Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote a book some years ago titled, Falling into Greatness. In it he tells about an old friend who called him one day. "I can't talk about it over the phone," he said, "but I need to see you. I've fallen into a terrible thing which I can't seem to shake." They set a time to go to lunch. Ogilvie wondered what terrible thing his friend could possibly have fallen into. The man had once been a staunch Christian, but he had drifted away from the church and from the fellowship of other Christians.

When they sat down for lunch the friend blurted out, "Lloyd, I've become a cynic! I've become a negative, critical, and sarcastic man."

Inwardly Lloyd Ogilvie was relieved that his friend was not confessing some heinous sin, but it was clear he was distraught just the same. Ogilvie writes: "My friend had been jarred by the reality of the kind of person he had become because of an ultimatum his wife had given him. She was not willing to spend the rest of her life with a man who had come to be down on life, people, and even God. Several friends had confronted him about his snarling attitude. Three people had resigned from his company because they said they could not work in the negative atmosphere his attitudes had created. The man's world was falling apart."

That man by his own admission had become unbearable. Maybe you know somebody like that. Maybe you're on your way to becoming somebody like that. It happens, doesn't it? If so, today would be a good day to reverse your direction. We're going to the mountaintop. With Christ and his closest three disciples.