Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKEsending professional people into our midst. The drop-outswoke up to find themselves disciples of Jesus (and got jobs!).The straights were suddenly surrounded by converted freaks.We just wanted to be together and see the work of God goforward. Church life was of overwhelming interest and therewas little time for the world and its pursuits.We didn’t think much of the ‘goggle box’ and quoted thispiece of ironic verse in Jesus Reality: ‘The TV is my shepherd.My spiritual growth shall definitely want. It maketh me to sitdown and do nothing for his name’s sake.’ 17We began to see how unconventional the first disciples ofJesus were. They kicked the system. They broke the mould.They trusted God. They left all else and shared in great simplicity.Around Jesus arose an upheaval of such dramatic proportionsthat the establishment put him down.Where did we stand? For revolution? Yes! A revolution oflove. A revolution that would turn the world’s values upsidedown. But that required commitment, and some among usdidn’t want the hassle. There were many new converts buttoo few of us poured out our lives for them. Revival was blessingat a cost. We had enjoyed the charismatic blessings, butwould we get on the charismatic cross?Some of the young Christians were overtaking us in theirradical devotion to Jesus; others were rapidly backsliding.They could not be absorbed into our middle-class lives. Godwas forcing us to see that we had to make a choice betweenthe world’s culture and Christ’s church. We knew that thespirit of British culture had to go. A marvellous thing thenemerged. Relationships formed that were spiritually based,85