The addictiveness of escapisim

I'’ve just come back from the Credo/D'Arts getaway which was good.– It was great to spend time with the students (check out some of the fun photos that will be coming on flickr soon) but to be honest reflections on that will probably wait until I'’ve processed the rest of what's on my mind.

Whether it is by nature or nurture, I am an escapist. It'’s one of the reasons why having holidays on my own holds so much appeal for me. As an adult, I love running away - always have and probably always will. And I don't think that I'm on my
own.

One of the things that I found a little unusual at Perisher was how isolated an area it really can be. When you think about it, all you really have is a big base camp at the bottom of a few mountains, which takes a while to get in and out of. Once there, it seemed to me that there was very much a sense of living for the moment -– almost with the philosophy of consequences be dammed.

On the Friday night I went out to the pub with two guys that I met at the hotel where I was staying, Jimmy and Todd, as well as some of the hotel staff. We went home around 11 and the next morning at breakfast, one of the other hotel staff joined us and told the boys and I what great night we'’d missed out on; everyone getting drunk, picking up whatever girls were there - the usual kind of list. The way this guy was describing what had happened, I really did get the sense that it was out of the ordinary behaviour of what would happen back at home.

People were acting differently because they were getting caught up in the moment and the environment that they were in - so they could either do the things that they normally felt too inhibited to do, or simply wanted to forget about the consequences...

The dictionary defines hedonism as '“the pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially the pleasure of the sense'. Psychologically it is the doctrine that holds that behaviour is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain and that happiness of the self is the sole or chief good in life.

I think that'’s why so many people want to escape. On the surface, it feels good. It'’s addictive. It feels as though there is something better on offer. And as Christians, isn't that what we know to be true? I do - I know that there is something better out there. For myself and for others. I get a glimpse of it when I '‘escape'’ and get to spend time on my own. It'’s a time to re-centre and re-focus on what actually matters. On D'’Arts getaway we looked at Colossians and evangelism. One of the beautifully simple verses that stood out to me was Col 2:6 - “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him'.

Look at the lyrics for Switchfoot’s song 'Dare you to Move':

"Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?

I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between who how it is and how it should be

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here."

Thank God for that...

update from the snow

ok - two things have to be said. firstly: i am having sooooo much fun and secondly: it appears i really could have ski-bunny as my middle name. apparently i'm a natural (or so my ski instructer from Sweeden BJ tells me). i got up to level three after a day and a half and tomorrow should be doing level 5.
The best part? NOTHING IS BROKEN... (despite being taken out from behind by a massive tongan guy and landing not on snow but on hard ground)...
ok that's it for now - more fun details when i get back
(oh except for those who feel like praying for me - the flu developed into bronchitus)

Skibunny is my middle name...

In about 24 hrs this will be me... um, ok - clarification - this could be me. You can learn how to do that your first time skiing can't you?
I'm off to Perisher to learn. Yeah! Flu or no flu at 11:10 tonight I'll be on the overnight greyhound bus that should get me there at 6 tomorrow morning (which should be an experience in itself). And for JT, or any other's who take delight in laughing at my misadventures, yes, I've already checked - my health insurance covers ambulances, road or air. Here's hoping I wont be taking my first ride in a chopper this week...

Study camp part 2

ex·haus·tion
1: extreme fatigue
2: serious weakening and loss of energy [syn: debilitation, enervation, enfeeblement]
3: the act of exhausting something entire
4: neurosis following overstrain or overexertion especially in military combat

So that's me. I came home from study camp yesterday afternoon and promptly put myself into bed. It was 5:30 in the afternoon. I slept for 13 hours...

I like the fact that the dictionary definition includes the military illusion. That's the way I've felt about this week because there has definitely been a battle with some of the students (esp the bali 9!) and Satan. I've come away mostly feeling spent and weak. There has been disapointment, frustration and trust that has been broken. At the moment I'm working through how not to feel cynical (thoughts justin?) about my ministry and whether it is valued at all by those whom I'm trying to serve and work with and how to keep going when you're feeling attacked and undermined.

But it hasn't all been bad. For those who were praying, some of your prayers were definatley answerd in a short space of time. At least ten became Christians this week (!!!!!) - and many more seeds where planted in young minds for the Holy Spirit to hopefully start growing.

And our beloved Bali 9 started to show signs of cracking and breaking. In the end some of the leaders, myself included, started to find them incrediably entertaining. They got worse before they got better - but on the last lunch time some of them joined me and we had a really good chat. I was able to show them friendship and ask them questions that will hopefully challenge them to think about the type of people that they want to become.

