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Please note that this is a summary of several articles on revival.

If there’s one clear message rising from the coasts to the campuses, from stadiums to schoolrooms—it’s this: God is moving in America again. In a time when headlines are saturated with division, fear, and exhaustion, something deeper and holier has begun to stir. This past year, from spring to autumn 2025, we witnessed a tapestry of revival moments—woven with tears, joy, repentance, and a renewed hunger for Jesus. It feels like Heaven’s door cracked open over our nation—and the Spirit poured through.
On May 3, 2025, more than 7,750 people were baptized in the waves of Huntington Beach, California—the largest single-day baptism in U.S. history. The “Baptize California” event, led by Pastor Mark Francey and Oceans Church, gathered over 30,000 worshippers and 300 partner churches in a breathtaking display of unity and surrender. The waters shimmered with faith as men, women, and children declared Jesus as Lord—one after another, wave after wave.
Two weeks later, on May 18–19, that same revival flame spread across the state, with more than 12,000 baptisms in just two days. Francey said it best: “You can smell another Great Awakening in the air—like rain before it hits.” And what began as a California moment is becoming a national movement. Their next vision, “Baptize America,” launched on June 8, Pentecost Sunday, summoning churches across all fifty states to join in what became the largest synchronized baptism in U.S. history—26,657 souls baptized in a single day.
From lakes and rivers to mall courtyards and beach coves, thousands stepped into the waters. “This wasn’t just about a moment,” Francey said. “It’s about a movement of hope—a launching into life with Jesus.” The event is now becoming an annual Pentecost tradition, grounding the summer calendar not in festivals of entertainment, but in a celebration of rebirth.
If God can move powerfully in California—the state the world often labels “too far gone”—why not in every city, every heart, every corner of this nation?
The numbers tell their own story. According to Barna Research, two-thirds of U.S. adults now say they’ve made a personal commitment to Jesus that still shapes their lives—a remarkable 12-point increase since 2021. After decades of decline, the tide of faith is turning. And it’s our youngest generation—Gen Z—leading the way.
For years, sociologists spoke about the “rise of the nones”—those who claimed no faith at all. But that rise has slowed, and even reversed in some places. The weary hearts of a digital age are beginning to whisper a different phrase: “I want a God.” After years drenched in loneliness and anxiety, many young adults are searching for something real, something eternal, something that can outlast the next trend or scrolling screen. They’re tired of noise; they’re craving presence.
Bible reading is rising again—especially among men and younger adults. Sales of Bibles are up 22% nationwide, even as most other book categories shrink. “People are curious about Scripture and about Jesus,” says John Plake of the American Bible Society. This “holy curiosity” is also drawing millions to Christian media like The Chosen, where one-third of viewers identify as nonbelievers or seekers. They’re watching not just a story—they’re meeting a Savior.
And maybe that’s the heartbeat behind this resurgence: a spiritual longing that simply wants to come home. Not to religion as a system, but to Jesus as a friend. As Plake wrote online, “Nobody becomes a Christian because they lose an argument. It’s because they’re invited on a journey.” God is inviting a generation right now—and they’re saying “yes.”
On July 19, 2025, that same cry echoed across Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, as 45,000 people flooded the stands for the annual Harvest Crusade led by Pastor Greg Laurie. Another 200,000 joined online, their worship united in one voice under an open sky. When Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Chris Tomlin, and others led the crowd in singing “The Blessing,” Laurie called it “a taste of Heaven.”
The harvest was literal: more than 6,500 made professions of faith in Christ that night—so many that officials had to pause the steady march of new believers filling the stadium floor. “God did exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think,” Laurie wrote afterward. It was a bold reminder that the Gospel still opens hearts, still saves souls, still brings tears of joy to the eyes of those once lost.
By late summer and fall, the wind of revival began sweeping through America’s heartland—especially on college campuses.
On September 9, more than 9,000 students filled the University of Oklahoma’s basketball arena to seek God together. That same week, over 1,000 people responded to Christ through outreach. A few days later in Tennessee, over 8,000 gathered at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where hundreds gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized right outside the arena. Then, in Tampa, Florida, nearly 7,000 students at the University of South Florida joined a night of worship where 1,000 made decisions for Christ and over 300 were baptized. Some were former atheists, skeptics—even a former Satan worshiper.
One event organizer, Pastor Travis Johnson, declared, “This generation won’t be silenced. God is raising up an army.”
And the Church continues to echo that truth. On September 21, at Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, Pastor Josh Howerton baptized nearly 700 people in a single Sunday service. “I’ve never seen anything like today,” he said. “The tide is turning.” In the same week, FaithFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, drew over 50,000 attendees. Under the shadow of a massive cross, 1,000 people gave their lives to Christ and around 100 were baptized on site.
