Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCOMMUNICATE!the changes that had come from hob-knobbing with other charismatics.Shoutings and shakings, dancing and drama were,in his eyes, so many fireworks that distracted us from ourtrue calling.Most of us were happy with the new direction, but thosewho resisted it increasingly lost their bearings. Some of themgravitated towards Mark, who became more and more boggeddown with their problems. The new anointings came as a divide.The cloud moved on, and those who did not move with itfound themselves struggling.The whole Fellowship was going through a time of siftingand refining. The central ground was under attack and enthusiasmfor our special distinctives was being eroded in theminds of some of our members.Families who’d found it hard to keep up with the pace inthe Jesus Army were tempted to compare our rigorous standardswith the less demanding lifestyles enjoyed in other Christianscenes. Maybe community, or even covenant commitment,wasn’t such an important issue after all, they thought.Some celibates began to question their lifelong vows; a fewbrothers were losing their way by getting too involved withsisters. The London household was badly hit when their maincelibate brother and a leading sister whom he pastored suddenlyleft together.September 1989 was declared a month of cleansing. The outwardmove into the mainstream had partly strengthened,partly weakened our central vision. It was sorting people out.The focus now shifted to the internal strength of the church:her holiness, distinctives and prophetic call.318