Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCOMMUNICATE!At the August Festival Noel referred to The Gravedigger Fileby Os Guinness. 107 This book spoke of the devil’s strategy tosubvert Western Christianity. Doubts and discouragementsown in the mind would produce cynicism causing the churchto abandon its radical call. Only constant pursuit of the propheticvision could stop the church digging its grave.It was time to tackle cynicism head on. We launched a campaignto strengthen the heart of community and to sharpenup our distinctives. The previous year we’d used in our weeklyAgape a basic Bible study by Bob Gordon. We now focused onour own accumulated wisdom about ‘Zion’, setting out thebiblical basis of our radical teachings and lifestyle.Opening ourselves to the mainstream had threatened toblunt our prophetic edge. Easier paths were on offer. Thatwas why we had once stood apart. The city needed to stayfirmly on the hill, undiluted, undiminished and uncompromisedif ever she was to meet the desperate need for God’salternative.It was the Zion vision that had captured Steve ‘Capable’s’heart back in 1975. As a searcher and psychedelic hippie,Steve was looking for a spiritual counterculture. His instinctfor holiness found a home in Jesus and amongst us.Now Steve was a sensitive leader and the anointing thathad swallowed up his negativity began to work wonders inLondon. The family at Battlecentre rallied to Steve’s warmthand inspiration as he spoke of the city of God from Isaiah:‘Your sons come from afar and your daughters are carried onthe arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart willthrob and swell with joy’ (Is 60:4, 5).325