My Story
I’ve been a member of the Church of England for most of my life, baptised, confirmed and married and now a Reader in the church.
I married Douglas in 1970 and we lived in Ramsbottom a few miles from Bury, where our two girls where born and later baptised in the local church. It was at my eldest daughter’s baptism that I made a fresh commitment to my faith.
In 1976 we moved house, and my faith grew considerably during the twelve years that we lived there.
I had received some healing through the laying on of hands and in 1980 I came to know Jesus in a personal way. I realised that all that had been written about Jesus was true and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit was real, transforming heart and mind.
During the 1980’s I produced relief wood carvings I attended craft fairs.
I enjoyed working with wood and I was commissioned to do wood carvings with the date on the modified lift in Rochdale Town Hall.
Again in 1988 we moved house to where we live at this present time. In 1992 the Lord gave me direction through a thought that would not go away, to start a pottery business. At the time I was very reluctant but I started going to evening pottery classes. I soon discovered that I hadn’t got a flare for making things out of clay. However in spite of this I went to buy a kiln from Pilling Pottery, Mr Cross and his son ran the pottery, Mr Cross gave me direction he advised me to buy ready made blank glazed mugs, decorate them with floral transfers and fire them at a high temperature. I believed that the Lord was speaking through him and I also had transfers made of Biblical texts which I put on the mugs. I started by supplying churches and a few Christian Book Shops and gave all my profit to various charities.
In 1994 I placed an advert in the Mother’s Union Magazine which covered the whole of the UK.
In response to the add a lady from ‘Dunalong’ Church Northern Ireland contacted me for a selection of my mugs, she was raising funds towards the re-roofing of their church. In total I total I sent 400 mugs to Northern Ireland. When the cheque came from Ireland, the location came to light ‘Londonderry’ these mugs I thought would possibly find their way into the homes of people in the midst of the troubles in Ireland. The texts that people chose were relevant to the situation, just at the time of the start of the peace process.
The Messiah’s Secret
On the 30th May 1996 I was having my afternoon break. Thinking about my pottery the orders that I was in the process of completing. When I was rocked in my chair, even though the chair didn’t physically move. At this moment the words came immediately into my mind were, the disciples were setting up the kingdom of God at the beginning of Acts.
Almost two weeks later, in the morning of the 11th June, I awoke with the words, “ Jesus could only be received as the Messiah after his death, resurrection and ascension.”
The two words came together; the disciples were setting up the kingdom of God in preparation, anticipation of Jesus’ return with the angels of God. This prompted me to write it all down which was the start of the ‘Messiah’s Secret.’ About a month later I had a vision of a door opening into a room full of new furniture. A new settee, a table and chairs, new curtains and wallpaper, everything was new. I discerned that it was in reference what God was revealing to me in the scriptures.
As I studied over the following months I began to see the New Testament in a new and exciting way
I like millions of other Christians had been taught that the nation of Israel had rejected Jesus as their Messiah before his death. It is shown in this book that it was impossible for the leaders and nation of Israel to have received Jesus as their Messiah until after his death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” This is the ‘Messiah’s Secret’ Jesus’ death was hidden from the Jews.
I also realised that over the centuries the Jewish people had at various times had been accused of killing their Messiah, causing anti-Semitism and great suffering, when in fact they had acted in ignorance. God had not revealed to them directly that Jesus was the Messiah, but indirectly through the signs, the miracles and healings that Jesus did. He deliberately spoke in parables which were not easy to understand. The time for receiving Jesus as their Messiah proved to be very difficult for the Chief Priest Caiaphas as he did not believe that the Messiah would come and die. The Jews were taught from the law that the Messiah, the Christ would come and remain for ever. When Jesus was crucified, those passing by shouted, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. It must have also been difficult for him to accept and that God had allowed him to die and be defiled by the Romans.
Reader Training Course
In 1996 I was in my second year of a Lay Readers course and at my church we were going through an interregnum – a time between one Vicar retiring and another Vicar coming into the parish. In December 1996 our new Vicar was licensed. During Christmas of 1997 over a three week period the gospels opened up and I discovered in the word so much about Jesus that I hadn’t heard before. I then broke them down into headings and these formed the chapters in my book with an explanation about this on the back cover.
Soon after our new Vicar arrived it became apparent we were of different churchmanship, as a result although I had finished my Readers course, I wasn’t taken on as his Reader.
I left my church in the Autumn of 1997 and over the following six months I began to write my book, as the Lord continued to opened up the scriptures.
“The Messiah’s Secret. “It was born out of suffering and hurt.
In 2001 I published ‘The Messiah’s Secret.’
In April 2000 I was licensed as a Lay Reader at St. Mary’s Rawtenstall.
William Wrede 1901
In 1996 the Web and computers were around, but it was my daughters who used them and it was only recently now using computers and going on the web that I fully realised that William Wrede in 1901 wrote his book based on a theological study of Mark’s Gospel “The Messianic Secret.” I have never read or studied “The Messianic Secret” by William Wrede. Dorothy Newton 2009.
In 2021, I was led to read for the first time, William Wrede’s Book ‘The Messianic Secret’. As a result I have included in my book that I am in the process of writing, ‘The Messiah’s Secret Revealed’ within it I’ve written a critic of William Wrede’s Book ‘The Messianic Secret’.
Spiritual integrity is very important to me. When I was writing my book ‘The Messiah’s Secret’ I did not realise that the term ‘Messianic Secret’ belonged to a book by William Wrede. I thought of it as a subject that covered Jesus’ ministry.
I first heard about the term ‘Messianic Secret’ when I shared what the Lord had revealed to me to the Vicar of our neighbouring parish, who was involved with my Reader Training. “Jesus’ identity and death had been kept a secret from the Jewish leaders and people of Israel and that the disciples proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah for the first time at Pentecost and that the disciples expected Jesus to return within their life time and restore the eternal kingdom and throne of King David. It was a calling to the nation to accept Jesus as their King and Messiah.”
In response to what I had shared with him, he said, that it was the answer to the ‘Messianic Secret’ which was alluded to in Mark’s gospel, when he told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Also my tutor at the time examined my account that I had written and wrote that it was the Messianic Secret revealed.
What the Lord has revealed to me from the scriptures is precious to me. In my book and blogs, if I have leant anything from someone else, I have identified the source.
In the book I used a system of numbers at the end of a quote on the page with the source against the number at the bottom of the page. Neither of these can be shown on the ‘Introduction’ web pages.
The Lord always seems to give me a task that at the time I do not feel capable of like last year I embarked on updating the book. In November 2013 I published on line ‘The Messiah’s Secret Revealed.’ I acknowledge the words of the Psalmist “Those who sow in tears, reap with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126: 5.
Dorothy Newton
