Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
sounds of screaming, coughing and vomiting. God’s temple
was being cleansed and some nasty squatters removed!
But even more inspiring that summer were the delicate experiences
some had of smelling beautiful perfume, feeling a
gentle breeze or sensing the presence of angels.
God had created a culture-shock amongst us. Fresh sight blew
away narrow-heartedness, opened up new horizons and baptised
us into an awareness of God’s movement world-wide.
We felt his heart-throb for the nation and his urge to reach
the unreached. It permeated the songs we sang; ‘I have a
destiny’, ‘We’ll walk this land’, and ‘Heal this nation’.
‘Rise up you champions of God!’ we cried — ‘we’ll reach
this generation’. But how? How could we touch a generation
so desperate for reality? Only by being approachable and relevant.
To reach and win people was the fire in our hearts that
demanded constant change, ever-fresh initiatives.
Before the melting experiences of 1988 there was a degree
of stiffness in our bones, of awkwardness in our style and of
narrowness in our approach. God coloured us in. We became
warm and attractive again.
Symbolically the now rather drab and tatty combat jackets
were laid aside in preference for bright tee-shirts and sweatshirts.
New ‘space-age’ jackets were also on their way. Mottled
in red, green, blue, black, brown and khaki, with yellow
patches — the Jesus Army would be about as camouflaged as
a parakeet in Trafalgar Square!
307