Summit Ministries

Dragging myself out of bed, I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and quickly ran downstairs before breakfast was over. The next four hours or so, were filled with the closure and much needed encouragement, in order to pull the past two weeks together, and prepare us to tackle life's battles in our home towns. When class was over, we went straight to lunch, and then free time.

In order to avoid mistakes of the past, it is beneficial to learn from the mistakes of others, in particular the history of a people. Summit has unlocked the true history of the nation that was founded upon Biblical freedom, America.

My name is Brian Nielsen and I am a student here at the Summit. My day began at 6 am when I got up and went through my daily devotions. At 7 am I ate breakfast and then read a book before class.

Hello! I'm Russell, and I am on staff here at Summit on the Night Watch, which means that my day starts at around three o'clock in the afternoon, and ends at seven A.M. So every day is an adventure in its own right, but today was especially scintillating.

After a night with dreams full of blinded giraffes and the works of Salvador Dali, I awoke with a spirit of adventure. This day would be devoted to conquering the Arkansas River rapids, courtesy of Noah's Ark rafting company. Around forty of the ninety Summit students awoke at that atrocious six o'clock hour to charter the bus that would take us two hours into the mountains to the launch site.

I'm sitting outside of the Summit building, watching the wind blow the flags and listening to the sound of laughter and life that is emanating from inside. Evening is a good time for reflecting. It's hard to absorb the enormity of the things that we are being taught at Summit, but it is comforting to feel that I have a grasp, no matter how small, on the world around me. Mike Haley spoke on homosexuality today, and that lecture struck a chord with me. I have a gay, married uncle living in California. While I love him, and truly care about him, I have had a hard time understanding how I should act toward him in the past.

Today at Summit was absolutely amazing just like every other day at Summit. The good thing is that even though every day is amazing, it's amazing for completely different reasons! Somehow, I can't decide which day has been my favorite. This is my second time at the Summit, and I am so glad that I came back to get more instruction and have more fun.

As I sit through the lectures, I am realizing more and more how worldviews are so deeply ingrained in society. Relativism is trendy and traditional truth is discarded. Slogans such as: "When in Rome, do as the Romans" or "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," reflect the view that morals can change relative to one's culture, instead of foundational truths that withstand the test of time and transcend cultural differences.

Chuck Edwards was one of the main speakers today, and he took us through the issue of worldviews in entertainment. Movies, we discovered, are much more than entertainment but are purposed to teach the worldview of those making them.

Today, the Summit challenged me to think about the "hard questions" that help define my faith and its purpose in my life. Through a session with Dr. Michael Bauman, we thought about The Meaning of Meaning. Meaning, I learned, is not interpretation but only what was intended by either the author or speaker. I found it interesting that so many students, myself included, had not considered this truth. Dr. Bauman shared that just as God spoke the universe into existence, we, as students, cannot get the world right until we get the words right. The Word of God and the message we are to share with the world is, in fact, words. This fact alone makes me excited to begin this new level of awareness regarding the words I choose to use in daily conversations and communications.

Watching the sun rise over the Rocky Mountains this morning nearly took my breath away. It is not as easy to overlook the astounding beauty which surrounds me here in Colorado as it is back home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. These next two weeks are going to be incredible as I will be witnessing this display of God's wonder and majesty every day.

Welcome to the 2008 Student Conference Blog from our Colorado campus! We're excited about hosting more than 1000 students here in Manitou Springs this year.