I’m a college senior and a small group leader at my campus ministry. What Gavin is saying is so true! The devotion to Christ within the ministry has increased exponentially over my college career. There is a collective feeling in the air that God is about to move. Please pray that revival spreads to the larger campus!
that one last calling by God before the antichrist comes. It's happening in israel too. The growth of Christianity there is astounding. I long for the day Y'Srael calls out "Baruch HaBa B'Shem Adonai!" to Y'Shua!
We’ll know it’s real when the revival produces mass repentance from, and rejection of: abortion, the pride cult, all forms of feminism/egalitarianism, climate alarmism, and border anarchy. Real revival always brings repentance. Until then I won’t hold my breath.
@@matthewdyer2926 Fair point. how many college campus ministries are liberalized? I will say I am most hopeful and happy about the revival in Israel. If you want to be christian there it is hard. And yet...many Israelites are accepting Jesus as their messiah. And it's growing. Praise be to God.
People globally are feeling empty and realizing that the new atheism is the same old atheism and there is a seeking from within for more. Keep praying. Keep sharing. Above all things, be loving and not judgmental.
I’m a student and member of a church on campus at the University of Washington, and even here in Seattle (the most secular metro area in the US) we’re feeling this. Jesus is being talked about significantly more than in the past, and the incoming freshman are extremely open which contrasts from the extremely closed off attitude that students have had in past years. If you’re looking for specific universities to pray for, please add in UW!
My sister was an associate professor at UW and her daughter went to madison. She said she wished she never sent her to college. So you don't need a massive amount of prayer
I'm Gen Z...you are a major influence in my walk with both God and in my interest in church history and apologetics. My friends and I routinely watch all your videos and discuss them. Thank you for your reminders and commitment, Dr. Ortlund!
My sister is a student at asbury. She had an amazing encounter with God during the revival in 2023❤😢😊 Excited for the beautiful Jesus revivals in our beautiful country!!❤
Dr. Ortlund, I felt like I should leave a comment on this one. I just turned 20, and I share your videos with my family. We love to discuss your videos at the dinner table. I also sense something happening in my generation. It excites me greatly. All I want is for people my age to know of the true peace, comfort, and hope a relationship with Christ can give. Ugh! There is nothing worth more than Jesus. I pray every night before bed for revival in my generation and really appreciate your video. Going to send this one to Mom and Dad!
These young people will need discipleship, apologetics, training how to think Christianly, theology, good churches, good older people who can mentor them (do these people exist?).
A few weeks ago my husband and I sent out an email to invite students on our campus to join us for a small group study of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. More students expressed interest than our living room can accommodate. That’s a good problem to have and we were delighted.
I’ve been to Auburn university a few times, and it was unlike anything i’ve seen. The Christian presence is so strong there, and not just people who profess christ. I’m talking about people who are radical disciples of Jesus and it is so awesome to see
I am a student here at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania. A lot of students here love the Lord but I am praying for even more for revival. You have inspired me to pray more for the church of America Gavin. I am Praying for you too!
I work on multiple college campuses in Wayne County Michigan for an apologetics ministry called Ratio Christi. We minister to a lot to Muslims, but many agnostics too. There does seem to be a lot of interest in the things of God, but there are also many false religions and cults zooming in on the students. Pray for God to stir the people up so we can take this country back for Jesus! Then the world!
I’m a youth leader at my church along with my wife. This is what our hearts long for. That the youth would come to Christ and make a lifelong commitment to knowing Him and doing His will. May revival break out. From Florida, Kissimmee. Please join us in prayer.
Graduated from college just over 2 years ago but got saved while in college back in 2018, God absolutely moves on campus so much more than you'd think. It was simply incredible getting the privilege to be apart of that, keep praying for these students!
One encouraging thing happening I'm seeing is young men (Gen Z) going to church. In fact, I read something from C.R. Wiley that showed for the first time in decades we see more men at church than women. It's really encouraging to see
As a young man who's recently begun attending, that's interesting to hear. I always had the impression that women attended church more until I started attending this local Baptists church where there seems to be a good mix of both men and women - particularly with a lot of young married couples.
@@WaterCat5 The good news is that studies show when men (particularly husbands) go to church, there is a 90% chance the rest of the family will follow. So this is largely a good thing.
@BavinckGuy You're assuming these men are married. I'd like to see data on that first. My instinct is that disenfranchised, conservative young men are going to church because it reinforces their traditionalist ideas. I think a lot of these same men are having a lot of trouble in the dating market, which is exactly why they are resorting to male-leaning power structures such as evangelical churches. Basically, young men feel like shit, so they go to places that tell them they are better than women. Same reason white dudes joined the kkk, to be part of something and feel better than blacks (though this is a more extreme example).
@@BavinckGuy I would also point out, that the fact you think having more men at church than women is "encouraging" is indicative of your bias that men are more important or somehow valuable (though that may just be because you're a man or something). Considering there are more women than men in the general population, if your organization were gender neutral, you would expect there to be more women. If there are more men by a statistically significant amount, then that means something.
Doctor Ortland, speaking as the vice president of two campus ministries and someone who leads and participates in daily weekday devotions on campus, thank you for shining a light on this. Many young people are flocking to Christ in a way that is somewhat unprecedented, and I think it really encouraging. Pray for the young adults who are first coming to Christ across the world; and pray for the future of his church.
Just to add in to the anecdotes, I am a student and small group leader with a college ministry. We have seen exponential growth in every ministry on my campus, and so many more people willing to hear about God. There is something happening right now, God is at work.
What a pertinent message Gavin. I’m a senior in high school, and I think America is ripe for revival. The message we have to share with the world, the Gospel of our Lord, is so potent and powerful and beautiful! The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Php 3:8-11 NIV
I tutor college and university students. I have been praying for revival for almost 25 years. I saw a lot of liberal ideas at University of Michigan. But now, it's so much worse. God needs to intervene; and I see it happening recently. Let's continue praying. This is a very good video.
To add another anecdote, I am a deacon for a church that meets on a college campus. We had our first service of the new school year a few weeks ago and had a record amount of people attend. Nearly 100 more than we had last year, and last year we had a pretty big record for our first Sunday. We haven't changed much in what we do to advertise our church and connect with people, it seems to be that younger people are in fact more open to Christianity. Thanks for your prayers for our college campuses !
