Top 20 List for 2023: A Year of Stories Like No Other
On the one hand: the depths of evil. On the other hand: revival. Both extremes made 2023 a year of stories like no other.
The good news stories and devotionals under the Faith Content tab are the ones we share at Think Eternity. From the Asbury Revival during two weeks in February to the “Jesus Revolution” baptism of 4,500 people at Pirates Cove in Newport Beach, California, on July 8, God stories were (and still are) abundant.
As we remember 2023, let us pray that 2024 will be an unprecedented time for followers of Jesus Christ to reflect Him onto the world as our first love.
But this I have against you, that you have forsaken your first love. (Revelation 2:4)
Below is Think Eternity’s Top 20 List for 2023. The stories are in no particular order.
1. Can Revival Happen Again? Greg Laurie Interview on ‘Jesus Revolution’ Movie
Can revival happen again in America as it did decades ago in what is known as the Jesus Movement?
Anticipation for the Jesus Revolution movie sparked discussion of just such a question, especially among those familiar with the true story from the late 1960s and early 1970s depicted in the film.
In the book, ‘Jesus Revolution - How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today,’ written by Pastor Greg Laurie and author Ellen Vaughn, it’s stated that the Jesus Movement “was the largest movement of the Holy Spirit in the United States since the celebrated revivals of the nineteenth century.”
2. Asbury Revival: Personal Reflections
A small group of us arrived at Asbury University on February 15, at 10:30 AM, exactly seven days from when the revival began. One-hundred sixty-eight hours to be exact. The school is no stranger to visitations from God. The first one recorded happened at the turn of the 20th century with the most recent on February 3, 1970.
Wilmore, Kentucky is like any small, rural college town. The backcountry roads from the interstate to the campus created an atmosphere for our time with God. One of the guys with me said, “The school is in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farmland and open fields as far as the eye can see.” It reminded me of how Jesus developed his disciples away from the hustle and bustle of big towns like Jericho and Jerusalem and opted for the countryside in anonymity and obscurity.
As I walked across the lawn toward the chapel, I noticed the crowds filing into two lines. At this point, hundreds and hundreds of people formed a circle that started at the steps and connected at the street. I wondered if we would be allowed in with the first wave. No one was able to enter the chapel until the students finished their weekly service at 11:30 AM. …
3. Jesus Revolution Baptism: A Story of Biblical Proportions
Evangelist Greg Laurie (R) stated that the Jesus Revolution Baptism at Pirates Cove in Newport Beach, California, “may be the largest baptism in American history.” July 8, 2023. PHOTO CREDIT: Vitaly Manzuk / Harvest Christian Fellowship
Jesus Revolution movie co-producer Jon Erwin was “a bit speechless” when asked to describe his feelings while in the midst of 4,500 people being baptized at Pirates Cove in Newport Beach on Saturday (July 8, 2023).
That’s pretty much the way many people of the estimated 20,000 who attended the mass baptism felt as they witnessed this outpouring of God.
They saw His people rejoicing in their new or ongoing connection to Jesus Christ.
Like Pastor Greg Laurie said about the relationship of the movie to what is happening now: “It showed us the power of baptism and more significantly, what salvation looks like visually.”
4. Is God Real?
Let’s face it: the question of whether God is real resonates deeply inside all of us. Who doesn’t want to know where we come from and where we’re going after we die? Staring into the darkness in the middle of the night, we tend to wonder about the purpose of life.
Are we accidents of nature, destined to flourish for a brief moment and then wither and decay forever? Or are we the creation of a beneficent God who loves us and imbues meaning into our existence? Is there really hope after the grave, or is that merely wishful thinking from the only species that is able to recognize the horror of its inevitable demise?
From time to time, we feel an innate longing for God—which might actually be evidence that he’s real. “One argument for God’s existence regards the aching absence of God in human experience,” said philosopher Douglas Groothuis. “There is, on the one hand, the pained longing for the transcendent and, on the other, the sense of the inadequacy of merely earthly goods to satisfy that longing…. We all experience a deep sense of yearning or longing for something that the present natural world cannot fulfill—something transcendently glorious.”
READ EXCERPT FROM AUTHOR LEE STROBEL’S BOOK
5. Is it Crazy for Christians to Believe in UFOs?
With unidentified flying objects (UFOs) increasingly making headlines, intrigue over the topic only seems to be growing, with one apologist noting this phenomenon is even invading some Christians' beliefs.
Jason Jimenez, who leads Stand Strong Ministries and hosts the "Challenging Conversations Podcast," recently broke down some facts he wants Christians who entertain UFOs and aliens to understand.
"If you look at the belief that many people have had through the centuries, even if you go back as far ... as ancient Greeks, they believed and they even worshiped this idea of extraterrestrials among them," Jimenez said on his show. "And you see that in full display among many of those ancient cultures."
6. Four Powerful Reasons Why Revival Often Starts With Young People
Over the past month, we have watched as the fires of prayer and revival have swept across colleges and universities nationwide. Some of those, like Asbury, Lee, Samford, Cedarville, and Belmont are private Christian universities. LSU, Western Kentucky University, and Texas A&M are public institutions. This most recent outpouring is not selective.
