Is a Christian Awakening Underway?

On February 8, 2023, a spontaneous Christian revival occurred at Ashbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is another in a series of Christian events that are making people ask if a Christian awakening is underway in the United States.

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (Catholic Online)
3/7/2023 (1 year ago)

Published in Living Faith

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Christianity in America is in retreat, and has been for many decades. This is not a phenomenon unique to the present age. Christianity has experienced ebbs and flows throughout its 2,000 year history. Generally, a period of trouble, which often includes persecution happens, which in turn leads to a revival. That may be happening now, in America.

On February 8, students remained to pray, following a Christian chapel service at Asbury University. Those students were soon joined by others and the spontaneous prayer session quickly grew. Word went out by email and social media which brought new people into the chapel, and onto the campus. School officials eventually had to close the prayer session because 15,000 people were showing up each day, and the campus facilities were not equipped to handle the traffic. By the close of the event on February 24, an estimated 70,000 people had attended from across the United States, and abroad.

This is how revivals begin. They are always spontaneous. All it takes is a spark. The same pattern occurred during the Great Awakening of the 18th century. Secularism was on the rise, and Christians themselves were divided across the 13 American colonies. But in the late 1720s, a revival was sparked and soon the colonial population rediscovered their Christian heritage and flocked back to churches. This phenomenon repeated in the early 19th century. Now, will it repeat in the early 21st?

Seemingly coincidental, the appetite for the Gospel is growing. Presently, the movie "Jesus Revolution," is playing in theaters and is doing so well the limited release is being expanded to more. Although I have not seen the movie myself, the film is meeting with approval from Catholics, who also find the film awe-inspiring and deeply emotional. The film is evangelical in nature, but the Christian message transcends these differences and is clearly reaching the hearts of moviegoers.

Across the nation, the pro-life movement is gaining momentum, states are crafting better laws to protect human life, and religious freedom. All this at a moment when it appears the counter-culture is winning.

Christian persecution is certainly in full-swing, but the harder Christians are persecuted, the stronger their faith becomes. This is an ancient miracle, and one that is being repeated in the present age. In ancient times, the Romans went from crucifying Christians to the Church becoming the official religion of the empire. When the secular enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries tried to extinguish the Church, it only reemerged as a more powerful force, both religiously and intellectually.

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We may be at the dawn ofa new era, when Christians once again find their power in their faith, and their voice in public. Let us pray this is the beginning of a great revival that changes the world.

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