Revival @ Asbury?

Looks like some interesting things may be happening at Asbury College--http://www.asbury.edu/press/chapelcontinues06 Chapel continues in HughesWILMORE, KY—Monday morning the student body gathered for Chapel at 10 a.m. and the student-led chapel continues. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff, and even members of the surrounding community and Asbury Theological Seminary joined the praise, worship and prayer.Students are committing their lives to Christ for the first time and scores of others are rededicating themselves to the Lord. Jesus is at the center of it all.Wilmore freshman Michael Spann spent a total of 11 hours in Hughes Auditorium, praying and worshiping. Spann said that he and several other students have been meeting independently since early last term to pray for the college and for the Holy Spirit to move on the campus.Asbury House of Prayer started in the original Asbury building on campus where generations of Asbury students have waited on God. Students have gathered and signed up to pray for the college independently. Currently, students have committed to more than 40 hours of prayer each week interceding for the college community“My brother Travis [Spann, a senior] felt strongly that something great was going to happen and yesterday God’s will just broke out. People were just yearning for God. I can’t even describe it.” Michael Spann said. “I didn’t want to leave until I felt the Lord was in me the way He needed to be.”College President Dr. Paul Rader and his wife, Dr. Kay Rader, stayed in Hughes until after midnight. When they left, Dr. Rader said hundreds of students were still praying and praising.“Following the morning chapel the altar was crowded with students seeking the Lord—two and three deep, with people praying in groups around the auditorium,” he described. “Throughout the day there has been a beautiful awareness of the Holiness of God. Many students took off their shoes with a sense of standing on Holy ground. God is answering the passionate and persistent prayers of committed students who have been fasting and praying for weeks for this kind of spiritual breakthrough. We are all rejoicing in it.”Stu Smith, associate dean for campus ministries and campus chaplain, said that news of the chapel service spread throughout the surrounding areas, high schools and other local colleges. Students called friends and relatives throughout the world to have them pray for Asbury College.“People were praying all over the world as God was moving here,” Smith said.Spann said he even heard that people off the streets of Wilmore just heard the music and were drawn to Hughes. “People want to be transformed and that’s what attracted them to Hughes.”The music didn’t stop. Smith said that when one group of students would tire from leading the worship another would move into their place. Nothing was coerced or planned.Fitch’s IGA in Wilmore and others in the community sent food and water for the students who couldn’t leave.Atlanta sophomore Hannah Helfen who spent several hours in Hughes yesterday said she didn’t want to leave either. She says that God spoke to her in a different way. Typically not very outspoken, God told her that it was OK to be open about her faith and tell other people about Him.Sophomore Ben Greenhoe from Ada, Mich., spent most of the day in Hughes recording the service. He said, “When God moves, you have to respond. There’s nothing else you can do when you meet your Creator face to face like we did yesterday. There’s nothing else that could bring that many people together from so many different backgrounds. And the fact that it is still going on now speaks volumes.”Lisa Harper, director of communications and Transforming (class of 2007) advisor said,“It was incredible to be in the midst of it all, praying with the students at the altar and witnessing the joy and sweet peace. If that’s not what we’re about here then I don’t know what we’re about.”

Wasnt there a revival there in 1970?

http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=1028Thats an account of the last one.Anyone near Asbury verify what is happening?

If this is real, we need to pray it spreads.Something I found interesting was that in the article that put God at the centre!Saying there was an awareness of the holiness of God.

