Draw
near to God, and he will draw near to you.
In
the April editorial I said that, ‘we need to promote A.R.M.(Wales) in a way
that will encourage those who are already Christians to move into a closer
relationship with God’.
We have now produced a strapline to go on our publications so that must
be my starting point.
I wanted to write about freedom and being set free from bondage but
wasn’t sure where to begin, however the more I look at these ideas the more
they all seem to come back to holiness and sanctification.
In
the last issue I considered the relevance of the Cross to renewal and found
myself again considering Galatians 2:20, and concluded that the
meaning of renewal is to allow Jesus to live in us through the Holy Spirit, and
that he is the one through whom we can communicate with God.
As
I read and pray more about
this I am convinced that we must link renewal with sanctification.
We want to come close to God and that means that we must do so in a
state of holiness but we are apt to back off with excuses as to our unworthiness
or sinfulness. We
forget that to be holy is simply to be set apart for God and that is what
Christians are, or should be.
Yes we are holy because we were sanctified when we were born again and if
we are Christians we are born again.
When we became Christians we were washed clean by the precious blood of
Jesus and we were justified and sanctified at the same time.
It was through coming into silent contemplative prayer, after I had heard
the Lord say draw closer, that I began to understand the meaning and importance
of holiness and sanctification.
God showed me the right scriptures and pointed to a number of books, some
that I had already read but had not of themselves taken hold of me in the way
they did after I realised the importance of holiness in renewal.
I
have said before that people don’t like the word renewal but we
none of us dare say that we don’t like the ideas of holiness and
sanctification; they
may indeed frighten us and we might stand in awe of them but it is vital that we
take them on board if we are to become the people of God in the world.
I urge you to consider this.
We shall never become completely sanctified on this earth but it is a
pathway that we must tread.
As St Paul said,
“continue
to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in
you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
(Phil.2:12-13.NIV)
But
this prompts me to ask, what better model is there for us than Jesus as Paul
describes him in Philippians chapter 2?
We must meditate on these verses and allow Jesus to grow in us, only then
will we know how to encourage others and so promote renewal and all that is dear
to us.
I
find this exciting and it can become a new beginning for A.R.M.(Wales).
When
I got the new set of magazine covers printed I had to allow the four designs to
be repeated for three years.
This was the economic way to do things as we only use four or five
hundred for an issue.
Therefore we have again the doorway from the picture I took at Laodicea
last year. At
the time we also had a problem with overprinting and that issue was meant to say
“See I lay before you an Open Door ”.
We
have now solved the problem by using our own printer for this job but I have
been concerned to find a suitable note to give the cover a fresh look.
Now the Lord has provided a magazine with several references to open
doors and made it very clear to me that the door into his heart is always open.
But remember too that in the letter to the church in Laodicea he said,
“Listen!
I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.
To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as
I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let
anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
(Rev.3:20-22 NRSV)
Note
that he was not speaking to non-Christians but to Christians, and he is still
saying that to us today, he wants nothing more of us.
He will do the rest.
I
wrote this editorial to this point on my return from the Keswick Convention,
where I was pleased to see that the theme was the
Church in the Power of the Spirit.
This was
exciting and I was encouraged that many are considering how that can happen.
One seminar was with Graham Dow, now Bishop of Carlisle, (many of you will
remember his talks to us at Flames of Fire).
He and his diocese are now engaged on a campaign of growth under the
title From
Survival to Revival. When
the title was suggested even the Bishop thought it a bit strong but slowly they
came to realize that it was God given.
There are already signs of growth as each parish has developed its own
vision and the laity are participating in many more activities.
Truly they are acknowledging the power of God in their midst.
I
had hoped to finish the magazine in the few hours I had before coming to Cardiff
for my second Summer School.
Now I have just a hour between this morning’s Eucharist and lunch and I
want to tell you how
much I was thrilled by the sermon given by Bishop David Yeoman.
He spoke of the people of God being living stones (Eph.
2) and made it very clear that we must not keep looking inward at the buildings
etc. We must
set Christ free to do his work amongst us and in the world.
There
is more encouragement for you from John Leach on page 5 and on page 11 words
from our dear brother Brian Favell who went on to be with the Lord in June.
The Pub Church, soon to be referred to as the Barge
Inn Church!,
has sent us a progress report, see The Church in the Pub
May
He bless you all.
Mary Newsom