Generation Awakened

Just as the world watched what seemed to be religious stability collapsing beneath scandals, cynicism, and skepticism, something happened among Gen-Z students on a campus in Kentucky. This volume, by one of the closest observers of the Asbury revival, shows us what happened, and why it ought to shake us, whatever our generation, out of complacency and despair. The Spirit is still on the move, and pays no attention to our forecasts and blueprints. In an era of diminished expectations, this is the book we need.

It is hard to believe, but this book tells a true tale. God showed up at Asbury University unexpectedly at (of all places) a chapel. God always does that—showing up unexpected in the least anticipated places. What this story shows us is that God is not done and will leave no generation without a witness. It is an honor to endorse this book. But it is all the more an honor to endorse its author—my friend Sarah Baldwin—who has faithfully stewarded what God has been doing at Asbury since everything went down. Hold on to your horses. This story is almost unbelievable.

With every outpouring of God’s presence, people often line up to ask, “Where’s the fruit?” In this delightful, joy-filled book, we discover the fruit of God showing up at Asbury University. By the time you finish the last page, you’ll be longing for more of Jesus, His presence, His Power, and His goodness in your life. This is a gift of writing you won’t want to stop reading.

Considerable commentary on the Asbury Outpouring has originated from non-proximate voices. In Generation Awakened readers will get to experience Sarah’s first-person account of the beauty, complexity, hunger, peace, and transformation that marked those historic 16 days in February, 2023. This is a book of hope and encouragement—a detailed narration of the holy imagination and selfless hospitality that fostered a spiritual unfolding unlike anything we have seen in the 21st Century.

What happened at Asbury University in February of 2023? As word of a never-ending chapel service spread like wildfire across social media, the world couldn’t understand what was happening. For generations of people so far removed from the Great Awakening or The New Divinity, no context could help the curious scores of questioners understand. In her first-person account, Sarah Baldwin explores the mystery of what was lavishly unleashed in Kentucky and is still rippling through the world today.

As a fellow participant, I’m grateful for Sarah’s storytelling and testimony! As a fellow teammate alongside her, I was in tears remembering those sweet days and the honor to steward together. As a brother in Christ, I’m so excited for this for the Church and those curious about what God did for sixteen days in our midst. Pick this up, read it, and grow in hunger for a new work in your chapels, churches, and contexts!

Of all the books and articles written about the 2023 Asbury Awakening/Outpouring, Generation Awakened by Sarah Baldwin is unique in that it represents a vibrant, eye-witness account of the entire sixteen days from one of the central leaders inside Asbury University. This breathtaking account stirs all of the original divine moments, celebrations, emotions and questions which we all experienced during those unforgettable days, including her reflections about how this awakening continues to stir Gen. Z, and a church in desperate need of awakening, in profound ways.

Carefully written by the person in the front lines of the story, Dr. Sarah Baldwin’s Generation Awakened is the honest story-telling of one of the great movements of the Spirit in our day, the 2023 Asbury Revival. Baldwin weaves together the extraordinary manifestations of God’s presence, the abundance of spiritual and physical healings, with the interminable basic necessities of big crowd logistics from maintaining porta potties to protecting access to the microphone. This story is real and feels real. It is all the more holy as God visited a small campus to bring all peoples, especially Gen Zers, to himself. To God be the Glory.