My college has been having a major revival so your absolutely right, and there are lots of young people at my school working hard to get the good word of the Gospel out there and man Gods word never returns void!!
My granddaughter (Senior at Texas State University in San Marcos) introduced me to this channel and great teacher a while back. I heard this video and asked my grandson (attending University of Arkansas) if he knew about the meeting. He said there were 10,000 people there and a lot baptized. He said it was amazing.
I attend a church that meets basically on (technically just next to, but near the heart of) a large university. Many of our members lead campus ministries, and what they report is beyond encouraging. The leaders of our church have been praying for an intense revival on our campus for many years and still anticipate that greater is coming.
Ive also come back to God this year after years of looking away. Which is also bringing my wife along. Her brother has also been back in church after years of leaving it. We're all in our early 30s.
I came to this video having literally just finished reading the W.H.Burns' lecture on lessons learned in leading through revival from his biography "The Pastor of Kilsyth". Closed the book, saw this video, and feeling very much what you are feeling!
"Revival is powerful, revival is precautions." Amen to that! I grew up in the wake of the Jesus movement, and I've seen it go both ways. One key is serious Bible study.
I work with campus ministry, and though we haven't had any crazy huge revivals or anything, we have really grown in the past 2 years, such that we now have more students involved in our ministry than I think we ever have in the past 15 years.
This is absolutely wonderful! I will join you in prayer. There is nothing that would give me more hope for the future than to see Jesus working in the hearts of our young ones.
This is very encouraging! At my church we have seen a surprisingly large impact in the local boarding school, high school age. We have a growing group of those kids coming to our services and we baptized 5 of them a few months ago!
Greetings from Wales, where once upon a time, we knew a thing or two about the power of revival...thank you for bringing this promising number of campus movements to our attention - I will definitely be taking up your call to prayer action. Love this channel.
As a freshman at a large public university I’ve been praying for a revival, and there has been chatter of some degree of revival! Also if anyone wants a really simple prayer for revival I’ve been borrowing from JPII by praying “Lord let thy spirit descend. Lord let thy spirit descend and renew the face of this land, the face of the earth” whenever it pops into my head :)
Thank you, Gavin, for the plans to do extensive teaching on revival in 2025. I so look forward to your work on this topic. There is such an illiteracy about revival, awakenings, outpourings and renewals in the Western church. Your grounding as a scholar can really help the local church understand what to value and how to pray during these opening moves of God's work. Please pray for the Northwest in general, and Portland specifically.
I think your point about stewarding these things is really important. People may run off in all sorts of directions with a spiritual revival without guidance and rootedness in scripture. Knowledge of church history is important as well.
Gavin, thank you for doing what you do. Your videos have given me so much hope as I have been struggling lately with my relationship with Jesus, and I am trying to find my faith again while being able to defend Christianity to those who bring up their doubts. Thank you for spreading truth and genuine love for Christ.
Millennial me has had some encouraging chats with Gen Zs. They have never rebelled against Jesus, so there's not the same hostility an ex church kid might have. They want to worship something but don't know what it should be.
Hi Gavin, our campus ministry in Australia has had around 15-20 conversion in the last year and a bit. I think other ministries are seeing similar numbers.
I hope that we all can help in our own ways to give them roots. We should guide them to churches, teach them what they need to know, be their friends, point to good media to consume, and more. There is a time to stand back and smile at what God is doing. There is also a time to work so birds do not come and steal away this revival.
You should start having on some of these young students and talking to them... getting their stories and talking about their journeys and questions....
So I myself just graduated from college in May and am now working for a campus ministry full time in the same area as where I went to school. Just this school year I have been noticing this. I've been doing evangelism on my campus since my sophomore year, but this year I have seen the highest amount and ratio of people who are spiritually interested or curious. Maybe not necessarily responding to the Gospel but more open than in the past. Additionally, our gatherings have been the largest that I have seen since I started attending university here (granted that was fall 2020 though). So yes, VERY exciting that there is more spiritual interest among many students. Don't believe the lie that this next generation of students are apathetic and uninterested in God and other things. A subset of them are, but even those are being reached by the love of Christ. So God is moving in big ways. Please be praying that God's Spirit would be poured out on the college students of today and not only that they would be effected but that they also would grow strong roots in their faith a la Psalm 1.
There is a burgeoning prayer movement in the nation for college students that began on the last day of the revival on Asbury's campus. The annual Collegiate Day of Prayer that has been going on since 1823 during this nation's second great awakening just so happened to be planned on the last day of February of 2022. Which just so happened to be the last day of the revival at Asbury. God is certainly doing something...
I was in college from 2018-2022, and I saw some… engineering of revivals going on in the collegiate world back in those years. I remember that we had this group called the “Circuit Riders” come through, who are basically traveling worship leaders going from campus to campus with the express intent of starting revivals at each of these places. A lot of worship nights were set up, and I remember that many of them were set up in the hopes of turning it into a revival. Revival-chasing was a real thing back in the college ministry in those years. I don’t assume to know how things have changed in the two and a half years since I’ve stepped foot on a college campus though, so I won’t assume what the intentions of these college ministries are.
You need to investigate the last revival in the UK which happened in the Scottish Hebridean island of Lewis amongst the Gaelic speaking Presbyterian population. I met a woman who was in a house that was shaken by the power of God.
Just a thought: The Bible doesn't really preach revival as much as it preaches repentance. (Repentance was Jesus' first sermon) If people are all excited at repenting that they break out in revival, I'm all for it. But if they're all excited at revival and there's not much talk of repentance, I reserve the right to remain skeptical. Granted, it's better than nothing, but....
Both things are going on. False revival and genuine revival...it's only possible to tell which is which over time, but we should always encourage and pray for revival. A clear proclamation of the Gospel of Grace and the need to repent be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38)
Definitely interesting where you might lay your focus on here. Definitely a lot of fascinating figures and periods. Leonard Ravenhill/David Wilkerson would perhaps be interesting people to look at.
