Summit Ministries

The Summit...What impacted me most.

When I was asked to write this blog-post, or whatever it is, I thought to myself, "What the heck am I going to say?" But more importantly I thought, how am I going to compact this all into 3-4 paragraphs? Well anyways, here is my feeble attempt to sum up two of the most influential weeks of my life.

Summit has been an amazing experience; I have grown up in a Christian school, church, and family, and have heard most of the information I received here so many times before. Yet listening to it this time was so much more different. The speakers had so much passion and excitement about what they were sharing, that it came through very strongly in the way that they presented their material. I came to Summit to learn more about worldview and how to apply that to the way I live. After the first week though, I felt like my world had been rocked and turned upside down.

I think that one of the most influential points of the Summit for me was listening to the testimonies of all the speakers, and how what they were going through affected them and their families. For example one of our speakers in particular was telling us about the experiences that he had over in the Middle East and how he has had contracts out on his life. To me this was mortifying, scary, and hilarious at the same time. I know that really sounds like something that is not funny, but hearing Terry Moffitt tell his story was so amazing. The power of God was very clearly seen through his life, as was God's protection. Someone with a story like Terry Moffitt might be someone that we picture as living in fear, but in no ways did that come across in his person or speech because of his trust in God. Not only did the speaker's testimonies speak to me, but their ideas really challenged me.

Dr. Ken Turner, for example, totally gave me a new perspective for the way that I personally look at, read, and interpret the Bible. After his lecture I went straight up to him and started debating with him, and he was very receptive to my questions. As a student, this was something that I really appreciated because he answered my questions and did not treat me as an inferior just because I did not have a Ph. D. in front of my name.

All in all, I think that Summit Ministries is something that everyone should do. As much worldview knowledge as anyone thinks that they have, they still can never have enough. God has revealed so much to me in the 2 weeks that I have been here, that I feel like I am on information over-load; but at the same time I have a new perspective on creation, His Word, and just how to live my life. As a young person growing up in this world, I feel so much more prepared to go out and engage the culture successfully.

- Lindsay T.

As a staff member of Summit Ministries for the past two years, I wanted to take a few minutes and post a blog here and offer a different perspective than the student perspective. I attended Summit as a student in the summer of 2006. I worked as a staff member last year and again this year. I have been utterly blessed by God in so many ways. To be with these students day after day is a blessing beyond comparison. To walk among them through days of intense learning and become good friends with the students is something I love.

Specifically this Liberty session, I have been thoroughly impressed with my small group. These guys are extraordinary guys. I almost have to coerce them to go to bed at night, not because they don't like the camp curfew but because they want to talk longer about the philosophical and theological issues presented during lectures and small group discussions. This is what I like to see! I want to see these students fired up about the ideas presented in lectures and discussions. I want to see them want to catch speakers after sessions to press more questions and dig for harder answers. I want to see my small group asking what books to read and how to learn. This is exactly what I have seen.

There have been several speakers I've seen the students really embrace. Ergun Caner was among the first. Caner is a former Muslim who has worked heavily with Islamic ideas (even in conjunction with Mormonism). His lectures were captivating and stole the student's attentions. I think it suffices to say that within a couple days of his lecture we have completely sold out of his books. Another amazing speaker was Gary Habermas. Habermas has written over 30 books and is a world renown expert on the resurrection of Christ. As Habermas talked about the textual and oral evidence for Christ's resurrection the eyes of the students opened. When they saw how the pillar of the Christian faith--the resurrection--can be defended scientifically and historically from a minimalist standpoint it gave the students even more of an assurance of their faith.

But, of course, Summit doesn't rely on a philosophy of all work and no play. Through sports, activities, and general free time I see daily the interactions and relationships the students embrace. This group of students clicks really well all around. I'm excited to see where it will go over the next couple days and how long these relationships will last.

-Randy

If I had known all the things I would have learned at Summit before hand, I would have convinced all my friends to attend. The speakers have dedicated their lives to pinpointing the key issues in our world. Christianity is under attack and Christians need to wake up. I have never been so humbled at the amount of knowledge I still need to obtain in order to even make an impact on the community in which God has purposely placed me.
Summit has provided its students with the best speakers available. We were able to hear from Scott Klusendorf, who debated the head of the ACLU, speak against abortion. We were challenged by Dr. Terry Moffitt and Dr. Ergun Caner, both of whom have received multiple, credible death threats from Muslim terrorist groups, to live radical Christian lives in the face of danger and opposition. John Stonestreet, the executive director of Summit, has been speaking on multiple issues such as worldviews, biotechnology, and Christian masculinity. Dr. Noebel, President of Summit Ministries, also challenged us to be aware of our culture's worldviews that essentially are out to destroy the Christian worldview.
Summit has gathered an incredible staff, most of whom are graduates of the Summit program. They treat the kids with respect and show them by example how to love others. After a long intense day of stimulating material the students go back to the dorms and get together with their small group leaders who discuss what was taught that day. They help the students digest what they've learned and then pour into them how to apply it to their daily lives.
If I had any advice to wondering or questioning people interested in Summit--just go! It is two weeks of intense learning from dedicated and knowledgeable people with a vision for teaching truth and impacting the world. -John Ennis

