"So, what did you learn at Summit?"
"Well....A lot!!" *makes matter a fact smile*
"Great, like what?"
*runs away*
Exhaustion haunted me as I panted breathlessly up the Incline.
I kept reassuring myself, " I'm almost there, almost there, almost..."
It was getting colder. It was getting higher. I sniffled for the billionth time trying to fight the affecting altitude. I looked at my watch: 40 Minutes. Although I had run plenty of miles as a distance runner, I didn't realize it would be this much harder running 1 mile up 8,590 feet with 2,744 steps(I was a bit humbled:) Seeing the top now, I heard cheering from above. It was my Summit people!! What were they cheering for? I looked behind me. Nothing was there. They must be cheering for me!
"Fantastic. No pressure, you just can't die now like you were going to."
There was that negative voice in my head. I really didn't want to go on. The others' voices kept beckoning me up,
"You got this! Come on! Don't give up! You are so close!"
A fire burned in me. I couldn't give up on them. Fixing my eyes on the others, I started jogging up the steps. My legs moved unexpectedly quickly as I ventured on until my foot slipped on the pebbly dirt. I came crashing down on the next steps. Yet, the voices did not waver but seemed to grow louder. My friend, Jackson Ussery, came down and encouraged me to keep jogging. Tired and hurting now, I ran up the steps with him and finally made it to the top. And yes, it was so worth it.
"A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory..."
~Unbroken
My experience this summer at Summit was one I will never forget. To all the people who have been asking me what I learned at Summit I appreciate it because it has encouraged me to keep reviewing the notes, readings, and scriptures I studied. I really did learn a lot! All the things we have learned exceeded by far what most teenagers normally learn. I was undeservingly blessed. I would like to share with you a little of what I learned.
I recently finished the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It helped me renew my focus for the summer.
"When loving Him becomes an obligation, one of the many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves."
I have found myself asking," What is my purpose? What makes me so special? How can I keep myself motivated to face reality?
At Summit, they not only urged us to ask these sort of questions then, but to ask questions continually.
When we discussed Abortion, the question Scott Klusendorf introduced to us was," What is the unborn?" Is the fetus just tissue or an actual human? The instance came up whether abortion was still right if the mother was raped. Mike Adams explained that we do not live in a world of problems and solutions. The problem will not go away for the mother even if she has the abortion. Unfortunately, the memory of being raped cannot be solved. In any abortion, we must consider if the mother has rights, doesn't the baby have rights as well?
I kept meditating,
"Be still and know..." Psalm 46:10
Recently, in my training for our church's youth mission trip, I asked a person we were reaching out to: "Do you know Jesus?"
There is a difference in knowing about God and actually knowing God personally. It is not about giving yourself to get favor. It's about getting Christ, Himself to give Him glory. Christianity is not about religion, but about relationship. That is how our nation was formed- through the united and diverse relationship of a democratic republic.
Dr. Del Tackett explained that our Founding Fathers would say,
"If you were to walk away from God, you would be serving a tyrant."
Although Americans had escaped the tyrannical rule of Britain, the founding leaders of our country knew that they couldn't rule on their own. They needed a relationship with God to orchestrate the relationship of the federal government.
Yet, why did Americans escape in the first place?
Specifically, they desired freedom of religion.
Freedom...
Just looking at our nation's history, I believe God is the One who gives true freedom. The world cannot give freedom because the world is only concerned about getting what it wants, no matter the cost. The world is a tyrant in and in itself.
Freedom necessitates love, discipline, and order. Our God is love(John 4:8) As Creator, He crafted the universe with design and order. When we went against His order, He disciplined us with the Fall- but ultimately disciplined to show His love for us through His son, Jesus Christ, so He could set us free.
This is crazy love!
Yet, it's hard to find freedom. We are tempted to false freedom that puts us in shackles and retains us as slaves. That is why we must fight for freedom just as it had to be fought for in the American Revolution and countless other wars.
The thought of freedom brought me to think of the new Hungergames movie coming out. One of my favorite quotes from the Hungergames says,
"Fire burns brighter in the dark."
There is fire and there is darkness. There is right and wrong. Tackett explained in a big state, people want to accept small morality. Freedom must harmonize the Christian worldview and morality. Our nation's foundation, grounding the constitution, was the Bible. The earliest American schools taught children the scriptures and most of the Ivy league schools today were formerly Christian Seminaries.
So, how do we fight for freedom?
We must know the good and evil and choose the good.
At Summit, homosexuality was an intriguing, common topic of discussion.
Is it a question of morality or genetics?