We're in the last days and this is the final push. It'll start in America and spread all over the world. And this revival will be bigger and beyond what took place in the past...im excited to see what God is about to do 🙏
Praying for true renewal through Disciple Making Movements as is happening in Asia, Africa, and to a lesser degree S. America. Revival will rest in godliness and love for one another and the lost. Let us seek the Lord for true discipleship and devotion to Christ for the sake of His Kingdom. It is coming.
Funny when it happened last year in Kentucky, everyone was dumping on it. But now we are seeing its fruits. Hopefully, the cessationists wake up this time.
Amen… I also believe we’re going to see a lot more house churches/works/Bible studies and connection with local churches and also churches will come out of them. I believe that our concept of church is going to need to expand. I believe that we will still have buildings, But as one who is overseeing a house, Bible study, ministry seems to be so much more close and personal and there’s so much of a connection. I don’t mean that we should all just be loose cannons and I’ll just do our own thing and not go to the building, but I really believe the Lord is wanting us to expand our thinking of what ministry really is.
Your comment around 6:40 about unity reminded me of the Moravian Revival - this was preceded by a period of disunity. But when the Count brought the various factions together in unity - that's when revival happened. It seems like unity of believers is frequently if not always a prerequisite to revival.
One concern about these campus revivals is that they tend to be focused on worship and emotion, while real revivals in the past have always been centered on preaching the truth, letting God create any needed emotions. Maybe that's something you can dive into and discuss?
That's a good concern to have. But it's also important to celebrate what God might be doing in these young people's lives. If people are genuinely getting saved or recommitting their lives to the Lord, that's a wonderful thing. It may not look like what we are used to, but sometimes that's okay. The message shouldn't change, but sometimes the methods do change.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression. Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm. Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations. Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives. In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression. Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm. Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations. Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives. In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression. Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm. Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations. Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives. In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression. Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm. Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations. Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives. In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
Hi Gavin, great content yet again. And I'm really enjoying reading your new book 'why I am a Protestant' at the moment as well. Hey I am leaving this comment on all your videos hoping to get this message to you. I know you don't have time, but I will keep pestering you like the widow in Luke 18. I am a young and aspiring theologian with lots to learn, and not to sound arrogant, but I think I found a viable and Biblical alternative to Calvinism, that is NOT Arminianism. I've written an article about it and I really respect your opinion and would love for you to read it sometime. Feel free to debunk it as well. Please? Let me know how I can get it to you! Praying for you mate from Australia! Blessings, Jase.
If you don't already have it, please get a copy of Dr. Iain Murray's fine monograph, _Revival_and_Revivalism_. It surveys the Great Awakening in the English speaking world in the early 1700s, and compares and contrasts with later movements including the "Second Great Awakening" in the 1800s and some other local events. If you're going to research revival this book is an excellent resource.
As a Gen Z Christian, I feel lonely amongst people my age. It seems almost no one my age cares about God. Friends I’ve discipled have never done the same to me. People I’ve “led to the Lord” have left in favor of LGBT. Christian friends who used to be on fire for the gospel avoid church and engage in serious sin. But I do believe we are hungering for the truth. In college, I was able to preach the gospel to Jews, agnostic, atheist, transgender… they were all happy to listen rather than lashing out as one would think.
Ministering the truth to others is getting rejected 99% of the time, but there’s more joy in heaven for one sinner that genuinely repents and comes to Christ over 99 “righteous” that do not need Him.
The enemy will always try to use the momentum built by the moving of the Lord to "judo throw" the Church into the wall. Pray that the Lord give us the constant practice to sharpen our spirits so that we can discern good from evil or, maybe even more importantly, between good and almost good.
We often invite people to "accept" Jesus. But salvation is more than just accepting. It's about following. The early believers in Yeshua didn't just accept Him. They devoted their lives to following Him. They risked their lives to follow Him. They removed every obstacle in their lives that kept them from following Him with their entire being. Following Yeshua involves changing our sinful behaviors to reflect His holiness. If the blood of Yeshua is powerful enough to forgive sins, it is also powerful enough to empower you to live a counter cultural lifestyle. The blood of Yeshua is also powerful enough to overcome your flesh and empower you to live a life of obedience and submission to His loving authority. Yeshua was not nailed to the cross in hope that you would just accept Him. He gave His life as a ransom to purchase you in the hope that you would deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Him!
The real evidence of actual working of God comes not in a fevered emotional moment, but in the weeks and months that follow with doctrinal fidelity and consistent walking in the Word, when the emotion is gone and the actual live lived in faith is seen
Exactly. Oh so many times I was at these “revivals” where everybody gets “saved”, go to bed, wake up, and change absolutely nothing. You get like a spiritual high for 12 hours from the atmosphere, it wears off, and then these people are like “okay, I’m saved now I guess? I think?” and there is absolutely nothing there. No baptism of the spirit. They do more harm than good, honestly. It’s not about young people having transformed lives in Christ, it’s about some preacher feeling like a GOD and getting to tell his boss that night “Dude we baptized 500 people! Yeah!!!” when
“Revivals” on college and university campuses are the absolute last place I would look for something spirituality genuine, robust and long-lasting to occur. I think that what we are seeing is something else. After all, what exactly is a “revival”? I’ve seen this sort of thing (supposed revival) first hand more than once. It is certainly well-meaning at first, but rapidly degenerates into an emotion-driven response to some sustained stimuli that is assumed to be good based on its revival qualities. I’m not cynical about this: I’m pastorally critical of it. Revival, as such, is (dare I say it?) a western, largely Protestant phenomena that seems to spontaneously generate when certain conditions are conducive within a given community. Whether the Holy Spirit is a part of this, I cannot say. I tend to think not. Forgive me for my strong words: What we need is not the pumped-up emotions of an orgy of good feeling, quasi-spiritual activities. What we need is a rich, sustained Christian life in which real worship and regular, intentional repentance (not silly, superficial emotionalism) are the hallmarks. Mass revivals just lead to mass delusion.
No I agree completely. The earnest-seeking need 1-on-1 mentorship and guidance pointing them to Gods word and where to begin in it; not some emotional moshpit of emotional adrenaline and deception. Worst part is, WE’RE the crazy ones for noticing this crap. Wisdom is considered rebellion now; as if a bunch of lukewarms is going to tell ME, Christs disciple, if something honors God and actually directs people to Him or not.
