Let’s Pray

In late October the clergy and several lay persons of the diocese gathered at the cathedral church in Bel Air, MD to pray. That was the entire agenda, just pray. Bishop Northwood called the event a mountaintop prayer gathering and gave no agenda to the prayer, although he did state that it was neither politically driven or topically inspired. The purpose of this gathering was to hear God’s voice and to pray and call upon His name in the year so many have called “A year of foresight” “A year of 20/20 vision”.

Of the gathering Father Michael Pacella of Williamsburg, VA wrote:

 There was great anticipation in the air because we have not been able to meet regularly since the eruption of Covid-19. The Bishop provided great leadership and guidance which enabled the Holy Spirit to flow freely. Truly it was the fire in the fireplace! The worship and preached words were rich and up-lifting. I received a word from the Book of Ezekiel about the dry bones living again and being resurrected into a great people. This can be found in Ezekiel 37. 

Many similar words were given which brought much edification to all.

The fellowship was excellent and fruitful too. We are truly a team and a growing family. The honor of having so many young people among us was also a blessing. I was refreshed spiritually and affirmed by the ministry that the Bishop provided for all who desired prayer. 

God is moving mightily in the Mid-Atlantic Diocese. We are truly blessed to have such a fine and spiritually sensitive leader, as we do in Bishop Rob Northwood.

Father Terry Murphy of Christ the Redeemer in Baltimore:

As we were praying after our lunch, I had a vision of a memory from my past. I was in the backyard on the alley side of our row home in the city. When a saw a familiar sight of a man carrying a bag and wearing a knapsack, with his tools. This man would occasionally come through the neighborhood and ask if anyone wanted their knives sharpened. I then saw Jesus stopping by each church asking if they wanted their “knives” /gifts sharpened. The impression I got was some churches were not interested.

During worship and Fr. Jim singing “Power in the name of Jesus “ I saw the Bishop take his crozier and smash the chain in the center of the link…and the link exploded with force…Bishop Rob asked me to wait after Fr Jim sang “O Come to the Altar” and worship at Jesus feet. The Bishop Rob asked me to share…I did and I said we all have chains…and asked him to break mine…The Bishop asked me to come forward….it was powerful and Bishop Rob prayed over me in proxy for Fr. Rob and Meg….later I saw Bishop Rob use his crozier again breaking another enemy stronghold.

The prayer began on Friday morning and concluded Saturday. Both days it continued well into the late afternoon, with words being given and confirmed, praises being sung, and ministry to many individuals. Praise God for a powerful movement in such a strange hour as this! It was refreshing for all to see and receive a fresh wind from the motion of the Holy Spirit and inspiring to see such fire within the sanctuary and “the fireplace” of apostolic authority.

New Wine & The Charismatic Stream

-Sarah Northwood
6/5/2019

“The old wine is good enough” but is it? This is the question that the Lord asked me after I had been walking with Him in what I thought was a strong committed relationship for several years. I want to explain how I related with God, what I realized was missing, and how it has changed the way I live as a Christian now.  

Sarah Northwood

I turned over management of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ 33 years ago. I learned many things about the Lord and the Christian life in a sound Bible believing Evangelical church.  I had come out of a lifestyle of worldly behaviors and foolishness. I was convinced to the point of being willing to be taught and led, however, some of those things I was taught were contrary to the truth. One of those beliefs was the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit.

My church at the time loved the Lord, we sought to “carry our cross daily” we learned to serve our brothers and sisters and reach the lost as we were eager and compelled by Love to “Go therefore and make disciples…” For all those teachings and especially the godly examples of those pastors who were servant-leaders to us, I am grateful. However, much of what we lived out in our Christian lives could be done without the need for the supernatural empowering and direction of the Holy Spirit. 

We applied Biblical principles, we disciplined ourselves to follow those principles rather than our own feelings, and we even shared the gospel with others based on carefully laid out spiritual laws and gospel presentations. We learned to praise God thorough all afflictions, but we were relatively unaware of Spiritual warfare. We didn’t believe that God would do supernatural healing or give prophetic direction. We didn’t learn to “hear God” except through the abundance of counsel (prayers of those around us) or the Scriptures. Believing that God was supernaturally empowering us or leading us or even working a miraculous sign through us was not one of our experiential beliefs. 

A dear friend asked me to join her at a Charismatic healing service. I went with her to make sure that, when He didn’t do what she was seeking, I would encourage her to remain faithful to the Lord.  Trouble is, she got healed that night! This was a little crack in my theological armor, but because it wasn’t in my own experience, I wasn’t persuaded that it really happened. However, God began to reveal many things to me as I became increasingly willing to believe that He was showing me things that I hadn’t been taught. He wanted to show me that He does still use people to heal others- sometimes miraculously! He wanted to show me that He is still giving people prophetic words and revealing words of knowledge to them and speaking through them in a heavenly language. I have been able to follow Him into conversations that, before would have led nowhere only to find that, as He leads it, they are open to words of truth that He provides. I have been led by Him to pray for strangers and see them healed of physical as well as emotional hurts.

All this change wasn’t an easy transition for me, however. I had to be willing to let go of the teaching that didn’t line up.  Instead of believing that the Holy Spirit is not currently doing miracles or healing people, I needed to reevaluate that in light of what God was trying to show me.  This caused a lot of growing pains.

What did I learn? That the old wine isn’t good enough.  There is a joy and an excitement as we are “filled with new wine”. There is an empowerment which comes when a person is yielded to the Spirit and allowing God to supply them with His words, His knowledge, His inspiration, His love and counsel. 

 We can follow the teaching of Jesus Christ as indicated in the Bible, we can mature in our character as we apply those principles to our lives.  We can even lead others to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ without necessarily being “filled with the Spirit”, but we will only be teaching them what we have “learned”- i.e. The lessons and teachings we have given mental ascent to. As for experiential knowledge of God and His presence, and the supernatural gifting that He wants to give His children to equip them for ministry and growth, these are only available as the Holy Spirit fills us and works through us.  This is the Charismatic Stream that creates a distinction between those who “know Him” and those who are in Him. Is it WWJD (What Would Jesus DO?) or WIJD? (What is Jesus Doing) What is He doing through you, not what has he taught you to do. This is the difference between the new wine and the old wine. So, you can ask yourself, “Is the old wine good enough?” New Wine into Old Wineskins is a parable of Jesus. It is found at Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39.