Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
CITY ON A HILL
kitchen sinks. It was all gross distortion. Noel replied with
statements of orthodoxy on the notice sheets and added this:
By dictionary definition every church is a cult. Jesus, his disciple
band, and the early Jerusalem Church, would, in modern
Britain, be greeted by the shrill cries of the anti-cultists. The
Methodists were scorned for their perfectionism and for their
joyful convicting faith. We too must carry the reproach of the
cross.
We saw the spiritual battle and rejoiced. We had entered the
arena. But the fact that fellow believers could oppose us was
an indication of the state of Christianity in Britain.
‘Britain accepts religion, uses it, and self-righteously flatters
it,’ wrote Noel. ‘The rich strength of a gathered brotherhood
it patronises with smiling indifference or attacks with
false accusings. Western Christianity is an impure, materialistic,
self-centered version of New Testament faith. It is Christianity
without regeneration, without separation, without the
Spirit of love, without the cross, without communal life.’
Noel’s words sliced into unreality. At the same time we
yearned for the disappointed. Britain was littered with Christians
who’d hoped for much but seen little. We felt we should,
like the Good Samaritan, pour in the oil of grace, share our
lives with them and bring them the vision of a restored Zion.
The keynote of our meetings was the restoration of Christian
lives, and hymns like Wesley’s ‘Weary of wandering from my
God’ were sung with tenderness.
We knew from experience that it was only when believers
had entered into the rest and enjoyment of God’s kingdom
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