Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
At the August Festival Noel referred to The Gravedigger File
by Os Guinness. 107 This book spoke of the devil’s strategy to
subvert Western Christianity. Doubts and discouragement
sown in the mind would produce cynicism causing the church
to abandon its radical call. Only constant pursuit of the prophetic
vision could stop the church digging its grave.
It was time to tackle cynicism head on. We launched a campaign
to strengthen the heart of community and to sharpen
up our distinctives. The previous year we’d used in our weekly
Agape a basic Bible study by Bob Gordon. We now focused on
our own accumulated wisdom about ‘Zion’, setting out the
biblical basis of our radical teachings and lifestyle.
Opening ourselves to the mainstream had threatened to
blunt our prophetic edge. Easier paths were on offer. That
was why we had once stood apart. The city needed to stay
firmly on the hill, undiluted, undiminished and uncompromised
if ever she was to meet the desperate need for God’s
alternative.
It was the Zion vision that had captured Steve ‘Capable’s’
heart back in 1975. As a searcher and psychedelic hippie,
Steve was looking for a spiritual counterculture. His instinct
for holiness found a home in Jesus and amongst us.
Now Steve was a sensitive leader and the anointing that
had swallowed up his negativity began to work wonders in
London. The family at Battlecentre rallied to Steve’s warmth
and inspiration as he spoke of the city of God from Isaiah:
‘Your sons come from afar and your daughters are carried on
the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will
throb and swell with joy’ (Is 60:4, 5).
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