“When America sneezes, the world catches a cold” goes
the popular expression. If Asbury Revival were a “sneeze,” I hope PH would “catch
a cold.” This article reflects on the Asbury Revival which has grabbed recently the
headlines: “Christian Revival Draws Thousands to Kentucky Town” (The New York
Times). It’s a 16-day spontaneous spiritual revival – non-stop praise and
worship that went on for almost 400 hours. Wikipedia reported:
“The 2023 Asbury revival was a Christian revival at
Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky which lasted from February 8, 2023,
through February 24, 2023. The event was prompted after students spontaneously
stayed in Hughes Auditorium following a regularly scheduled chapel service on
February 8, 2023. News of the phenomena was quickly spread on social media and
in Christian online publications.
“The revival has been compared to similar revivals at
Asbury, notably one that occurred in 1970, which had far-reaching consequences
in Methodism, US culture, and the growth of the Jesus movement. News of the
renewals is noted for its spread on social media, as the participants are mainly
members of Generation Z. It has been attended by approximately 15,000 people
each day.”
Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman wrote about the bud of Asbury
revival which quietly and unadornedly emerged with Zach Meerkreebs, the
assistant soccer coach, preaching about becoming love in action. A Black gospel
trio sang a final song and the chapel service ended.
“[B]ut 18 or 19 students stayed,” Silliman narrated. “They
sat in several clusters: a few along the right wall, a few in their seats, a
few on the floor in the aisle, a few at the foot of the stage. They kept
praying.” He added that Zeke Atha, a junior, left after an hour to go to a
class, but then when he got out, he heard singing.
“Okay, that’s weird,” Atha said. “I went back up, and
it was surreal. The peace that was in the room was unexplainable.”
Silliman wrote that Atha and a few friends immediately
left, sprinting around campus, bursting into classrooms with an announcement: “Revival
is happening.”
Another publication, the Christian Post gave later an account of “universities nationwide experiencing ‘a spirit of unity and confession’ spurred by Asbury revival.”
As a writer, I have been fascinated by the Asbury
revival because I wrote last December before the election an ATABAY article “Revival: Juan Tamad
Within Us Must Be Awakened and Transformed.” In that article I quoted Jarius
Bondoc’s prediction in his Philstar’s Gotcha column:
“Political
dynasts will lead the popularity polls for president, VP, congressmen, and
local posts. Senatorial favorites will be the old names. Party lists will
violate election rules by promoting not their advocacies but names of nominees.”
Bondoc
hit the nail on the head as affirmed by this Diplomat’s headline: “Political
Dynasties Dominate Philippine Election – Again.” The word “Again” showed beyond
doubt the seeming irreversibility of a political dynasty weighing heavily on
our country.
Former
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban upheld, in a peculiar passivity, such irreversibility
in his Inquirer column: “Dynasts… are here to stay.” Francisco S. Tatad
in The Manila Times column wrote the same view of irreversibility: “[T]he
May 2022 elections… may have irreversibly reshaped our politics… political
dynasties as we know them, proliferated, instead of being voted out of office.”
Indeed,
‘tis a grim state of affairs.
Let me
repost some pertinent excerpts from my recent ATABAY article “Sunday Sermon:
Salt, Light, and Political Dynasties”:
“Political
dynasty’s insensitive spitting image in history – when it comes to man’s
proclivity to shamelessness, callousness, and greed – was the slave trade.
“We
can take inspiration from the story of William Wilberforce who fought tirelessly
to abolish the slave trade. We can be the salt and light that our country needs
by working together to abolish the inequity of political dynasties. This will
require courage and a commitment to doing what is right, even in the face of
formidable powers that be.”
“Imagine
a country where political power is not passed down within a privileged few, but
where the people have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. Where resources
are distributed fairly and opportunities are available to all. Where the
marginalized are represented and their needs are satisfied.
“This
vision is not just a pipe dream, it is a possibility that we can work together.”
Truth
be told, as I was writing those yearning words above, this starry-eyed
expression kept flashing across my mind: you’re shooting for the moon, dude.
Let me
share with you an amazing episode in the life of Wilberforce at the abyss of
his struggle in abolishing the slave trade taken from Charles Colson’s book “Kingdom’s
In Conflict: An Insider’s Challenging View of Politics, Power, and the Pulpit.”
“Weary
with grief and frustration, [Wilberforce] often sat long into the night at his
old oak desk, wondering whether he should abandon his hopeless [slave trade
abolition] campaign. One night as he sat flipping through his Bible, a letter
fluttered from between the pages.
“Wilberforce
stared at the shaky handwriting. The writer was dead. In fact, this letter was
one of the last he had ever written. Wilberforce had read it dozens of times,
but never had he needed its message as much as he did now.”
My
Dear Sir,
Unless
the Divine power has raised you up as Athanasius contra mundum [“against the
world”; Athanasius was an early church father who opposed many of the heresies
of his time] I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing
that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of
human nature.
Unless
God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the
opposition of men and devils, but if God be for you who can be against you? Are
all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on
in the name of God, and in the power of His might, till even American slavery,
the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish away before it. That He that has
guided you from your youth up may continue to strengthen in this and all
things, is the prayer of,
Your
affectionate servant,
John
Wesley
Interestingly, John Wesley, an English cleric,
theologian, and evangelist, was a leader of a revival movement within the
Church of England known as Methodism. Asbury University’s roots are in the
Methodist and Wesleyan-Holiness tradition with a historical emphasis on transformative
movements of the Holy Spirit.
Just
as the slave trade, the scandal of religion and human nature, could not have been
cast out without the Divine power, so too will political dynasties in our
country remain embedded despite the few good men’s sincerest and earnest intention
and efforts to boot it out.
Divine
intervention – a revival – is what our country needs today.
“I
dare say that abolishing dynasties is… impossible,” Former Justice Panganiban asserted.
Wittingly or unwittingly, his words bear testimony to our country’s monumental need for nothing less than the Divine power and intervention to abolish political dynasties – for “nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37.
Head still collage photos
courtesy of Slow to Write, Lexington Herald Leader, and Philippine Star
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