Many of my favourite leisure activities have something in common: fire. I like sitting around a campfire with family and friends as we share stories or roast marshmallows over the orange flames. I look forward to spending time in a forest and boiling a kettle over burning kindling. And I love reading a book in front of a blazing fireplace as the heat permeates everything around me.

These activities have taught me that fire is dependent on certain elements: fuel, heat and oxygen. When they are combined, combustion takes place due to a chemical chain reaction. However, the moment that any of those elements are removed, the chain reaction is disrupted, and the fire is suppressed. Conversely, the more fuel, heat and oxygen present, the larger the fire. This is what allows the flame of a single matchstick to transform into a raging inferno.

Fire is a powerful force that can forever alter whatever it encounters.

In the Christian context, we speak of another form of fire. Commissioner Thomas H. Howard, the second Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army, once wrote, “In our hearts an altar is built, and the divine fire is kindled.” Some understand this holy fire as the work of the Holy Spirit that grants us the ability to serve God in remarkable ways. This fire prompts us to live lives marked by sacrificial service and complete devotion, with a different perspective of life from that of the non-believer.

It could be argued that it was this same spiritual fire burning deep within the earliest members of The Salvation Army that prompted them to live out their mission in exceptional ways. Open-air meetings filled with testimony and song, protests against social vices and attempts to care for the poor were not always appreciated by spectators. But threats of violence and the hurling of insults—and the occasional rotten vegetable—could not dissuade those early Salvationists from sharing the gospel and carrying out their innovative work.

I, too, can recall gatherings of Salvationists that could aptly be described as “on fire.” I can recall the rise and fall of church floorboards as the sea of Salvation Army uniforms jumped and swayed in praise around me. I remember well the preparation and excitement that accompanied the visit of a high-ranking Salvation Army leader. I loved the congress and commissioning events of my childhood when large sessions of cadets marched in step while the band’s Bognor Regis reverberated throughout the rafters. As we celebrated, the spiritual fire burned brightly.