Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
sense of adventure we’d known at the start. But as we entered
the new era some clung to the past. Others held onto
wrong attitudes: self-righteousness, hypocrisy, lukewarmness
and legalism. As God shook us up everything came to the
surface. Hearts came out for good or ill. And in the midst of
the shaking some of us were caught out.
Over the years some had been unable to cope with our pioneering
and had left. Any army on the advance has its losses.
But now there was a double reaction. Some welcomed our
new direction as offering them a broader path and the opportunity
to embrace the world. Others were too narrow and
resisted the innovations, whether boisterous praise, drama,
videos, flashing lights or flowing with the mainstream.
As for Noel, he seemed an annoying blend of stubbornness
and flexibility. Though resistant to criticism, he was full of
surprises and ready for change. When sufficiently convinced,
he could enthusiastically preach what he had once had little
time for. Some couldn’t take that. They saw the way we were
now going as a sell-out, the end of what we’d fought and sacrificed
for. They lost confidence in the prophetic direction
and became cynical.
Amongst those caught up in this was the senior man at Cornhill.
Mark had been with us almost from the beginning and
typified all we were in terms of ‘Zion’. A leading celibate, his
emphasis was on purity, unworldliness and brotherhood. Mark
was highly regarded and influential.
Over recent years he’d developed reservations about the
direction we were taking and, despite being one of Noel’s
closest advisors, was unable to resolve them. Mark wasn’t
keen on the Jesus Army image, nor was he impressed with all
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