The Kids Are All Right

If you don't know anything about Christianity in general or Evangelicalism in particular, you won't know what to make of what's going on at Asbury University, a small, conservative Methodist college in Kentucky.*

Here is what happened. This comes from Dr. Thomas McCall, a theology professor at Asbury Theological Seminary.

"Most Wednesday mornings at Asbury University are like any other. A few minutes before 10, students begin to gather in Hughes Auditorium for chapel. Students are required to attend a certain number of chapels each semester, so they tend to show up as a matter of routine.**

But this past Wednesday was different. After the benediction, the gospel choir began to sing a final chorus—and then something began to happen that defies easy description. Students did not leave. They were struck by what seemed to be a quiet but powerful sense of transcendence, and they did not want to go. They stayed and continued to worship. They are still there."

People have begun to talk and are trying to evaluate what the, uh, heck, is going on at Asbury. Some say it is The Holy Spirit. Some say it is just youthful emotionalism. 

 

 

Dr. McCall continues, "I teach theology across the street at Asbury Theological Seminary, and when I heard of what was happening, I immediately decided to go to the chapel to see for myself. When I arrived, I saw hundreds of students singing quietly. They were praising and praying earnestly for themselves and their neighbors and our world—expressing repentance and contrition for sin and interceding for healing, wholeness, peace, and justice."

Of course, our virtual public square, Twitter, has commented. 

One guy, a Baptist, posted a Tweet that criticized the kids for not using the King James Version of the Bible. He also noted, to his horror, that some of the kids were Methodists. You know how they are.

Mike Cosper tweeted, "Christian Twitter’s response to the Asbury Revival is a vivid case study in disenchantment. The need to posture, condescend, add an asterisk, and otherwise position oneself above the situation is ultimately an effort to make meaning of it within immanence."

I don't know what "an effort to make meaning of it with immanence" means, but I think he's saying don't make a big deal out of a bunch of Gen  Z kids not reading the King James Version of The Bible out loud.

Here's my opinion, in the words of Pink Floyd: Leave them kids alone.

The senior class at Asbury University entered school in the fall of 2019. Then, in the spring of 2020, Covid hit. I'm unsure how Asbury handled it, but I'm sure classes were held virtually. 

Of course, everybody had to wear a mask. Everybody was isolated in one way or another.

On top of that, the past seven or so years have been continuous. Everybody is yelling at everybody else because they simply hate each other. There are wars and rumors of wars, and now, oh Lord, there are balloons.

The Millennials had to move back home to make ends meet. Gen Z couldn't even leave the house.

Back in my insurance days, one of my co-workers would say, "There's got to be a better way."  That's what the kids of Asbury are saying.

 

 

Again from Dr. McCall. "Some are calling this a revival, and I know that in recent years that term has become associated with political activism and Christian nationalism. But let me be clear: no one at Asbury has that agenda. As an analytic theologian, I am weary of hype and very wary of manipulation. I come from a background (in a particularly revivalist segment of the Methodist-holiness tradition) where I’ve seen efforts to manufacture “revivals” and “movements of the Spirit” that were sometimes not only hollow but also harmful. I do not want anything to do with that.

And truth be told, this is nothing like that. There is no pressure or hype. There is no manipulation. There is no high-pitched emotional fervor.

 

To the contrary, it has so far been mostly calm and serene. The mix of hope and joy and peace is indescribably strong and indeed almost palpable—a vivid and incredibly powerful sense of shalom. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is undeniably powerful but also so gentle."

 

It is wild to think the Spirit of God would come to a small school in Kentucky when it could come to the red carpet at The Oscars and have everybody experience it.  But God moves in mysterious ways, and his still, small voice is saying the kids are all right.

 

Footnotes

*Here's a fun fact. The school was named after Francis Asbury, a famous Methodist preacher. Do you know who else was named after Francis Asbury?  NFL Hall Of Famer Fran Tarkington.

 

**When I went to Louisiana College, we had chapels and boy were they routine. 

 

Rock On, Eddie Vedder

Bob Dylan said in one of his bootleg songs, "Death kept followin', tracking us down".  Last week, death tracked down a friend of my son. His name was Miles.

When a young man dies, it is generally from an accident, like a car wreck. Sometimes it is from drugs. Sometimes it is from being in the wrong place at the wrong time and a gun goes off. Sometimes it is war.

It was nothing like that with Miles. He had breakfast with his wife and then went into another room to practice his guitar. He never came out. 

He was thirty-two years old.

In middle school and high school, kids try to find their niche. For some it is sports. For some it is studies.  But for others, it is rock and roll. Miles was all about rock and roll. He came by it honestly. His dad was a good musician and Miles began playing the guitar and bass.

Miles went to the same church we did and I knew Miles from The Student Ministry where I helped out being "one of the Dads".  I'm not sure what the Dads actually did.  Our mere presence probably prevented all sorts of teenage Baptist debauchery. (By the way, Teenage Baptist Debauchery would be a good name for a band.)