According to freedom, we see that we can choose good or evil. Homosexuality has to be good or evil. We can choose we were
1. Created with purposeful design,
Knowing one's purpose, knowing how to live purposefully, knowing Jesus.
Being secure in one's identity, knowing what is right and wrong.
or
2. Originated from nothing
Purpose is based off nothing
Identity is based off nothing
" Without dignity, identity is erased."
~Unbroken
It is hard for all of us to accept the harshness of right and wrong. The problem of insecurity in who we are may seem too big- yet in actuality, our perception of God is too small.
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"
~Jeremiah 32:27
The reason why I posted my poem was to try to convince myself that I could have a spiritual revival. This past year, I barely spent any time with God or listened to His voice. Yet, I knew there was still hope that brought me back to the 'tree of life'.
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
~Proverbs 13:12
We need to continually fulfill our desires so we may attain true satisfaction and freedom. John Stonestreet taught us that the foundation for practicing right desires is through habit. Even though that goes against the norm of how teens are living today, I am just going to take Stonestreet's advice:
SKIP ADOLESCENCE .
At this point in my life, I don't want live for what I feel.
I thank God we are not victims to what we feel.
Feeling does not determine truth,
Truth determines feeling.
According to John 14:6, Jesus is the truth. I choose to trust Him and live for Him.
Will you?
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
~James 4:8
Scripture is about informing us of our freedom to be fully and truly living.
But life is a race. We just have to endure it.
When Dr. Linden described an illustration of perseverance, I choose to use that as my henna. So, to all to you Summit peoples who were asking about my henna(yeah, almost all of us got hennas!), here's a clearer explanation than what I probably told you:)
Linden informed us of the Chinese Word for perseverance being a combination of 2 words: "knife" and "heart". Although crippling trials and suffering seem to pierce our hearts and cause the life in us to ceaselessly spill out, the heart keeps beating...
When I went up the Incline, I learned that every one of those log steps counted. It was going to be worth it. Yet, in a moment, I had to make that choice:
"No matter how many times I fall down, nothing can take away my choice of getting back up."
I pray that you will call on God for help to make that choice. Ask Him to give you brothers and sisters that will keep you accountable in living free from every weight and sin which clings so closely:
"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus...."
~Hebrews 12:1-2a
Hear the screaming voices from above. Hear His voice. Let the fire, deep within, burn...
Because fire burns brighter in the dark
;)
I kept reassuring myself, " I'm almost there, almost there, almost..."
It was getting colder. It was getting higher. I sniffled for the billionth time trying to fight the affecting altitude. I looked at my watch: 40 Minutes. Although I had run plenty of miles as a distance runner, I didn't realize it would be this much harder running 1 mile up 8,590 feet with 2,744 steps(I was a bit humbled:) Seeing the top now, I heard cheering from above. It was my Summit people!! What were they cheering for? I looked behind me. Nothing was there. They must be cheering for me!
"Fantastic. No pressure, you just can't die now like you were going to."
There was that negative voice in my head. I really didn't want to go on. The others' voices kept beckoning me up,
"You got this! Come on! Don't give up! You are so close!"
A fire burned in me. I couldn't give up on them. Fixing my eyes on the others, I started jogging up the steps. My legs moved unexpectedly quickly as I ventured on until my foot slipped on the pebbly dirt. I came crashing down on the next steps. Yet, the voices did not waver but seemed to grow louder. My friend, Jackson Ussery, came down and encouraged me to keep jogging. Tired and hurting now, I ran up the steps with him and finally made it to the top. And yes, it was so worth it.
"A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory..."
~Unbroken
My experience this summer at Summit was one I will never forget. To all the people who have been asking me what I learned at Summit I appreciate it because it has encouraged me to keep reviewing the notes, readings, and scriptures I studied. I really did learn a lot! All the things we have learned exceeded by far what most teenagers normally learn. I was undeservingly blessed. I would like to share with you a little of what I learned.
I recently finished the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It helped me renew my focus for the summer.
"When loving Him becomes an obligation, one of the many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves."
I have found myself asking," What is my purpose? What makes me so special? How can I keep myself motivated to face reality?
At Summit, they not only urged us to ask these sort of questions then, but to ask questions continually.
When we discussed Abortion, the question Scott Klusendorf introduced to us was," What is the unborn?" Is the fetus just tissue or an actual human? The instance came up whether abortion was still right if the mother was raped. Mike Adams explained that we do not live in a world of problems and solutions. The problem will not go away for the mother even if she has the abortion. Unfortunately, the memory of being raped cannot be solved. In any abortion, we must consider if the mother has rights, doesn't the baby have rights as well?
