      O, God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly;
      My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh longs for Thee,
      In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
      Thus I have beheld Thee in the sanctuary,
      To see Thy power and Thy glory.
      (Psalm 63:1-2)

PERSPECTIVE
God's people throughout history have themselves declared, "The nearness of God is my good". The Scriptures are full of God's central desire for a vital and intimate relationship with His people. He longs to dwell among them and to be their God. Yet God is righteous and holy, and He hates sin. He is jealous for His Name's sake. Scripture confirms that God's nature will not permit Him to overlook the presence of sin in or among His people. He judges them severely when they fail in speedy repentance - He withdraws His manifest presence from them; He refuses to hear their prayers; He often brings calamitous punishments upon them. His prophet declared, "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

Who can deny the deplorable spiritual and moral conditions that prevail among us? Who can ignore the multitude of afflictions that plague the land? Our nation once knew a time when the people of God would immediately go penitently before Him in the midst of calamity. Will those who are called by His name today humble themselves? Will they pray? Will they seek His face? Will they turn from their wicked ways? What if they do not . . . ?

      'Woe to the rebellious children,' declares the Lord,
      'Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
      And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
      In order to add sin to sin;
      Who proceed down to Egypt,
      Without consulting Me,
      To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh,
      And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!'
      (Isaiah 30:1-2)

Many churches today engage in activities contrary to the commands of God. They have abandoned their first love for the love of material things. Embracing modern culture, churches profane God's name with idolatrous substitutes for Him and His mighty power. The church now looks to the secular world for models - growth, financing, promotion, administration, organization, entertainment. During periods of spiritual awakening, God quickens and empowers His people to bring about His purposes according to His own ways. He demonstrates His wondrous works among them in aspects that can only be attributable to Him.

      'Has a nation changed gods,
      When they were not gods?
      But My people have changed their glory
      For that which does not profit.
      Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
      And shudder, be very desolate,' declares the Lord.
      'For My people have committed two evils:
      They have forsaken Me,
      The fountain of living waters,
      To hew for themselves cisterns,
      Broken cisterns,
      That can hold no water.'
      (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

Sadly, today's church rolls appear filled with unregenerate members. Church attendance is only a fraction of the multitudes who claim to be "born-again" Christians. Millions sincerely believe they are saved and going to heaven when they die but presently demonstrate no credible evidence of regeneration. During seasons of Biblical revival, history records wide-spread, genuine and lasting conversions of lost souls.

A predominance of preaching today appears man-centered and self-exalting. It often seems characterized by timidity and irrelevance. "Health and wealth" and "therapeutic" themes, even though popular, only heal the wounds of God's people superficially (Jeremiah 6:14). Much preaching is non- doctrinal and/or doctrinally errant, and sorely lacks personal conviction, Biblical authority and the power of the Holy Spirit.

      'Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering
       the sheep of My pasture!' declares the Lord.
      'But if they had stood in My council,
      Then they would have announced My words to My people,
      And would have turned them back from their evil way
      And from the evil of their deeds.'
      (Jeremiah 23:1, 22)

God purposes that His Word be preached with great effectiveness to His own glory. Indeed, "God was well- pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (I Corinthians 1:21). Spiritual awakenings in former times have been characterized by a recovery of God-anointed and empowered preaching as well as doctrinal reformation.

Effective, fervent prayer is grievously neglected in today's church. Church members flock eagerly to social events and entertaining programs. They willingly attend endless religious activities and meetings. They will regularly participate in "worship" services and even Bible studies. But God's people, both personally and corporately, woefully disregard earnest, God-centered prayer. Seasons of prolonged prayer, Biblical fasting and solemn assembling are often unheard of or grossly misunderstood. Ardent, protracted, God-centered praying has been a distinguishing mark of revivals of the past. God then comes among His friends to awaken a spirit of extraordinary prayer.

      Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,
      Thou who dost lead Joseph like a flock;
      Thou who art enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
      Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy power,
      And come to save us!
      O God, restore us,
      And cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
      O Lord God of hosts,
      How long wilt Thou be angry with the prayer of Thy people?
      Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
      And Thou hast made them to drink tears in large measure.
      Thou dost make us an object of contention to our neighbors;
      And our enemies laugh among themselves.
      O God of hosts, restore us,
      And cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
      Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand,
      Upon the son of man whom Thy didst make strong for Thyself.
      Then we shall not turn back from Thee;
      Revive us and we will call upon Thy name.
      O Lord God of hosts, restore us;
      Cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
      (Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19)

In times of Biblical revival, God's people treasure a heightened awareness of His holiness and justice which prompts them to approach Him with most humble awe and veneration. Today, however, reverence for a holy God wanes, and one finds little fear of God in the modern church where presumptuous and entertaining religious exercises are conducted according to the dictates of human whims and preferences. Such "worship" is not motivated toward God Who instructs His "righteous ones" to "sing for joy." "Praise is becoming to the upright" (Psalm 33:1). Only in His "presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). "The Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face" (Psalm 11:7). His people may only worship Him in the beauty of and for the splendor of His holiness.

Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the Mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in holy array.
(Psalm 29:1-2)

Indeed, a God-fearing worship leader should warn the unrepentant against blaspheming and offending God with "strange fire" (Leviticus 10). The God of the Bible is worthy to be worshipped in a manner of His own choosing. He accepts worship which is offered according to His will as revealed in Scripture.

