Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSAWAKE O ZION!Of Jesus — To The Letter’ was an article in the local press.‘This is communism that works,’ Paddy comments, ‘becauseit’s based on love.’In June Thames Television screened The Lord Took Hold OfBugbrooke. In one shot Paddy washed the same dishes sixtimes over, while Alan told his story. In chapel cameras zoomedin on tongue-speaking worshippers, but it wasn’t unpleasantlysensational. The crew were impressed and frustrated — impressedby our love, changed lives, and liberated worship(some tapped their feet to the choruses); impressed when weministered healing to the producer; and impressed with wordsof knowledge concerning them; but frustrated when a demonwas cast out. They had taken the afternoon off!The film was followed by write-ups. ‘Spotlight On Bugbrooke’was an excellent article in Evangelism Today. Amongstthe secular press was ‘Our Own Bible Belt’ in The Daily Mail,‘The Bugbrooke Phenomenon’ in The Northants Evening Telegraph,and ‘Bugbrooke, Where Alleluias Come Bigger AndNoisier!’ in The TV Times. Some comments were amusing,like this in The Daily Telegraph under the heading ‘Rolling InThe Aisles — A Proven Success’:Abandoning orthodox practices, the minister presents his flockwith a form of worship compounded of American-style hotgospelling, a British-style knees up, total immersion, and a fewgimmicks of his own. Among these are ‘speaking in tongues’ asrelated in Acts of the Apostles... It is difficult not to be impressed.Above all there is an air of total innocence which does not alwaysattach to the more extravagant religious sects. Bugbrookemay not be up front in the intellectual stakes, but it seems a104