THE CORONA REVIVAL???

An interior photograph of the Billy Sunday tabernacle that was built in Lima for his six-week revival in 1911

(Courtesy of Allen County Historical Society)

Last Friday, Morris Chapman died. Many won't recognize the name or remember his era. I learned about Morris in the 90's. It was the peak of the Promise Keeper movement, an organization centered loosely on Seven Promises that men would commit to during the year. The highlight was to attend one of these huge conferences of 40 to 60 thousand guys in a stadium for a weekend. I can only compare it to a football game without a football, with Jesus as the Hero. Hearing that many men sing with gusto was electrifying. 

For roughly six years, Morris was one of the key worship leaders and his vocal combination of soul and substance defined many of the great Promise Keeper moments. (If you want a sense of it, listen to Morris sing his original song, "As for me and my house" at an event in 1996.) Hearing of his passing made me reminisce with a bit of melancholy for those days.

I was impacted by those years. I personally know more than one guy who credits Promise Keepers with saving his marriage and initiating a radical change in his walk with God. 

Promise Keepers is still around, but it's not what it once was. Forgive me. I know some of you guys will object, saying it's pastors like me that let revival die. I've had several guys come around now and then, and say, "When will the men get back to those days?" When I talk about what God is doing now in men, there is often the sigh, the downcast glance, that says, "You just don't get it, Pastor. Revival needs to come back to the Church and you're closing the door on it."

Whether it's PromiseKeepers, the Jesus Movement and the Charismatic Renewal of the early 70's, Brownsville, Toronto Blessing, or Stoneleigh Bible Week of the 90's in the UK, if we were impacted personally by those events, it's normal to reminisce and long for those days to come back. I get it.

I've done a fair amount of reading on the Great Awakenings of the 1730's, 1790's, 1850's, and beyond like the Welsh Revival of 1904-5. Why? Because I want to see that in my day. Scenes like after one of the worst financial panics in history, October 14, 1857, when thousands of men--lawyers, bankers, clerks and merchants started gathering for prayer during the noon hour in New York City. It became known as the "Fulton Street Prayer Meeting." As the markets crashed and people started going hungry, they became desperate. In the following months, news spread about unusual numbers of conversions as in Hamilton (Ontario, CA) where 300-400 were converted to Christianity in a matter of days.

So I get it. I long for some of what I've seen to happen again. But God seems to have His own methods and plans. Whatever He does, it likely won't be the same as it was. Yes, there are signs that are common to every revival or renewal: prayer, repentance, confession, humility, focus on scripture, spontaneous worship, extended singing. (No, that's not an exclusive list and there are often other signs like a renewed focus on spiritual gifts.) 

You bet I'm grateful for Morris Chapman, and for Promise Keepers. I'll treasure those moments for years to come. (And if you're attending one of their events in the future, may God do a new work in your life.) But when renewal happens again, Morris won't be leading worship and it may or may not include men in football stadiums. Will it be in NYC or Wales? Who knows? Maybe someday they will talk about the Corona Revival that began in 2020 in St. Louis.

I'm not an authority on revival history, but doesn't spiritual renewal often come on the heels of crisis? One of my prayers during this pandemic has been, "Lord, don't let me waste this crisis." While I'm longing to get back to "normal life" God may have something greater in mind than my comfort. Is that what God wants for you? Your comfort? While you and I long for the placid, tranquil waters of normal during this Corona storm, God may be asking us to get out of the boat and walk with Him.  (Click to Tweet)

"Move among us again, Lord. But do it however you want to do it. In your kindness, let me be right in the thick of it."