Summit Principal's Blog

The Just Live by Faith Romans 1:16-32

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. ²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. ²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

If you are a reader of this blog and you still have your child in a public school consider the legislation signed into law today by Governor Schwarzenegger. Is this what you want taught to your children? Is this tolerance or indoctrination?

From Savecalifornia.org

BILL FACTS: SB 572 would establish every May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day” in K-12 public schools in California. Children would be taught to admire the life and values of late homosexual activist Harvey Milk, of whom the bill states: “…perhaps more than any other modern figure, Harvey Milk’s life and political career embody the rise of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement in California, across the nation, and throughout the world.”

Under SB 572, children would perform ”suitable commemorative exercises,” remembering the “life,” “accomplishments,” and “contributions” of Harvey Milk — in other words, the entire homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda for which Milk advocated. There is no definition or limit to these “exercises,” which could include gay pride parades, cross-dressing contests and mock gay weddings, or anything else Milk supported.

According to the reputable biography, “The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk,” Harvey Milk repeatedly engaged in adult-child sex, advocated for polygamous homosexual relationships, and told a very public lie because he thought it would get him ahead. Since SB 572 would do “excerises remembering the life of Harvey Milk,” kids could be taught to support and emulate these very bad values.

SB 572 would affect children as young as kindergarten. There is no parental notification or consent written into the bill.

BILL STATUS: “Harvey Milk Gay Day” has been signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Senate floor vote | Assembly floor vote | Our Oct. 12 news release | Perspective

Luke 14:28-30
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

For the last several weeks I’ve been talking in chapel around a theme of “Hiking to the Summit, how to live and learn with Christian character” One of the visuals I’ve put up on the PowerPoint is that of “Bob the builder”. I really like Bob because he always has a “can do” attitude, he always asks his crew when faced with a job, “can we do it?” and they always reply “yes we can!”

Five months ago a group of parents sat down in a living room and agreed to undertake the building of a new ministry called Summit Christian School. In the initial discussions one of the commitments that came from that early steering community was unanimous agreement that this new school would be transparent and forthcoming in its operations and finances.

As the school’s development progressed over the next several weeks the finance committee portion of the steering committee met and used the best information that was available to develop a projected budget, with several different scenarios based upon different enrollment levels. The projections indicated that we could function as a school with 60 students, if we raised additional funds of $60,000 over the school year at our current tuition levels. With 85 students we would be able to operate with a balanced budget and as the enrollment increased we could expand.

After some discussion the steering committee agreed to go ahead with the formation of the new school believing that we could raise the necessary funds if enrollment ran short of our goal. Now that we have been in operation for four months I can report the financial condition of the school based on our real experience. The great news is that our projections were very close to target! However because we are currently at 69 full time students we need to raise money to balance our budget over the next eight months. And that currently appears to be $45,000 to $60,000 (or an additional ten to fifteen students).

So because I’m an optimist and believe on setting high goals I’ve selected $60,000 for our target! We have a number of exciting fund-raising opportunities planned to help us achieve our goal that I encourage you to participate in. Please watch the Trailblazer’s upcoming editions for more information and updates on our financial status with ways that you can support Summit for free! Can we do it? YES WE CAN!

Goal: $60,000
Raised to date: $00,000
Needed: $60,000

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in thekingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:1-5)

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

“Oh excuse me please” was my reply.

He said, “Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.”

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God’s still small voice came to me and said,

“While dealing with a stranger,

common courtesy you use,

but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You’ll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.”

By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

“Wake up, little one, wake up,” I said.

“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”

He smiled, “I found ‘em, out by the tree.

I picked ‘em because they’re pretty like you.

I knew you’d like ‘em, especially the blue.”

I said, “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”

He said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay.

I love you anyway.”

I said, “Son, I love you too,

and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company

that we are working for could easily replace us in

a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss

for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more

into work than into our own family,

an unwise investment indeed,

don’t you think?

So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

-anon

2 Peter 1: 1-4

“¹Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  ²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”

Greetings to all you! ^“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”  I thank God for you every day as I walk around the campus and see you and your children! Summit Christian School is open and running to the Glory of our God as His divine power has worked to bring about this miracle called Summit Christian School!

As I was speaking to our Junior High students the other day I was telling them that I believed that they were not here at Summit as the result of some chance occurrence, but rather as a miraculous work of God’s providential hand. And because it is His hand we know that He has a special and specific plan for their lives. Likewise I believe that God has called you, as a parent or supporter of Summit, to the work that He is revealing to us as we develop the ministry of Summit Christian School.

