Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCITY ON A HILLBut we felt the strain and were being worn down by persecutionand discouragement. It was a year for courage. Weneeded to endure through the ‘darkest hour’. ‘It’s easy at thestart,’ we sang, ‘with hearts aflame with zeal... It’s now thesecond watch and the night is dark and cold...’The evil day was a time to stand together, and the wordcame through clear — ‘Hold on to what you have!’ (Rev 3:11).As evil powers put a cloud upon us the temptation was tocompromise or desert. But the vast majority clung to covenantloyalty. We were determined to retain our depth in God,and let ‘no one take our crown’. But somehow the crown wastarnished. Something of the glory was passing away.In September, prophetic wisdom was given that soundedthe alarm. A group was seen standing in a circle facing outwardsready to go and welcome in the lost. But at the verycentre was a dark cloud where the enemy had gained a foothold.Could it be true? Had ‘the flesh’ gained ground amongstus? Had we become lukewarm? Our growth rate was slowand our evangelism disappointing. Was this a sign of our decay,that our arteries were hardening, that spiritual deathwas creeping over the church?We faced up to the possibility of God’s judging hand uponus. All was not well. The converts we did gain, like Vikki,often split off. We were making little impact on the educatedand professionals, and few Christians joined us. At home, ourteenagers were difficult and some quite rebellious. Holidayschool was a strain and had to be abandoned. Our standardswere slipping, people were uninspired and enthusiasm forself-denial had abated.213