We definitely do need a revival of monogamous gay Christians. From the letter of the disciple that Jesus loved: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love[b] because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
They can’t be revived without repentance. You can’t be baptized in the spirit while refusing to follow Gods design for marriage and clinging to what He hates and finds abominable, just like how straight people cannot be renewed while clinging to adultery. Loving your neighbor has nothing to do with condoning their sin. That is actually hating your neighbor because only one that hates them would just watch them send themselves to hell without warning them and giving them the hard pill to swallow.
@@aadschram5877 You are ignorant of history. This phenomenon has occurred in many places. A couple of examples are the Welsh revival and the Korean revival (in what's now North Korea) which both took place in the 1900s.
While I have seen a renewed interest in theology among the Zoomer generation, I wouldn't call it "revival" I don't think revivals are good, but I think if the means of grace are properly set up, God will draw people to Himself through them
Why do you think revivals aren’t good? I’m guessing (could be wrong) because they often lack integration into a church and actual continued discipleship that keeps people in the faith, and many leave the faith after a revival?
I think that is a big problem btw, I just think revivals can be a good thing, we need to be intentional with getting people firmly rooted in their faith and then built up with local Christian community (the church + other Christian groups)
Pro Tip: The Bible doesn't really preach revival - it preaches repentance. If people are all excited at repenting that they break out in revival, I'm all for it. But if they're all excited at revival and there's not much talk of repentance, I reserve the right to remain skeptical. In short, Redeemed Zoomer is right.
"I don't think revivals are good" -- Even as defined by Ray Ortlund as shown here (5:19)? Not sure how you could object to that. Also, a popular shift toward openness to religion etc. seems right up your alley with involvement in and influence on the culture. Seems to me like we're basically just talking about seeking the kingdom of God and asking that it advance abundantly.
Cults of personality that rarely equate to transformation. Internet Christianity is a cult within itself, the inter-faith apologetics are incredibly divisive. As much as your Chanel insists on uniting the faith, as a follower of your work and as much of a beautiful man of God as you are I fear you’ve done the opposite. In any case may these “revivals” produce sincere believers who by Gods grace are transformed and minister to those in their sphere of influence.
We’ll know it’s real when the revival produces mass repentance from, and rejection of: abortion, the pride cult, all forms of feminism/egalitarianism, climate alarmism, and border anarchy. Real revival always brings repentance. Until then I won’t hold my breath.
“Hey guys we’re holding a revival, there isn’t going to be any music but we’ll pray and share guidance on how to study His word, and then we’ll get on our knees and all confess our sin and rebellion togeth- wait where’s everyone going?” 😂
God's "revival" doesn't happen in a vacuum. God sees those that have been planting seeds in college campuses for years, like Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle, or Charlie Kirk. The work of those who experience this revival is clear; have what God has happened in the college campuses mean something extraordinary not only in your life, but in the lives of those who do not know the love of God through Jesus Christ. It's time to raise your voice, and let that voice emerge over the contrary and ungodly ones in colleges
@@aussierob7177 So you don’t think he’s a Christian?? You do know that the body of Christ, His church, consists of all true believers everywhere, right?
@@bethl Unfortunately not all true believers belong to the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the one, holy, catholic, (Universal) and apostolic Church instituted by Christ in 33 AD. All other Churches and denominations that resulted from the Reformation of the 16th century are not part of the Body of Christ.
@@aussierob7177 I feel sorry for you that you think Christ’s church is limited to a man-made organization that developed over time. I think you’ve bought into a lie, but we can agree to disagree on that. Blessings to you.
"And thus you have no excuse by which you can wash away the guilt of the schism whereby you have gone forth from the unity of the Church; and in you is fulfilled that saying of Holy Writ: There is a generation that esteem themselves right, and have not cleansed themselves from the guilt of their going forth." Augustine, Letter 93, 10,37
I’m a college senior and a small group leader at my campus ministry. What Gavin is saying is so true! The devotion to Christ within the ministry has increased exponentially over my college career. There is a collective feeling in the air that God is about to move. Please pray that revival spreads to the larger campus!
This is so wonderful to hear. God bless you and may God move mightily on your campus!
that one last calling by God before the antichrist comes.
It's happening in israel too. The growth of Christianity there is astounding.
I long for the day Y'Srael calls out "Baruch HaBa B'Shem Adonai!" to Y'Shua!
We’ll know it’s real when the revival produces mass repentance from, and rejection of: abortion, the pride cult, all forms of feminism/egalitarianism, climate alarmism, and border anarchy.
Real revival always brings repentance. Until then I won’t hold my breath.
@@matthewdyer2926 Fair point. how many college campus ministries are liberalized?
I will say I am most hopeful and happy about the revival in Israel. If you want to be christian there it is hard. And yet...many Israelites are accepting Jesus as their messiah. And it's growing. Praise be to God.
People globally are feeling empty and realizing that the new atheism is the same old atheism and there is a seeking from within for more. Keep praying. Keep sharing. Above all things, be loving and not judgmental.
I’m a student and member of a church on campus at the University of Washington, and even here in Seattle (the most secular metro area in the US) we’re feeling this. Jesus is being talked about significantly more than in the past, and the incoming freshman are extremely open which contrasts from the extremely closed off attitude that students have had in past years. If you’re looking for specific universities to pray for, please add in UW!
My sister was an associate professor at UW and her daughter went to madison. She said she wished she never sent her to college. So you don't need a massive amount of prayer
I'm Gen Z...you are a major influence in my walk with both God and in my interest in church history and apologetics. My friends and I routinely watch all your videos and discuss them. Thank you for your reminders and commitment, Dr. Ortlund!
The tide is turning, people are becoming less afraid of sharing about Jesus in public.
My sister is a student at asbury. She had an amazing encounter with God during the revival in 2023❤😢😊
Excited for the beautiful Jesus revivals in our beautiful country!!❤
Dr. Ortlund, I felt like I should leave a comment on this one. I just turned 20, and I share your videos with my family. We love to discuss your videos at the dinner table. I also sense something happening in my generation. It excites me greatly. All I want is for people my age to know of the true peace, comfort, and hope a relationship with Christ can give. Ugh! There is nothing worth more than Jesus. I pray every night before bed for revival in my generation and really appreciate your video. Going to send this one to Mom and Dad!
praise God, let's keep praying!
