My Asbury Revival Experience
I have been following the Asbury revival from day one on Facebook sharing reports as they come in. I was showing some of the reels to my grandson who said, “Pappa you ought to go there.” I responded by saying that I have already been there. What did I mean by that? My wife, Sally, and I were married on January 23, 1970. On our wedding night we knelt beside the bed in our hotel room and asked God to help us find a church where we could grow in our faith rather than just get busy doing church stuff. The Lord answered that prayer abundantly. He led us to a church, MacArthur Blvd. Bpt. Ch., in Irving, Texas where, not long after we joined there, the Jesus movement that was going on at Asbury at that time as well many other places across the country came to MacArthur as well. It was a life changing experience that we never got over. it was in that revival that we both surrendered our lives fully and completely to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We went through a period where we were involved in learning the Bible more deeply, praying with other Christians in spontaneous pray groups in different homes, working with youth and sharing the gospel. We joined a ministry that was established by some pastors in Grand Prairie, Texas that ministered to kids coming out of the hippie drug culture at the time. I led in playing guitar for the worship time and began to teach Bible classes. We were sent to West Palm Beach Florida to work with a church there reaching out to young people. It was there that God called me to preach so I left the ministry and went back to school to prepare to become a pastor. I finished my Bachelors degree and then my Masters Degree before i was called to my first church.
Now back to my grandson’s suggestion that I go to be a part of the Asbury revival. I told him that his grandmother and me have been living out our surrender we made 53 years ago serving the Lord where ever He called us to serve. During that 53 years we have prayed that the Lord would bring another awakening like the one that changed our lives and now it is happening. We don’t have to go to Kentucky to get revived. We can praise God right here and pray for those who are being awakened just like we were those many years ago. We can also keep serving the Lord just as we always have since we surrendered to Him 53 years ago.
Just like the Jesus movement continues to this day through the lives that have been faithful to their surrender back then, this new revival will continue through the lives of all those being transformed by the love of God as they go out and spread the gospel and God’s love wherever they are sent. God’s kingdom will continue to grow as a result of their faithful service.