If you are on social media, then you will remember the first few posts celebrating what is being called a 21st-century Great Awakening at Asbury College, a Methodist University in Kentucky. According to many Pentecostal brothers and sisters, this is the “last day outpouring” prophesied by Joel and, for many others, it is a sign of God’s disapproval of the Apostolic Pentecostal church as heralded by the claims, “God got tired of His church and went and found people that were hungry for His presence.”

A Brief History

Before I get into the substance of this article that examines what is being called the Asbury Revival, I want to point out an observation. It seems, regardless of what it is that is happening in America, we are very quick to engage with the happenings of societal events. George Floyd’s death catapulted the church—overnight—into an immediate campaign of racial reconciliation and dialogue. Certain men who had been unknown in Apostolic circles rose to sudden household prominence due to podcasts and video interviews related to racial dialogue in the church. Organizations and their leaders were quick to arrange interviews to establish public solidarity with black America and black constituents within their organizations.

Right or wrong, that is not the observation being identified in this article. Instead, the instant reactivity of much of the church community to launch itself into the fray without all the information was concerning. I even observed one prominent pastor in an Apostolic organization ask his entire congregation to kneel on a Sunday in prayer for the exact minutes and seconds in which George Floyd had been pressed to the ground. While I am sure his motives were pure, it was another indicator of how quickly what was happening on the streets had come to be mainstreamed in the church.

Black social media boxes, pastors reading up on racially charged literature that was supposed to help the white Americans recognize their unavoidable subconscious bias, and the formation of committees that amounted to little except virtue signaling. In many conversations, I was surprised to find that some of these committees were quietly considered condescending by many in the community it sought to uplift. All of these reactions were sudden, decisive, and done with seemingly very little prayer or collective council and discussion. 

From my perspective, during this season we saw a firestorm of frontline efforts that can only be chalked off as massive PR campaigns by so many throughout the church community that rivaled some of the same virtue signaling efforts of corporations, politicians, and a broad segment of the American elite. Many seemed more concerned with their image than the actual issue they claimed to be championing. Swayed by the Madness of Crowds, we were pulled from Kingdom Wars into Culture Wars, and the heartbeat of so many in the church beat, not to the divine rhythm of a prayerfully sought-out direction, but to the impulse-driven narrative of what was happening on the streets.

Then, who can forget the overnight fervor of so many within the Pentecostal community when Kanye West proclaimed his conversion to Christianity? The posts by Pentecostals were fired off more quickly than the celebrity tabloids. The wholesale promotion of Kanye’s Christian music and the heated aggression toward anyone proposing a cautionary stance over the fanfare was decisive. We watched as social media was bombarded by individuals fawning over this divine moment that would likely result in a global revival where countless millions would now consider Christ due to Kanye. 

I was unable to scroll through social media without the constant posts from Pentecostal leaders and congregations who were celebrating the bars dropped in Kanye’s new lyrics. His songs were heralded as otherworldly, and so many that had been swept up at the moment, fell all over themselves with adoring proclamations that the musical genius of Yeezus converted to Jesus was something the hallowed halls of the Christian music community had never before experienced. Through the vociferous defenses and acclamations of Kanye, it appeared that the rebirth of Kanye was just what the Apostolic church needed, and, with him now serving Jesus and having been captured in a few videos with Apostolic people, Joel’s end-time prophecy of global revival could finally come to pass. 

Then, many saw a football player suffer a cardiac event during a game and, being surrounded by a praying group of plays, the posts were instant and decisive. “God is getting the glory,” declared one social media post after the next. It was a sign, an awakening, a moment for the world to see faith in Jesus Christ declared amidst the drunken revelry of many adoring NFL fans across the world. A spiritual moment! A miracle. Look at God! Pray saints, pray! Post after post consumed with the story as ecumenical calls to prayer and hashtags for prayer consumed the internet.

