Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
between two bronze lions, we sang and danced the afternoon
away in a fast moving programme of power, testimony and
sheer exultation. Airbrushed tee-shirts, painted faces and
break dancing emphasised its informality.
A new Jesus movement was taking off and we wanted to be
in at the start. We were limbering up, getting God’s new society
out into the open. Fortunately we had a crop of new disciples
like Frankie and Ronnie ‘Zealous’ who were better on
the streets than us oldies. They’d been there.
Personally I liked the vision but took some time getting my
head round it. Surely, God’s revolution overturned the world’s
values. So what about this upbeat, like-unto-the-world stuff?
It was to communicate with the youth-culture. Hence the beat,
the colour and the drama. The shock did us good, but it was
really for those we were trying to reach.
Jesus called his people to be in the world but not of it. Gerald
Coates reckoned that most Christians were better at being
‘of the world but not in it’! We were finding the balance of
being different, yet relevant.
Youngsters were hungry for warmth and experience. They
found God ‘mind-blowing’, community ‘amazing’ and the music
‘cool’. But it was love that kept them. Houses where love was
weak stood half-empty. But houses where warm, inspired leaders
devoted themselves to their ‘sons’ both grew and prospered.
Battlecentre and the Farm were outstanding examples
— as I noted in my journal:
At a Farm prayer time, someone saw a pair of shoes. The next
day Paul Raj, John Noble’s friend from India, walked in, took off
his shoes and worshipped. ‘I’ve never felt God’s presence like
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