These young people will need discipleship, apologetics, training how to think Christianly, theology, good churches, good older people who can mentor them (do these people exist?).
A few weeks ago my husband and I sent out an email to invite students on our campus to join us for a small group study of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. More students expressed interest than our living room can accommodate. That’s a good problem to have and we were delighted.
This is a great idea. I might steal it! Hopefully we live by different universities, haha.
I’ve been to Auburn university a few times, and it was unlike anything i’ve seen. The Christian presence is so strong there, and not just people who profess christ. I’m talking about people who are radical disciples of Jesus and it is so awesome to see
I am a student here at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania. A lot of students here love the Lord but I am praying for even more for revival. You have inspired me to pray more for the church of America Gavin. I am Praying for you too!
I work on multiple college campuses in Wayne County Michigan for an apologetics ministry called Ratio Christi. We minister to a lot to Muslims, but many agnostics too. There does seem to be a lot of interest in the things of God, but there are also many false religions and cults zooming in on the students. Pray for God to stir the people up so we can take this country back for Jesus! Then the world!
I’m a youth leader at my church along with my wife. This is what our hearts long for. That the youth would come to Christ and make a lifelong commitment to knowing Him and doing His will. May revival break out. From Florida, Kissimmee. Please join us in prayer.
Graduated from college just over 2 years ago but got saved while in college back in 2018, God absolutely moves on campus so much more than you'd think. It was simply incredible getting the privilege to be apart of that, keep praying for these students!
One encouraging thing happening I'm seeing is young men (Gen Z) going to church. In fact, I read something from C.R. Wiley that showed for the first time in decades we see more men at church than women. It's really encouraging to see
As a young man who's recently begun attending, that's interesting to hear. I always had the impression that women attended church more until I started attending this local Baptists church where there seems to be a good mix of both men and women - particularly with a lot of young married couples.
Ah, but that's also because young women are leaving at unprecedented rates. Don't pat yourselves on the back too hard.
@@WaterCat5 The good news is that studies show when men (particularly husbands) go to church, there is a 90% chance the rest of the family will follow. So this is largely a good thing.
@BavinckGuy You're assuming these men are married. I'd like to see data on that first. My instinct is that disenfranchised, conservative young men are going to church because it reinforces their traditionalist ideas. I think a lot of these same men are having a lot of trouble in the dating market, which is exactly why they are resorting to male-leaning power structures such as evangelical churches.
Basically, young men feel like shit, so they go to places that tell them they are better than women. Same reason white dudes joined the kkk, to be part of something and feel better than blacks (though this is a more extreme example).
@@BavinckGuy I would also point out, that the fact you think having more men at church than women is "encouraging" is indicative of your bias that men are more important or somehow valuable (though that may just be because you're a man or something). Considering there are more women than men in the general population, if your organization were gender neutral, you would expect there to be more women. If there are more men by a statistically significant amount, then that means something.
Pray for university ministry in Sydney, Australia. My work is hard and disheartening sometimes.
Doctor Ortland, speaking as the vice president of two campus ministries and someone who leads and participates in daily weekday devotions on campus, thank you for shining a light on this. Many young people are flocking to Christ in a way that is somewhat unprecedented, and I think it really encouraging.
Pray for the young adults who are first coming to Christ across the world; and pray for the future of his church.
Just to add in to the anecdotes, I am a student and small group leader with a college ministry. We have seen exponential growth in every ministry on my campus, and so many more people willing to hear about God. There is something happening right now, God is at work.
What a pertinent message Gavin. I’m a senior in high school, and I think America is ripe for revival. The message we have to share with the world, the Gospel of our Lord, is so potent and powerful and beautiful! The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Php 3:8-11 NIV
I tutor college and university students. I have been praying for revival for almost 25 years. I saw a lot of liberal ideas at University of Michigan. But now, it's so much worse. God needs to intervene; and I see it happening recently. Let's continue praying. This is a very good video.
To add another anecdote, I am a deacon for a church that meets on a college campus. We had our first service of the new school year a few weeks ago and had a record amount of people attend. Nearly 100 more than we had last year, and last year we had a pretty big record for our first Sunday. We haven't changed much in what we do to advertise our church and connect with people, it seems to be that younger people are in fact more open to Christianity. Thanks for your prayers for our college campuses !
My college has been having a major revival so your absolutely right, and there are lots of young people at my school working hard to get the good word of the Gospel out there and man Gods word never returns void!!
My granddaughter (Senior at Texas State University in San Marcos) introduced me to this channel and great teacher a while back. I heard this video and asked my grandson (attending University of Arkansas) if he knew about the meeting.
He said there were 10,000 people there and a lot baptized. He said it was amazing.
I showed part of this to my prayer group and it was deeply stirring! We prayed for revival and will continue to do so thanks brother!
Praying this continues and a renewal in theology comes with this🙏
I attend a church that meets basically on (technically just next to, but near the heart of) a large university. Many of our members lead campus ministries, and what they report is beyond encouraging. The leaders of our church have been praying for an intense revival on our campus for many years and still anticipate that greater is coming.
Ive also come back to God this year after years of looking away. Which is also bringing my wife along. Her brother has also been back in church after years of leaving it. We're all in our early 30s.
Amen, Lord. Your kingdom come and your will be done.
I came to this video having literally just finished reading the W.H.Burns' lecture on lessons learned in leading through revival from his biography "The Pastor of Kilsyth".
Closed the book, saw this video, and feeling very much what you are feeling!
"Revival is powerful, revival is precautions." Amen to that! I grew up in the wake of the Jesus movement, and I've seen it go both ways. One key is serious Bible study.
I work with campus ministry, and though we haven't had any crazy huge revivals or anything, we have really grown in the past 2 years, such that we now have more students involved in our ministry than I think we ever have in the past 15 years.
Lord!!! Hallelujah!! Send more of Your powerful and precarious Revival!!!
This is absolutely wonderful! I will join you in prayer. There is nothing that would give me more hope for the future than to see Jesus working in the hearts of our young ones.
This is very encouraging! At my church we have seen a surprisingly large impact in the local boarding school, high school age. We have a growing group of those kids coming to our services and we baptized 5 of them a few months ago!
