Base Camp

I am not a professional mountain climber, nor am I a wilderness guide.

But I am currently climbing a mountain and travelling through a great wilderness: Life.

And I face the worse conditions and elements: Sin, Idols, Laziness, Hurtful People, Broken Relationships, Procrastination, and worst of all, myself. 

But along this Journey I have the best of guides and leader, He set this adventure up and called me to join up and see the world as it was meant to be seen. Even before I was born He had me in mind and He sacrificed something great for me and for so many others, in hopes that they might follow. He stooped himself and humbled himself to a cross and to a sinner's death so that I might elevate this one single thought:

"For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8b

Why did he die? The beginning of the verse above says, "But God demonstrated his own love for us.." - Romans 5:8a

He died and then 3 days later rose, defeating death and closing the grave that no more people ought to unwillingly die and be apart from Him. He went on to teach and tell the disciples he had accrued in His time on the Earth how they ought to behave and act, he gave them a mission and also his Spirit within them to accomplish this mission. This was the start of the elevation of the Church of Christ to the forefront of History,  with the few simple words of "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28). 

This is Base Camp. Getting here comes by believing that Christ died, rose again, tasked, and sent His Spirit to those who believe in Him and trust in Him, and then trusting in Him with guiding you through this journey in learning maturity and to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel. Do not be mistaken, the mission, the journey, this adventure I speak of is more than door to door evangelism and proselytizing, it is more than cheap parlor tricks and silver-tongued words, Christ said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10).

In this world there are so many "versions" of truth, so many "alternate" journey's,  a plethora of "get out of Hell free" gimics, but there is only one Christ, one grace, and one Base Camp that will ever lead to abundant life, this one base camp leads you to the most impossible journey should you seek to do this on your own, but if you deny your fear of failure, and seek to learn to grow in wisdom from this Base Camp, life will be rewarding in the end, the journey you will have begun looks daunting but at the end to "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God." (Revelation 3:12).

My task and my hope is to expose the idols and the false understanding that I find in my life and in others, to pose the tough questions to those willing, so to challenge Christian norms and to point others to the very same base camp I arrived at 11 years ago. 

My tag line will most likely be "Elevate this..." and the goal is to point out the inconsistency of human reasoning and to hopefully driving home a point. So elevate this if you will, if God is real, if there is only one Base Camp, and one worthwhile journey to experience what is stopping you? 

Check later this week for another post furthering our discussions.