believers.  They also remembered and celebrated the life of Christ through the breaking of bread and the drinking from the cup.  And finally, prayer became a more than just a ritual, but a power that moved the church forward. 

The second thing was the persecution of the new Jesus movement.  It started soon after Pentecost and surprisingly sent most everyone out into the world except the Apostles who lingered in Jerusalem.  It should not surprise those now who are a part of this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit when they are confronted with the power of the evil one in his effort to regain ground that has been lost.  As surely as the Spirit has been confronting people and calling them to faith, there will come a day when the intensity of the moment will pass and the old tempter will once again prowl like an angry lion as he seeks to reclaim those whom he lost.

After the Outpouring

There are divine moments in which the sacred breaks in upon us, the holy breaks into our ordinary, and what cannot normally be seen and experienced is suddenly so visible and evident that it cannot restrained or contained by what we know as physcial boundaries.  This is what is happening now at Asbury Universitiy as an ourpouring of the Holy Spirit has brought a great moment of revival.  While so many who are unable to attend are watching it through the online media, it is surely something altogether different to experience it where the veil between earth and glory has become nearly transparent.   

The gospel writers wrote of such a moment when they told the story of the Mt. of Transfiguration.  Peter, James, and John hiked up a mountain with Jesus to pray and suddenly they were overwhelmed with divine glory.  Jesus' appearance was transformed by that brilliant glory and the veil between heaven and earth became so thin they witnessed the presence of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.  Before the whole holy scenario faded from view, the three disciples asked Jesus if they could build dwellings and stay.  Of course, they could not.  They would have to return to life after the holy moment on the mountain.   

The same kind of experience awaits those who are overwhelmed by this divine moment of holy intervention.  As blessed as everyone is who is touched by this revival, as overwhelmed as they are from standing in a place where the veil between here and there has been made so thin, and as much as they might like to hold on to the feelings and the sense of divine presence, they too will find that life continues not on the mountain, but in the valley, in the streets and roads of the communities, and in the places which speak of  everyday life.  It is the way the Spirit works.  We are blessed with the moments that are being cast upon us through this outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Asbury, but at some point we will be called to carry with us into the world the spiritual realities which have transformed our life in this extraordinary holy moment.  

The Altar of Revival

In a way it could be said that I grew up at altars.  This is simply a way of saying I have knelt at more than one of them.  My earliest memories of being in church include kneeling at an altar at the end of Sunday night worship to pray with the rest of the folks who were kneeling around me.  I suppose what I learned from them was that it was alright to kneel at the altar and good to pray.  There would be many other altars in my life.  I was not one to respond to any and every altar call, but I made my way forward for my share of them.    

As I watch the reporting of the Asbury Revival which is now in its sixth day, I think about the altar there in Hughes Auditorium where the Holy Spirit is at work.  I think about it because I knelt at it one Tuesday afternoon back in 1970 during a similar outpouring of God's Holy Spirit.  When I knelt that day I knew what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus.  I had made that decision some years earlier.  On that afternoon when there was snow on the ground outside, my heart was warmed by the Spirit in such a way that the fire has been present now for a life time.  Back then folks around me talked about such moments as a moment of being filled with the Spirit.  

As I arose that day and went forward I came to understand it was not so much about what happened in a moment as what happens in a life time.  As the years have come and gone and I have walked with that memory, I know that the issue then and the issue now is, and always has been and will always be, submission to the purposes of the Holy Spirit. I did not arise that cold afternoon as one who would walk perfectly, but as one who walked conscious that the only walk worth walking was the one which spoke of obedience to God and submission to the will of His Spirit.  I am forever grateful for the memory of kneeling at that altar and I am deeply grateful for the life it has enabled me to live.

The Church and Revival

To watch the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Asbury University in these days is to behold a work of God that is filled with such power that it is beyond the power of logical comprehension.  It is easy for some to say it is all about a contagious emotional reaction full of frenzied activity, but with little substance.  Even as many people are testifying to a changed life, the room is also filled with naysayers who will not accept at face value what is actually happening.  What is even more surprising is the hands off attitude of many who are the ordained and the leaders of the church.   

Of course, none of this should be surprising.  The institutional church has too much at stake to risk the possibility of real revival.  The church will always be resistant to real revival because revival disturbs the status quo, brings about core value changes, and demands actions which reflect repentance.  The sad reality is that the institutional church has too much invested in the status quo and all its accompanying components to allow anything, no matter how spiritual it might be, to threaten its ongoing existence and survival.   

