What Can We Learn from the Asbury Revival? PLUS Author Interview!
Friends! Don’t you love it when you discover new fun facts about an event you sorta knew about, but never dug around enough to learn more?
Call me lazy, or distracted, or both—sigh, I confess while I was fascinated to hear about the revival, or “Outpouring” at Asbury, in nearby Wilmore, Kentucky, and while John and I had some friends who made the trek there, and even saw snippets on national news, we had no idea what all transpired in February of 2023.
Oh, but the Lord wanted us to know more—because listen to how this finding occurred: While my Tuesday Bible study group was reading and discussing a book by Robert J. Morgan, Calm Your Anxiety: Winning the Fight Against Worry, one of his chapters talked about revivals from long ago.
One of a couple of revivals Rob mentions is from 1825. It occurred in Rome, New York, including the experience of a sheriff who came to see it for himself. This sheriff was full of doubt, but upon arrival “the presence of God gripped him and the nearer to the village he came, the more powerfully he sensed God’s presence. He found the people so overcome with awe for God they could hardly speak. Soon he himself was converted!”
This precipitated my memory to reach out to Nancy Sleeth who had previously told me she knows the young pastor whose sermon triggered the revival, a/k/a The Outpouring at Asbury. His name is Zach Meerkreebs, and as the Lord would orchestrate the very week I emailed Nancy, she sent me a link to a very cool podcast where Zach was interviewed, AND, get this: his new book was also releasing that very week!!! Ok, Lord, you have my attention!
Here’s the book’s cover:
And here’s the link to the podcast Being Human with Steve Cuss via Christianity Today: January 20th, Episode 48, “Authentic Love and The Asbury Outpouring with Zach Meerkreebs.
Zach tells us early on that his hope and prayer is “thru’ these stories and the unpacking of ideas, the Spirit would confront pride in our lives and mold us into entrustable vessels for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.”
(As a BONUS… at the end of this post, I was blessed to get to interview Zach. Checkout a few questions I asked him with his answers.)
Before we dive in, we get to read the Foreword by pastor and author Jonathan “JP” Pokluda. JP was in Nashville when he heard about the Outpouring. He and a friend hopped in a car and came to Asbury to see it for themselves. Don’t miss his Foreword! (You can also watch a riveting talk he gave at Louie Giglio’s Passion Conference this past January here.)
Today, it’s my goal to give you just a few snippets from this powerful resource. I’ve read and re-read the book, dog-eared many a page and highlighted most of every page. My prayer is you’ll be enticed to find out “the rest of the story” and seize this chance to get to know dear Zach a lot better.
Let’s begin with a brief tour: We readers get to view humility from many angles in a wide variety of people. Chapter 1 opens with a quote from Gavin Ortlund:
Zach walks us thru’ the sixteen days of the Outpouring. Each chapter includes a beautiful prayer related to what happened in those days and/or a prayer asking the Lord to deal with some of the challenging topics Zach throws at us. (Some may cause you to want to run and hide, oh— but in a good way, just sayin’…)
He tells on himself, often. You’ll find his honesty highly amusing.
Not that I know a ton about revivals, but this one seems like most revivals— no one expected it. How they orchestrated all they did, day after day, is nothing short of a miracle!
Zach also shares his own testimony with us which is beautiful. I believe there’s not a more interesting soul than a messianic Jew. His story is yet another proof of our Lord pursuing us non-stop.
Plus, his life hasn’t been easy. He’s happily married to KP, and they are blessed with three daughters, Eden, Esther, and Mercy. One of them however, sweet Esther Joy, has already gone to Heaven. She lived on this earth a very short twelve hours and twelve minutes. Let that sink in—you’ll be that much more amazed by all that occurred during the Outpouring considering what Zach and his family had recently endured.
We discover right away when the chapel service was over, where Zach had preached in Hughes Auditorium, he texted his wife and told her he’d just preached a “stinker.” Nobody more than Zach could’ve been more surprised that the Lord had other ideas!
This happened on February 8, 2023. From that moment on, chapel attendees stayed and reached out to fellow students who came who reached out to others and word spread like wildfire. Thousands upon thousands (some estimates had upwards of 80,000 folks) came from all over the world to experience the Outpouring which lasted for sixteen days. That’s 384 hours of continual prayer and worship!
HOW did they navigate those sixteen days? Ah, my friend, of course you’ll have to read this book to find out! Zach is our guide to this Heaven-sent experience. Now more than ever, I sooo wish we’d just driven over there. But, to read the book is almost as good as it’s as if we’re getting a sneak peek from the front row of Hughes Auditorium...
We get to see firsthand how teamwork became paramount to handling the crowd as well as feeding the crowd (Wilmore is a tiny town with only a hand full of restaurants). Let’s not forget the overworked bathrooms trying to handle all those people!
Heroes, a/k/a angels, suddenly appeared from the likes of Chick Fil A (I always maintain their drive thru’ operations should run the country), port-a-lets delivered, Salvation Army volunteers, etc. came to help handle the crowds.