Greetings from Wales, where once upon a time, we knew a thing or two about the power of revival...thank you for bringing this promising number of campus movements to our attention - I will definitely be taking up your call to prayer action. Love this channel.
That's great news! Praise God!
Excellent, Gavin! It's really pretty simple, isn't it? Christ in us, the hope of Glory!
As a freshman at a large public university I’ve been praying for a revival, and there has been chatter of some degree of revival!
Also if anyone wants a really simple prayer for revival I’ve been borrowing from JPII by praying “Lord let thy spirit descend. Lord let thy spirit descend and renew the face of this land, the face of the earth” whenever it pops into my head :)
Thank you, Gavin, for the plans to do extensive teaching on revival in 2025. I so look forward to your work on this topic. There is such an illiteracy about revival, awakenings, outpourings and renewals in the Western church. Your grounding as a scholar can really help the local church understand what to value and how to pray during these opening moves of God's work. Please pray for the Northwest in general, and Portland specifically.
There are 6000 more subscribers on your channel since the last time i checked! May the Lord continue to move ❤
I think your point about stewarding these things is really important. People may run off in all sorts of directions with a spiritual revival without guidance and rootedness in scripture. Knowledge of church history is important as well.
Gavin, thank you for doing what you do. Your videos have given me so much hope as I have been struggling lately with my relationship with Jesus, and I am trying to find my faith again while being able to defend Christianity to those who bring up their doubts. Thank you for spreading truth and genuine love for Christ.
Amen, very encouraging!
I wonder what i can do on my University campus. Need to replace the pro-palestine marches with march for Jesus.
Lord, what should i do?
I'd love to hear more on the first and second great awakening. Thank you
Praying
Amen, amen, amen! Revival or we die.
What a great passage from Joel!
Millennial me has had some encouraging chats with Gen Zs. They have never rebelled against Jesus, so there's not the same hostility an ex church kid might have. They want to worship something but don't know what it should be.
Thank you for writing and teaching well on revival and renewal! This is helpful and edifying!
Only revival can fix our problems, not politics.
Hi Gavin, our campus ministry in Australia has had around 15-20 conversion in the last year and a bit. I think other ministries are seeing similar numbers.
Amen and amen!
I hope that we all can help in our own ways to give them roots. We should guide them to churches, teach them what they need to know, be their friends, point to good media to consume, and more. There is a time to stand back and smile at what God is doing. There is also a time to work so birds do not come and steal away this revival.
You should start having on some of these young students and talking to them... getting their stories and talking about their journeys and questions....
So I myself just graduated from college in May and am now working for a campus ministry full time in the same area as where I went to school. Just this school year I have been noticing this. I've been doing evangelism on my campus since my sophomore year, but this year I have seen the highest amount and ratio of people who are spiritually interested or curious. Maybe not necessarily responding to the Gospel but more open than in the past. Additionally, our gatherings have been the largest that I have seen since I started attending university here (granted that was fall 2020 though). So yes, VERY exciting that there is more spiritual interest among many students. Don't believe the lie that this next generation of students are apathetic and uninterested in God and other things. A subset of them are, but even those are being reached by the love of Christ. So God is moving in big ways. Please be praying that God's Spirit would be poured out on the college students of today and not only that they would be effected but that they also would grow strong roots in their faith a la Psalm 1.
There is a burgeoning prayer movement in the nation for college students that began on the last day of the revival on Asbury's campus. The annual Collegiate Day of Prayer that has been going on since 1823 during this nation's second great awakening just so happened to be planned on the last day of February of 2022. Which just so happened to be the last day of the revival at Asbury. God is certainly doing something...
And currently I am part of a growing prayer movement for both the city of Oberlin, and the college and the conservatory.
As a Gen Z Christian I love this
I was in college from 2018-2022, and I saw some… engineering of revivals going on in the collegiate world back in those years. I remember that we had this group called the “Circuit Riders” come through, who are basically traveling worship leaders going from campus to campus with the express intent of starting revivals at each of these places. A lot of worship nights were set up, and I remember that many of them were set up in the hopes of turning it into a revival. Revival-chasing was a real thing back in the college ministry in those years. I don’t assume to know how things have changed in the two and a half years since I’ve stepped foot on a college campus though, so I won’t assume what the intentions of these college ministries are.
You need to investigate the last revival in the UK which happened in the Scottish Hebridean island of Lewis amongst the Gaelic speaking Presbyterian population. I met a woman who was in a house that was shaken by the power of God.
I was at the Arkansas event!
Just a thought: The Bible doesn't really preach revival as much as it preaches repentance. (Repentance was Jesus' first sermon)
If people are all excited at repenting that they break out in revival, I'm all for it.
But if they're all excited at revival and there's not much talk of repentance, I reserve the right to remain skeptical. Granted, it's better than nothing, but....
Let's pray that people are truly repenting and turning to Jesus!
Both things are going on. False revival and genuine revival...it's only possible to tell which is which over time, but we should always encourage and pray for revival.
A clear proclamation of the Gospel of Grace and the need to repent be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38)
Definitely interesting where you might lay your focus on here. Definitely a lot of fascinating figures and periods. Leonard Ravenhill/David Wilkerson would perhaps be interesting people to look at.
We're in the last days and this is the final push. It'll start in America and spread all over the world. And this revival will be bigger and beyond what took place in the past...im excited to see what God is about to do 🙏
God blesses those who submit to him. God curses those who rebel against Him. This is real and it's wonderful to see Gen Z feeling this.
Praying for true renewal through Disciple Making Movements as is happening in Asia, Africa, and to a lesser degree S. America. Revival will rest in godliness and love for one another and the lost. Let us seek the Lord for true discipleship and devotion to Christ for the sake of His Kingdom. It is coming.
Funny when it happened last year in Kentucky, everyone was dumping on it. But now we are seeing its fruits. Hopefully, the cessationists wake up this time.
How do I share my testimony with girls in uni who are now doing the same mistakes I did a few years ago
Pray to God. Ask Him for wisdom, like Solomon did.
Amen!!!!
