Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCOMMUNICATE!sense of adventure we’d known at the start. But as we enteredthe new era some clung to the past. Others held ontowrong attitudes: self-righteousness, hypocrisy, lukewarmnessand legalism. As God shook us up everything came to thesurface. Hearts came out for good or ill. And in the midst ofthe shaking some of us were caught out.Over the years some had been unable to cope with our pioneeringand had left. Any army on the advance has its losses.But now there was a double reaction. Some welcomed ournew direction as offering them a broader path and the opportunityto embrace the world. Others were too narrow andresisted the innovations, whether boisterous praise, drama,videos, flashing lights or flowing with the mainstream.As for Noel, he seemed an annoying blend of stubbornnessand flexibility. Though resistant to criticism, he was full ofsurprises and ready for change. When sufficiently convinced,he could enthusiastically preach what he had once had littletime for. Some couldn’t take that. They saw the way we werenow going as a sell-out, the end of what we’d fought and sacrificedfor. They lost confidence in the prophetic directionand became cynical.Amongst those caught up in this was the senior man at Cornhill.Mark had been with us almost from the beginning andtypified all we were in terms of ‘Zion’. A leading celibate, hisemphasis was on purity, unworldliness and brotherhood. Markwas highly regarded and influential.Over recent years he’d developed reservations about thedirection we were taking and, despite being one of Noel’sclosest advisors, was unable to resolve them. Mark wasn’tkeen on the Jesus Army image, nor was he impressed with all317