These stories are not isolated flickers—they are embers feeding one another, city to city, spark to spark, until the nation glows with revival’s warmth.
October brought another remarkable sign: Bring Your Bible to School Day. Over 50,000 schools participated across all 50 states. Millions of students carried their Bibles, shared their faith, and reminded their peers that God still belongs in the conversation. It was a quiet revolt against silence—a generation declaring that faith is nothing to hide.
2025 will be remembered as a year when America looked heavenward again. In a season when many thought revival belonged only to history books, God proved He’s not done writing His story yet.
From the beaches of California to the sanctuaries of Texas, from stadiums to school desks, the Spirit of God has been moving—drawing hearts back to Himself. The message resounds the same in every place: Jesus is still the hope of America.
Maybe that’s what revival really looks like. Not just the sound of thousands being baptized or a stadium singing in unison—but the steady turning of individual hearts toward the Savior, one “yes” at a time.
And as we stand on the threshold of what’s next, we remember this truth:
If God can stir the waters in Huntington Beach, He can move through every dry valley in our land.
But not only in America. In Iran, two thousand Iranians are turning to Jesus every day.
The Bible Society, which operates around the globe, reports that more than 2,000 Iranians are turning to Jesus every single day! One 92-year-old believer, whenever she’s on a bus, pulls out a small book and asks her neighbor to help her read the tiny font. In fact, she is secretly getting strangers to read the gospels. Every time she does it, the person sitting next to her ends up taking a New Testament home.
This is brave work in a land where leaving Islam is potentially punishable by death. But the Iranian revival is good news for Israel – and the Jews! For these dear people have been taught by their government and mullahs that Israel is their archenemy.
But now that they have opened their lives to Jesus, they find they are also growing to love the Jewish people, longing and praying for a restoration of the peace that the two nations once enjoyed.
This is profoundly good news for those who have eyes to see the bigger picture. For the strict Islamic state of Iran, whose rulers want to wipe out the Jewish people just as Hitler did and who are chief sponsors of monstrous terrorist groups like Hamas, is now the focus of a Christian revival where some two million people have discovered that Jesus, the Jew, is the Savior of the world.
As the mosques shut down in great numbers, passionate Christians are filling the vacuum, though of necessity staying ‘underground’ for now, out of sight of the religious police.
The Islamic foundations are crumbling for the chief sponsors of terrorism, a fact graphically prophesied by the psalmist thousands of years ago when he wrote of them: “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more. With one mind they plot together, forming an alliance against you.” (Psalm 83:4) Among the enemies named are ‘Ishmaelites’ and people from Philistia (Gaza) and Tyre (Lebanon), with Assyria (covering parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey) joining them. Does this ring any bells?
Yet the psalmist (Asaph) is not vindictive. He calls on the Lord to bring shame on them so that they will know “that you alone are the Most High over all the earth”. And we are hearing that many in the Muslim/Arab world, even in the strictest of regimes, are indeed discovering the truth of Yeshua.
In the UK too, where Jews feel increasingly threatened and pro-Palestinian marchers are allowed to call for Israel’s demise on the streets of our cities, there is a revival of Christianity, which gives us hope.
After conducting a thorough survey, the Bible Society reports a remarkable fourfold increase in young men aged 18-24 attending church in the UK over the last six years.
As darkness deepens around the world, especially in the Middle East, the light of Christ shines ever brighter. It must be tempting for Israelis to feel greatly perplexed.
The psalmist assures us: “Do not fret because of those who are evil… for like the grass they will wither… A little while, and the wicked will be no more… but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.” (Psalm 37:1f, 10f)
Not only in Iran but God is also moving in Afghanistan
In a bustling Afghan marketplace, a rug vendor was handed a small mp3 player filled with Scripture and devotions in his own language. As he listened to the message of Jesus, tears streamed down his face. Having lost friends and family for questioning Islamic teaching, he now found unexpected hope.
That rug vendor wasn’t just a merchant – he was a tribal chief. He immediately requested a player for each family member. A simple act of evangelism became the start of gospel witness to an entire tribe. This is just one story from a growing underground movement. Over the past two years, more than 3,000 audio Scripture devices have been distributed across Afghanistan through a partnership between FMI and Keys 4 Kids Ministries.
“Afghanistan is a battleground for extremist ideologies,” says FMI leader Nehemiah. “But in the midst of fear and darkness, the gospel cannot be silenced.” Despite Taliban control and ongoing threats from jihadist groups, Afghans are responding to the Word. Nehemiah calls believers worldwide to pray – for new listeners, for new believers, and even for the militants themselves. “God is moving in powerful ways,” he says. “Even here.”

The Restored Church of God Real Truth Magazine

Renewal Journal

rcg.org

Baptist Press

Barna Research