I heard God was doing something special at Asbury University, a Christian college in central Kentucky.

A friend confirmed it and thought I should go.

I wrote someone I knew who is on staff at Asbury to see what they thought. They said:

"Eric, If you want to come, then you should come. We don’t know how long this will last… The Lord’s presence is here in a way that is not dramatic or emotionalistic, but personal and corporate, intimate and lifted up. Everyone’s experience is personal to how the Lord is working in their life. This is just a moment (or over a week now) where this has become a thin place to experience the Lord’s presence."

I asked my son if he’d like to come. He said, "Yes," so we jumped in the car for the 6-hour drive to Kentucky.

When we got there at 10 PM on Saturday night, the line into the main building was so long I didn’t think we’d get in. But I saw they were live-streaming the service into the chapel across the street… a chapel where God had spoken to me in a powerful way 30 years ago.

I asked my son if we could duck into the chapel for a bit. While waiting in a much shorter line there, I told him what God had spoken to me in that place 30 years earlier.

I was there for a conference to deal with unhealthy attractions. Christ had broken the power of those in my life 5 years earlier, but I went to the conference to support a friend and asked God for wisdom to keep me faithful to my marriage and the commitment I had made to Him 5 years earlier.

I wanted to learn all I could so I could stay on track.

During one of the worship sessions, I sat down in my pew, and a man on my left put his hand on my shoulder, saying he had a word from God for me. He said:

"You will never go back to what you once were…. you will never, never, never, never, never go back."

He added:

"Satan doesn’t need to get you to sin in order to keep you from doing God’s will. He just has to get you doing something other than God’s will for you. People will give you many opportunities. Don’t take them. Take only the ones God gives you."

I was dumbstruck. That was THE answer to THE question on my heart. It’s been 30 years since that moment at Asbury, and I’ve never gone back to what I once was.

I shared that story with my son just before we ducked into the chapel.

When we got inside, we sat down in the crowded balcony and began to worship. It was sweet and simple.

After a few songs, a man on my left put his hand on my shoulder and said he had a word from God for me. "May I share it?" he asked.

I looked at my son, then looked back at him, and said, "Yes!"

He shared with me a beautiful word about how God hears the songs on my heart and wants me to share them with others. That, now, is the main thing on my heart these days, trying to get my new musical about St. Nicholas out to the nations of the world.

When I looked over again, the man was gone.

I teared up, hardly believing that God had spoken to me in such an intimate, meaningful, and personal way, just as he had done 30 years earlier in that same spot.

About midnight, my son and I walked across the street and were able to get into the main auditorium. We worshipped for another 2 hours, until 2 AM. At that time, they asked that only students 16-25 stay in the chapel until the next day when they would open the doors again to the public.

Afterward, I asked my son, "When was the last time we worshiped for 4 hours straight?" Not in a long time. "When have we seen people standing in line for 6-7 hours to get into church?" Never!

We came home the next day, as the crowds had grown even bigger. And I’ve been worshipping in my heart, and out loud, ever since.

On Thursday night, I watched the closing chapel service online from my home back in Illinois. One of the speakers shared how he was touched by the Asbury revival 50 years ago, in 1970, when God had visited in a special way, too. He said:

“I have to tell you something that’s about to happen. You will never, ever, ever be the same. You will never think the same. You will never be satisfied again with anything less than Jesus. You’ll never again be able to live a merely selfish life, because you encountered Christ.

I’m still taking it all in, letting God speak to me, intimately and personally.

And I am convinced God is ready and willing to speak to you, intimately and personally, about the things on your heart… wherever you are.

Let Him renew you. Let Him refresh you. Let Him begin a new work in you!

Speak to God, and let Him speak to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.