I kept meditating,
"Be still and know..." Psalm 46:10
Recently, in my training for our church's youth mission trip, I asked a person we were reaching out to: "Do you know Jesus?"
There is a difference in knowing about God and actually knowing God personally. It is not about giving yourself to get favor. It's about getting Christ, Himself to give Him glory. Christianity is not about religion, but about relationship. That is how our nation was formed- through the united and diverse relationship of a democratic republic.
Dr. Del Tackett explained that our Founding Fathers would say,
"If you were to walk away from God, you would be serving a tyrant."
Although Americans had escaped the tyrannical rule of Britain, the founding leaders of our country knew that they couldn't rule on their own. They needed a relationship with God to orchestrate the relationship of the federal government.
Yet, why did Americans escape in the first place?
Specifically, they desired freedom of religion.
Freedom...
Just looking at our nation's history, I believe God is the One who gives true freedom. The world cannot give freedom because the world is only concerned about getting what it wants, no matter the cost. The world is a tyrant in and in itself.
Freedom necessitates love, discipline, and order. Our God is love(John 4:8) As Creator, He crafted the universe with design and order. When we went against His order, He disciplined us with the Fall- but ultimately disciplined to show His love for us through His son, Jesus Christ, so He could set us free.
This is crazy love!
Yet, it's hard to find freedom. We are tempted to false freedom that puts us in shackles and retains us as slaves. That is why we must fight for freedom just as it had to be fought for in the American Revolution and countless other wars.
The thought of freedom brought me to think of the new Hungergames movie coming out. One of my favorite quotes from the Hungergames says,
"Fire burns brighter in the dark."
There is fire and there is darkness. There is right and wrong. Tackett explained in a big state, people want to accept small morality. Freedom must harmonize the Christian worldview and morality. Our nation's foundation, grounding the constitution, was the Bible. The earliest American schools taught children the scriptures and most of the Ivy league schools today were formerly Christian Seminaries.
So, how do we fight for freedom?
We must know the good and evil and choose the good.
At Summit, homosexuality was an intriguing, common topic of discussion.
Is it a question of morality or genetics?
According to freedom, we see that we can choose good or evil. Homosexuality has to be good or evil. We can choose we were
1. Created with purposeful design,
Knowing one's purpose, knowing how to live purposefully, knowing Jesus.
Being secure in one's identity, knowing what is right and wrong.
or
2. Originated from nothing
Purpose is based off nothing
Identity is based off nothing
" Without dignity, identity is erased."
~Unbroken
It is hard for all of us to accept the harshness of right and wrong. The problem of insecurity in who we are may seem too big- yet in actuality, our perception of God is too small.
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"
~Jeremiah 32:27
The reason why I posted my poem was to try to convince myself that I could have a spiritual revival. This past year, I barely spent any time with God or listened to His voice. Yet, I knew there was still hope that brought me back to the 'tree of life'.
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
~Proverbs 13:12
We need to continually fulfill our desires so we may attain true satisfaction and freedom. John Stonestreet taught us that the foundation for practicing right desires is through habit. Even though that goes against the norm of how teens are living today, I am just going to take Stonestreet's advice:
SKIP ADOLESCENCE .
At this point in my life, I don't want live for what I feel.
I thank God we are not victims to what we feel.
Feeling does not determine truth,
Truth determines feeling.
According to John 14:6, Jesus is the truth. I choose to trust Him and live for Him.
Will you?
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."
~James 4:8
Scripture is about informing us of our freedom to be fully and truly living.
But life is a race. We just have to endure it.
When Dr. Linden described an illustration of perseverance, I choose to use that as my henna. So, to all to you Summit peoples who were asking about my henna(yeah, almost all of us got hennas!), here's a clearer explanation than what I probably told you:)
Linden informed us of the Chinese Word for perseverance being a combination of 2 words: "knife" and "heart". Although crippling trials and suffering seem to pierce our hearts and cause the life in us to ceaselessly spill out, the heart keeps beating...
When I went up the Incline, I learned that every one of those log steps counted. It was going to be worth it. Yet, in a moment, I had to make that choice:
"No matter how many times I fall down, nothing can take away my choice of getting back up."
I pray that you will call on God for help to make that choice. Ask Him to give you brothers and sisters that will keep you accountable in living free from every weight and sin which clings so closely:
"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus...."
~Hebrews 12:1-2a
Hear the screaming voices from above. Hear His voice. Let the fire, deep within, burn...
Because fire burns brighter in the dark
;)