What compounds the sense of sadness is that there is nothing needed more in the life of the church today than the kind of outpouring of God's Holy Spirit that we are currently witnessing at Asbury in the present moment.  Without some fresh awareness of the Spirit, the church so many have served and for which so many have prayed and sacrificied is doomed to a mediocrity that will soon make it a relic of faith rather than a life changing instrument of faith.  Without the kind of radical divine intervention that is a part of the Spirit's work and an accompanying hunger for it, the church will become the centerpiece for a museum instead of the centerpiece for the Kingdom of God.  

Revival 2023

As I hear and watch the reports of a great outpouring of God's Spirit at Asbury University, my spirit is filled with the personal memories which are mine as a result of being in such a moment in 1970 at Asbury, but it is not just about memories.  To see what God is about once again is to have my own spirit rekindled again with the burning power of the Holy Spirit.  I have often wondered why such outpourings of the Holy Spirit seem to fall upon colleges and universities instead of the church.  It would seem that the church would be a more likely place for such revivals to be ignited, but it more often seems that the church is impacted by the rippling effect of such holy movements.   

Of course, when we go to the record of the first Pentecost in the book of Acts, we see a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a group of disciples who had been gathering not in the Temple or a synagogue, but an upstairs room on some no name street.  It would seem that in the very beginning the power of Pentecost fell not upon the institutional presence of God in the world, but upon His people who were gathered with a spiritual hunger.  What happened in that upper room certainly grew a church and transformed the world, but again, it was because of the powerful spiritual ripples set forth from Jerusalem that day.   

And there is another thing which cannot be ignored. Had the Spirit fallen upon the Temple, what happened could  have likely been a Jewish thing.  Instead, when the Spirit came in power on Pentecost, it came at a place and time which enabled those present to take what had been experienced home with them to places like the ends of the earth.  A little reseach shows that Asbury is represented by 29 states and 35 countries and throughout the week buses from other universities have come bringing their diverse people who will also be scattered into the world and into the church.  God will bless the church with this revival as He has in the past, but the blessing will come through those who will now go to give leadership to it, to serve within it, and to long for spiritual power to finally once again be what carries it forward.  

Asbury Revival 2023

Every Pentecost the chuch remembers those words from the book of Acts which says, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh...."  (Acts 2:12)  It is a much prayed for blessing on the part of many who long for a spiritually transformed church.  Today this promise is being fulfilled at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky.  A revival began at chapel last Wednesday and has continued without interruption throughout he week. How long it will continue is known only to God.  

When I was a student there in 1970 a similar outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place and classes were canceled for eight days as the revival services continued in the Auditorium.   Some might hear about this current revival and think of it as a story to be read about online, but it so much more.  There is no way to measure the spiritual impact such a moment is having on the people who are there as well as the people who are savoring the pictures, videos, and testimonies which are flooding social media platforms.  There is no way to measure how it will impact the troubled church of ours as leaders for tomorrow are being shaped now in the hands of the Holy Spirit.   

Why this tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit is happening now at a place unknown to most people is as much a mystery as it was 53 years ago, but the reality that God has chosen this moment to do a divine work in the lives of His people cannot be questioned.  Some are dropping whatever it is they thought to be important to go and those of us who cannot go can pray that this outpouring of God's Spirit will not only impact a single university campus, but touch distant places across the world.  

The Unlimited Call

This call from God to serve does not just go to those He wants to be ordained, or go to some distant land as a missionary.  It would be a mistake to limit our understanding of God's call to those who are led to live their lives in full time service to the church or one of its many enterprises.  The fact is God calls a lot of people to do a lot of different things.  Sometimes the call will stretch out into a life time and sometimes it is something that is limited in time.  And, it is also true that a person may be called to be about one thing during one season of life and called to another during another season.    

When I was in Vidalia I learned from the folks in that church that many folks often sense a call to go on a short term mission trip.  I have also known folks who feel called to serve in weekly feeding missions.  And some are called to teach in the classrooms of our community, some are called to adopt children and provide them a home, some are called to assist in women's shelters, some are called to go into nursing homes and offer care, some are called to write notes of concern to those in need, and some are called to lead small groups.  The possibilities are endless.