'I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.'
(Amos 5:21-24)

History indicates that a further hallmark of Biblical spiritual awakenings is a Godly sorrow and grieving over sin accompanied by genuine repentance. The Spirit of God mightily arrests the attention of the impenitent, and God's people recover the spirit of brokenness and contrition.

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
(II Corinthians 7:9-10)

The God of the Bible is both holy and just. In righteous judgment He always administers retribution to those who persist in rebellion against Him. However, the God Who is portrayed from today's pulpits is too meek and mild to even protest the wickedness of His own people. Are there two Gods? Has God changed or grown up as some suggest? Or, is there only one everlasting unchangeable God Who deals now with unrepentant sinners as definitely and severely as in times past? International Awakening Ministries (IAM) asks today's churches these fundamental questions.

'Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts.
'But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years.
Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside an alien, and do not fear Me,' says the Lord of hosts.
'For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord of hosts.
(Malachi 3:1-7)

We believe that God has already judged His church for her sins, yet He delights to mingle mercy with severity. When God's people yearn for the return of His manifest presence among them, they find a God Who takes pleasure in being gracious and merciful.

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of Justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.
(Isaiah 30:18)

In many cities and towns throughout the world, men and women can be found gathering to pray for Biblical revival and God- sent spiritual awakening. The directors of IAM have great hope that the God Who has initiated and directed these prayers will soon answer them. Join us in urging the Father to come among His people and pour out upon them "the Spirit of grace and of supplication" (Zechariah 12:10).

Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Thine indignation toward us to cease.
Wilt Thou be angry with us forever?
Wilt Thou prolong Thine anger toward all generations?
Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again,
That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?
Show us Thy loving kindness, O Lord,
And grant us Thy salvation.
(Psalm 85:4-7)

Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear.
O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
(Habakkuk 3:2)

PURPOSE
International Awakening Ministries was formed in 1985 by a group of Chicago-area men whose heartbeat was to bring Christians into a greater awareness of the need for spiritual awakening along with a clearer understanding of the nature of genuine Biblical revival. These days the term "revival" is associated with various phenomena and events which in the light of Scripture are often exposed as counterfeits. IAM views revival as a gracious work of a sovereign God Who, in times of His choosing, pours out His Spirit on His people and manifests His presence to them.

In concert with many others, the members of the Board of Directors of IAM pray for such an effusion of God's grace. These directors are:

John Sale	- Pastor of Grace Community Bible Church in Rosell, Illinois
Lowell Yoder	- Attorney with McDermott, Will & Emery in Chicago, Illinois
Dennis Mitchell	- Vice President of Sales with JNL Industries (computer software manufacturer) in Hanover Park, Illinois
Richard Owen Roberts	- Itinerant Minister, Bookseller and Publisher in Wheaton, Illinois

POTENTIAL
From 1732 to 1770, the young American colonies experienced wave after wave of Divine activity. Then came the Revolutionary War and a generation which had departed far from God. By the time Timothy Dwight became President of Yale College in 1795, the nation had plunged deeply into moral evil and spiritual darkness. Most of the students were given to licentious behavior and to mockery of spiritual matters. Dwight began a series of sermons at the college chapel in which he lifted up and proclaimed the great God of Scripture. The Holy Spirit laid hold of hearts, and by the time of Dwight's death in 1817, God had visited the college with four mighty seasons of revival. Many of the students affected became pastors and leaders of Christian ministries throughout the nation. For nearly sixty years, culminating in the great revival of 1857-1858, this land knew much of the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ.

Throughout history when the church has found itself in moral and spiritual decay, God's people have banded together in prayer, fasting, repentance and in seeking His face. Faithfully, God comes among His returning people in profound power to revive His church for His name's sake. Books are filled with the names, places, dates and effects of such spiritual awakening. Men like Ezra, Nehemiah, Joel, Martin Luther, John Knox, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Asahel Nettleton and Evan Roberts live on in the memories of revived believers. Regrettably, this American century will soon close with as yet no record of any sustained, wide-spread movement of God in spiritual awakening.

Nevertheless, hope abounds. The God Who moved remarkably in those former days is still on His throne. His glory is best served by a vibrant, holy, praying church. Join with International Awakening Ministries in crying, "For Your name's sake, do it again, Lord, do it again!"

PROGRAM

Preaching - IAM supports the itinerant ministries of men burdened by God for reformation and revival.
Publishing - International Awakening Press issues out-of- print spiritual classics and publishes vital works that convey the message of reformation and revival.
Tapes - The distribution of audio and video tapes on revival, regeneration, repentance and related themes is a major concern of the ministry.
Conferences - Seminars, conferences, short/long-term studies with the International Institute are all part of IAM's projected vision.

IAM's facilities are adjacent to the Billy Graham Center on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. The ministry can provide immediate access to extensive collections of revival literature. With proximity to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, IAM desires to supplement training received in other institutions and to afford short-term programs to pastors, missionaries and other interested persons.

International Awakening Ministries, a not-for-profit Illinois corporation, is an interdenominational ministry supported by the gifts of concerned churches, individuals and institutions.