Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCITY ON A HILLkitchen sinks. It was all gross distortion. Noel replied withstatements of orthodoxy on the notice sheets and added this:By dictionary definition every church is a cult. Jesus, his discipleband, and the early Jerusalem Church, would, in modernBritain, be greeted by the shrill cries of the anti-cultists. TheMethodists were scorned for their perfectionism and for theirjoyful convicting faith. We too must carry the reproach of thecross.We saw the spiritual battle and rejoiced. We had entered thearena. But the fact that fellow believers could oppose us wasan indication of the state of Christianity in Britain.‘Britain accepts religion, uses it, and self-righteously flattersit,’ wrote Noel. ‘The rich strength of a gathered brotherhoodit patronises with smiling indifference or attacks withfalse accusings. Western Christianity is an impure, materialistic,self-centered version of New Testament faith. It is Christianitywithout regeneration, without separation, without theSpirit of love, without the cross, without communal life.’Noel’s words sliced into unreality. At the same time weyearned for the disappointed. Britain was littered with Christianswho’d hoped for much but seen little. We felt we should,like the Good Samaritan, pour in the oil of grace, share ourlives with them and bring them the vision of a restored Zion.The keynote of our meetings was the restoration of Christianlives, and hymns like Wesley’s ‘Weary of wandering from myGod’ were sung with tenderness.We knew from experience that it was only when believershad entered into the rest and enjoyment of God’s kingdom187