Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSCOMMUNICATE!in the spiritual climate now developing. All around were confused,longing people sick of material values and hungry forlove, warmth and reality. Our task was to identify, show abrotherly alternative and gently guide them to Jesus.In the light of this, any aggressive overtones in the armyimage were played down. We Fight For You! and Love, Powerand Sacrifice were mellowed to Jesus People—Loving People.We were a JESUS army with the emphasis on Jesus. RecentlyGod had changed the face of our church. We now neededa new image, a new approach. So at the 1993 Easter Festivalwe launched the ‘modern JESUS army’ in all its rainbow colours:its commission — to flow with the people.The following months found us at raves, in pubs and nightclubs,at parties, on the beaches and at festivals. We baptisedpeople in rivers, the sea, even the fountains at TrafalgarSquare. A fast-moving video, We’re Jesus Revolutionaries,captured some of the excitement. But the heart of this revolutionwas Jesus, friend of sinners. Loving people was thekey.The creation sketch from Narnia was repeated in Manchesterand Sheffield and the marked anointing on it suggestedthat God could use technology as a servant of the Spirit.At clubs and festivals we noted the tremendous influenceof music. If music communicated so powerfully, then maybeGod was calling us to speak in its language. Everywhere wesaw the instinct to worship. Whether dancing before a totempole or raving the night away on ecstasy, people wanted toabandon themselves in a group experience akin to worship.The present culture was also highly visual. Pictures speakmore than words and even books were becoming outdated in360