One of the blessings that I have enjoyed as principal is to see the hand of God on a daily basis as Summit has been formed out of nothing. I can still recall the totally empty buildings on June 1^st this year. And I have been blessed to watch the miraculous hand of God provide as He has given to us furniture, office supplies, computer equipment, curriculum and classrooms supplies and the outstanding teachers and staff.  God is performing a miracle before our eyes!

Please remember our school in your prayers so that we have “grace and peace multiplied to us” as we move forward in pursuit of the “knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord”. We need His guidance and provision as we build upon a new foundation.

The other day I was talking on the phone with a prospective new Summit parent and she asked me a great question. She said,”I really like what I see on your website but what really makes Summit different from all the other Christian schools in the area?” My first thoughts were the Bob Jones curriculum that we use across the grade levels, and our small class sizes, community environment, safe campus, christian character emphasis, biblical worldview. But other schools have that, what really distinguishes us is our focus on our love for God!

When a community of Christians come together and truely love God they want to glorify Him with their lives! Their focus becomes their personal relationship with God and not judgement of everyone elses walk. It is a simple concept but has huge implecations! Frank Hamrik in his book “The Heart of the Matter” really expresses it well,

“The purpose of a Christian school is not to teach youth how to live but to magnify the majesty of God. Christian school teachers are not behaviorists, but cardiologists. They teach, not only so students will achieve academic excellence, but also so students will have a heart for God and zeal to exalt His name,” (Hamrick, 2005)

And our teachers model it every day, all day! Our exceptional teachers  are mission/ministry minded with every child. Their discipleship mindset transforms the culture of the school!

But they also are exceptional educators! I’ve watched this week as they have selflessly labored to provide the best education for every child! When I’ve had a discipline issue, their concern was for the heart of the child. When we’ve had a curriculum need it is to insure the education of each and every child.

And their approach to their profession is to be the best to glorify God using a diverse approach to teaching. They don’t just “teach to book” but often I’ll see them integrating some of the latest learning research such as that of Howard Gardner. (Gardner and others in the secular educational arena have begun to discover what the scripture teaches that each of us is unique and wonderfully made),

Psalm 139

^“13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;^[a]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

We also have a great staff of volunteers! Recently our long time Administrative Assistant, Debbie Schmitt, who was instrumental in the development of Summit over the summer, decided to take a new direction in her life and left Summit. Debbie will be greatly missed and her lagacy will live on at Summit for years to come. But immediately and quite naturally Sherry Ehrhart, Shelley Sharer, Jen Zambrano and other parents stepped in and enabled a smooth transition by volunteering their time in the office!

All of this happens because Summit is composed of people committed to glorifying God through their lives because they Love God with their whole heart! What a tremendous testimony to our God, the One Who is continuing to perform miracles in our midst that brings glory to His name!

Hebrews 11:1-3 (New King James Version)

By Faith We Understand

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Faith that Summit could become a reality was fulfilled today. And the reality was something to behold! Excited parents, students and teachers at the beginning of the day who shared the joy of giving glory to God for the miracle that is Summit Christian School.

And the kids looked so good in the school uniforms! There was a great unity in spirit as the kids identified with each other in their Summit uniforms. One of our parents shared with me that their child didn’t want to go to class until they went upstairs and got his new Summit shirt to put on. And the Junior High kids were proud of their new identity with a Christian School and their friends who were unique but not in style competition, it really did set a different but very good tone to our school and the climate of our classes.

Our new lunch program also went off without a hitch! All of the students have lunch at the same time in the fellowship hall supervised by our volunteer parents. This gives our busy teachers a well deserved break as well as providing an opportunity for the students to sit down and relate to one another. Building relationships that will build communication skills and develop Christian Character fulfilling part of our theme this year to “live and learn with Christian Character.”

The reality of Summit, the fulfillment of the dreams and planning of our school board and steering committee, our parents and volunteers, of all of you who have supported the vision of Summit, the reality of faith put into action, was realized today. And all of the praise goes to God! He is the one who has moved in our midst to bring about the impossible, the “substance of things hoped for.” “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

And if you are looking at this miracle of God from afar, won’t you please join with us in this faith walk! The vision we have today of Summit is only a view from the base of the mountain. We still have many more miles to hike but we are on our way! There is still time to join us at the trailhead, we’d love to have you come!

Our enrollment is growing but there is still room for more students. And if you are a grandparent or just an interested reader of this blog you can come along  too! Just write or email me and we’ll add you to our e-mail and postal mail lists. Thank you all for your prayers and financial support! Praise be to God!

