Over The Mountains

Life is like a mountain. Masses of people are at the bottom, but the few who distinguish themselves are at the top. The outstanding few who will stand at the summit will endure hardship, forsake many of life’s pleasures and summon something deep within themselves, higher than the mountain before them, to enable them to reach the zenith.
Inspired by two seemingly irreconcilable sermons based on the metaphor of man’s unending mountainous challenges, the author leads the reader on an ambitious journey to understand mountains and the attitude of man in relation to both the metaphorical and the geographical mountains around us. It goes on to examine the contextual and spiritual underpinnings of mountains in both the Old and New Testament.
The rich life experience and practical challenges endured by the author as a first generation immigrant, minister and attorney are brought to bear in the Biblical examples and testimonies highlighted throughout the book.
Against a scriptural backdrop, the author weaves in his life experience in Africa and the United States and draws on testimonies from Spokane Dream Center’s Men’s and Women’s Discipleship programs where he has taught for over 12 years. These are people who have been called out of a life of addiction, abuse or other destructive behavior and offered an opportunity to turn their lives around and learn to dream again. Some choose to accept the challenge and scale the mountain while others leave prematurely and opt to face the world alone once again.
What should a Christian do when faced with life’s mountainous challenges, be it, a mountain of debt, a mountain of work or marital troubles? We find the answer as we follow Christ’s journey to the mountaintop with his disciples and His call to believers to have mountain-moving faith. The book encourages the reader to prayerfully seek the face of the Lord to understand what mountains need to be moved by faith and which ones need to be surmounted with fortitude recognizing that at times both are necessary.
Once we determine that a mountainous challenge needs to be moved by faith, the author encourages believers with copious scripture references to “have the faith of God” (Mark 11:22) in the event that the Holy Spirit leads us to surmount the mountain through endurance, patience and determined purpose. (II Timothy 2:3) He encourages readers to remember that many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)
Why do so many give up on life’s challenges? Some stand at the bottom of the mountain, raise their heads and look at the top, and then throw up their hands, dejectedly walking away with sullen faces choosing to dwell in the lowlands rather than face life’s difficult challenges. Others summon enough courage to begin their ascent and midway tumble down, crashing back to earth as soon as they suffer a bit of a setback. The reader is comforted with the assurance that the very existence of mountainous challenges in our life does not mean these obstacles are greater than God, the source of all creation. But instead, if we come to Him with humbleness of heart, God will give us the key to transcend our problems. This is not a solo run up one solitary mountain; there are many mountains to climb. We all need a solid team to support us as we climb the mountain of our destiny. The call to fulfill our potential in Christ rings loudly on every page