I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I must address this issue. I am sure that many of you are aware of the so-called "revival" going on at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. It sounds so good that so many people are experiencing God. Unfortunately, the "God" they are experiencing is not the God of the Bible. This god is nothing more than a feeling as evidenced by the language of the chapel speaker, Zak Meerkreebs, on Feb. 8, 2023. In a quote from 'The Atlantic' as relayed by msn.com, speaker Meerkreebs "had exhorted the students to "become the love of God by experiencing the love of God,"". He then invited God to "revive us by your love."
There are a few problems here. First, you cannot become the love of God by experiencing the love of God. You become the love of God by going out into the world and telling them about Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for us. Second, the invitation to "become" the love of God by experiencing it seems more like an invitation to become God rather than to follow him. Indeed, in the Christian world there are those who believe that when you become a Christian you become a little god: Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, etc... Third, the word revival itself is suspect. The word revival means "to renew, refresh". It can also mean "to restart something that was previously stopped', such as a heart in cardiac arrest. It must be said at this point that if the churches were doing the will of God, there would be no need for revivals. At best, the revival at Asbury University is an attempt to revive a dead or dying thing.
There have been nine "revivals" at Asbury University since 1905. The 1950 revival "claims to have led over 50,000 people to a spiritual experience. This "experiential" revival is nothing more than what it says: an event; a feeling. If you have a "feeling" of the love of God, then it must be God. This is nothing more than a Christianized version of "If it feels good, do it". Wiccans put it this way: "Do what thou wilt, but hurt thou none".
Here is what God has to say about the "revival" at Asbury University: "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols."(Amos 5:21, 23 KJV) Today's solemn assemblies are nothing more than your "go-for-broke" revivals, when financial contributions from regular services and revivals are at record lows.
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