O LORD, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

-Isaiah 25:1

Nehemiah 6:15-16

The Wall Is Finished

¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Today I received an email which is representative of the many we have received from folks who are supporting us!

“Dear Summit,

I live just off Hazel Avenue and have watched the steady progress of Summit.  I’ve looked at your website and am greatly encouraged by the boldness of the faith of those who are creating what appears to be a truly Christian school.  I just wanted to say, “Thank you” for encouraging me.  I am currently homeschooling our children and pursuing my teaching credentials with Western Governors University.  Your efforts, seeing folks out there this morning working to make the campus ready for the next generation of students, reading the Principal’s blog, your mission, etc. have worked to lighten my load and brighten my spirit.”

Thank you all who have been praying for this work of God! We deeply appreciate you and I beleive you are part of the reason for God’s hand in the direction and provision for Summit!

And thank you all who have given so generously as well! Former teachers with curriculum and supplies, parents and former alumni, businesses, schools, churches, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and many, many who just heard of the work and wanted to help. You all have been a great encouragement!

August 11th will be the 72nd day since we began the process of rebuilding the Fair Oaks Campus as Summit Christian School. I hope all of you who read this blog will be able to join with us for a family style barbeque and open house to see first hand what our God has done! Every day has been a miracle and all of the praise goes to our God! We’ll meet from 5-8 so if you can join us please come! I would love to meet with all of you who have been so supportive of our new school!

I want to also share that I have been especially blessed this week as the teacher’s have returned! What outstanding Christian teachers who love God! They all have been in and out this summer working on curriculum or their classrooms, but to have them together as a team has been a remarkable experience! And the planning and enthusiasum for the task before us is another one of those miracles our God has performed! A great example of God’s work in our midst is the theme for the year which we agreed upon unanimously in just minutes, “learn and live with Christian character” from from our mission statement.

And on FridayGrandma Green (a dear senior saint who serves as a Sunday school teacher) stopped me to proclaim to me that there is the strong presence of God in the Summit campus since we took over! And many of our new families have spoken about the different spirit they sense here. I believe it is the Holy Spirit’s work as His people have come together in this remarkable ongoing miracle we call Summit. We all need to be encouraged by the supernatural work of our God in the midst of the secularized, darwinistic, materialistic culture we live in, and God is glorified as we give Him the credit for what is happening!

But I must confess that I am disappointed and saddened that we have not been able to rehire all the teachers. We are still short of the student enrollment necessary to rehire them. Please pray for God’s provision in the form of more students or of large donations which would allow us to rehire these teachers! We have seen God’s hand work in so many ways over the last two months, please join with me and ask God to provide again in miraculous ways that will exalt His name and confound the wisdom of this world!

“And Jesus answering, said unto them, “Have faith in God.²³For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, `Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,’ and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.²⁴Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”

Mark 11:22-24

Isaiah 29:13-15 (New King James Version)

¹³ Therefore the Lord said:

“ Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder;

For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

I can still remember walking into what had been my office on June 1st 2009 and experiencing a terrible sense of loss. All of everything was gone! And as I walked around the Fair Oaks campus every room was bare, no chairs, tables, books, computers, supplies, nothing! What a huge task lay before us to put together a school in two months I thought!

But God had a plan and even though many of my friends said it was impossible, it couldn’t be done and I was foolish to try, I believed God could do it! And He had chosen the perfect set of people to do it! I was reminded of the call of God that day, the call of Hebrews 11:1-2 that says “¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” My kids and grand kids lives would be forever changed by my decision (verse 2). What was my testimony going to be? Trust in myself and my resources, or trust in the God of the Bible? Were my possessions more important than my testimony to generations? Were my years of teaching and preaching God’s Word only abstract concepts?

Earlier this week one of our parents came to the counter and I once again found myself  praising and glorifying God for the ongoing miracle of Summit! As I began to mention the amazing work that our School Board has done over the last two months she Interrupted my comments by exclaiming “school board? I didn’t know there was a school board!”

Suddenly it occurred to me that many people are not aware of the amazing group of people that God has brought together to hammer out the policy, finances and organizational structure necessary to create a solid Christian School. And yes the story is another component of the ongoing miracle!

