What I witnessed at Asbury during one of the last public services: Beautiful, no-hype, worshipful, reverent hunger. A small Baptist church near campus, graciously offered as an overflow space, filling with those seeking not an experience, but simply Jesus. A livestream glitching and voices all around the church spontaneously rising to lead worship. Students taking the lead, worshipping, preaching, sharing their life verses, testimonies of God reaching through their walls and hurts to love them.

Everywhere an air of humility and expectancy. Peace. Unity. People joyfully serving each other, offering free snacks, water, homemade spaghetti.

Asbury wasn’t naming it, defining it, or containing it. It wasn’t rehearsed or polished. But hunger is magnetic and authenticity attractive. So people came from all over the world, stood hours in freezing temperatures, worshiped in the line and on the lawn and the stairs and the overflow spaces.

Perhaps you were there too, or at Lee, Cedarville, Samford, or one of the other colleges following suit. You’ve gotten a taste of the sweet presence of Jesus, the healing that unity brings, the freedom that comes with tender confession. And now you’re asking, What next?

Let’s talk about it—because a taste is meant to whet the appetite not to satisfy.

Links mentioned:

1. Grab a FREE sneak peek of Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors
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3. View the written version of this episode.