Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
AWAKE O ZION!
‘Do not be afraid, little flock,’ Jesus had said, ‘for your Father
has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions...
Provide for yourselves... treasure in heaven’ (Luke
12:32, 33).
We were doing it. All over the community Zion was putting
on her beauty and her lifestyle was characterised by modesty
and simplicity.
‘They’ve really gone off the rails this time!’ people said.
‘They’re even dressing differently now!’
Yes, we were becoming different! We had quietened down.
Paddy’s bottle-top shaker disappeared and Rufus’ African
drum was laid to rest. Percussion was replaced by gentler
music: violins, recorders and clarinets. The racy choruses
slowed down and the heavy beat was turned off. We wrote
songs and hymns that were deep and prophetic and sang more
of Wesley, Watts, and the old worthies.
Fluorescent stickers were removed from cars and clothes
and we changed the colour of the Oxford minibus from bright
orange to tasteful blue. The modern trend was too flashy for
us. Purity and sobriety weren’t exactly ‘hip’ words in the charismatic
scene, and some visitors felt less at home. ‘Show me
as my soul can bear the depth of inbred sin,’ wasn’t quite
what they were used to. Why did we talk so much about Zion
and holiness? It all smacked of legalism, they thought. Noel’s
application of the Scripture, far from being entertaining, was
cutting, commanding, even humiliating. And then all this stuff
about discipling one another! Bugbrooke had definitely gone
off the rails!
Despite the objections, we continued enthusiastically to
forge a kingdom lifestyle. Some found the modesty of our life
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