Amen… I also believe we’re going to see a lot more house churches/works/Bible studies and connection with local churches and also churches will come out of them. I believe that our concept of church is going to need to expand. I believe that we will still have buildings, But as one who is overseeing a house, Bible study, ministry seems to be so much more close and personal and there’s so much of a connection. I don’t mean that we should all just be loose cannons and I’ll just do our own thing and not go to the building, but I really believe the Lord is wanting us to expand our thinking of what ministry really is.
Jesus lives! ♥️ and is Yahweh God 🙏🏻 Christ ✝️ and King 👑
Your comment around 6:40 about unity reminded me of the Moravian Revival - this was preceded by a period of disunity. But when the Count brought the various factions together in unity - that's when revival happened. It seems like unity of believers is frequently if not always a prerequisite to revival.
The light will get lighter as the darkness grows darker all around us
One concern about these campus revivals is that they tend to be focused on worship and emotion, while real revivals in the past have always been centered on preaching the truth, letting God create any needed emotions. Maybe that's something you can dive into and discuss?
That's a good concern to have. But it's also important to celebrate what God might be doing in these young people's lives. If people are genuinely getting saved or recommitting their lives to the Lord, that's a wonderful thing. It may not look like what we are used to, but sometimes that's okay. The message shouldn't change, but sometimes the methods do change.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression.
Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm.
Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations.
Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives.
In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression.
Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm.
Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations.
Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives.
In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression.
Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm.
Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations.
Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives.
In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
While it’s valid to have concerns about the balance between emotion and truth in revival settings, it’s inaccurate to say that past revivals focused exclusively on preaching without worship or emotion. History shows that even the most doctrinally conservative revivals were deeply marked by both heartfelt worship and genuine emotional expression.
Take the Great Awakening, for example: Jonathan Edwards, known for his rigorous preaching, emphasized emotional responses. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous for evoking intense emotional reactions. Edwards defended these emotional responses, arguing that religious affections are a sign of genuine spiritual awakening. The Welsh Revival of 1904, another prime example, featured not just powerful preaching but also fervent worship and collective emotional outpouring, which even critics could not dismiss as mere enthusiasm.
Additionally, many great revivalists were criticized for overly emotional or fanatical preaching. George Whitefield, a central figure in the Great Awakening, often faced accusations of being too emotional, with critics calling his methods theatrical. Yet, his preaching sparked significant spiritual transformations.
Scripture itself portrays that emotion and zeal are intrinsic to gospel ministry. Paul’s ministry was marked by “tears” (Acts 20:19), and leaders are called to serve with “zeal” (Romans 12:11). Genuine revival has always involved both the proclamation of truth and the stirring of hearts-emotions don’t detract from the work of God but often accompany His work in human lives.
In short, true revival is holistic, touching both the mind and heart, engaging truth through preaching and sincere, emotionally responsive worship.
Hi Gavin, great content yet again. And I'm really enjoying reading your new book 'why I am a Protestant' at the moment as well. Hey I am leaving this comment on all your videos hoping to get this message to you. I know you don't have time, but I will keep pestering you like the widow in Luke 18. I am a young and aspiring theologian with lots to learn, and not to sound arrogant, but I think I found a viable and Biblical alternative to Calvinism, that is NOT Arminianism. I've written an article about it and I really respect your opinion and would love for you to read it sometime. Feel free to debunk it as well. Please? Let me know how I can get it to you! Praying for you mate from Australia! Blessings, Jase.
Do not leave the young and their passion and zeal for the gospel.
Do not leave the old with their wisdom and experience in Christ.
If you don't already have it, please get a copy of Dr. Iain Murray's fine monograph, _Revival_and_Revivalism_. It surveys the Great Awakening in the English speaking world in the early 1700s, and compares and contrasts with later movements including the "Second Great Awakening" in the 1800s and some other local events. If you're going to research revival this book is an excellent resource.
As a Gen Z Christian, I feel lonely amongst people my age. It seems almost no one my age cares about God. Friends I’ve discipled have never done the same to me. People I’ve “led to the Lord” have left in favor of LGBT. Christian friends who used to be on fire for the gospel avoid church and engage in serious sin. But I do believe we are hungering for the truth. In college, I was able to preach the gospel to Jews, agnostic, atheist, transgender… they were all happy to listen rather than lashing out as one would think.
The LGBT, yes. See my recent comment.
Ministering the truth to others is getting rejected 99% of the time, but there’s more joy in heaven for one sinner that genuinely repents and comes to Christ over 99 “righteous” that do not need Him.
The enemy will always try to use the momentum built by the moving of the Lord to "judo throw" the Church into the wall. Pray that the Lord give us the constant practice to sharpen our spirits so that we can discern good from evil or, maybe even more importantly, between good and almost good.
❤
We often invite people to "accept" Jesus. But salvation is more than just accepting. It's about following. The early believers in Yeshua didn't just accept Him. They devoted their lives to following Him. They risked their lives to follow Him. They removed every obstacle in their lives that kept them from following Him with their entire being.
Following Yeshua involves changing our sinful behaviors to reflect His holiness. If the blood of Yeshua is powerful enough to forgive sins, it is also powerful enough to empower you to live a counter cultural lifestyle. The blood of Yeshua is also powerful enough to overcome your flesh and empower you to live a life of obedience and submission to His loving authority. Yeshua was not nailed to the cross in hope that you would just accept Him. He gave His life as a ransom to purchase you in the hope that you would deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Him!
I am really struggling with this statement- “If prayer worked, hospitals would be empty”
The real evidence of actual working of God comes not in a fevered emotional moment, but in the weeks and months that follow with doctrinal fidelity and consistent walking in the Word, when the emotion is gone and the actual live lived in faith is seen
Exactly. Oh so many times I was at these “revivals” where everybody gets “saved”, go to bed, wake up, and change absolutely nothing. You get like a spiritual high for 12 hours from the atmosphere, it wears off, and then these people are like “okay, I’m saved now I guess? I think?” and there is absolutely nothing there. No baptism of the spirit.
They do more harm than good, honestly. It’s not about young people having transformed lives in Christ, it’s about some preacher feeling like a GOD and getting to tell his boss that night “Dude we baptized 500 people! Yeah!!!” when
We need another Lonnie Frisbee! .... no, wait....
Like the Irish monks in the Dark Ages, simple Christians are doing God's work.
Revival without reformation is just emotional. Reformation without revival is legalism.
