When I used to travel extensively across North Scotland one of my favourite places to stop was at the Commando monument at Spean Bridge. The monument is for all those who have served their country as members of the Commando Regiment. This is represented in bronze by three commandoes looking out across the pine sloped valley with the inscription ‘United we conquer’ and furthermore ‘This was their training ground’.
For the Commandoes for whom this was literally their training ground the story is told that they would be met from the station by a sergeant major who would then give them directions to their barracks ten miles away and they would start running, complete in their civilian attire with suitcase rather than combats and backpacks – the training started as soon as they hit the ground.
History tells of the success and failure of those who were prepared for military combat in that often inhospitable climate.
For most of us our training took place at Denmark Hill, some attending as cadets others as envoys with one or two attending SA training establishments elsewhere in the world. Our training was within the classroom and the platform, the public house and the market place. Rightly a similar monument could look out over the world and state ‘This was their training ground’. Reality tells us that our training was so often anything but – it was not training it was the real thing. The people we ministered to were real people, the needs were real and the challenge of the gospel was as powerful in the words of inexperience as they were coming from the many highly competent ministers of the gospel who were involved with us.
It was not through training that we discovered the power of the Holy Spirit but in seeing God’s Spirit disable the enemy and change the life and lot of the individual with force. I have been reminded again this week of the aggressive tactics that satan will employ as we engage him in the very real spiritual warfare in the 21st Century. We are called to be ready at every moment of every day to state again ‘United we conquer’ when we are working in union with Christ.
History will tell of our the victory of the King whom we serve.
For the Commandoes for whom this was literally their training ground the story is told that they would be met from the station by a sergeant major who would then give them directions to their barracks ten miles away and they would start running, complete in their civilian attire with suitcase rather than combats and backpacks – the training started as soon as they hit the ground.
History tells of the success and failure of those who were prepared for military combat in that often inhospitable climate.
For most of us our training took place at Denmark Hill, some attending as cadets others as envoys with one or two attending SA training establishments elsewhere in the world. Our training was within the classroom and the platform, the public house and the market place. Rightly a similar monument could look out over the world and state ‘This was their training ground’. Reality tells us that our training was so often anything but – it was not training it was the real thing. The people we ministered to were real people, the needs were real and the challenge of the gospel was as powerful in the words of inexperience as they were coming from the many highly competent ministers of the gospel who were involved with us.
It was not through training that we discovered the power of the Holy Spirit but in seeing God’s Spirit disable the enemy and change the life and lot of the individual with force. I have been reminded again this week of the aggressive tactics that satan will employ as we engage him in the very real spiritual warfare in the 21st Century. We are called to be ready at every moment of every day to state again ‘United we conquer’ when we are working in union with Christ.
History will tell of our the victory of the King whom we serve.
