NASHVILLE (BP)—With more than 50 million subscribers, YouTube sensation Dude Perfect is one of the most notable names in social media entertainment.

Yet, for group member Tyler Toney and his wife Bethany, the success of the Dude Perfect subsequently led to the feelings of jealousy, bitterness and heartbreak within in their marriage.

It was only within the last couple years that Tyler found redemption, healed his marriage and began to see Dude Perfect as a gospel platform.

“Tyler just puts Christ at the center of everything in our family now, whereas before he didn’t do that” Bethany Toney said.

“He’s just a whole new person. I remember telling my Mom, ‘I feel like I’m married to a new person, and it’s weird, and I’m having to get used to it. Every decision he makes now, it’s a prayerful one. He’s leading our family, talking to our kids about Christ and just little things that make me go ‘ok this is worth the fight.’”

The couple shares their full story in the latest “I Am Second” video—a series featuring interviews with a variety of Christian celebrities about their personal testimony.

The Toneys were married in 2011, around the time Dude Perfect’s success began to take off.

Things began for the group of five former Texas A&M roommates when they simply uploaded a video of themselves making basketball trick shots to YouTube for other friends to see. The video went viral, and was shown on Good Morning America. Brands deals and opportunities started pouring in.

“That was unbelievable exciting for us, and at the same we just had absolutely no idea what we were getting into,” Tyler said.

After some initial hesitation from Bethany, Tyler and the group decided to all quit their jobs and pursue making video content as Dude Perfect full-time.

Dude Perfect’s success skyrocketed over the next several years. To date, the group has more than 50 million YouTube subscribers, putting them in the top 25 creators on the platform.

They have filmed videos with athletes and celebrities such as Aaron Rodgers, Paul Rudd, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Drew Brees and Serena Williams. Brands deals and sponsorships for the group include GMC, Bass Pro Shops and Nike.

One of their latest ventures featured a streaming broadcast of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.

But as Dude Perfect began to experience its success more than a decade ago, Bethany was back at home struggling with jealousy and infertility.

“His (Tyler’s) success really took off at a time when I felt God was calling us to start a family,” Bethany said. “We started trying for a baby, and I miscarried several times. It was just devastating to me, and heartbreaking.”

“I’m watching my husband be on top of the world doing all these really cool things, where I’m at home in pain, and just heartbroken and confused and angry. I was just so angry at God during that season of our life because I just felt like God was ignoring me, and that he wasn’t hearing my requests for things.”

Looking back, Tyler acknowledges his missteps as a husband and father.

“I very much had the attitude of, ‘ok we’ve got to make hay while the sun’s shining’ because there’s no telling how long these opportunities are going to last,” Tyler Toney said.

“I’m not sure that I managed it the best as far as a family perspective of making Bethany a priority. I think early on I put more emphasis on and more weight on these Dude Perfect opportunities. I think early on our families kind of got put on the backburner.”

The Toneys eventually had three children, but that did not stop the growing division and bitterness between them.

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that the couple reached a boiling point.

After this particularly difficult season, Bethany said her husband approached her saying “I don’t think I’ve really ever had a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

“Hearing him say that kind of put everything in perspective for me because that was kind of the one thing we had been missing in our marriage was him being that spiritual leader and to put Christ first in our marriage. That shift alone kind of was the pivot for us moving forward.”

Toney began hosting a men’s bible study every week at his house, which he called “irreplaceable” in his Christian walk.

The next step in his journey was beginning to see Dude Perfect as a platform for not the group’s individual success, but for Gospel ministry.

Tyler describes a clear call from the Lord to preach the full gospel message to thousands on each stop of Dude Perfect’s next countrywide tour.

“I kind of wrestled with that for a couple days, and was like ‘are you sure that’s what you’re telling me?,’” Tyler said.

“I remember the very first show it was so uncomfortable and so outside my comfort zone. I got off stage and I just broke down crying because it was just that overwhelming sense of like ‘this is what you’re supposed to be doing. This is why I gave you this platform … this is why I’ve given you the talents and abilities and the success that you’ve had is for this.’”

With a renewed marriage and mission, Toney said moving forward the group wants to continue to spiritually influence the massive audience.

“I think at this point in Dude Perfect, we see it as just that—an incredible opportunity to reach a group of people, especially families, especially young boys who may not have a lot to look up to, or may not get a sense of community from anything else in their lives. We feel this immense amount of responsibility to them to kind of keep doing this and kind of take this as long as God’s allows us to have this platform.”

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Pastor Greg Laurie said the spiritual awakening portrayed in the new movie “Jesus Revolution” is still making an impact today, including his own life and ministry. The basis of the movie is the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Now the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., the movie depicts a young Laurie (played by Joel Courtney), telling the story of both his conversion to Christianity and romance with his future wife Cathe (played by Anna Grace Barlow).

“I accepted Christ on my high school campus, and I went to a church called Calvary Chapel where the Jesus Movement was in full swing,” Laurie said.

“It was just such a wonderful time because there was an excitement. People were never late for church, he told Baptist Press.

Evangelism was a key component of the Jesus Movement, he says.

“It was not uncommon to see believers out on the streets talking about Jesus, sharing their faith. It was just a work of the Holy Spirit.”

He says the movie also cues up the birth of the Christian music movement that was born in those days.

Laurie admits that while there were many positive results of the movement, it was perfect as God used imperfect people to shepherd the awakening.

The relationship between a conservative pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Calif., named Chuck Smith and a charismatic street preacher named Lonnie Frisbee is an example of the tension.

Smith is portrayed by iconic actor Kelsey Grammer (“Cheers,” “Frasier”), while Frisbee is played by Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the wildly popular streaming series “The Chosen.”

