Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
AWAKE O ZION!
Just as the Reformers recovered biblical saving faith and
the Nonconformists, the independence of the local church,
so the Methodists restored the blessing of holiness and the
Pentecostals opened the way for the charismatic movement.
Who, then, were God’s pioneers in this generation? It could
only be those who built on all this and pressed on.
But was there more to be recovered? ‘Yes!’ We felt. ‘Community
of goods!’ That, if anything, was surely a lost jewel of
the evangelical church. In Acts 4 Luke records that after the
outpouring of the Spirit, ‘All the believers were one in heart
and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his
own, but they shared everything they had.’ (Acts 4:32). This
was no ‘experiment’. Community of goods sprang from hearts
on fire with love. It was a master move of the Holy Spirit and
was followed by ‘much grace’ and miraculous power for healing
and salvation.
There was a move towards community living following the
charismatic outpouring of the early seventies. In that decade
community came within the charismatic compass and was
featured in prominent Christian magazines. Many had heard
of the Church of the Redeemer, and by 1977, to our joy, we
were discovering that similar communities had sprung up
throughout the world.
However, in general the community revelation was now
being passed by. Some had experimented unsuccessfully with
extended households, and larger ventures had faltered. Few
were founded on radical principles and fewer still on the common
purse. There was talk of alternative lifestyles, but it was
rare to find churches teaching and embracing community.
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