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!

Nehemiah 4:15-20

¹⁵ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. ¹⁶ So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸ Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
¹⁹ Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

Rebuilding a school takes alot of dedicated people who will have to band together, put forth extra hours and effort and rally together when they hear the trumpet call. We have such people at Summit! I continue to be amazed by the dedication of volunteers and our Board members who work tirelessly to make Summit a great school! As in the passages from Nehemiah, what is now Summit lay in ruins just a few weeks ago, but now is an operating and restored better than before school! But there is much more to be done!

Today we need to sound the trumpet and get everyone to tell their friends, neighbors, church’s, and relatives about Summit and encourage them to enroll or give to the work! One of the things I don’t like to do as a leader is to tell teachers that I can’t give them a position. But that is just what I had to do on Friday. My hope was that we would have sufficient enrollment by July 10th to hire everyone back, but the reality is that we only able to rehire five teachers and aren’t yet able to rehire the others.

My prayer is that those who are undecided or waiting on finances will enroll at Summit soon, and that God will speak to the hearts of hundreds of young Christian famiies and have them come to Summit as well! So to those of you who read this blog, “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” Please join with us and tell everyone you know about the work and ministry of Summit!

Nehemiah 4

“So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.⁷ Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, ⁸ and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. ⁹ Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.”

Closing the Gaps

Once again God has guided Summit to receive more blessings as we wait and watch Him provide. Attentive parents discovered the “little guys” chairs we needed in very good condition at an excellent price! And our CHP parent found more office supplies and directed me to the State of California Auction where I was able to buy LCD projectors (4) a copy machine, white boards, tables, chairs and 3 pallets of office supplies for under $1000! And once again B&G Delivery blessed Summit and provided the transportation!

Here you can see Debbie gleefully unpacking one of the office supply pallets! 

And while we were unpacking  Judy started painting our Summit mural in the office….

while Shelley was buzy fixing and painting our classrooms. I’m once again amazed at His hand in Summit and the way He continues to supply our needs! Be sure to come to our Pancake Breakfast on the 4th of July and rejoice with all of us all!

Meanwhile, back at the wall

It occurred to me that every great work of God that He has permitted me to participate in has faced criticism and adversity from people outside the organization. I’m sure there are many secular explanations for this phenomena but for believers it is simply explained as sin. In my earlier years I would spend a great deal of time trying to understand motives, personal histories, family backgrounds, personal trials, etc. etc. etc. but it always seems to have as its origin sin.

Unfortunate as it is for the Christian Community it often appears in the form of gossip. I’ve avoided talking about the “g” word in my blog just because it is so negative and takes attention away from glorifying God in His handiwork amongst us! But recently we’ve been under attack by those who for one reason or another desire to create confusion and distract the Summit community from the great task God has set before us.

In the passage above Nehemiah says,

“⁸ and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. ⁹ Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night”.

Nehemiah response to adversity was to pray and take action to protect the community from attack! His first response was to pray, but often our reaction when we hear of “rumors” is to become hurt, angry or discouraged. But when we pray first, and seek the heart of God, God’s word, that He has planted in us, will come to mind and His Spirit will speak truth into our life. He then causes us to have compassion and enables us to genuinely pray for those who seek to harm our community.

But Nehemiah also takes defensive action to protect his community by arming them. He doesn’t mount an attack on his enemies but rather sets up a defensive system. We also need to set up a defense as we arm ourselves with the Word of God. As we take up the Word as Paul suggests we will be able to “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13b). He continues on with the armor and says,

^“14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”