While the two had their disagreements and shortcomings, Laurie says both were used by God.

“Lonnie Frisbee was a colorful character,” Laurie said. “He did have a dramatic conversion and he was used by God as a catalyst to attract young people.”

“But Chuck Smith sort of was like the stabilizer, sort of like the kids came for Lonnie and they stayed for Chuck because Chuck was a Bible expository and he put clear parameters around things,” he said.

“God uses flawed people. God uses ordinary people. Even as you read the book of Acts, these are ordinary people who fell short, people like us. I think one of the takeaway truths of the Bible is these were not perfect people that God worked through, but they were available people.”

Laurie said the impact of the revolution was important, but what is even more import is how this generation will respond to the film.

The Jesus Revolution is set to debut in theaters on Feb. 24.

“The undeniable fact is there was a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit that affected churches of every tribe, of every denomination,” he said. “And it was something that was felt around the nation and the world. We’re just capturing one aspect of it in this movie.”

WILMORE, Ky. (BP)—They came from far and near, from mothers carrying their infant children to senior citizens — all flooding into chapel at Asbury University Monday, Feb. 13, as a revival hit its sixth consecutive day with no hint of slowing down.

A whiteboard just inside the front doors of the chapel speaks to the impact of more than 120 hours of preaching, singing, testimonies and confession of sin. The approximately 4-by-5 1/2-foot board was jam-packed with praises and prayer requests, evidencing how God had moved during this extended revival time. One said, “pray for my family in Ukraine.” Others wrote …

• Salvation for our nation.
• Revival in Kodak, Tenn.
• Revival at Bethel University.
• Restoring marriage and future twins.
• Teen suffering with addiction.
• Dad saved.
• Isaiah set free.

At the 10 a.m. chapel service, the 1,500-seat chapel was filled — many of those seats occupied by Asbury students. After a message from Romans 13, Asbury students left to attend classes, being reminded that the next preaching service would be at 2 p.m. Those seats they vacated did not remain empty for long as people continued to stream into Hughes Auditorium, singing hymns of faith led by a small team of Asbury music students.

That worship time found young and old lifting hands and bowing heads in praise. The altar was soon filled with people bowing in prayer, often with one or two people praying with them. On the altar were numerous prayer requests written on sticky notes.

One young man was spotted in the rear of the chapel, jumping with joy as he sang. A young woman near him did interpretive movement to the songs. In the balcony, an adult male studied his Bible during the singing.

The revival fire began at last Wednesday’s (Feb. 7) chapel service, and word of it spread quickly on sites such as Kentucky Today as well as social media. Among those drawn to the service on Monday included:

• Susan Carson with her three children — Emma, 11, Cooper, 8, and Caleb, 6. They drove Sunday night from Brunswick, Ga., because Susan wanted her children, whom she homeschools, to experience the revival. She is a member of First Baptist Church in Brunswick.

• Carly Cawthon is an Asbury student who was there in February 2020 when the school celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Asbury revival. “I remember how amazing and exciting that week was, and praying so hard for a revival to fall again. I wanted so badly to experience the wonder and awe of the Lord in that way.

Little did we know what would come in just a month’s time and how the world was about to change.

“The revival at Asbury happened unexpectedly, just as the Scriptures say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has imagined what the Lord has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9). The revival crept up like a thief in the night, and there was nothing special about this week, no one could have imagined Tuesday or even Wednesday morning what was about to transpire in Hughes Chapel. And no eye has seen, no ear has heard the end of this. Revival is an ongoing process and my prayer for both myself and for this world in desperate need for a Savior, that the Lord will continue unfolding this and change the course of 2023 as we know it, changing us and our lives to be kingdom oriented. He’s truly the reason for living, and we are living out a glimpse of what eternity will look like.

• Hannah Dennison, from Akron, Ohio, read about the revival on social media and came alone — “everyone thought I was crazy,” she said. She left at 4 a.m. Monday to make the five-hour drive. “This is incredible — kids my age are repenting and getting connected with God. It’s so beautiful. You can see God is evident as soon as you walk in, you can hear His presence.”

• Jennie Allen, author and speaker and founder of “If: Gathering,” a Christian conference that gathers and equips women to live out their purpose, traveled from Dallas to “see a movement of God and tell the stories.”

• Amanda Adkins is an ICU nurse in Lexington. A native of Pikeville, Ky., she is part of the worship team at her church. She said there are many Asbury students and alumni at her church, and that her pastor encouraged members to attend the revival. “I came yesterday – I didn’t want to leave,” which prompted her to return on Monday.

• Emma Sparks from Ashland, Ky., was with a group of Boyd County High School students who received permission from the principal (and their parents) to be there Monday. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing — we took two cars and drove two-and-a-half hours.” She was one of five high school senior girls on the trip, with the other being a college student who is an older sister to one of the girls.

“God is moving — if we can bring this back home, maybe it will spread across our country.” She said she encourages those in her hometown to “go and feel the Spirit for yourself.”

• Allison and Adleigh Edwards drove from Scottsville, Ky., because they “wanted to be a part of the Holy Spirit moving. We saw videos (of the revival) and just started bawling,” said Adleigh.

The 10 a.m. chapel session focused on the theme of “Love in Action.” Students and attendees are told “our ultimate allegiance is not to this world, but to God. Paul said visible love to the whole world is what we see here. Anything we put our allegiance in, unless it is to God first, is misplaced allegiance.”

Campus chaplain Greg Haseloff said the events at Asbury provide “such a beautiful experience of seeking God — it is holy ground. It will continue to be a place of worship and prayer.”