Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
ON THE MARCH
happened. For following her was a path of light. Stepping out
of the darkness, many caught hold of her robes and danced
like children in the radiance she brought. And so Mother Zion
was joined by the multitudes who longed for her coming, as
she travelled on heralding the dawn in a darkened land.’
Samson used a jawbone. So would we. JAWBONE was conceived
as the Jesus Army War Battle Operations Network.
Inspired by the early Salvation Army, we continued to think
in military terms. A ‘War Fund’ was set aside, community
houses were seen as battle stations, the Marquee as a battlefield
and inner city houses as ‘Battlefronts’.
JAWBONE co-ordinated leadership. We had brought system
and management to our businesses, but church administration
had been fairly loose, with households running their
own affairs and ‘covered’ only informally by senior brothers.
Now was the time for efficiency. The group of Covering Authority
brothers had expanded to ten and began to meet
monthly. There was more delegation. Pastoral administration
shifted towards Mark “Strong”, more of the community management
came under Mike “Rockfast” and evangelism was
headed by Mick “Temperate”.
More brothers came into JAWBONE to motivate and administer
special areas such as discipleship, literature, new
converts, backsliders, LEAP teams, distant households and
campaigns. PR fell mainly on Noel’s secretary, Liz, who became,
for the press, the no-nonsense spokeswoman of the
Jesus Fellowship.
JAWBONE toured the church, motivating the household
leaders. The drop-out rate of our converts was disappointing,
280