We
believe in a Trinitarian God..........................
I
feel that this is an important statement to make at this time.
We in A.R.M.(Wales) are now seeking what God wants of us and how we can
share our experiences with the Church in Wales.
If we look at the various Anglican churches we see that there are
definitely different emphases on the approach to God.
Some seem to focus more on God the Father, some on the Son and others on
the Holy Spirit. Churches in
Renewal can frighten off other more traditional worshippers because of a focus
on things charismatic, and that is a word that immediately meets resistance.
God taught me that the Holy Spirit is God but that He is one with the
Father and the Son and that I must not separate Him out from the Trinity.
I had prayed for five months to receive the gift of tongues.
At Easter 1984 I knew that I had been given this gift, but I still could
not speak in tongues. When
Pentecost came I was sure that I would be able to use the gift, I really wanted
it to praise God. But
Pentecost came and went. The
following Sunday the Lord woke me early to go downstairs and pray.
I knelt down and said, “Abba …….”
Out it tipped I was amazed, having lived with this desire for so long I
could hardly believe it. I
stopped and started again several times to be sure that it was real.
Anglicans of course know that it was Trinity Sunday.
To this day I marvel at this lesson, but I soon discovered that at that
stage, the gift was not for praise but for intercession.
I didn’t understand it but felt sure that as I prayed in tongues it was
what God wanted the prayer to be. Praying
for different people bought different tongues, what could this mean? Truth is it doesn’t immediately matter,
what does matter is that we can have a relationship with each member of the
Trinity and we should experience each of them because we will then get greater
insights into the nature of God.
So I
believe that we are called to reflect on our spirituality, looking at our
relationship with the Father will bring us to the realisation that being His
children is crucially important. We
must come to God ‘as a little child’ (Luke 18:17).
We must then consider our relationship to Jesus, first as Saviour and
then as King. We need to
understand what it means to be ‘in Christ’, (e.g. Rom.8:1, 2 Cor.5:17)
and learn how to live in His kingdom.
But such understanding is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit,
all three persons are essential for us to grow as Christians, and become as
Christ to the world. If we
are to be ready to help others we need this insight because many people have no
idea that Christianity is a relationship rather than a religion.
Members of the Church have got to get this relationship sorted out before
they can speak to the world. Too
many of us within the Church in Wales think we have it sorted but where is the
evidence?
It needs a change of heart
for most. Several times recently
God has reminded me of the need for a pure heart that only Jesus can give.
He has in fact already given it when we acknowledge what it means to be
justified and receive His righteousness.
We must think
about why we haven’t received what we know God has given.
This was my problem when ‘speaking in tongues’ was so long in coming,
it is also true of healing and other gifts.
There has to be reasons why we don’t receive, look at James Chapter 4. Think of the number of times we have sung ‘Purify
my heart…’ if we had all
been granted that then surely A.R.M.(Wales) would have already impacted Wales,
because it would mean that we could see God and know exactly what He is doing.
‘Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ (Matt. 5:8)
So
we want to move on but I fear that we are not ready, not until we have those
pure hearts. The
vision has been given but God has work to do on us, are we willing?
See Bob Pitcher’s article and for some thoughts from the
Executive.
Amongst
my A.R.M.(Wales) papers I found a sheet dated April 29th 1997 and
written following a Vision Meeting at an Executive retreat.
It spelled out what I felt then to be the aim of
A.R.M.(Wales)
To see the Church in
Wales changed through the Power of God.
Allowing the Holy Spirit
freedom in our churches so that God alone is glorified
And the means/methods of
promoting this aim:
1)
To encourage those already in Renewal through conferences etc.
2)
To bring together the prophetic and intercession, allowing God’s
revelation to lead the way and acknowledging that we can do nothing in our own
strength. He alone will change the
Church but we must cooperate through intercession and then obedience.
3)
This means repentance and must lead to a willingness to change - to be
made holy.
So we might be searching for
something fresh but God’s word is constant.
He is drawing us into His presence to hear and receive His purification
and anointing for His work.
From the beginning of A.R.M.(Wales), God has shown us that we must be
concerned with the Anglican Church in Wales, this was particularly evident with
the Welsh name
Adnewyddiad
Eglwyswyr Cymru
given in 1985. This is not to say that we are not concerned about other denominations
but we must look to God to teach us the way to be one with other Christians.
If there is to be Revival in Wales we shall come together in a way as yet
unimaginable.
Mary Newsom