   With keen interest I have been reading first hand reports about revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Asbury is a small Bible college in Kentucky. Apparently, chapel ended on February 8 but the students didn’t leave. Under normal circumstances students would leave and go to their next class or get coffee. According to several descriptions God’s Presence was so evident and real that no one wanted to leave. The altar is full of students praying, worshiping and repenting. The worship team is quietly playing music. Prayer groups are gathered all around the chapel auditorium which at full capacity holds about 1200 people. Since February 8 this type of activity continues at the Asbury Chapel. Students are traveling from other colleges to be part of the revival gathering. People are coming from other states to participate. What is revival? It seems to be a time of heightened spiritual activity where the human heart is softened and changed. One commentator said that the Asbury revival doesn’t seem focused on “signs and wonders” but rather prayer, worship and repentance.  The last two to three years of turbulence in America have taken a toll on young people. What is happening at Asbury seems to be revitalizing hope and giving students something “real” from the hand of God. In Genesis 28 there is a fascinating story about Jacob and a “stairway to heaven”. Esau had a grudge against Jacob because Jacob took the blessing of the first born son. Jacob was escaping his brother Esau. In Genesis 28 we read that Jacob went to sleep at night. In a dream he saw angels ascending and descending on a stairway that went up to heaven. God promised to bless and care for Jacob. When Jacob awoke his words can be found in Genesis 28:16-17. “Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it. He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I am struck by Jacob’s words, “surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.” Could this be said of us? Are we aware of the Presence of the Holy Spirit? Do we invite the Presence of the Holy Spirit to be real to us each day? Do we ask the Holy Spirit to flow through us each day? We may have grown dull in our heavenly and spiritual awareness as we routinely live out of our own strength each day. I am afraid this is easy to do. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “thy kingdom come thy will be done”. When we ask for God’s kingdom to come we are implicitly asking for God’s power and Presence to be realized and manifested on the earth. Apparently this is happening at Asbury right now. Pray it happens in Scott Valley. Pray it happens at our church. We need a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. We need revival.
Pastor Drew