Miles plugged in his guitar and helped with the Wednesday Night Worship Band that was sometimes sloppy but they made up for it by being loud.

It was there I saw that Miles had talent. Oh yeah, the boy could  play.

Trying to be hip to the young whippersnapper,  I called Miles "Eddie Vedder", after the frontman for Pearl Jam . He laughed and called me "Eddie Vedder" too. Soon, we were both calling each other Eddie Vedder. Thinking about that in this sad time makes me smile.

You think you know the kids your kid hangs around, but you really don't. You are an adult and you like Jimmy Buffett and have Plantar Facitis.  But this I know about Miles. He was always a polite and nice kid that could absolutely shred an electric guitar.

Rock on, Eddie Vedder. Rock on.

 

Here They Come

 

 

Oh boy! Can't you feel the excitement?

Next year, The Republican Party will nominate a candidate for President. Here's a quick look at the potential candidates and their odds of winning the nomination.

Former President Donald J. Trump.  He's been running since he left D.C. without bothering to go to Joe Biden's Inauguration. Since then, he's been commenting daily on how the election was stolen from him. Yadda, yadda, yadda.  He's got a strong hold of about 35% of The GOP electorate, which considers everybody a RINO  except for Trump. So it becomes a matter of simple math. If the GOP field includes a bunch of candidates, Trump will win. If not, and the GOP fields only a couple of candidates, things get dicier for Trump to win. A lot of people are already anointing him as the nominee mainly because Trump tends to get what Trump wants (Casinos, Super Models, Porn Stars, and the Presidency)  I'm not so sure.  There's a "been there-done that" vibe to this time around.  Trump is doing the same shtick he's always done and voters might be tired of it in 2024

Gov. Ron DeSantis.  The Florida governor is not like the last Florida governor Trump beat up in 2016.  He's young and intelligent.  He's attracting negative attention on Twitter because he's seen as the heir apparent to Trump and is quickly becoming The Florida Man Hitler. If he gets Trump one-on-one early, I think he can become the nominee. If not, he'll get lost because his vote will be split between the other Non-Trump candidates.

 

 

Sen. Ted Cruz.   The guy who came in second in 2016.  In the world BT (Before Trump), Cruz would be the nominee because the GOP always nominated The Guy Who Came In Second the next time.Think of Romney, McCain, Dole, and Dad Bush. (Bill Clinton's great quote: "Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line".)  Even though he is very intellegent, Cruz has one of the most punchable faces in politics since Richard Nixon. Sorry, Ted, you don't have a prayer.

 

 

 

Gov. Chris Christie.  Way back when, this blog predicted that Chris Christie would become President simply because he was the exact opposite of President Obama.  Turns out another husky loud mouth won instead.  Christie tried to help Trump, which Trump listened to maybe twenty per-cent of the time.  Christie had the best line about Trump as President when he said Trump reminded him of a salesman that worked out of the trunk of his car.  Christie is bright and articulate.  He is also fat—William Howard Taft fat.  Body shaming will come back in style if Christie becomes the nominee.  Can Christie win? Fat chance. (Sorry)

 

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  Here's how I knew Pompeo would run for President: he lost a lot of weight.  He looks good and could be a spokesman for Nutrisystem if the Presidential thing doesn't work out. Which it probably won't.  Pompeo is another one of those success stories- he graduated first in his class from West Point, he was a Congressman, along with being Secretary of State. He definitely has the candle power to be President.  However, he doesn't give out hats like Trump does. He could, maybe, possibly, become Trump's 2.0 running mate.  I just don't see him winning.

 

 

Ambassador Nikki Haley.  I find Haley's candidacy exciting  and I'm not just saying that because she's easy on the eyes, unlike the rest the candidates.  She would flip the script with all of the smarty-pants Ivy League school Twitter kids who paint the Republicans as old fat white men who listen to Classic Rock.  She has immigrant parents and probably knows a little about football despite going to Clemson. (Editor's Note: This joke would have been a lot funnier if Haley went to the University of South Carolina.) It's going to be hard to paint her as a female Hitler, but one thing we've learned about the late millennials and Gen-Zers is they are very creative. She could win if DeSantis flames out and it becomes a choice between a pretty young woman and an old fat man.

 

 

Vice President Mike Pence.  One of the two people the MAGA Mob  despises, above all others, even more than Mitch McConnell, is Mike Pence (the other one is Liz Cheney). Mike didn't go along with Trump's concoction about the 2020 election and that put Pence on the bad list.  You would think it would put him on the good list with other people. It doesn't work that way.  It will be interesting to see Trump go after Pence in the debates. Trump will call him disloyal-remind Pence that he found Pence in the gutter selling pencils and made him Vice President.  For this  entertainment value alone, Pence should run.  Pence's chances: slim to none and Slim has left town.