Seeing what is happening on some college campuses, perhaps it has already begun! Their hunger will not be denied! I have chosen the two pictures because they represent those of this present Jesus generation, sometimes called “Gen Z.”
(Inside Asbury University during the second week of revival in February 2023)
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(YWAM TYLER 2023 Winter Quarter DTS Students)
If you have not yet seen the movie the “Jesus Revolution,” you need to. It seems no coincidence that the movie has come out as God is now moving among our younger generation. In fact, the previous revival at Asbury College in 1970 (same chapel), was a part of the larger national “revolution” that brought tens of thousands of young people to Jesus. Perhaps you were one of them?
I have said for several years that we are coming to the critical juncture of the “coming of age” of two generations; those of the Jesus Revolution of the 1970s and those who are hungering for Him today. Revival is always about young people, but not exclusively so. Those of the 1970s Jesus generation, “older” as we now are, need to prepare ourselves to serve the present and soon to come revival of today’s young people.
What would it mean for literally thousands of Gen Z’ers to suddenly be swept into the kingdom? Who would care for them, encourage them and significantly, disciple them? In the movie, Chuck Smith was confronted with exactly that question. He adjusted himself and embraced the responsibility to serve these new (and sometimes raw) believers. Are we ready and what does it mean to be ready?
We must ask God! This is not the time for passivity, “Oh, you know, God will bring revival or not, doesn’t depend on me.” Of course, He alone can do what only He can do. But what if He looks to us, waits for us, to be ready to join Him so that the fruit of a coming revival can be preserved? What an incredible opportunity for those of us "a little older!"
Winkie Pratney once said, “Children are little time capsules we send into a future we will not see.” That is the call, the responsibility of all of us who have known Jesus for few or many years: to invest in the next revival generation, even if we will not fully see the fruit of our labors. But God does!
What will the younger need from us who are older?
They will need our time and attention. Ask God about how your schedule, your free time, can be made available to Him for them.
They will need to know the Bible and how to understand what they are experiencing aligns with the Bible. Double down, quadruple down, on your Scripture time.
They will need our love and patience. Many will come to us who are very broken.
They will need a place to belong, where they are accepted where they are, but with hope and vision from God about where they can be and go from where they are. Perhaps, like Chuck Smith’s congregation, there are ways that we think about them that need to change so that our hearts are open to love and serve them.
They will need to see our humility and our learner’s heart. This generation doesn’t need the “answer man or woman,” they need to see how to connect with the One who has the answers.
Perhaps there is a lot more to consider! Let’s ask God for the revival they need and for us to have the hearts and preparation so that they can receive from the Lord thru us what they need.
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