It is not just a few who experience the call of God on their lives, but the many.  Some who are called and who are actively fleshing out that call may be hesitant to speak of it in such terms believing that only preachers are called, but God is not limited and calls people to all sorts of ministries, for all sorts of reason, and for any amount of time.  The truth is that anyone who seeks to walk in the way of faith after Christ is going to be called to serve in some way.  It may not be an expected thing, but something which bears the compelling mark of the Holy Spirit.  

Advice to Would Be Preachers

As one who was preaching, it was natural that those who felt called to preach might want to come and seek some kind of guidance.  My advice to any would be preacher was always the same, "If there is anything else you think you can do and be happy, go and do it."  Perhaps, it sounds like a harsh word from someone who has made the choice and would be pleased to see others walking those same steps in response to God's call on their life, but it was simply my way of leading them forward.  Saying "yes" to a call to preach, or a call to ministry is not for the spiritually fainthearted.   

Actually, it is a choice that will surely stretch personal faith to the breaking point.  The preacher will find it difficult to have friends within the congregation lest the cry be raised of favoritism.  And any preacher should remember the axiom, "No good deed goes unpunished," and its offspring, "No matter how much good you do, it will bring down costly consequences."   While I did not mean to be discouraging to those who felt called, anyone who thinks it is a choice which leads down an easy road has not really looked and counted the cost.   

More than anything else I sought to tell some would be preacher to be sure.  When preachers step into the pulpit it needs to be as one who is not looking back at anything else anymore.  The ministy requires a commitment to serve where no one will applaud, to give when nothing will be given in return, and to be slapped not just on one cheek once but again and again.  So, why would anyone with any sense heed the call?  The only reason to heed the call is because God has issued it and though it makes no sense, saying "yes" to God's whatever is all faith will allow.

The Pulpit

The call to preach has sent me into ten different pulpits over a life time of ministry.  From Stapleton, Bethel, and Zoar, to Tennille and Talbotton, to St. John in Columbus, to Vidalia, Perry, Richmond Hill, and finally to Rocky Ford which is just up the road from the farm I went as preacher in response to that call.  As I note the journey and look at it on a map, it has been like a circle that started in one place and brought me back to almost the same point.  And even more so, as I started preaching in the small church, the sermon I preached which might well be my last one as a preacher of a congregation was at a small church.  It has seemed like the journey has really been a circular journey.    

Each of of these churches provided me with what every preacher needs:  a pulpit.  Each one was distinctive.  Some were simple and some were not so simple.  The one which stands above all the others was the one in Vidalia.  It is what a pulpit is all about.  It was high above the floor of the church.  I joked in the beginnng about being concerned about nosebleed.  But, not only was it high, but it was also strong and prominent as it projected itself into the space of the church.  To step up and into that pulpit which seemed to wrap itself around the preacher was always of a moment of being reminded that the preaching was important work that God was wanting to be done.   

It was a pulpit which brings to mind something Herman Melville wrote in his famous writing, "Moby Dick:"  " for the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow."  Those who preach dare not forget they are called and the place given to them in the world because of that call.  

The Consequences of Saying "Yes"

If I could have seen down the road where saying "Yes" to a call to preach was going to take me, it might have taken me longer than six months to come around to what I knew God was calling me to do.  Even though back then the call was simply known as a call to preach, we all knew there was more to it than just the preaching.  What I could not grasp in those early days were the places I would end up walking as I said "Yes" to what God was seeking to be about in my life.  Had I really known, I would have been scared enough to run the other way.   

On the night in Alamo when I heard God calling me to preach, I could not conceive of going to be with young parents in the hospital who had lost their first child at birth.  I could not have imagined a moment of pastoring in a situation where a mother and her high school age daughter were killed in a car accident.  And neither could I have figured on being invited into the lives of families as they struggled with broken relationships, threats of violence, and divorce.  Had I really been privy to what was ahead, I would have run the other way and very fast.   

But, of course, we never know what is ahead once we say "Yes" to God.  It may seen to us in the moment that we know the road which we will walk, but it is certain it will not be as we expected.  The way of faith is not a straight line journey from point A to point B, but one that is filled with twists, turns, and landslides.  There is mercy in not knowing what is ahead.  Faith is what enables us to step forward into the things we did not anticipate and grace is what enables us to move through the hard places with faithfulness.  What we may not know how to handle in the beginning will be revealed to us by the Father who has called us to walk the road which takes us there.

