Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
ON THE MARCH
somewhat tenuous for a number of years. It seemed we didn’t
fit the mould. Our church was one of the biggest on the Baptist
Union list. It was also their biggest embarrassment! Eventually
the BU council threw us out, after refusing to allow
Noel to address them. It was all a lesson in loving our Christian
brethren even when they rejected us and wanted little to
do with us.
However, the constant exchanges with press, critics, advisers
and umpires were wearing down our PR man. Dave ‘Resolute’
was a senior leader in the Warwickshire area and a good
evangelist. As editor of our Newness magazine he’d written
profound articles on the radical church and celibacy. In his
PR role he’d both sat down with Christian leaders, and fended
off the tabloids. But it seemed that his visionary sword was
being hammered into a diplomatic shield.
Dave came to feel that some of the critics were right — we
should tone down and accommodate. Gradually other serious
reservations became apparent. Some of us urged him to
regain a radical vision, but he was adamant. Unless we
changed our whole approach he could see no future for himself
in the Jesus Fellowship. We stood firm but were sad to
see him go.
Had diplomacy gone too far? It was great to have good relationships,
but if other Christians chose to exclude us, that
was their problem. The Anglicans all but kicked Wesley out;
the Methodists kicked Booth out; and everyone kicked the
Pentecostals out! We were in good company. God had given
us a task and we were going to get on with it!
That year The Fight Of Your Life by Clive Calver and Derek
Copley appeared. In it they wrote: ‘Your heart is beginning to
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