Our slogan at Zenith Ministries is “to the heights of humanity”. To be honest, I do not do nearly as much mountain climbing or hiking as the imagery of our social media and blog posts suggest.
However, the imagery is not meant to be an expression of my enjoyment of hiking and experiencing views from mountains. It is a symbol of the joy, peace, and excitement that come from living a life of freedom in a beautiful relationship with God. Just like we can reach the highest points on Earth by climbing mountains, so are we able to reach the greatest moments in life by way of an intimate friendship with God.
Heaven on Earth
Talking about the greatest moments in life might evoke a variety of different experiences for people. Some might suggest downhill skiing, scuba diving, or finishing a hard-fought marathon as items that belong on the list of greatest moments. Others will point to weddings, meeting their children for the first time, or moments with family and friends. These are all great to be sure, however, they pale in comparison to the joy that a deep friendship with God brings.
Exciting experiences like the ones listed above are truly meant to be signs of Heaven for us. Every moment of pleasure we experience on earth is meant to point us to partially grasp what Heaven will be like. Heaven will absolutely be much greater, but God allows these experiences for us to have an idea of what He has in store for us.
The best part is we do not need to wait for death to begin to enjoy what He has in store for us. We see a great analogy of this with the sky. We can say technically the sky, which seems to us to be so far above us, begins at the ground as there is nothing separating the place where the clouds roam and the air we breathe in each day.
We are quite literally in the sky as we walk around outside. So, it is with Heaven, which begins for us on earth as we receive the waters of baptism to bring God into our souls when He forgives our sins and makes us entirely new creations.
When we are filled with God and His grace, we are living a heavenly life though, we are technically not yet in Heaven. Just like you could say that we are technically walking in the sky as we move around outside, so too are we spiritually in heaven on earth. While it may still be filled with hardships and painful moments, this life is still vastly better than the perfect ski run or even an all-inclusive trip to the Bahamas. The heights of humanity is the greatest way for a human to experience life. The highest a human can ever go, even higher than all the mountains, is with the Lord.
To the Zenith of Humanity
The word, Zenith, is defined as “the time at which something is most powerful”. We are the most powerful and successful through Jesus Christ. The zenith is also the point of the sun when it is at its highest place in the sky. This is when that day is at its brightest and we receive the most sunlight.
At Zenith Ministries we hope to reach this highest point of being human ourselves and support others they do as well. There are many ways to grow in your relationship with God and we condemn none that bear good fruit and bring true peace. However, we have discovered the following pillars as essential for us to best grow and receive what we desire from the Lord.
Four Pillars to Help Us Reach These Heights
The following items, which we call pillars, are in place as we strive to climb to the heights of humanity, which is the best way a human being can live. Keeping each of these in mind we can keep ourselves on track to continue to strive for our goal as healed, selfless, and joy-filled people. Each pillar plays a part in climbing to the heights of humanity.
- Identity: Knowing and loving ourselves
- Community: Knowing and loving others
- God: Knowing and loving the one true God
- Prayer: Expressing our love of God either as one person or in community
- Identity. Knowing and loving ourselves as God made us and leading us to be. We want to know our identity so we can become who God made us to be. Unfortunately, in life many unfortunate circumstances can alter how we view ourselves and we begin to see our identity incorrectly. This can cause us to see ourselves as having worth only when others say we do, or we can feel less than we really are, or we can assume that we are unlovable.
At Zenith Ministries, we work to help others see they are not what the world says they are but are chosen and loved by God. We help people encounter the Holy Spirit to help heal and repair our identities and help us become the best version of ourselves. We become our true selves, which allows us to be filled with true joy, peace, and love.
- Community. Humans must be in contact with others. We need to communicate with others to share our lives, our thoughts, and our love of the Lord to truly thrive. Through a good community we are influenced to be better and can influence others to be better. Furthermore, in a community of others we can share in our love of the Lord.
Additionally, with more people involved in our journey we can see that joy is magnified, love is multiplied, and the consolation we can receive during the difficult moments is increased as well.
- God. To know and love the one true God is the purpose of all of this. Without Him we have nothing, we are treasure hunters without ever finding our treasure. We have certitude that the Lord is with us and we seek to interact with Him.
We believe with all our hearts that God is helping us, healing us, and leading us. Zenith Ministries was established to help ourselves discover Him and this truth all the more.
- Prayer. This is how we interact with God and express our love to Him. We believe relationships suffer without communication and so prayer is essential for us each to grow in our love affair with the Almighty. Furthermore, prayer keeps us from sinking as we sail across the oceans of life. Without prayer, we would surely fail in our pursuit of the Lord and His Kingdom on earth.
At Zenith Ministries, we put prayer at the heart of everything we do and often see amazing things occur. Whether it is in our gatherings or one on one mentorship meeting, we make sure to approach the Lord in prayer to invite His presence.