God in the Classroom

It is often true that in the moment, we cannot see what God is doing.  The perspective of hindsight is a gift which enables us to see what is behind us more clearly.  When I was sitting in Mrs. Evans' English and Literature classes in high school, I could not see that God was using her to prepare me for what was ahead in my life.  And, most likely neither could she as she did what she was in the classroom to do.  But, what she did was to encourage me to write not only by doing class assigments but by giving me opportunities to write essays as a part of regional literary events.  And she took a boy who was one of the least likely to do public speaking and placed him on the high school debate team.    

When I allow my hindsight to see what was happening, I realize that God was using her and those moments to prepare me for a calling to preach that had not yet come.  It was only when I was at the edge of the graduation stage that I heard that call and by then those experiences were a part of who I had become.  What she did as she put me in those situations and insisted those in her classroom learn good language skills prepared me for a life I did not know was going to be mine.     

To think of my calling to preach is to think of those formative years when I was in her classroom being made ready even though I had no idea it was happening.  When I preached my first sermon one Sunday morning, she left the church she attended and made her way to the sanctuary in Alamo to hear me preach.  I still remember her being there and knowing that it was important to me what she had to say.  One of the real regrets from those years is that it took me so long to see what God was doing through her faithfulness in doing what God was calling her to do that she was gone before I could say "thank you."  If it matters and it does to me, I have said many times over the years, "Thank you, Mrs. Evans."

Thoughts on the Call

Back in the day when God issued a call to preach instead of a call to ministry, everyone who received the call knew it meant more than just preaching.  Anyone like me who experienced the call framed inside the call to preach model figured it meant a life of service to Christ through the local church.  At least such is what I understood and accepted when the call itself was finally accepted.  And in my situation, there was no real question about where that call was to be fleshed out.  It would be within the Methodist Church of the area which had been home for me all my life.    

South Georgia was where I wanted to be.  It was where I sensed God was calling me to preach.  I grew up in South Georgia.  I knew it as home.  It was not a perfect place, but it was where I believed God was calling me to serve Him.  It has not been a decision I have ever regretted.  When my mother re-married after my father's death, she married a young Methodist preacher whose father was a Methodist preacher in the South Georgia Annual Conference.  So, as the years unfolded I came to see myself as a third generation preacher of the Methodist Church in South Georgia.   

When I finished seminary and was assigned to my first appoinment, it was a three point charge known as the Stapleton Charge.  I went there determined to change the world, to preach sermons which would keep everyone awake, and to see people touched by the Christ.  I may have changed the world a bit at some intersections where people lived, my sermons did put some people to sleep, and along the way I count with joy some folks who came to Christ in response to the ministry God entrusted to me.  I am grateful for the call to preach.  It set me on a course that made all the difference in my life, enabled me to give to the church which gave so much to me, and hopefully brought blessings to a few along the way.

The Call

On his way to becoming the barber at Port William, Jayber Crow went as an orphan boy to a church orphanage called The Good Shepherd where he received what he figured to be the Call.  The Call was to preach so the next stop was a seminary where Jayber realized he had received a call, but maybe not to preach.  (Jasyber Crow by Wendell Berry)  He is not the first one to have some confusion about being called to preach.  Church pulpits today are often inhabited by people who still are unsure if they were actually called, or if they found their way to such a place another way.   

Back long ago when I was about to graduate from high school, the call to preach came to me one night in my bedroom.  Now it is not proper to talk about it being a call to preach when there are so many other ministry options.   The call to ministry suits most better than the call to preach.  Of course, then was then and not now and it was a simpler time.  Apparently God called people to preach because that was generally the way such a moment was described.   When I heard this call to preach, it was not with the ears of birth, but what I would refer to now as the ears of the spirit.  

Sometimes we know things without the message going through our ears and the night I heard God calling me to preach was one such occasion.  It was something I did not want to hear. It was not what I wanted to choose for my life, but it was an unshakeable Voice and so after some months of trying to get out from under what I knew to be true, I said "Yes" to a call which gave direction to my spiritual journey and my whole life.  Here toward the end of the journey, I cannot imagine having chosen any other calling.   Here when there is more memory now than than there ever has been, I am grateful that God took a chance on a shy introvert boy who could hardly talk himself out of a paper sack and called him to preach.  