Denominational affiliations, campus size, public, private… none of these descriptors seem to matter. As of today, media outlets report over 20 campuses that have experienced something very special taking place. Add that number to the list of middle schools, high schools, and churches experiencing similar outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Some describe what is happening as a prayer meeting or vigil. Others call it a revival or awakening. No matter what name is ascribed, one simply cannot deny that God is at work.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)
As a college professor at a Christian university, I have been touched by what has happened on our campus and across the nation. I have been inspired. I have been moved. And I have been personally changed. The past few weeks have caused me to wonder, “Why do so many revivals seem to start with young people?”
7. The Time I Spent with Charles Stanley
When I was 27 years old, I was serving as a youth minister at a great church in Dallas. My administrative assistant forwarded a call to me, one particular Tuesday morning, and when I answered the phone, she said these words: “Dr. Charles Stanley from Atlanta is on the phone and wants to speak with you.”
I love practical jokes and I knew in my heart that this was a setup for a great one. I, like many people around the world, grew up watching Dr. Stanley on television. I have vivid memories of my dad and I sitting in front of our old box television, watching him, and imitating his deep preaching voice.
So, at this moment, I picked up the phone, totally expecting to hear my dad, doing his best Dr. Stanley impression.
8. Hippies Find Answer to Search for Love and Peace
Pastor Chuck Smith and his wife, Kay, witnessed hippies who were “high” on drugs, rebellious to the status quo, and searching for love and peace. The Smiths’ observations came prior and during the Jesus Movement (late 1960s through early 1970s), and are portrayed in the true-story movie, JESUS REVOLUTION.
Telling the story of the hippies is what the JESUS REVOLUTION movie does best, Smiths’ daughter, Janette (Smith) Manderson recently told Think Eternity.
“If you want to see what it was like 50 years ago, what the culture was like, what the young people were looking for, and why they were so lost, go see the movie,” Manderson said. “The movie also depicts the answer to the yearning in their hearts and deep in their souls.”
9. Let Us Worship Tour: Eyewitness to Spiritual Shift in Places Like Times Square NYC
Times Square NYC. July 3, 2023 PHOTO: Sean Feucht / Facebook
Let Us Worship leader Sean Feucht declared that there’s a spiritual shift happening in America as evidenced during tour stops such as Times Square in New York City on Monday over the 4th of July weekend.
“When thousands of worshippers flood Times Square with praise to Jesus, the atmosphere changes to one of salvations, healings and miracles,” Feucht stated on social media recently. “There is no place too dark, too hard or too distracting for God to move.”
The Let Us Worship stop in New York is one of many in the “Kingdom to Capitol” summer tour that included visits to State Capitols such as Providence Rhode Island, Salem Oregon, and Boise Idaho. TPUSA Faith (an initiative of Turning Point USA) is partnering with Let Us Worship for “our most ambitious and historic revival tour yet, visiting every single state capitol in America.” The partnership believes this is a season for revival in America.
10. Overcoming Fear: A Biblical Perspective
Fear is a natural human emotion that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. It can be a healthy response to immediate danger or threat, but it can also be irrational and crippling, causing anxiety and preventing individuals from living their lives to the fullest. The “irrational” fear happens to me more times than I’d like to admit.
In today's world, fear is increasingly prevalent due to a myriad of reasons ranging from personal insecurities to global crises. The Bible, however, provides guiding principles for overcoming fear and living a life filled with hope and courage. God has a lot to say about fear in the Bible!
Key Bible passages address fear and provide practical analogies and illustrations to better understand and apply scriptural truths today. One of the best ways to combat fear is by reading and meditating on Scripture.
11. What Was Dr. Charles Stanley’s Secret?
Upon Dr. Charles Stanley’s recent death, stories about him have emerged that reveal that there was more about him than simply what he accomplished. Although his legacy reveals much, he had a secret that is available to everybody, but many have yet to learn.
The “greatness” of an individual on an eternal scale is never measured by anything that can be counted. The size of a church, number of books written, or even the significance of people one may count as friends.
Rather the greatness of an individual is in relation to their likeness and love for Jesus Christ.
Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley was “America’s Pastor.” More people heard him preach than almost any other person in modern history….
12. War in Israel: A Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?
I woke up Saturday morning, and I was shocked to read the headline: “Israel Is at War.”
It is almost 50 years to the day the last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973 when she was attacked by Egypt, Syria, and others. But this is a different kind of war.
Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky. Now, hundreds of people have been murdered and kidnapped, and they were using what we might describe as Isis-like methods: targeting young women and young children, launching massive indiscriminate rocket fire towards civilian population centers, as well as terrorist infiltration of cities and settlements close to the Gaza border.
13. Asbury Revival: Will Believers Recognize Its Legitimacy?
PHOTO: Shane Idleman
The Asbury University newspaper reads: "Very few seats remain empty, but people crowd the walls, the floor and the balcony. It's been almost 60 hours since a pure Holy Spirit revival broke out."
