Leaders Training

This morning I attended the Senior Leaders Training hosted by Jubilee Community Church in Cape Town. To be honest I didn't really want to go but thought I ought to given that I've signed up for it and paid.

As I was driving into Cape Town I was really struck by the beauty of where we live. One of the highlights of the drive is Table Mountain as it starts of quite small in the distance and just keeps getting larger and larger the closer you get. What a privilege to live somewhere so spectacular!

The training was great, as ever and really helpful. I always enjoy listening to Steve Van Rhyn but this morning it was listening to Lex Loizides that really spoke to me. Steve had spoken about the Sovereignty of God followed by Lex on Our Authority in the Supernatural.

What particularly struck me as Lex was speaking was the simplicity of it all. As Christians we so often complicate things and I think particularly as we get older we're guilty of obscuring the simplicity of the gospel to make it less challenging for ourselves. I'm guilty! Anyway, one of the passages Lex used was Matthew 10: 7-8 "As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." As Christians we see the preaching of the gospel as a fundamental of our faith and yet here Christ clearly puts healing the sick and raising the dead on par with preaching the gospel. For me it was like having my eyes opened for the first time. How many times have I read that scripture and not grasped it or chosen to complicate or obscure it so as to make it less challenging. And yet here it is in all its simplicity. As Christians we are to go out into all the world and preach the gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead etc. Freely we have received so freely we must give. The gospel really is incredibly simple!

So I was really glad that I had made the training and now I've got to live in a way that reflects the impact this has had on me. Wow, what a challenge!