http://www.asbury.edu/press/chapeldaytwo06Chapel continues today WILMORE, KY—(Feb. 8, 2005) Praise, worship and release continue as students are still gathered around the altar in Hughes Auditorium where they have been since Monday. After today’s powerful chapel celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit on the Asbury College campus, God’s work carries on.President Paul A. Rader led the chapel service this morning as students, for the last three days, have converged on Hughes Auditorium for prayer and intercession for the campus and worldwide community. “God continues to move across the campus,” said Dr. Paul A. Rader. “We have had students in Hughes Auditorium continuously since Monday at 10 a.m. when God came in such power and blessing during our Student Chapel. Last night at midnight there were several hundred in Hughes. Some stayed until 4 a.m. We met for a Prayer and Praise Chapel this morning with an awesome sense of expectation. God did not disappoint us. From the first praise chorus students began coming to the long altar at the front of the auditorium. Soon the altar was crowded with students again. There was incredible freedom in the Spirit as we sang and prayed and shared testimonies of God’s gracious work in the hearts of students.“It has been wholly the work of the Spirit, who moved numbers of our students to passionate and persistent prayer in small groups over the past several months.“There has been a wonderful sense of the Spirit’s ordering. We have been spared excesses and unhelpful sharing. Students have spoken with such wisdom and spiritual maturity. Scriptures so well chosen and so powerfully used of the Lord.“We do have this wonderful sense of the constant presence of God on this campus — and He is palpably and preciously present to us today.”Junior Jonathan Grant of Mishawaka, Ind., stayed in the auditorium until 3 a.m. Wednesday and returned again at 7 a.m. A late night or an all-nighter schedule typically witnessed during finals week, is being used to praise and worship God.“People kept saying, ‘It doesn’t matter if this ends in five minutes, what matters is what we do when we leave here—how this changes us.’ God has become real to me and I have a responsibility and a gift to take and share with the world.”Stacy Stevens Hall, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., talked about the response from the local and nationwide community.“We are excited. It’s amazing that God is using this time to call others to pray for Asbury College around the world. The news is spreading quickly and people want to join in the celebration.”Junior Emily Roberts from Sunapee, New Hampshire described her experience in Chapel Wednesday as a romance — having loved God all her life and finally realizing that God loves her in return.She illustrates her experience as being like when Lucy meets Aslan in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C.S. Lewis.“Then her face lit up till, for a moment (but of course she didn’t know it), she looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy in the picture and she ran forward with a little cry of delight and with her arms stretched out. For what stood in the doorway was Aslan himself, The Lion, the highest of all High Kings. And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in his shining mane. And from the low, earthquake-like sound that came from inside him, Lucy even dared to think that he was purring (169).”Thank you for your interest and your prayers. To God be the glory and great is His faithfulness.

Re: Reports of Revival at Asbury CollegeReply #3 - Today at 1:18pm http://www.asbury.edu/press/godunscripted06 God Unscripted WILMORE, KY—In Chapel services Friday, February 10, 2006, after the four days of prayer, praise and worship, junior Matt Olsen reminded everyone to take what they learned, discovered and experienced this week and share it. He said, “This can’t be confined to four walls. Take this back to your home churches this weekend. God is so much bigger than this.” Rev. Richard Gaines from the Consolidated Baptist Church in Lexington was the guest speaker this morning. He said, “We must be a people of prayer and this is a direct result of somebody spending time on bended knees. God is up to something. God is moving. God is doing great things.” Arthur Sweeney, of Ireland, summed up the week, saying, “It’s an experience that’s indescribable. This entire week was freedom in Christ…like God unscripted. God just came in and took over.” There are dozens of stories of renewed spirits, relinquished hearts and changed lives. One such story revolves around two brothers, who are now two brothers in Christ. Junior Andrew Sullivan phoned home to Pennsylvania Tuesday evening to tell his family about the happenings at Asbury College, asking his older brother Joe, 22, to join him. Joe said, “Up until he called, I had been feeling empty…like a complete zombie, dead. I knew I needed change.” Joe agreed to make the trip to the College and found what he had been seeking after. Thursday evening, he asked God into his life and into his heart. “I have felt more love and more alive than I have in a while…like a new person.” Andrew said, “Everyone has been praying for him. It’s just been incredible.” The Asbury College community would like to thank everyone for their prayers and encouragement. God is on the move. Please be in prayer for our students helping to broadcast the Olympics in Torino, Italy. ###

Willo,I called the college yesterday to ask about this apparent revival. The lady I spoke with new exactly what I was asking about. She said it is true. And the whole knows about it.

I love the part about the Holiness of God.We all need to seek Him more.Nellie

I have a friend that is a doctoral student there. He is a Bulgarian preacher. I just emailed him to ask him about the revival. I'll let you know when I hear back.Kendal

HEre is my friend's reply that is working on a doctorate at Asbury:Hey Kendal,yes, starting with Monday's chapel Asbury College accross the street from the Seminary has been in Revival all week.Prayer has been going on at the Hughes Auditorium day and night. I have been going every night and praying with the College student for 2-3 hours. Last night I and a friend went and stayed till about 4 this morning. Repentance, people confessing, getting saved, rededicated - powerful.It has been a great experience and refreshing.Blessings to you, my friend!Miro