Changing Seasons

I noticed the arrival of a new season this afternoon.  Out here on the farm there is a love bug season so called because of the unabashed copulation of the black flitting bugs, horse fly season when they terrorize anyone walking in the wooded lane, and today with the appearance of lady bugs all over the west side of the porch, lady bug season has started.  On the farm seasons come and go and are known not by the names on the calendar, but as hay cutting season, pecan gathering season, and, of course, the best of all, spring gardening season soon to be initiated with the planting of seed potatoes on February 14.    

Seasons remind us that life has an order.  There are things about life that are predicatable.  Like the changing weather, they come and go each bringing us something that is unique to be experienced in the moment.  There are seasons of growth in our lives as surely as there is one which is a part of the cycle of creation.  There are seasons when life comes hard as is the case with too much rain and then summer drought.  To hang around here long enough is to experience some really satisfying times of seeing a crop come to harvest, but also there is the likelihood of difficult unpredictable times such as army worms showing up in a near ready hay field.    

If we are blessed with more than a few years, we are going to live through a lot of different seasons in our life.  Some of them touch our heart and some break it.  We are never really promised one or the other.  We are simply given life by the Creator who promises to be with us throughout the journey regardless of the seasons.  It is easy to rejoice and be thankful in the good ones and not so easy in the hard ones. But, the constant is the Creator.  Nothing is out of His control.  All of the creation is His.  It belongs to Him.  It all bears the imprint of His creative hands.  He cares for each and every part of it throughout its changing seasons.  And you and I are a part of that creation and always inside His care whether the season of the moment is easy or hard.  Thanks be to God.

A Smudged View of Glory

A smudged glass door,

  unlike the thin veil

     between here and there,

       a transparent veil

         shows yonder glory

for those who can see.

On the other side,

    robins dig and fly,

      fox squirrels scamper, 

        tiny mice look and run,

          turkey buzzards fly

all on glory's side.

Watching, wondering

   from a place within

    the smudge glass veil

      if unseen angels 

        are looking here

through the thin veil.

Grateful for Old Age

Browning said about old age, "the best is yet to be..."  and in some ways his words continue to ring true.  There are, of course, some things I no longer do, but then I do not need to jump fences, or grab a sixty pound bale of hay and throw it on a moving wagon, or get somewhere quickly, or stay awake in the afternoon when there is an opportunity for a nap.  And while old age can bring its challenges, it is also true that the blessing of years gives us the blessing of memories and the blessings of time to sit still, think quietly, and to pay attention to things always visible, but never really seen.    

Many of those I counted as friends in earlier years were not granted the blessing of old age.  I have frequently wondered why while at the same time wondering why they have been given to me.  Some things have no answers no matter how much time is spent pondering them and such pondering belongs to that category.  What I do know is that I am grateful.  Old age has given me a moment to do some things I never knew how much I wanted to do them, it has given me time to heal some brokenness, and opportunites to experience God's presence in new and fresh ways.    

The years beyond retirement have enabled me to see a church that is far more expansive and invisble than the institutional church which I served, it has given me a faith that is not so much church centered as Creation centered, and it has caused me to understand more fully what the poet meant with the words that "Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God..."  I learned these words as a young boy in high school literature class, but old age has enabled me see its truth with the eyes that see what the eyes cannot see.  

Dredging the River Bottom

There are times when images simply persist in hanging around in our spirit.  It is not that we are necessarily thinking about them, they just keep showing up as if to say to us that there is still more to ponder.  Such has been the case with this image of spiritual rivers flowing out of our hearts.  There is no question that it is a Word which points us to the work of the Spirit in our inner life and it is also certain that any spiritual river which flows from us has come into us and flows through us as a work of grace on the part of the Holy Spirit.  

We know from the Word that one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to do a shaping work in our heart so it begins to reflect the heart of Jesus in us.  If others are to see and know the spirit of Jesus in us, it will not be because we have decided it is going to happen, but because of the work of the Spirit.  It is the shaping and changing dimension of this image which cannot be shaken.  Often I have thought about the way a river changes everything it touches, but always I have thought about those things which can be seen such as the banks of the river.   

Pondering the truth that the river also changes and shapes the bottom of the river where no eye can behold what is happening has become a totally new way to look at what the Spirit is doing in places where it cannot be seen and for purposes not meant to be seen.  As the river changes the invisible river bottom, so is the river of the Spirit changing the invisible reality of the soul   There is work the Spirit does which is visible, but there is also a dimesion of work being done that is and always will be invisible.  We can only become aware of it as we allow ourselves to see the spiritual work that can be seen but not with the eyes of birth