Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSNEW GENERATIONhow he was getting on. He was a funny bloke, now dreamingat the picture again. I’d met his friend a week back on a Bristolcoach campaign. There had been a word of knowledgethat we’d meet a young man who was going through a marriagebreakdown. We had. He was now paying us a visit andhad brought Jason down as a bonus.Soon we were sharing and praying together. Jason, nowout of his coma, explained, in a Bristol tongue, how his headhad been ‘done right in’ by what he had seen of our community.Apparently this was a favourable response. Jason reckonedwe were ‘well dodgy’. Not ‘dodgy’, meaning suspect,but ‘well dodgy’, which meant radical, distinctive and dangerousto the devil. I marvelled at the English language.Moments later it was my turn to be gob-smacked as theone-time glue sniffer, burglar and car thief went on to reveala depth of biblical knowledge and spiritual insight that shookme. God, and no one else, had opened this young man’s eyes.We discussed the kingdom of God and he bubbled on about‘the holy bride’ from Isaiah and Revelation, elated to findsomeone who understood. We made friends. I laid hands onhim; the Spirit of God came and he started to shake.So began an episode which, repeated with many other people,was prophetic of a new phase amongst us — the dawningof a new generation, the passing of the torch.1993 had been an inspiring year with record growth. JesusLive had been a definite hit and was scheduled for a six citytour of the UK. Searchers were everywhere, with people queuingup for baptism. My diary for 1994 began on an unusually374