Our School Board is made up of an amazing group of very different people who disagree on many issues. It started as a “steering committee” which carefully but very quickly created the current official board which has been meeting for about four hours nearly every Tuesday and Thursday for the last two months. Currently there are ten members, mostly parents of Summit, who have trusted and believed that God was able to use them to do the impossible. Their names are: Anthony Taylor, Dave Schmitt , Dr. Rick Gregory , J Kirk Clopton MD , Jenifer Zambrano, Jim Cosentino, Oksana Kamyshin, Rick Bannister, Shelley Sharer, Sherry Ehrhart,  and advisory and steering committee members: Bill Krauss, Dianna Sutton, Joan Javier, Judy Krauss, Rose Flodin

Many times, just like me, members were told they were “nuts” to think it could be done. But they continued on. The end result is the solid, sound, rational, authentic Christian community that has become Summit Christian School. And the greatest strength of the Summit School Board is perhaps the incredible diversity and commitment of it’s members. It is not a group of people who agree on everything, but is a group of authentic Christians who are willing to work through issues until there is resolution in the Spirit. It takes more time to listen to all points of view but the product is excellent. And that is the heart of Summit Christian School, striving to reach the peak, never giving up, always pursuing the best in spite of adversity trusting that if we seek God’s will He will guide! Please join us on August 11th for our “Back to School Barbecue and Open House” and you can meet all of our Board members in person.

The ongoing Miracle Update

More donations! We continue to receive donations from people who are not directly connected to Summit! To date we’ve received over $20,000! Praise God! And people keep bringing us things we need as well. This last few weeks people have provided many of the items we need to help restock our supply room! And if you are reading this blog wondering if God wants you to give something, let me encourage you by saying that His Spirit will guide you as you open your heart to Him! To see a list of needed items click here

Just a few days ago a friend of Summit at Capital Christian School contacted me about some podiums they were selling. The price was very reasonable so I went over to look at them. Not only were they like new but all the money we paid went back to the Lord to support their Missions class. So God used Summit to provide funds for His work and blessed us in the process! You can never out give God!

And more students! We continue to grow with new inquiries every day! Please keep talking with everyone you meet about the miracle of Summit Christian School! And if you haven’t as yet joined the Summit family I encourage you to do so today! If you are a parent, enroll your children. If you are a grandparent, enroll your grandchildren. And if you are one of our many friends pray for us and ask  God what He would have you do.

Romans 1:16-17

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,^[a] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”^[b]

Psalm 37

²⁵ I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

²⁶ They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.

Having just returned from a two week trip to visit our grandchildren in Pittsburgh, Providence and Salt Lake City we took the opportunity to travel on the train from Salt Lake City home to Roseville. It was an attempt to slow down a little before ending our vacation but also an opportunity to reconnect as a couple who had been immersed in our kids and grand kids worlds for the previous 12 days. I had envisioned fond memories of my youth on trains with my uncle and grandfather who were “rail fans”. I could smell the coal smoke of the locomotive and hear the “clickity clack” of the rails as the train sped down the track being gently rocked to sleep as the car rocked gently side to side.

As we traveled to the train station I thought how much I had always enjoyed our visits to the Salt Lake area because of the families you see everywhere. And the LDS Church has had a positive influence on the culture in many ways as you see a great commitment to holy living. But the underbelly of Salt Lakes inner city is just like most large cities and was in full view as we approached the Amtrak Station.

Boarding the train in Salt Lake City at 11:00 PM and getting into our sleeper car we were greeted by our “attendant” who showed us to our room. Pulling out of the city we were treated to an amazing electrical storm which kept us up until 12:30. After six great hours of sleep we awoke to experience God’s handiwork in the Nevada desert complete with silver lined clouds and the sun rising behind majestic mountains. But God’s greatest blessing was yet to come.

Moving to the dining room for breakfast we were seated with another couple who we didn’t know. It was a little strange at first because in all our previous travel we never really faced or talked with anyone. In the plane we were in a row of seats facing the backs of the next row, and not really able to talk with anyone face to face. But here we were having breakfast with a couple from Australia, a professor of Agriculture and his wife, a educational policy analyst from the State of Victoria, Australia. Once again I’m in awe as God works His plan in our lives!

Upon discovering our common interests in education an hour long conversation ensued comparing education in our two respective countries. It seems that Australia has experienced many of the same problems in public eduction that the US has! They agreed with us that the core problem is the secularization of the schools and their curriculum. Kathleen the public educational policy analyst believed that because public schools are hopelessly lost to secularization the only answer is private Christian schools that still hold to the Christian values which shaped the United States and Australia’s history.

As we travelled into Roseville I thought of what God has begun at Summit, He has started a new work to develop a new generation of Christian kids that will have a tremendous impact on our world. And He has allowed us to be a part of making it happen! What a great blessing to be used of God, it was good to be home!