PURSUIT OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

We all yearn for revival in our quest to maintain closeness with God. Inside this book you will find process of achieving spiritual renewal through some pertinent elements such as studying God’s word, meditation, discernment, constant prayer, fasting, worship, and praises, and of course the Holy Spirit, who is the chief agent of spiritual renewal. These elements were discussed in detail to substantiate their importance in drawing individuals closer to God, and also responsible in bringing positive transformation and revival within the church which will ultimately have effect on the community.        The first and second Great Awakenings in the United States occurred under George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney, respectively. These great men understood the relevance of certain elements of spiritual renewal and lived them out during their time and throughout their ministerial endeavors. By so doing, they not only impacted their generation, but also left a wonderful legacy for the church community around the globe.If these elements of spiritual renewal are employed with meditative reflection, individual Christians in our time will achieve an unprecedented result just as the Old and New Testaments believers achieved under the leadership of some godly kings in Judah, the Southern kingdom of Israel.It was substantiated in this study that for any meaningful revival to occur within or outside Christian community the 5Rs in spiritual renewal must be present: repentance, return, renewal, revival and restoration.Spiritual renewal begins from the heart. Therefore, there must be spiritual heart transplant for a revival to occur, because a transformed heart is a renewed heart, and a renewed heart is a revived life. 'Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life' (Prov. 4:23). Chima Umejiaku is a Pastor of Christian Assembly Church in Lynn & Lowell, Massachusetts. He holds a doctoral degree in theology and two master’s degrees; one in theology and another in special education, and also first degree in Special education. Recently he was co-opted as an adjunct instructor at IFCA Bible College, where he teaches Evangelism, Church planting and Church growth. He has been married to his beautiful wife Favour Umejiaku for twenty four years and they were blessed with a wonderful and talented son, JIL Chidirim Umejiaku.Contact the author if you want to organize two or three day’s revival in your church or a seminar on evangelism, church planting and church growth.