Others declare they have never seen the student chapel with so many people. It started in a normal chapel service where there was a confession of sin by a student and 30 people stayed behind to seek God.
As we browse social media and look up hashtags such as #asburyrevival, one cannot miss all the criticisms, judgments and doubts of what is happening. The critical voices seem to be very loud shouting over some of the rejoicing by others.
14. Christian Leaders in US Respond to War in Israel
Pastors and Christian leaders are responding to the war in Israel by pointing to scripture that includes prophecy about End Times and a call for believers in Jesus Christ to love the Jewish people.
“God’s Word teaches us that Israel was set apart as God’s chosen and dearly loved people. He set apart a nation for Himself to show His covenantal love,” stated evangelist Matt Brown, founder of the ministry, Think Eternity, in a text chat with leaders on Monday. “Even with the new covenant of Jesus Christ and his gospel, we believe in the special love God has for the Jewish people, who were the first to follow His ways and walk in covenantal relationship with Him.”
15. Where Is America in Bible Prophecy?
The story is told of the great composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. He was known to enjoy his sleep, but his kids had a surefire way of waking up their dad.
One of them would go to the family harpsichord and play a composition (I guess that’s what you do when you’re the child of a composer). They would play the composition almost all the way through, but when they got to the end, they would not play the last note. Every time they did that, their composer father would throw off his covers, get out of bed, walk over, sit down at the keyboard, and hit the final chord.
He couldn’t stand leaving the piece unfinished. It drove him crazy.
You might say that in the book of Revelation, God is playing the final chord. But something is missing from these end times prophecies. Let me restate that: someone is missing…
16. There is Only One Way to Follow Jesus
I became a Christian when I was eight years old. The pastor of the First Baptist Church of Canyon, TX, was Brother Jim Hancock, and Brother Jim was faithful to present the gospel almost every single Sunday. By the time minute 27 of the sermon rolled around, he would close his message with something like this:
“I want everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes. I’m going to ask you a question. If you were to die tonight, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? And if the answer is no, I’m going to ask you to just lift up your hand and pray a prayer silently after me.”
I heard this week in and week out, and eventually, the reality of my own death and need for forgiveness fell down on me. So, one Sunday I walked down the aisle and Brother Jim led me to Christ at the altar and I was baptized a few weeks later. That’s my story.
Perhaps it’s similar to your story, but then again, perhaps not.
17. Recipe for Revival
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the movie Jesus Revolution is opening at the box office right smack in the middle of a revival that seems to be sweeping our nation. What began a couple weeks ago in Hughes Auditorium on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky has spread to multiple university campuses, high schools, middle schools, and churches.
My good friend and cohost, Andy King, and I sat down with his friend JD Walt for a forthcoming episode of Revival Town Podcast to talk about what God is doing in a literal “revival town” in rural Kentucky. JD is a respected theologian, former Dean of Chapel for Asbury Theological Seminary, and has been very involved with what’s going on behind the scenes to “preserve and steward, not lead” the outpouring on Asbury.
What’s fascinating and encouraging about the Asbury Revival (or Asbury Awakening as some are calling it) is the fact that there is no face or name attached to it. No one individual is leading it. Missing is a celebrity speaker and bestselling worship artist or band.
18. How Do I Know If My Faith is Real?
During a youth weekend retreat when I was in the 7th grade, some friends and I were attempting to stay up all night and found ourselves at 2 or 3 in the morning with flashlights on reading the middle chapters of the Book of Revelation. We read about tattoos, dragons, bowls, and all kinds of other things. For most of us, it was the first time we had read this Book of the Bible, and we were terrified. But I suppose that was the point for all of us.
And though I’ve grown up at least a little since then, there are still some scary texts in the Bible. But not scary in the sense that it was that night so many years ago; in some ways, even more so. And I think there is no more terrifying text in all of Scripture than what we find in Matthew 7 straight from the Lord Jesus Himself:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matt. 7:21-23).
19. How Do We Know the Bible is Accurate?
I’ve had the opportunity to pastor the same church for 25 years. During these 25 years, one question I have been asked countless times is: “How do we know the Bible is accurate?”
My answer has always included pointing people to evidence. Without evidence we don’t have a leg to stand on — so, my question is can the Bible stand up on its own? Can it withstand the scrutiny? Is it accurate?
Allow me to answer my own questions with a resounding YES!
Because of the current cultural climate in the United States, the Bible has been attacked more recently than at any other time during my lifetime (that I can remember). Still, my faith in God’s Word is not only secure — it has gotten stronger, not weaker. Why?
20. The Surest Way to Resist the Devil
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
Lewis’ point is that the Christian must walk the fine line between being absolutely certain that Satan is a real being, and being so fixated on Satan that our eyes cease to be fixed on Jesus. If we err in the first regard, then we will never be ready and armored up when the true attacks of the enemy comes. If we err in the second regard then we will spend so much of our time hunting for the work of the devil that we fail to embrace the work of God.
We have a description of that fine line laid out for us in James 4 in which James fully embraces the Christian responsibility to be engaged in fighting the devil’s work all while keeping his eyes focused on God:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).