What do all these things have in common (and there are many more examples)? First, they all evidence what I consider to be boredom and our ear constantly being pressed to the ground of society. Second, it appears to evidence a discontentment within the Apostolic community with our not being “in the midst” of the happenings of the world around us. We seem to desire recognition and we sometimes appear to be the awkward little kid who sees all the attention being given to the cool, hip kid and we do everything we can to be captured in a picture with him. Third, and most concerning, we are consumed with reactivity. We act before we think and, as evidenced by almost every event mentioned, our frenetic energies invested in the latest news story, societal chaos, or religious-related moment hit a slow burn and our interests fade a few weeks or months later until it explodes with alarming fervor with the next. (I could talk about addiction and novelty and how this generation’s addiction to novelty plays into so much of our actions, but I will save until another time.).

I think there are some things to be learned…

Only Fools Rush In

When Elvis crooned the words, “wise men say, only fools rush in,” I doubt he had scripture in mind. However, the Bible does speak to the danger of being impetuous. In Proverbs 19:2 (ESV), we are told that “desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” In Lane’s “Proverbs: Everyday Wisdom for Everyone”, he writes one who cannot be bothered to think and listen before he rushes into an action that goes wrong and thus ruins his life through his own folly.^[1]

We are so quick to rush into things that are being reported in the news, on social media, and on the streets. We are so quick to come up with a divine word from God about current affairs. In a matter of moments, we have become fervent evangelizers of social media posts and we know without a doubt that certain things are true when we ourselves haven’t even talked to the person(s) in question, are not fully aware of all angles of the story, and—in the case of Asbury at the time of this article’s release—have not even sat down to discern and experience for ourselves the event that is ongoing.  

All we know is that “this is the last day outpouring” and we should all be on this bandwagon of fervent acceptance. To make matters worse, so many are quick to devolve the Asbury phenomenon into a tirade against the Apostolic church with statements such as: “God got tired of us having church, so He went to find people that are hungry.” 

Could I insert a quick few questions at this point? 

• Why are we skeptical of and why do we willfully ignore reports of a “brother’s” revival but we engage in wide-open belief, acceptance, and celebration of a revival being reported in the evangelical world? 
• Where are all the shared posts celebrating what God is doing in churches, meetings, and gatherings across Pentecost, even those in perhaps a different Apostolic organization? 
• For those who denigrate Pentecost and highlight Asbury as many have, why aren’t those same people at their church every single service, praying daily at the church, and working endlessly to create a culture of ongoing revival in their own church community and city? 
• What about the massive hunger being demonstrated in other evangelical events the news is NOT reporting? What about the Passion Conference in Atlanta, GA which attracts around 60,000 plus every year where many young people are accounted as having spoken in tongues during the meeting as most of the men are open to charismatic expressions?

I am reminded of when Sean Feucht came to Portland during a highly contentious time following the Covid pandemic. A well-known minister went down along the riverbank and started sharing videos and posts of the large gathering. He was blown away by what he called the hunger and passion of all those present. He reported many receiving the Holy Ghost and then stated that God spoke to him and said, in essence, “God was moving on the event because they (Sean Feucht and the leaders) were doing more with a little bit than we were with the full truth.” This statement and reaction greatly troubled me at the time and still troubles me today. While his posts didn’t gain the same momentum as Asbury, they did pick up quite a bit of steam and many were quick to rush into the fray and proclaim the event as another fulfillment of the last day outpouring prophesied by Joel. 

Maybe it is because I live in Portland and almost every “Christian” speaks with some type of tongue in a way that would cause the hair to stand up on our neck that I am a bit more cautious. Perhaps it is because we have no shortage of an uber-sensational culture that is “deeply spiritual” yet lacks any desire for biblical obedience that I don’t rush into the fray of every new wind that blows through our nation. The result of Sean Feucht coming to Portland? For a large majority it was just another Bethel-styled gathering that grabbed the hearts of a very passionate demographic of Portland Christianity and, in the mix, pulled together a lot of people who had addictions and those needing hope, and mass baptisms happened as public professions of faith. Hey, I wouldn’t be surprised if hungry people worshiping with sincere faith received the Holy Ghost! It is being poured out all over the world right now upon those who are hungry! 

