Summit Ministries

Today, Thursday August 2, 2007, day 12 of Summit Ministries Session 5, was filled with knowledge, friends, and fellowship. The early wake up was surprisingly routine and the breakfast of french toast and bacon was amazing as expected. Finishing off their morning coffee, hot chocolate, or black tea (my personal favorite), students filed into their seats to attentively learn from today's speakers.

First on the line-up was Dr. Del Tackett speaking on the foundations of the Founding Fathers of America. Dr. Tackett served in the Air Force for 20 years and worked in the White House itself ( he is pretty much a Patriot at heart). Learning about our country's original foundations of moral, religion, and virtue, we analyzed the mindsets of both the beginning of our country and the present. As we soon found out (and maybe expected) America has morphed from virtues and moral absolutes to relativistic theology. Concluding his lecture, he strongly emphasized that America is in grand trouble, and the only hope for her is to regain sight of God. After a warm thank you of approval, the students filed out for their warm cup of tea and friendly conversations, only to return after half an hour's break.

Greg Koukl began his speech and discussion on the topic of relativism as we students settled down at last. His first 45 minutes were intended to first define relativism and second to reveal the flaws in this worldview. As we students tried to keep up with his rapid-fire speech, we were also intrigued by the clear, easy presentation of this lecture (or perhaps since this was the third time we had heard the topic we finally started to understand). Excited and interested at the dominating Christian arguments, the students were glad to learn from one of the tactics that Koukl used most regularly, the Columbo Tactic. By asking sincere questions, one can retain control of the discussion, gain information, and lead the relativist to the truth in an offensive and non-aggressive way.

Lunch was refreshing for most of the students, but a couple of friends of mine and I went down to the town to witness to the local "Manitou-ians". Luke, Tiffany Hotchkiss (awesome last name), and I (Craig Thiessen) walked around the cozy town until we met a man with two small white puppies. We asked him if we could pet his dogs, which led into a conversation that revealed much more than we expected. This man was actually a biologist from Austin, TX, and we decided to talk to him about one of the things we have been learning: evolution. We found out that he was passing through CO and heading to Saudi Arabia to teach high school students biology. His stand on evolution was that there is a God, but evolution is true because of the adaptations which have occurred. Surprisingly, he was a Christian, and we departed after our arguments and were challenged to teach children the truth of Creation. After a quick bite and drink, we had one more class until sports time. Koukl spoke one last time on being ambassadors for Christ, which encouraged us Christians to love the lost and not persecute.

Tired from a long day of lectures, students were prepared for another long section of their day, "Sports Time". Soccer, volleyball, football, tennis, and the new favorite “"fresher" (tag and capture the flag mixed) were only part of the experience. Friendship, fellowship, and the beautiful creation surroundings completed this last time of recreation.
Saying good-bye to the park for the last time (with full bellies from the cookout), we found ourselves once again at the Summit campus. After a much needed shower, we filed into the classroom anxious to worship our Jesus and listen to our fellow brother's and sister's testimonies. The assortment of students and staff revealed their stories of despair, temptation, hope, love, and none more than the redeeming factor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Doc closed us out with a prayer of faith and a presentation of the Gospel.

As I close, I want to encourage you readers to pray for us to finish out strong, for us to grow closer as we will soon depart, and for the love of Christ to be spread by the students of Summit Ministries. Also, I want to just thank every speaker, parent, staff, and student for every effort and blessing they have brought on my life. Tomorrow will conclude this amazing session and bring many tears, but we are all family, one body, and will one day worship the God of Heaven together. Thank you so much for reading.

Shout out to the Olsens and the Thiessens!.....I guess the Gillsons too!