My Life (mostly just Saturday) according to Ben Abele

Saturday morning started as any other day, the sun rose, the birds chirped happily and I stumbled down to breakfast, ten minutes after I woke up. At my house I have to stumble down the hallway to breakfast but here at Summit I stumble down a mountain of stairs and one long tube to get a meal that I can only hope is nutritious. The cereal is about the only thing that seems the same as home or any other regular place.

After our delicious breakfast of dried eggs and rubber bacon, we went outside to get on the bus. But the bus, to all of our horror and dismay was nowhere to be found. So, we sat in the hot sun waiting for our beloved high occupancy vehicle. It was hot and I quickly became tired of waiting. Thankfully, one brilliant staff member, I don't know who, decided that it would be smart to get in the shade. I concurred. So I sat down with some friends and we played Egyptian Rat Screw or other close to it, depending on your geographic location. Whatever the name, we had a blast. Soon, we found out that our regular classroom was under construction and so we went to a different place that was an exact replica of the Supreme Court.

We had two speakers that morning: Staver and Small. Small didn't get his full time because of the wait we had before the bus came. Small was supposed talk about Acts through Revelation but I guess it's hard to argue almost the entire New Testament in less than an hour. The seats were so much more comfortable! They were actual fabric and foam or whatever squishy stuff was in it. So, we had some Q and A and took a break. After a quick snack, many of the students looked at a lot of old, mostly dead, guys who led our great civilization. The hallway adjacent to our new classroom was lined with portraits of all the presidents and wise sayings, all having to do with the Bible. When the time came, we all filed back into the classroom and sat for another two hours or so of Dr Staver. He spoke mostly on law, abortion and homosexuality and the effect of them on the government.

When the class was over, David had some announcements. The first words out of his mouth were telling the paintballers to leave and go eat lunch in the cafeteria, which was probably about .3 miles away. They all left, grinning and jeering that they were gonna be first in line. The good, amazing, and humble person I am, I was only happy for them. After the other announcements, we all got up to leave. As we walked outside, I was unhappy to be in the hot sun again. So, after waiting in the shade, I decided to get to walking. But before I had got too far, Matt (I think) said that people could get on the bus. So, me and a few other people got to ride the bus in style. It was a blast to pass the people who walked first. We smiled with glee and laughed at our friends who were hot and sweaty. The first words of my friend, Andy who was a paintballer, when he saw me after we beat him were, "I hate you." Yeah, I loved him too.

After lunch, there were three events. Either go play paintball and get shot (super fun), or walk a million miles in the sweltering heat to the mall to talk to mean people, or sleep and do laundry in the cool of the dorms. Not many people stayed back from any event. I went evangelizing and talked to some people.

Later we had a talk on homosexuality by Mike Haley. It was a big hit and lots of people liked him. Soon, we were all tired and we went to the dorms. After a small group discussion, we all hit the sack and I was out in a second.

Sunday the Day of Rest by Rachel Hardekopf and Sam A.K.A Ben Abele...

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when I woke up to my roommates coming in from breakfast. See, I had decided to sleep in which was most important for me. The night before John Stonestreet had given us a choice to go on an AMAZING trip up the James River to go tubing, or go to church as he put it would be a CULTURAL experience. So here is Ben with how tubing went:
I am not a fan of the tubing trip. The water, which was supposed to be 2 and half feet deep, was more like 2 and half inches deep and the result was bruised tailbones and knees. The entire trip was punctuated with the screams and cries of the unfortunate tubers who happened to get battered by the jagged rocks of underwater horrors. Apart from that, it was nice because I found some shiny rocks, a couple sticks and some very nice beer cans. But I left most of the things I found behind. After a long trip home, which everyone slept thru, we arrived back at the dorms and quickly got in the shower and cleaned off the nasty, muck of the water. That is my experience on the James River.
The hot sun shone as we walked together as a group to Thomas Road Baptist Church.
I was so excited to go to a new church that I had never been to before. Today Thomas Road Baptist Church was celebrating their 52nd Anniversary. I totally loved the upbeat music and the teachings of Jonathon Falwell and Charles Billingsley. We then walked the tiring journey back to the dorms and ate our " refreshing" boxed lunches.
My roommates and I then decided to join in the fun at the Celebrate America festival at the Arthur L. Williams Stadium. They had an amazing selection of food and they had awesome games too! (Including inflatable fun).
We all hiked back to the cafeteria and got our food, and then we played our favorite game of "Guess What We Are Eating Tonight." We then walked the tiresome journey back to the classroom and were uplifted by the wonderful worship music led by Josh Bales and the teaching of Mr. Myers on leadership.
We all took the amazing bus ride back to our dorms and joined together outside to watch the fabulous but short firework display. And that was our day of rest.

