On December 10, 2025, I had the extraordinary opportunity to address the entire student body of Bob Jones University at one of their chapel services. What does one say in just a few minutes of time allotted to thousands of young people? This was my great question—and prayer. The following article, told in the third person, summarizes what I felt led to share that day.
The Answer to a Waterlogged Life—Revival.
During a recent chapel service at Bob Jones University, Steven Lee—BJU alumnus and founder of SermonAudio—delivered a message that blended Scripture, personal testimony, and sober reflection on the pressures facing today’s generation. Though he referenced artificial intelligence and modern media, Lee made clear that technology was not his theme. His burden was spiritual: the urgent need for revival in an overwhelmed, distracted age.
Lee opened by identifying himself as “the boy in the trailer” from a recently released SermonAudio film, which included historic preaching by Dr. Ian Paisley—once delivered in BJU’s own chapel. While acknowledging the film’s use of AI, Lee emphasized that tools are never the point. Technology, he said, is unavoidable and advancing at an unprecedented pace, touching nearly every industry and doing so faster than any previous revolution.
The result is a generation saturated with information. Studies show young people receive hundreds of notifications daily and struggle to stay away from screens for even a few minutes. Lee described this condition as waterlogged—overwhelmed, distracted, and spiritually weighed down.
Turning to 1 Kings 18, Lee focused on Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Elijah’s question—“How long halt ye between two opinions?”—was applied directly to modern Christians who attempt to balance devotion to God with unchecked attachment to the world.
Lee drew particular attention to Elijah’s decision to drench the altar with twelve barrels of water before calling down fire from heaven. The water emphasized the impossibility of the situation. The altar was saturated—humanly incapable of producing fire. Yet when Elijah prayed, the fire of the Lord fell and consumed everything, even the water.
That image, Lee said, mirrors modern life. Students may hope for a less busy season to pursue God, but responsibilities never diminish—they increase. The question, then, is not how to manage a waterlogged life, but how it can ever be aflame with spiritual vitality.
The answer, Lee declared, is revival—God’s fire, God’s power, God Himself.
While sharing how SermonAudio uses technology to spread preaching globally, Lee stressed that none of it is possible without God. His greatest responsibility, he said, is guarding his own soul. Without God’s presence, even successful institutions risk becoming like Sardis—alive in appearance, but dead within.
Lee concluded by urging students to pray not only for daily needs, but for revival—that the fire of God would fall on their lives, their campus, and their generation.
