We Need What the Lord Has Given to The
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MAY 2014 Catholic Charismatic Renewal serving the church The newsletter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Melbourne, Australia. www.ccr.org.au ‘We need what the Lord has given to the Catholic Church to live fully as Christians’ The founder of Scandinavia’s biggest Bible school on why he is becoming a Catholic By LUKE COPPEN coherence to one of the fastest-growing, yet most diffuse Christian movements in the world. When I spoke to him I was struck by his sharpness, integrity and good humour. He is evidently a man who has searched his own heart thoroughly and obeyed what he found there, no matter how inconvenient. Were you baptised a Lutheran as a child? Yes, I was. I was born and raised in Gothenburg, which is a big port. It’s a very Leftist city with a strong labour movement. I lived a very secularised life. I had a very strong conversion in 1970 through a friend who started to evangelise me. It was a great shock to me that he had become a Christian and then I suddenly realised there was something to this I could not escape. So he led me On Sunday 9 March, Ulf Ekman stood nervously before over a period of several months to realise that I needed the congregation of the Word of Life church in Uppsala. Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. That totally changed Dressed in a suit and pale blue tie, the Swedish pastor my life. It was really coming out of darkness in a very, very looked out at the faces of those whose delights and concrete way. hardships he had shared since he founded the megachurch in 1983. You’ve said you had an experience in your youth when you suddenly became aware of the divisions “This is one of those days when I have something special among Christians and began crying. Can you tell me to say,” he began. Several minutes into the address, about that? which has been watched more than 8,000 times on Well, it was very unusual. I was there with a friend. He YouTube, he got to the crux: “[My wife] Birgitta and I is now actually head of one of the Lutheran low church have in recent days sensed the Lord’s leading, urging movements. We were both students at that time. We were us to join the Catholic Church. This may seem a very talking about the Church and the problems in the Church. radical step. But we have great peace and great joy in continued on pages 3, 6 and 7 this decision. “Now,” he continued, “you may be thinking: ‘Boy, that’s the worst thing I’ve heard for a long time…’” The camera then cut away to a young woman whose lip seemed to quiver with shock. It’s hard for those of us unfamiliar with the charismatic world to grasp the significance of Pastor Ulf’s decision. Described as “a pastor of pastors,” he founded Scandinavia’s largest Bible school and helped to establish more than 1,000 church communities in the former Soviet Union. Through his preaching and writings he has given ACROSS MY DESK Page 2 • COVER ARTICLE: ‘WE Need WHat THE LORD HAS GIVEN TO THE CatHOLIC CHURCH TO LIVE FULLY AS CHRISTIANS’ Continued pages 3, 6, 7 THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARIES Pages 4-5 • THE LIKELY EvaNGelisers IN THE New EvaNGelisatioN Page 7 • “IT’S IN SILENCE THat A MOTHer ASKS GOD TO PROTECT Her CHILDREN" Page 8 PENTECOST CELEBRATION Page 9 • BOOK REVIEW Page 10 • A WORD... FROM MIRIAM Page 11 • MARK YOUR DIARIES Page 12 ACROSS MY DESK I had the privilege recently of being one of 30 people For enquiries about Catholic Charismatic Renewal, invited to Rome to take part in the Colloquium on its events or prayer groups visit the: Deliverance. This was an important meeting and fruit CCR CENTRE that it will bear will be prolific. 101 Holden Street North Fitzroy In the months of preparation for this meeting I would VIC 3068 find myself asking the Lord: “Please can I meet Pope (Car park entry in Dean Street) Francis – please can I have a hug from him.” I, like many others, had Telephone: (03) 9486 6544 heard the stories of people coming back from Rome having “just run Fax: (03) 9486 6566 into the Pope” whilst in a coffee shop or in the street, and I wanted to Email: [email protected] be able to meet him informally in like manner. About a month before The Centre is open 10.00am - 4.00pm, my departure a friend told me about two of her friends and how they Monday - Friday, except Public Holidays. had gone into a coffee shop near the Vatican and there he was – sitting Good News down having his