What of Asbury? 

Something is happening, that is evident. Is this a true spiritual awakening? Is this everything that it is being reported as being? Is this another Azusa Street moment?  I don’t know, and neither does anyone else which concerns me when I see the never-ending stream of dime-store prophets and prophetesses coming out to drop their latest insights from God. You would think, after the events of COVID, that immediate rushes to judgment about what God is or isn’t doing should be carefully weighed in balances of righteous discernment and caution.

The latest to hit social media is that someone made a connection to an Apostolic event taking place at the same Asbury chapel and the idea behind this post is that “where Apostolics go they leave something behind.” That post is another attempt by the awkward child (at least how he views himself) to be seen in the big picture with the big news. Nearly 40,000 Apostolics gathered at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium so I am sure that every prayer to win the game by those attending games is the direct result of the residue of NAYC. Ok, I I am now being facetious.

At Asbury, many are heralding the event as a Holy Ghost outpouring. It is being celebrated as another Azusa Street Revival. I have listened to prophecies, scriptural associations, and a myriad of Apostolic Pentecostals saying, “this is what church should look like.” I have seen the constant litany of posts longing for Asbury to occur in their own churches and, as already mentioned, no shortage of posts that disparage our own Pentecostal community in comparison to the Asbury Revival.

I have yet to see multitudes being filled with the Holy Ghost as many are claiming. I have yet to hear anyone open up the Word of God and begin to express a desire to repent, turn from our ways, and obey the scriptures. Do not forget that there are many people attending this who are from charismatic backgrounds that lack scriptural obedience, but are open in their own lives to a very distorted view of glossolalia. Does this mean I am against what is happening, critical of those at Asbury, or hoping it fails? Of course not! I am hopeful and prayerful, as with anything else, that God can use this event as a means to lead people to a true, salvific experience of repentance, Baptism in Jesus’ name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in other tongues.

However, to latch on to random social media posts and claim with absolute certainty that this is a Holy Ghost outpouring as occurred on the Day of Pentecost, at Azusa Street, and various other places throughout the world in history is simply grasping for something we are not certain of and it makes little sense to so fully promote something to the point that it borders on absurdity. I am hopeful, but I am cautious! In fact, let me quote directly from a verified Asbury Theological Seminary student who was there since the FIRST chapel service:

To quote Professor McCall, a theology professor at Asbury Seminary, “what we are experiencing now—this inexpressibly deep sense of peace, wholeness, holiness, belonging, and love—is only the smallest of windows into the life for which we are made.”

The movements of the spirit in western evangelicalism always exist in the middle of a cultural moment. A generous interpretation of these movements reveals unique traits for each one. For example, fervor for the great commission at the Mt. Hermon Conference, overwhelming joy in Toronto Outpouring, zeal for the lost in Brownsville Revival, acts of healing at the Kansas City awakening, and manifestation of tongues at the Azusa Street revival. In each move of the spirit, God clearly manifests in a specific way for that generation. I find it interesting that God would mark this outpouring with:

 A tangible sense of peace for an generation with unprecedented anxiety.

 A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness 

 An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression. 

 A leadership emphasizing protective humility in relationship with power for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power. 

 A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction.  

It feels as if God is personally meeting young adults in ways meaningful to them. My generation was formed differently then previous generations and so the traits of this revival are different then revivals of old. The new outpouring is not the signs and wonders nor zealous intercession nor spontaneous tongues nor charismatic physicalities nor the visceral travail. It is marked by a tangible feeling of holistic peace, a restorative sense of belonging, a non-anxious presence through felt safety, repentance driven by experienced kindness, humble stewardship of power, and holiness through treasuring adoration.  

