Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

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Archive for the tag “Revival”

27 Feb 2023

Revivals in America

Below is a brief overview of the history of Spirit led revivals in the history of America. Of note, four of these six (now seven?) began with college students and moved to all levels of American society. It seems that perhaps we are seeing once again the beginnings of a spiritual awakening. May it be so!

6 Revivals in American History

#1      1730-40 Revival    The Great Awakening

  • Cotton Mather

#2      1805-06 Revival    The 2nd Great Awakening

Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia

  • 3 students met in dorm room for prayer and Scripture reading
  • Mob gathered outside the door swearing and shouting threats to stop
  • President John Blair came to investigate
  • Next week the mtg. met in the President’s parlor with ½ the students present
  • Revival swept the college and the country

Haystack Prayer Meeting  –  August 1806

  • Samuel Mills and 4 other Williams College students caught in a Sat afternoon rain, stopped to pray at a haystack for foreign missions; committed themselves for service unless God stopped them; American mission movement began with these
  • Motto  –  “We can do it if we will!”

#3      1857-58 Revival    The Prayer Revival

NYC noon prayer meeting started by a local pastor burdened to pray for NYC

  • began with a noon prayer meeting in his church on Sept. 23, 1857
  • Pastor Jeremiah Lanphier and 6 people gathered to pray for the city
  • within 6 months 10,000 gathered daily for noonday prayer in NYC
  • Horace Greeley sent a reporter on horseback across NYC at noon looking for anyone who was not praying; could find none!

The revival moved from NYC to campuses across America

YMCA expanded into the collegiate ministry in 1858 to 180 campuses in 1884

  • YMCA staffed with student leadership dedicated to evangelism
  • Carleton College (MN) – 1878 every student in all 4 classes professed Christ!

#4      1905-06 Revival   

  • “Never in the history of universities have there been so many genuine spiritual awakenings among students.”
  • Seeds for this revival were planted at the July 1886 Mt. Hermon student conference for 250 students from 89 campuses with D.L. Moody
  • ‘The Princeton Covenant’  –  100 signed at the conference to go to mission field unless God stopped them
  • Teams  of students went to the campuses that fall encouraging others to sign the covenant
  • Over 100,000 signed and over 20,000 made it overseas!
  • This was the greatest era of missions sending in the history of the USA —  The Student Volunteer Movement
  • Motto  –  “The evangelization of the world in this generation”
  • 90% of the students at U of Florida came to evangelistic meetings and every fraternity organized bible studies
  • 900 men came to Penn State meetings with hundreds of decisions for Christ
  • 2400 of 3600 in one dorm at U of Michigan came to hear the Gospel
  • 500 of the graduating class at Yale were converted
  • Kansas St. YMCA had 29 Bible studies for 380 men

#5      1949-50 Revival

  • 2 students from Los Angeles drove 2,300 miles to Minneapolis to pray with Dr. J. Edwin Orr and Dr. Billy Graham for campus revival
  • Orr preached at Bethel College chapel, “there was much prayer in the dormitories, followed by intense conviction of sin among the students in chapel and in classroom…Conviction was relieved only by outright confession, restitution, restoration or conversion to God”
  • Oct. 1955 NY Times, “More than 1,200 of the nation’s 1,900 colleges and universities how have a ‘religious emphasis week of some sort.”

#6      1970’s Jesus Movement

  • Asbury College in Kentucky
  • Revival quickly moved to many state and private campuses
  • U.C.- Berkeley (1968)     
  • Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel) was witnessing to the hippies and radical students and began to see many converted! 
  • As many as 250,000 students came to Christ during the next 8-10 years

#7      Today?

  • February 8, 2023 chapel service at Asbury College
  • Seems to be spreading to other campuses – both to Christian colleges and state colleges
  • Gen Z (iGen) students leading this movement of the Spirit of God
  • Pray for a movement of repentance from sin!
  • Pray that believers will be bold in proclaiming Christ!
  • Pray for a reaping of many souls into the Kingdom of God!

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #4 REPRODUCE - Developing More Leaders and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
07 Mar 2016
3 Comments

A History of US Revivals

The history of America has been marked by multiple great movements of God’s Spirit. These intense periods of the Spirit’s activity begin with a deep work in the hearts of believers and then moves outward into the hearts and lives of those that don’t know Christ. Christians are “revived” in their walk with God as they confess sin and their renewed heart gives boldness in their witness to the unsaved.

Most church historians would agree that there have been six periods of revival in America. Let’s examine these revivals and draw some parallels for today.

1730-40 Revival The Great Awakening
The first movement of the Spirit of God in America occurred before American independence. The Great Awakening saw many of the colonists touched in a profound way. There were few colleges in the colonies during this time, but those that did exist were profoundly visited.

1805-06 Revival The 2nd Great Awakening
The 2nd Great Awakening began around 1805 and lasted for more than two decades. Though historians differ as to the exact dates, none doubt the profound work of God in the lives of many, especially the college students of the day.

At small Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, three students met in dorm room for prayer and Scripture reading. A student mob gathered outside the door swearing and shouting threats to stop the meeting or suffer the consequences. College president John Blair came to investigate the uproar and after discovering the cause, was vexed in his spirit at the moral state of his student body. The next week the meeting met in the president’s parlor with one-half the student body present. Revival swept the college and the country.

At Yale College “a spiritual revival took place that shook the institution to its center” In a letter from a student to his mother he wrote, “Yale college is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students while those who are still unfeeling are awed into respectful silence.”

1857-58 Revival The Prayer Revival
The third movement of God’s Spirit began with a noon prayer meeting in New York City on Sept. 23, 1857. Six people gathered to pray for the city and their neighborhoods. Within 6 months 10,000 gathered daily for noonday prayer in New York and the revival moved to campuses across America. The YMCA came to America from England, expanded into collegiate ministry in 1858, and was on 180 campuses by 1884.

1905-06 Revival
The fourth visitation of God occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. “Never in the history of universities have there been so many genuine spiritual awakenings among students.” The seeds in this revival were found in the 1886 Mt. Hermon student conference with D.L. Moody for 250 students. The Princeton Covenant was created by a small group of students at the conference and later signed by thousands, pledging themselves to foreign missions.

1949-50 Revival
Two students from Los Angeles drove 2,300 miles to Minneapolis to pray with Dr. J. Edwin Orr and Dr. Billy Graham for campus revival. Orr preached at Bethel Chapel soon thereafter and, “there was much prayer in the dormitories, followed by intense conviction of sin among the students in chapel and in classroom…Conviction was relieved only by outright confession, restitution, restoration or conversion to God.” In October 1955, the NY Times stated, “more than 1,200 of the nation’s 1,900 colleges and universities now have a ‘religious emphasis week’ of some sort.”

1970’s Jesus Movement
Revival broke out at Asbury College in Kentucky in 1970 and moved to secular campuses. Campus ministers in California who were witnessing to the radical students began to see many converted! Hundreds were converted and baptized in the Pacific Ocean! It is estimated that 250,000 students came to Christ during the next few years.

Are we on the verge of another great movement of the Spirit of God in America?  Let’s pray and ask God for it to begin with us!

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #4 REPRODUCE - Developing More Leaders and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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