The Mount

PK’s Corner                                                

October 2014

Mark 9:2 …”Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves”...

I consider Oswald Chambers one of the greatest devotional writers ever.  I regularly go to “My Utmost for His Highest” for guidance and support.  On this 1st day of October he expresses an issue near to my heart.

It is the mountain top.  Jesus led his disciples to the top of the mountain to take time to be apart from the world.  He didn’t take them all, only a small portion of the group.   It was there that they encountered God, on God’s term.  It was there they saw the truth of eternity.   Though Peter wanted to stay, Jesus told them they needed to go back into the valley.

Chambers tells us that we are not made for the mountain; we are made for the valley.  “We are built for the ordinary stuff we are in and it is there we prove our mettle.”  We go to the mountain not to be taught, but to be made. 

There are 4 campgrounds in Missouri owned by the Missouri Annual Conference.  We have been informed that those campgrounds will be shut down.  I won’t get into particulars or such, but suffice it to say that many are upset and hurt.  We who support camping on those campgrounds are being told we should not worship property.  But, it is not about property worship, it is about Holy Places.

Jesus took the disciples up the mountain because although God is in the world, they needed a far off place to encounter God a Holy Place.  A Holy Place is somewhere set aside to encounter God.  We need Holy Places, we need set apart areas, and we need mountains with campgrounds on them.  We need to encounter God on God’s terms.

Places set aside for God are places where we can be made.  It is there that we are prepared for the valley. 

I ask you to pray for our Camp Program, our Camp committee and our Bishop as they all try to navigate this tumultuous sea.  Maybe the decision can be reversed and we can continue encountering God in these Holy Places.  If not, then pray that we listen to God for his will.  God will make a way to encounter Him.

Amen