A Mountaintop Experience – Literally

The phrase “mountaintop experience” could not be more appropriate for this experience.

If you think back on your life, regardless of how old or young you are, you may recall such times…. a spiritual experience we cannot explain or a moment in which we feel we are in the special presence of the Sacred and Divine. 

But to experience that “mountaintop experience” on a mountaintop – literally – is something very special. It is Biblical. God has given that to hundreds and hundreds of men over the years at Peak Challenge. This year, 200 men and young men will experience it.

The Celtics called such locations “thin places” – described as “places where the veil between this world and the ‘other world”  meet. There is a Celtic saying that “heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller.”

Exodus 34:29-35 describes the journey that Moses took to Mt Sinai. After leading the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, Moses felt called to climb Sinai, a mountain associated with God’s presence; seen as a “thin place”.  “The glory of the Lord,” scripture says, “rested on Mount Sinai” (24:16).  It was there that Moses received the Ten Commandments.  When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was shining from being in the Divine presence.  Moses was a changed man. It was turning point in his life and in the lives of many.

Luke 9:28-36 – Jesus experiences something similar. Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain where he was ‘transfigured’ before them. It was on a mountain that the appearance of Jesus changed. That time together on the mountain with his inner circle became a special event for them that changed their perspective on Jesus and who he was to them. 

200 men are taking a trip with us this summer to Colorado, where they may physically reach the summit of a 14,000 foot peak and have a real “mountaintop experience”.  In that journey, they may just find a connection to God that changes or alters their life forever – a spiritual “mountaintop experience” that can be taken back with them into the valleys of life to shape, mold, encourage, lead and disciple others into the presence of the Sacred and Divine.

A mountaintop experience.