Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKE
of discovery as the delighted pastor stepped back, and allowed
the Spirit to move. They didn’t know what would happen
next. One lad jumped up, took his glasses off, and peered
out of the window. ‘Hey! I can see the Baker’s Arms sign really
clearly now!’ he shouted. Another youngster would laugh
uncontrollably and then burst out crying. He couldn’t help
himself — it was like holding back the Niagara! But many in
the group needed to struggle to express their feelings freely
in worship and in the process they learned to open up and
pray with one another.
Gradually they became aware of books and tapes going
round which described how the Spirit was renewing churches
all over the world. Thousands in Britain were speaking in
tongues as on the day of Pentecost. Michael Harper, an Anglican
curate, had organised the Fountain Trust to foster this
growing renewal movement and one of the team, David Mills,
visited Bugbrooke to encourage them.
‘Free, I’m free! Praise the Lord, I’m free!’ they sang in their
Saturday evening meetings. At first they felt self-conscious
as they raised their arms in the air and clapped their hands.
But the barriers were coming down — a little. For traditional
Baptists it was pretty good!
In the Sunday evening meetings the old hymn books were
replaced by shiny, red pentecostal song books that spoke of
blood, fire and the blessing. But clapping on Sundays was
still regarded as rather offensive (and undignified) and the
morning services were sacrosanct in the eyes of the more
traditional members. So the new-found freedom was generally
kept for Saturdays and after-meetings. At times it was
like restraining a herd of well-mannered buffalo!
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