Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
the changes that had come from hob-knobbing with other charismatics.
Shoutings and shakings, dancing and drama were,
in his eyes, so many fireworks that distracted us from our
true calling.
Most of us were happy with the new direction, but those
who resisted it increasingly lost their bearings. Some of them
gravitated towards Mark, who became more and more bogged
down with their problems. The new anointings came as a divide.
The cloud moved on, and those who did not move with it
found themselves struggling.
The whole Fellowship was going through a time of sifting
and refining. The central ground was under attack and enthusiasm
for our special distinctives was being eroded in the
minds of some of our members.
Families who’d found it hard to keep up with the pace in
the Jesus Army were tempted to compare our rigorous standards
with the less demanding lifestyles enjoyed in other Christian
scenes. Maybe community, or even covenant commitment,
wasn’t such an important issue after all, they thought.
Some celibates began to question their lifelong vows; a few
brothers were losing their way by getting too involved with
sisters. The London household was badly hit when their main
celibate brother and a leading sister whom he pastored suddenly
left together.
September 1989 was declared a month of cleansing. The outward
move into the mainstream had partly strengthened,
partly weakened our central vision. It was sorting people out.
The focus now shifted to the internal strength of the church:
her holiness, distinctives and prophetic call.
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