| April 3, 2008 |
Vol 9, Issue 11
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 Get Ready to Lead!
"It's simple. We're just changing the world."
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This program lit the spark for me...could it do the same for young adults you know?
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Greetings!...  It was the evening of my high school graduation. I was anxious to leave the reception being held in my honor so I could meet up with friends.
As I was about to leave my father took me aside and said, "Son, as a graduation present, your mother and I are going to send you to Colorado for two weeks."
I was thrilled! Who wouldn't want to go to Colorado for two weeks?
As it turned out, I found myself in a two-week camp that was unlike anything I had experienced. Dr. David Noebel and other scholars answered my pressing questions about the Christian faith. My classmates were upbeat, "cool," Christian kids who shared a passion to live for God.
It was called Summit Ministries. My two weeks there changed my life and set me on a journey of discovering how to become a culture-shaping leader.
Fast forward almost 25 years. I'm now pleased to be chairman of the board of Summit Ministries, and I'd like to dedicate this issue of the newsletter to sharing some of the excellent programs and resources Summit provides to prepare you--and those you love--to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Get Ready to Lead! | | |
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Will our youth be shaped by the culture or become shapers of the culture?
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 The history of Christianity is an awesome, fascinating study. It
was Christians who ended slavery, established hospitals, developed education
for the masses, pursued civil rights, invented democratic government and started modern science.
Unfortunately there are many forces waging against the ability of today's Christian youth from following in this incredible tradition. Almost 50% of students who claim to be Christian going into college claim not to be Christian when they leave.
George Barna reported
last year that only 20% of students who are highly churched as teens, will
remain spiritually active in their twenties. Are the young people you know and love prepared to
handle the academic, cultural and social challenges to their faith?
We must focus on preparing culture-shaping leaders. That's why I urge you to send young adults ages 16-21 to a Summit Ministries student conference this summer.
Summit's ministry to
students goes back over 45 years. Thousands of students have been trained
through these conferences to defend and champion the truth of Christianity in a
culture that is often hostile to their faith.
I'm pleased to invest part of my summer each year serving on Summit's faculty. My colleagues and I train students on a biblical response to everything
from postmodernism to abortion, from Islam to the New Age, from humanism to
entertainment, from evolution to relativism.
Summit students learn to engage
the culture from a Christian worldview, while taking captive for Christ the
ideas that are behind the key cultural and social issues of our day.
Summit's conferences have received the praise of leaders
such as James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, Tim LaHaye, and Norman Geisler.Youth ministry expert Josh McDowell says of
the Summit,
My own son was one of those who
came face to face with a biblical worldview at The Summit. It was by far one of
the most significant conferences he has ever attended. The impact will affect
Sean the rest of his life... I consider Summit Ministries to be the premier
organization for training Christians to think in terms of a total world and life
view.
Programs are available this summer in Colorado, Tennessee, Virginia and Ohio. For more information, visit the Summit website or call 719-685-9103. Summit conferences fill up quickly, so call
right away. |
Summit for grown-ups: Come to Tennessee for a Memorable Week of Teaching and Fellowship
|  Let's face it--we cannot expect
the next generation of Christians to embrace, live, and defend the truth of
Christianity if the adults they know aren't doing it. George Barna suggests that fewer than 10% of Christian adults have
a Biblical worldview. How can we pass a baton we have not ourselves received?
I encourage you to consider attending the the Summit Ministries Adult Conference at Bryan College this summer. One of my colleagues at Bryan College attended last summer and told her husband that the conference was "literally life changing."
This year's conference
will be held July 6-11 on the Bryan campus in Dayton, TN.
Each day of the conference is filled with
challenging and informative sessions from some of the sharpest
Christian thinkers in America. You'll enjoy lively discussions with
other Christians who share a common vision for our world.
The Summit Adult Conference equips you to powerfully influence the next generation of
Christian leaders. Also, there is a special track
for Christian educators, and teachers can earn CEU's for attending.
Call 719-685-9103 for more
information or visit the Summit website here.
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 From Jeff Myers: Make it a great week!
The next few weeks will be very exciting for our team at Passing the Baton. We're preparing an announcement for a new phase of the ministry that we believe will have a significant effect on our ability to mobilize this generation of adults to pass the baton of godly faithfulness to the next generation.
Please pray for our team at next week's Wisdom Trek conference in Maryland. Pray that God will provide breakthroughs for each of the participants, and a clear focus and listening ability for our instructors and coaches.
Jeff Myers, Ph.D., President
Passing the Baton International, Inc. |
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