Praise God!Now lets pray it spreads

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22612CULTURE DIGEST: Rumblings of revival begin on college campusFeb 8, 2006By Erin Curry RoachBaptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A massive movement of prayer on a college campus has led to an extended time of corporate worship that had some students staying in the school’s chapel as long as 11 hours, and a Southern Baptist evangelism leader hopes it could be one of the spots where revival breaks out among a new generation.At Asbury College, a Christian liberal arts college with more than 1,200 students in Wilmore, Ky., near Lexington, the student body gathered for a regularly scheduled chapel service at 10 a.m. Feb. 6, but some ended up staying for hours, according to a news release by the school.“Following the morning chapel the altar was crowded with students seeking the Lord -- two and three deep, with people praying in groups around the auditorium,” Asbury President Paul Rader said. “Throughout the day there has been a beautiful awareness of the holiness of God. Many students took off their shoes with a sense of standing on holy ground.“God is answering the passionate and persistent prayers of committed students who have been fasting and praying for weeks for this kind of spiritual breakthrough. We are all rejoicing in it,” he said.In hopes that God would have His way in lives across their campus and community, Asbury students have individually committed to interceding for their peers and have collectively signed up for more than 40 hours of prayer for their school each week.John Avant, vice president for evangelization at the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, expressed excitement about what is going on at Asbury, especially in light of similar explosions of enthusiasm among Christians in Missouri and Alaska.“The last two weeks have been the first fresh movements of God on campuses that I have heard about since the mid-‘90s,” Avant said in remarks to Baptist Press.Revival broke out at Asbury College in 1970 and again in 1995, and many hope to see such commitment to God resurface so that many more lives can be changed.News of the extended chapel service spread throughout the surrounding areas, high schools and other local colleges, the school said, and hundreds of students, faculty and staff and members of the community joined in for praise, worship and prayer in the chapel. When one group of students would tire of leading in worship, another group would move into their place, and a local grocery store sent food and water for those who chose to remain in the service for hours. The school noted that the service was not planned to last so long; it was simply an answer to prayer.“I didn’t want to leave until I felt the Lord was in me the way He needed to be,” Michael Spann, a freshman at Asbury, said.The student body at Asbury includes people from 47 states and 11 countries, and the school is currently ranked fourth by U.S. News & World Report among comprehensive colleges in the South.“When God moves, you have to respond. There’s nothing else you can do when you meet your Creator face to face like we did yesterday,” Ben Greenhoe, a sophomore at Asbury, said. “There’s nothing else that could bring that many people together from so many different backgrounds.”

http://www.asbury.edu/press/catalyst06Catalyst for Renewal Ashleigh Graves is a junior applied communications major from Greenwood, Ind.February 14, 2006Last week, God used a very ordinary chapel service to speak to the hearts of a campus and a community. It wasn't something that just exploded—in fact, it built up gradually over the course of a day and was given even greater energy by existing student-led spiritual initiatives like the Asbury House of Prayer. It was so much bigger than just our college, too. I met students from Asbury Seminary, from the University of Kentucky, from Berea, from local high schools and middle schools. I met people from all over Kentucky and from three or four other states. Most of these people had just heard that "something" was going on and came to check it out. God is the ultimate multi-taskerThe significance of what happened last week lies less in the experience itself and more in the things it set in motion. The term "revival" gets thrown around pretty liberally, and I'm wary of using it as a label for anything. A lot of people on campus have referred to last week as a "renewal", and I think that pretty much hits the mark. Whatever you want to call it, the important thing is that those days and nights in Hughes provided a catalyst for renewal, for freedom, for seeking the heart of God. While there was certainly a communal experience in Hughes, God was working in each of us in very individual ways. Some people needed to stay for an hour. Some people needed to stay for four days. God works in mysterious ways, but it takes a lot to get some of us to pay attention.

The Asbury renewel they had posted... it was "unscripted". I like that. I was thinking this morning that most churches cant even run a service on Sunday just for one hour without a bulletin.... This move of God at Asbury had no such thing. Jim Cymbala said theres no bulletin that runs my house so why do we have one to run Gods house?

I am wondering if the movement may be the fruition of seeds sown a month before the Asbury revival at the Passion '06 student conference in Nashville. I wonder how many Asbury students were among the 18,000 young people that attended that conference?If you who have contacts at Asbury, would ask and see if there a connection?I just listened to John Piper's address from last year and it was extremly powerful. If you have 44 minutes to listen, you will be mightily blessed by John Piper’s message to 18,000 young people in Nashville, last January. ...John Piper's Passion '05 Message It is on Passion’s site The 268 Generation. From the beginning Passion has been rooted in the confession of Isaiah 26:8: “Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.”*Click on the navigation bar on the left side of the page to “Watch Louie’s [Giglio] Talks on-line” … under PREVIOUS TALKS you’ll see Passion ’05: Session 5 talk- Speaker John Piper. Louie Giglio's messages on prayer are just as anointed.

I live about 15 miles from the college. Honestly, It seems pretty quiet right now (Feb 25th). I'll check it out and let you all know.

Catalyst for Renewal: Continous Chapel Services Concluded http://www.asbury.edu/press/catalyst06mshelby, would still love to hear from you in this regard.