Madison Pierce
* (bold letters mine)

This my friends is the exact ecumenical language and popular ideas that undergird so much of what the world is calling revival today among evangelicals. It is why I am cautious before I jump onto bandwagons and become a fervent marketing agent for things that have not fully produced fruit. I am not against us being optimistic about this event, but the frenetic clamor, prophesying, endless comparisons with what is wrong with the Apostolic church and what is right with Asbury, and the drip-drip of fawning adoration over an ongoing, collective worship session marked by ecumenical dialogue and amorphous theologies need to hit a speed bump! I am not critical of Asbury, but I am cautious. Yes, I am being critical about our response.

So What Else Could be Happening?

As evidenced in the statement I quoted from the Asbury Theological student, this generation has faced an unprecedented time of isolation, anxiety, fear, anger, chaos, and the redefining of practically every code of morality. Young men are facing a purpose vacuum (read The Boy Crisis by Warren Farrell), young women are under attack and facing unprecedented levels of depression and suicide marked by staggering increases in gender-identity confusion, and society as a whole is caught in the grips of a desire to belong to something that gives them a cause. Really, this generation faces a purpose vacuum as a whole. There is also a tremendous amount of boredom and we are facing an addiction to novelty (read Glow Kids by Nicholas Kardaras) that is highlighted by the unspoken reality of our day; our nation has become a Dopamine Nation.

We are captured in an unending cycle of chasing new causes, new campaigns, and anything that will drown out the discontentment, anxiety, and chaos of our present day. Does this create an opportunity for God to move? Absolutely! Does it mean that everything that coalesces into a collective manifestation of worship is a Great Awakening or Last Day outpouring? No. While I pray that what is happening at Asbury is an authentic movement that seeks to return to obedience to the Word of God, I feel it is unwise to become so enmeshed in the event as I have described in this article.

I am aware that I will be labeled a Pharisee, that I am putting God in a box, or a myriad of other emotionally charged accusations, but not everyone who invokes caution is regressive or faithless. For a generation that is called to “watch and pray,” “beware false teachers and prophets”, and “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” we have consistently shown ourselves to be quick to dive into what is happening on the street with little restraint.

Let me end with a warning that originates from my personal experiences here in Portland. One of the most seductive spirits this age has been confronted with is the seduction of the ecumenical spirit. I have lost many new converts to the elusive, slick spirit of ecumenical worship that lacks any sense of biblical obedience or absolute truth. It whispers of holistic healing, therapeutic peace, and a sense of belonging that clings to moral relativity. Be very careful what you promote. You could be right, and it hurt no one. You could be wrong and influence many. There are new people I am working with right now and this could be very confusing to them as they are coming out of a very ecumenical world that highlights a worship-driven experience that lacks obedience to God’s Word.

If you are unhappy with your local Apostolic church and are spending more time longing for Asbury, be careful. As Gamaliel said of the Jesus Name preachers:

Acts 5:35–39 (KJV 1900) — 35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

Let’s stop rushing headlong into something we cannot be sure is everything many are claiming it to be. Get into the private closet of prayer and talk to God about it instead of publicly declaring it. Start focusing on your local church, your local community, and your own neighborhood. I will never trust anyone’s opinion on the quality of the lawn next-door if all one has is weeds in their own. If you are awed by the fact that Asbury has gone on every day for over a week, don’t miss a single church service or time of daily prayer. If you are awed by the worship that doesn’t have music alongside it, stop forcing your praise team to cheerlead you into participating. If you are awed by the sense of love and belonging, start reaching, loving, and winning your local community that is broken and hurting. If you haven’t even taught a bible study, but are spending hours following this Asbury event, posting about it, and criticizing the Apostolic church; stop.

Let us never forget that we must not base everything on how we feel but we must be sure that we base our decisions on what we hear from God’s word.

Asbury, do your thing but make sure your experience draws you into obedience. Apostolic’s, drive out there and witness…do your thing. We can only pray that our longing for a divine outpouring that leads to salvation is realized in this event. But, for now, I watch and I pray. I reach and I win those within my community and city.

Follow up article here

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^[1] Lane, E. (2000). Proverbs: Everyday Wisdom for Everyone (p. 240). Christian Focus Publications.