Yesterday we talked about a lot of information, mostly on what time period the New Testament was written in. we also talked about how other people don't think that it is true. The funny thing is that they believe stuff that was written way before hand. The only reason why they didn't believe is they had no proof of this. So they mostly just want to believe what they want to.
The second thing we talked about is " is Jesus the only way". And I really can't explain every thing that took place because it was a really long subject and I personally think, you need to find this one out for your own.
We also talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is one of those subjects that you want to know but you just really don't want to listen at the time but you know that it will be good for you. This covered a lot of information on how the resurrection is right. It's mostly, a debate on if you want to believe it, or you just want to believe what you want to believe.
The third was the silence of God. How it impacts you weather you like it or not. He mostly does this to make you come after him. Not the easy way of him coming after you. We also talked about the emotional doubt. If you have doubt you will mostly have a depression. I mean think about it. Every time you some one that you know and they say " hi" and that's all. You automatically think (if you have emotional doubt) that they don't like you.
The next day we talked about a lot of stuff but the most important thing was how to read the Bible. You can abuse this, by thinking that it is just used as one thing like devotions. But in reality its used for just about everything out there.

Throughout the duration of my time at Summit, I am becoming considerably more knowledgeable concerning various worldviews; and, in addition, how Christianity is distinct from the others. Today, for example, Dr. Caner demonstrated the following: 1) why Christianity is not a religion; 2) the commonalities between Islam and Mormonism; and 3) the misconceptions most Muslims have about Christians. Dr. Caner's approach, in turn, was very thorough, firm, and engaging.

Dr. Caner noted six distinctions between Christianity and religion. This is of much importance, due to the fact that many secular humanists fail to make this distinction; for example, Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennett. With that being said, noting and explaining the distinctions between religion and Christianity, can, in turn, be used as a powerful way to not only engage secular humanists, but also used as a way to find common ground with an atheist who may be open to truth. One of the most profound differences is the fact that religions have a guide or teacher opposed to Christianity which has a savior, Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith, for example, simply claimed to be a prophet, not the savior of mankind. Another distinction, in addition, involves religions concept of an impersonal God or gods, opposed to the intimate, personal, and gracious God of Christianity. I did, in turn, benefit greatly from Dr. Caner's original and intriguing approach to this issue.

Furthermore, Dr. Caner demonstrated over twenty commonalities between Islam and Mormonism. Without question, Dr. Caner demonstrated the implausibility of such beliefs, while exposing their sinister underlying structures. For example, both Muhammad and Joseph Smith claimed that their texts abrogated the Bible. Interestingly enough, Muhammad, 2700 years after Moses recorded Abraham's events, changed the story. Dr. Caner pointed out how most Muslims commit the genetic fallacy by attempting to argue the authenticity of the Quran based on the fact that it's more recent than the Bible. Dr. Caner's ability to not only point out the various similarities between Mormonism and Islam, but also his ability to demonstrate the underlying importance of the issue, was truly astounding.

Dr. Caner noted the fact that most Muslims are indeed trained to engage and attack the Christian faith. Dr. Caner further pointed out how most Christians are incapable of defending a Muslim attack, due to the lack of instruction concerning Islamic doctrine. Therefore, as a Christian, it seems important to know the common misconceptions most Muslims have about Christians. For example, according to Dr. Caner, most Muslims believe that the alleged Christian church that they view on television is identical to every other Christian church. This information is clearly of much importance in regards to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a Muslim.

The information covered today was vast and at times challenging. However, all of it, without question, if used, will expand the Kingdom of God. In conclusion, Dr. Caner's firm, yet at times humorous approach to engaging worldviews is exciting and unique; his testimony and wisdom both ultimately portray the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

-Tanner Sewell

June 22, 2008 will mark the beginning of the first Summit student conference on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Please join us in June as students and staff will share, via this blog, their experiences at a Summit student conference.

If you are interested in attending the Virginia conference or any of our other conferences, please visit our conferences page.