TRUE IDENTITY "Ministry of Reconciliation"  

The Greek words translated as "unveiling" or "revelation" (apokalupto, apokalupsis) mean to reveal, unveil and show something that is hidden, veiled or unknown. Without Light we cannot see what is hidden, we can see no colour, we can see nothing - we are blind.  In spiritual things we are in darkness until God shines His Light (Christ) and reveals all. He penetrates, challenges and dispels darkness - unveiling to us Who He is and who we are. That can feel like a personal apocalypse; an uncomfortable, stormy process through which He enables us to see and let go of 'self' and our ideas in order to accept His.

Why Unveiling? Perhaps only God can fully answer that question in the light of eternity... but for our part (we're Mike and Lynette Woods) it was never our idea to have a website or to write articles or to even share these things with others. In January 1999 we were offered the opportunity of setting up a website and Unveiling.org came into being. However, for us God's unveiling had begun three and a half years prior when He awakened us to Life in Him. At the time we were both very involved in religion and were members of a denominational church. I (Lynette) had lived and breathed Christianity all my life.

Rather unexpectedly, in the first few days of 1996 God called us out of the church we were part of although we didn't completely understand why at the time. All we knew was that He was saying to leave. We knew that He was calling us to something new and different to anything we'd known before. We were excited about this, even though we had virtually no idea of what that might be or even why He wanted us to leave - it was simply a step of faith and trust.  Our call to leave was questioned by the leadership, but for us it was a test of whether we would listen to God or man and we felt we had no choice but to trust God. During this process, we began to see and understand why He had told us to leave; an article which describes some of this experience is entitled Seeing the Son.

Although I considered myself a born-again, Spirit-filled, totally committed follower of Christ, at this point in time when God chose to breathe His Life into me, it was as though I had known nothing previously; I had been dead and now was truly alive! I had been the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 37). I felt as though I had been dead or asleep and had not truly known or experienced God and His Life up until that point compared with what I now was experiencing. It is only when you are awake and alive that you can understand anything and can begin to see and hear!

As I began to use my eyes and ears for what felt like the first time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing that I'd never seen before - both negative and positive. I began to see religion and the church for what it is, as well as seeing God's Way, Truth and Life. The Bible  had been transformed into LIFE and the Living Word! I had never questioned what I had heard, practiced and believed in the church system, but now God Himself began to teach and show me that many of the things I had believed and practiced were not Biblical - which was rather a shock! I realized that many people who go to church think they know God and yet do not even recognize His voice or hear Him for themselves. Hearing and knowing Him personally is not only essential, it is what we are created for: to know this Love, Truth and Way of God!

I had been blind and deaf, but now I was beginning to see and hear... I saw that my "Christianity" had simply been religious self-righteousness and pride - religion, myself and the church had been in the place of Christ in my life. As He began to reveal Himself to me as the Truth, Life and Way of God, I felt that He wanted me to write down what I was learning so that I would not forget it. I found that as I wrote, He expanded upon what He was teaching me and showed me even more but I had no idea that some of these things would later be shared with others.

We had no idea that many people around the world and in previous generations had also experienced similar crises and heard a similar call to come out of religion and into Life! To us it was as though we were the only ones that this had ever happened to. It was only after we had left it all behind that our Father in His mercy continued to confirm His words to us and brought us into contact with others who had heard, seen and experienced the same as us. This has been His way since then, He first teaches us Himself and then confirms His Truth and Way through Life; often through writings which we have not read or heard of previously. We very much appreciate the messages of T. Austin-Sparks for instance, his messages can be heard and read at this website: www.austin-sparks.net

While we certainly recognize the problems with the church and its structures, methods and systems, our desire is to focus on Christ and His Life. When God unveils our eyes to see Him, His Life and Light overwhelms everything else! All is brought into focus and into the correct perspective and balance through Him. We cannot free those who are in bondage or open other people's eyes, ears and hearts to the Truth - we cannot even open our own eyes and ears - we are all totally dependent and reliant upon the only One Who can do that for each of us personally! Yet there is a cost associated with seeing and having our eyes opened and we have to be willing to pay that price.

It has been, and still is, a process and a journey and not an easy one at that. As on any journey, the way is sometimes difficult and we stumble and make mistakes. We are continually having to unlearn and lay aside our understandings and ways in order to learn Christ. It is the process of dying to self and living in Christ. This is an amazing journey of discovering and learning Him and all the freedom that His Life, Truth and Way entails! The words of this song sum it up very well:

Never felt like this before
Now You're all I'm living for
Suddenly, Life has new meaning to me
There's beauty up above and things we never take notice of
You wake up and suddenly you're in Love!

As He reveals and unveils Himself to you, may He truly become All and Everything to you; "We pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation (unveiling) of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate (full) knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with Light so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints, His set-apart ones." (Eph 1:17,18 Amplified Bible).

May His Life, Love and Light pour into you and flow out through you as death is destroyed and Christ's resurrection Life is seen, heard and experienced!

"This is the Testimony: that God has given us His Life and this Life is in His Son." 1 John 5:11.

www.unveilig.org