You can get a glimpse of the Outpouring and find additional resources via Zach’s website: www.zachmeerkreebs.com
Of the many stories shared, Zach tells us about a young man by the name of Charlie who came forward to share his personal story. It began a “cascading effect of testimonies that seemed to truly be fertilizer to what God was planting and growing. Vulnerability and honesty were mixed with hope and vision. Stories became not only a regular practice during our sixteen days at Asbury but a necessity to participate with what God was doing in our midst.”
After so many testimonies, several days into the Outpouring, Zach’s friend, David, said, “If you could see the altar with spiritual eyes, it would be covered with broken chains.” Powerful!
The day the Outpouring began, Zach preached from Romans 12:9-21. The NIV calls this passage “Love in action” and the ESV calls this “Marks of a True Christian.” Zach shows us this passage has thirteen verses and twenty-eight commands “that set the bar pretty high.” Let’s read this passage together. Consider how you would label it:
“Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil;
Cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice;
Mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with one another.
Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Zach closed his sermon on this passage with this:
We readers are blessed not only by Zach’s prayers in each chapter, but by his many soul-searching questions such as,
He also gives us some of his own drawings or charts, explaining a point he’s trying to make. One for example includes “confrontation” and “consecration.” They are all helpful visuals.
In the chapter on Crucible we’re blessed with several quotes from Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God. You’ll love seeing Zach’s own crucible of character from a laundry room. He now dubs it “a cherished season of deep formation in my life.” He even admits the laundry room became a “sanctuary” to him. (This was when he was in college and did the laundry of the soccer team. Oof. Did I say Zach must be very brave as well???)
Zach reveals several folks who traveled miles and miles to experience the Outpouring sometimes were underwhelmed and “yet they experienced peace, simple and analog.” Maybe this wasn’t exactly what they expected, but perhaps it was what they needed.
He paralleled the experience to that of the disciples on the road of Emmaus. He said (and by the way, this is my most favorite of a thousand quotes),
“At Asbury, we were confronted with humility.
We had collided with kindness.
We were undone with simplicity
And ministered to by gentleness….
People served one another, generosity was overflowing and real humility was experienced in powerful ways thru’ service, reconciliation, prioritizing the person next to you …Evangelistically, it felt almost like cutting butter with a warm knife…so many people had encountered the character of Christ and the Church in authentic Christ-likeness and humility that they could not wait to respond to the Gospel and give their lives to Jesus…the watching world was compelled to come to Christ….I will never forget this.”
Friends, I cannot say enough about this moving book. It is clearly an “only-God-could’ve pulled this off” kind of occurrence. It’s refreshing, challenging, compelling and may even cause you to shed a few happy tears. It’ll soothe your soul while boosting your faith.
Thank you, Zach, for being a willing instrument, juggling quite the learning curve (and thousands of people!), and trusting wholeheartedly in our big God who blessed Asbury and all who entered Hughes Auditorium.
Now please enjoy a couple of questions I got to throw Zach’s way:
#1 - (Elizabeth): My Bible study class has recently finished reading and discussing Robert J. Morgan’s book, Calm Your Anxiety: Winning the Battle Against Worry. It definitely struck a nerve with all of us. Can you comment on what you see re: anxiety and its effect on others? I feel like you saw this during the Outpouring?
(Zach): “It’s no surprise that anxiety is a part of so many folks’ lives…especially Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2015). Anxiety draws our eyes off of Jesus and His promises and puts our attention on our self and circumstances. During our days at Asbury, we beheld Jesus and in His beautify and kindness, we enjoyed and experienced His peace and power. Specifically, in His intentionality with the students and people we hosted during the Outpouring, I believe He personally ministered to their needs. God is bringing peace to a generation that is riddled with anxiety…praise God!”
#2 - (Elizabeth): We readers appreciate your honesty and vulnerability about the many aspects of radical humility. What’s your greatest wish after having written this book? Have you come away with something else you’d like to tell your readers?
(Zach): “I pray that it paints a clear enough and captivating enough vision for the lower life…a life of humility with Jesus…and equips and encourages them to pursue it as a foundation to their spiritual walk. In the last few months, since book launch and among travel and speaking, it seems like a real understanding of humility and confidence (called consecrated confidence in the book) has been really impactful…the church being subdued by false humility but being able to step forward in our vibrancy, freedom, and gifts given to us with consecrated confidence!
#3 - Lightning round of questions:
A - Favorite book?
A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness by Gene Edwards
B - Favorite children’s book?
The BFG by Ronald Dahl
C - Favorite restaurants in Lexington?
Malone’s, Corto Lima, and Dad’s Favorites Deli
D - Favorite thing to do?
“Hang with my girls, making food, watching and coaching soccer.”
Thank you Zach! Blessings to you and your sweet family and your ministry.
Friends, you know how we like to close… Now RUN, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and grab Lower: Igniting Spiritual Awakening Through Radical Humility. You’ll be blessed beyond measure.
‘Til next time!