morning coffee! So I pestered her for the name of Good News is published quarterly, on each the shop and you guessed it! On my one day off I made a bee line for Renewal Day (see back page). the exact place, to no avail. I then visited every coffee establishment Editor: Lenyce Willason around the Vatican, but it wasn’t meant to be. I went off to the place Email: [email protected] where the Colloquium was being held still hoping the Lord would make it possible. Assistant Editor: Andrea Baxter We hear and learn that God knows what is in our hearts; we even listen Editorial Assistant: Mary Crawford to the Psalmist tell us Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you Distribution: CCR Centre Team the desires of your heart, (Ps 37:4), but do we always believe it? Well, I Articles, news items and other contributions should do and He did. This is one of those verses that we can twist to suit our be sent to the editor at the above address. own fancy. This verse does promise that God will give us the desires of Good News is published by Catholic Charismatic our heart – but do we really know the true desires that our hearts hold? Renewal (CCR) in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Taken in context it means that we need to focus on God’s nature, if we Australia, by the Co-ordinators: Lenyce Willason love God with all that we are, we’ll discover that the desires of our heart (Executive Director), Miriam Markis (Centre will be transformed and he will give to us according to his will. Manager), Daniel Serratore (Youth Co-ordinator), Tony Grieve, Diana Tominac, Ban Wee, Christine At the close of the Colloquium it was suggested that we each pray for Grech and Gunawan Goh. one another, specifically that we would give each other the Father’s blessing. We were instructed to ask God what was in His heart for each Neither the Co-ordinators nor the Editor necessarily endorse opinions expressed in articles in this person before we prayed. As I was receiving prayer I felt the Lord say in publication, nor does CCR necessarily endorse my heart: this is really why you wanted a hug from the Pope – you really events mentioned, other than those events listed wanted the Father's blessing. on the back page. A song we sing regularly in our prayer meetings is: Good News is distributed free of charge to registered CCR groups in the Archdiocese of And the Father will dance, as on a day of joy. Melbourne. He will rejoice over you and renew you by his love. For individuals who would like a copy mailed, I think that what each of us is really looking for deep within our being is a the annual subscription is $15.00 for four issues. tangible experience of the Father blessing us and rejoicing over us. As All subscription enquiries should be addressed to the Lord revealed to me what really was in my heart all I could do was The CCR Centre, 101 Holden Street, North Fitzroy, laugh with delight as tears filled my eyes. He already knew before I left VIC 3068. Australia how he was going to answer that prayer, and it wasn’t going Ph: (03) 9486 6544 to be in a coffee shop! What a wise and loving God we serve. I learned Good News can be downloaded in Adobe Reader again the wisdom contained in verse five of Psalm 37: Commit your format from the CCR website: www.ccr.org.au way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this (Ps 37:5). Unless otherwise indicated, any article printed in With Pentecost coming upon us I pray that each and every one of you Good News may be reproduced without change experience a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit that will set your hearts ablaze and in its entirety (acknowledging the source) with zeal for the Lord. for non-commercial and non-political purposes without prior permission from Catholic Charismatic A very good way to do that would be to come along to the Pentecost Renewal Melbourne. Mass to be celebrated by Fr Ken Barker along with other priests that Copyright © 2010 CCR Melbourne. is being planned by the ‘One’ leadership team. See details for this All rights reserved. celebration on page 9. Lenyce Willason, The deadline for the next issue of Good News is Executive Director. Friday 18 July, 2014. 2 GOOD NEWS • WWW.CCR.ORG.AU ‘We need what the Lord has given to the atholic Church to live fully as Christians’ continued from page 1 This came very suddenly over me, the feeling of the sorrow wrapped up in free church theology and the free church that Christ has over all the divisions in the Church.