The Way of The Spirit ministry has at its heart the impartation of life through inspired teaching of God’s Word. Our roots can be found in Old Testament Bible times, for example in Samuel’s band of prophets and in Josiah’s re-discovery of God’s word.
John Wycliffe and the faithful teaching of his band of Lollards might be seen as the foreruners of what we are doing: training and releasing prophetic bible teachers – telling people what the bible really says! Smith Wigglesworth prophesied that the Word and the Spirit would one day come together in preparation for the biggest revival the world has ever seen; it is that same dynamic of the Word and Spirit operating together which we see at the heart of all we do.
Deep Roots:
The Fourteenth Century
In fourteenth century England, Bible teacher and translator John Wycliffe sent out his students, armed with their new English Bibles, to teach and preach the Word of God. It was largely due to their continuous expounding of the gospel that the English Reformation took the course it did in the sixteenth century.
Christian revivals, rooted in the faithful teaching of scripture, have greatly influenced Western society.
Unfortunately, it is our own age in which Scripture knowledge and faith in God are rapidly eroding. More than a century of liberal teaching has wrought havoc in our churches, schools and society at large. It is as if we have returned to Wycliffe’s time, with the Bible being little read and taught. The cry of Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (4:6), is as true today as it was in his time.
We thank God for the evangelicals who have kept up a good flow of Bible teaching over these years. But to enjoy the revival flow of life that the Holy Spirit offers, today’s church must turn find a new way, free from the traditional continuum of fundamentalist-liberal thinking .
John Wycliffe
1947:
A new way will come
The need for a new way of understanding the Bible was prophesied as far back as 1947. Smith Wigglesworth, an evangelist and early Pentecostal pioneer, prophesied there would be two great streams of revelation culminating in revival. In the power of the Spirit he prophesied that there would be:
- A revival of emphasis on the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, and
- A revival of emphasis on the living Word of God.
And when these two streams came together, the Church of Jesus Christ would see the greatest movement of the Holy Spirit she has ever seen.
It is our hope and prayer that The Way of the Spirit will provide a contribution to the fulfilment of this prophecy.
Smith Wigglesworth
The Way of the Spirit:
Part of God’s plan to bring that promised revival, right around the world.
At the end of the 20th century Dr John McKay spoke of a new way of approaching the Bible, what he called a ‘third way’. Using the principles he taught, Richard George and a small team continued developing the ministry. They travelled around the world imparting life through Bible teaching, developing new materials, and raising up many new Bible teachers.
Programmes now operate in parts of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and India. The Way of the Spirit is also used in parts of Poland and Germany. In most of these places the material is now being produced in the local vernacular.
God has continued to provide for this work, often miraculously. We see increasing numbers of Christians in the UK and beyond, discover life in their Bibles, teachers raised up and sent out. We continue to look ahead with faith to see the fulfilment of Wigglesworth’s famous prophesy.
John McKay