Not to be a cynic about it, but I hope that the true Gospel is being preached and that it's not a lot of experience driven emotionalism.
Hopefully there will be some serious ongoing discipleship for them. Otherwise, it will have no lasting impact.
Which is your favorite revival, your favorite revivalist, and would you pray for it to happen again?
“Revivals” on college and university campuses are the absolute last place I would look for something spirituality genuine, robust and long-lasting to occur. I think that what we are seeing is something else. After all, what exactly is a “revival”? I’ve seen this sort of thing (supposed revival) first hand more than once. It is certainly well-meaning at first, but rapidly degenerates into an emotion-driven response to some sustained stimuli that is assumed to be good based on its revival qualities. I’m not cynical about this: I’m pastorally critical of it. Revival, as such, is (dare I say it?) a western, largely Protestant phenomena that seems to spontaneously generate when certain conditions are conducive within a given community. Whether the Holy Spirit is a part of this, I cannot say. I tend to think not. Forgive me for my strong words: What we need is not the pumped-up emotions of an orgy of good feeling, quasi-spiritual activities. What we need is a rich, sustained Christian life in which real worship and regular, intentional repentance (not silly, superficial emotionalism) are the hallmarks. Mass revivals just lead to mass delusion.
Do not leave the young and their passion and zeal for the gospel.
Do not leave the old with their wisdom and experience in Christ.
No I agree completely. The earnest-seeking need 1-on-1 mentorship and guidance pointing them to Gods word and where to begin in it; not some emotional moshpit of emotional adrenaline and deception. Worst part is, WE’RE the crazy ones for noticing this crap. Wisdom is considered rebellion now; as if a bunch of lukewarms is going to tell ME, Christs disciple, if something honors God and actually directs people to Him or not.
Gavin, I was pretty sad to see your father falling into the David French camp of politics today.
Can we expect a reply from you on the matter?
We definitely do need a revival of monogamous gay Christians. From the letter of the disciple that Jesus loved:
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love[b] because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
They can’t be revived without repentance. You can’t be baptized in the spirit while refusing to follow Gods design for marriage and clinging to what He hates and finds abominable, just like how straight people cannot be renewed while clinging to adultery. Loving your neighbor has nothing to do with condoning their sin. That is actually hating your neighbor because only one that hates them would just watch them send themselves to hell without warning them and giving them the hard pill to swallow.
This is only possible in America, God`s own crazy country.
Revival is possible anywhere. God creates revival, not countries.
@@gigahorse1475 it is only in America my dear friend.
@@aadschram5877 You are ignorant of history. This phenomenon has occurred in many places. A couple of examples are the Welsh revival and the Korean revival (in what's now North Korea) which both took place in the 1900s.
@@reepicheepsfriend They won`t happen again, only in God`s own crazy country America.
Many countries en América. From Canada to Patagonia, God loves everyone from our continent.
Dios bendice América, amén.
First
While I have seen a renewed interest in theology among the Zoomer generation, I wouldn't call it "revival"
I don't think revivals are good, but I think if the means of grace are properly set up, God will draw people to Himself through them
Why do you think revivals aren’t good? I’m guessing (could be wrong) because they often lack integration into a church and actual continued discipleship that keeps people in the faith, and many leave the faith after a revival?
What happened at Pentecost Zoomer?
I think that is a big problem btw, I just think revivals can be a good thing, we need to be intentional with getting people firmly rooted in their faith and then built up with local Christian community (the church + other Christian groups)
Pro Tip: The Bible doesn't really preach revival - it preaches repentance.
If people are all excited at repenting that they break out in revival, I'm all for it.
But if they're all excited at revival and there's not much talk of repentance, I reserve the right to remain skeptical.
In short, Redeemed Zoomer is right.
"I don't think revivals are good" -- Even as defined by Ray Ortlund as shown here (5:19)? Not sure how you could object to that.
Also, a popular shift toward openness to religion etc. seems right up your alley with involvement in and influence on the culture.
Seems to me like we're basically just talking about seeking the kingdom of God and asking that it advance abundantly.
Cults of personality that rarely equate to transformation. Internet Christianity is a cult within itself, the inter-faith apologetics are incredibly divisive. As much as your Chanel insists on uniting the faith, as a follower of your work and as much of a beautiful man of God as you are I fear you’ve done the opposite. In any case may these “revivals” produce sincere believers who by Gods grace are transformed and minister to those in their sphere of influence.
We’ll know it’s real when the revival produces mass repentance from, and rejection of: abortion, the pride cult, all forms of feminism/egalitarianism, climate alarmism, and border anarchy.
Real revival always brings repentance. Until then I won’t hold my breath.
“Hey guys we’re holding a revival, there isn’t going to be any music but we’ll pray and share guidance on how to study His word, and then we’ll get on our knees and all confess our sin and rebellion togeth- wait where’s everyone going?” 😂
@ 😂 exactly
God's "revival" doesn't happen in a vacuum. God sees those that have been planting seeds in college campuses for years, like Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle, or Charlie Kirk. The work of those who experience this revival is clear; have what God has happened in the college campuses mean something extraordinary not only in your life, but in the lives of those who do not know the love of God through Jesus Christ. It's time to raise your voice, and let that voice emerge over the contrary and ungodly ones in colleges
When are you coming home to the Body of Christ ? please don't leave it too long.
Who are you talking to??
@@bethl "Truth Unites".
@@aussierob7177 So you don’t think he’s a Christian?? You do know that the body of Christ, His church, consists of all true believers everywhere, right?
@@bethl Unfortunately not all true believers belong to the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the one, holy, catholic, (Universal) and apostolic Church instituted by Christ in 33 AD. All other Churches and denominations that resulted from the Reformation of the 16th century are not part of the Body of Christ.
@@aussierob7177 I feel sorry for you that you think Christ’s church is limited to a man-made organization that developed over time. I think you’ve bought into a lie, but we can agree to disagree on that. Blessings to you.
"And thus you have no excuse by which you can wash away the guilt of the schism whereby you have gone forth from the unity of the Church; and in you is fulfilled that saying of Holy Writ: There is a generation that esteem themselves right, and have not cleansed themselves from the guilt of their going forth." Augustine, Letter 93, 10,37