I want to finish by thanking some people who will never read this post - but who made this week a true joy that i wont forget for a long time - my new friends Paddy, Michelle, Mark and Annabelle. Thanks for being the ones to laugh with and make me laugh (esp through the very cold very late nights on patrol!), to run away with for that well earned drink, to hug away a couple of tears and finally for busting out dance moves with that nobody else will ever understand - hooters and dramatic door openings will never be the same...

Princesses, shock jocks and our own Bali 9

Who knew that terrorists could be found in good ol' galston gorge on an HSC study camp? I'm currently (well ok not currently because I have briefly escaped and made my own prison break for the afternoon) on a Crusaders study camp with a bunch of Credo students and it has been... well, lets just say interesting...
Heaven save us from princesses and shock jocks. Nine of them have turned up (hence the Bali nine reference) and have been causing as much chaos as they could ever since finding out that they (the 5 girls anyway) weren't going to be sleeping in the same room. As we were walking up to the hall I overheard one of them say in a lovely prissy voice "Well if we don't get what we want then we'll just go home".
mmmmm, me thinks...this doesn't bode well for the rest of the week - and it didn't. So far, most of the leaders time has been spent looking for them (mostly in the bushes to see where they're smoking whatever it is that they're smoking), getting them to turn up to sessions, stop the guys going into the girls cabins - blah blah blah the list goes on. We've given some of them nicknames - twiddle dee and twiddle dumb (better than dumb and dumber), Malibu Barbie, ferret, brain cell and cry baby.
It's a bummer because the other 100 or so campers are generally all great kids - and these nine are ruining it for them. One on one they're ok - I had to take one of them to a medical centre yesterday because she got a tick (I told her this is what happens when you sneak around in the bushes!) - but put them together and it's like a group of feral, stubborn pigs.

The good side of it has been that their antics (once we got over being cranky with them) have provided some of the leaders, myself included, with a great deal of amusement! Most nights around 11, you can find about 4 of us outside their cabin (yeah, in the cold so I sit with my hot water bottle) killing ourselves laughing at them trying to be to cool for skool.

The bad/sad side... ok not so funny and here is where I'm going to ask for prayer: I was sitting in one of the talks this morning watching them as Marty was speaking about how people 'may' have done things that will separate them from God. Marty listed things like "you may have done drugs, you may have used your own body or someone else's for your own pleasure, you may have been involved in a pregnancy and done something about it to get out of an unfortunate circumstance..." And they all sat there sniggering and laughing. I just wanted to cry for them and over them.
They're kids - and they're living lives that will continue to separate them from the love of God through Christ through the rest of their lives. They're hardening their hearts to the gospel.

So, in our remaining 48hrs can I please be asking those who pray to be doing so constantly for our Bali 9? Pray that God is working His miraculous Holy Spirit to break their hearts so that they will hear something, anything that will be working in their lives.
There are also many other kids there who are asking lots of questions. I think I had forgotten how much evangelisim can be done during these weeks so please be praying that we can continue to make the most of it.
in Him
j.
PS - real names or photos couldn't be used cos I don't want to get sued!

Yep - I'm back

Why is it that so often I seem to find that I come back from holidays tired? Probably cos I get to caught up in doing too many things I guess. This time, most of it was invested with spending time with people I love, or meeting some new people. Which to be frank is a little odd for me to have enjoyed so much since what I love to do most on my holidays is hide away somewhere on my own...
But this time it worked for me. Started in Tamworth (hence the Golden Guitar) where I met Naree and stayed with her sister and their family for a couple of days before heading to Ballina.
So I thought I'd give you the highlights:

Hanging out with some old friends from college

Being able to spend time with Naree and let her be the wise one (as always) who acts as a compass for me

Sitting up late at night with Jeff and a drink solving each others, and the worlds, problems

Poached eggs and Katies coffee at 'Siroccos' - one of my all time favorite cafes


Getting up at 5.20 to walk up to Byron lighthouse with Jane and watch God's sun rise (ok, so that one was good and bad - the bad was the hour and walking/jogging 6k's at that time of day) followed by a big breakie with her girls

Just getting back to a place that I feel comfortable in...


For those who want more detail, (or are bored and want a way to avoid working) I've put a collection of photos together on my flickr under the album name "june/july road trip". Can I suggest that you look at it via the album not just what's loaded up on the main page - I put the photos in chronological order with descriptions so it will make more sense.