YVQ: DISTRACTIONS by Churches of Christ Vic/Tas

Issue 05 March 2012 DEEP DISCIPLESHIP IN A SHALLOW LAND

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Amy Stephenson

MY YEAR WITHOUT SPORT

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DIGITAL DISCIPLESHIP?

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White noise

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Pete Evans

Steve Fogg

Brenton Killeen

Rhythms & rules of life

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Sam Bloore

Be still

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Lynn Moresi

POP-CULTURE RELIGION

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Ian DiOrio

An excerpt from

Mark Sayers new book

The Roadtrip

That Changed The World p.18

Ian DiOrio

Brenton Killeen

Sam Bloore

Amy works for Red: a church in Box Hill focusing on the young adult demographic, and home of Über, a young adult discipleship ministry. She also works for Youth Vision, managing communications and projects, and editing YVQ. She is a writer and lover of words, eager to see God and his ways communicated well.

Ian is the Young Adult’s Pastor at Eastside Christian Church in Southern California, and is known for his ability to communicate and reach emerging generations. A former Rave and Club DJ who converted to Christianity in his early twenties, Ian has a passion to help the church navigate the world of popular culture, so that it can effectively reach and disciple young adults.

Brenton is the Director of Youth Vision Vic/Tas, the Director of the National Youth Ministry Convention Australia and pop-culture commentator for Light FM. He is married to Jess and proud father of daughters Madison and Tamsin. He is a passionate communicator and story teller, speaking and writing regularly across Australia.

Sam is the Communications Manager for the Compass Foundation in Auckland, New Zealand. He has been very happily married to Julia since March 2010 and is now an expectant dad. For the last three years he has been Student Dean and lecturer at Life Leadership College, while completing a Masters in Pastoral Theology.

Youth Vision 2012

2012 is shaping up to be a great year for Youth Vision. Our theme for State Youth Games this year is Greater, and we are looking forward to the introduction of the Film & Arts stream at the event. Illuminate Camp is shaping up to be the biggest and best one yet. We are making some big changes to our Internship Program which will launch late in the year. All in all it looks like it will be a year of exciting changes.

Why distraction? Lynn Moresi

Pete Evans

Steve Fogg

Mark Sayers

Lynn Moresi is on the teaching team at CityLife Church, and a lecturer in theology at Tabor Victoria. She speaks regularly at churches and conferences around Australia and overseas, and has a great desire to see people personally encounter the living presence of God. She is currently completing her Doctoral studies through Fuller Seminary in the USA.

Pete is a 10+ year teacher, husband and expectant father. He is also a lifelong Essendon Bombers, LA Lakers and Manchester United fan. Not to mention NFL, wrestling, tennis, cricket, and even baseball! He is going a year without watching any sport and actively engaging with the challenges and surprises that the journey brings.

Steve is the Communications guy at Crossway Baptist Church. Husband to Lou and father of Jonah, Isabella and Sienna. Steve is passionate about sharing with the world what he knows about branding, communications, marketing and all things digital.

Mark is the Senior Leader of Red, a Church focusing on the young adult demographic redchurch.org.au, and cofounder of Über a young adult discipleship ministry. Mark lives in Melbourne, with his wife Trudi, daughter Grace, and twin boys Hudson and Billy.

Here at the Youth Vision office we take the theme of YVQ very seriously. We see it as our prime opportunity to be a prophetic voice into youth and young adult ministries. Therefore we try to hear from God and from ministers on the ground about what is pertinent, what is challenging, and what needs to be challenged. Once we landed our topic as Distraction versus Discipleship it became a bit of an obsession for us. All of a sudden we could see the effects of distraction culture around and within us. In different ways we all tried to free ourselves from some the cycles we had unknowingly fallen into. We experimented with rules like ‘no phones in the home after 8pm’, and pre-determining times for computer use outside of work hours so as to be deliberate stewards of our time. We hope this magazine encourages you to challenge our culture of distraction in a Godly way, both within yourself and those you minister to. As levels of anxiety rise all around us, we hope that you can be an agent of peace in your setting.

Youth Vision is the youth and young adult ministry arm of Mission and Ministry Inc, a partner department of the Conference of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. The Youth Vision team consists of Brenton Killeen, Jason Sawyer, & Amy Stephenson.

A 1st Floor, 582 Heidelburg Rd. Fairfield VIC 3078 P 03 9488 8800 W vic.youthvision.org.au E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au

Is there an issue you would like to see YVQ address? Do you have feedback? Want to subscribe yourself or your team? Then let us know at yv@churchesofchrist.org.au

- The Youth Vision team

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

Amy Stephenson

From the Team Connect with our contributors

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Contributors

If you want to read more from our contributors or connect via social media, check these links out:

BLOGS

Pete Evans

myyearwithoutsport.wordpress.com balancinglife.net.au

Brenton Killeen brentonkilleen.com Mark Sayers marksayersthinks.com Steve Fogg stevefogg.com Sam Bloore compass.org.nz/conversations/

Twitter

@peterevansblife @SayersMark @ianmdiorio @stevefogg  @brentonkilleen

facebook

facebook.com/idiorio facebook.com/SamBlooreNZ facebook.com/brenton.killeen

further reading

facebook.com/stevefoggblog facebook.com/YouthVisionVicTas facebook.com/RedAChurch

Links

www.sabbathmanifesto.org macfreedom.com

Amy Stephenson

I recently heard a comedian speaking about the death of pub banter.

He explained that in the past all you needed was a trigger, like the question ‘how many Bond films was Sean Connery in?’ And the banter would begin: ‘He was in Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever, definitely,’ ‘He was un-arguably the best James Bond,’ ‘He was in Live And Let Die,’ ‘No, that was George Lazenby,’ ‘Who?!’ ‘Connery was in stacks, nine or ten!’ ‘Name them then!’ And on it would go. Pub banter; one of the great joys of pubs. The comedian went on to remark that when a similar question is asked now, someone at the table will undoubtedly dive for their smart phone, searching for the information at lightning speed, then slamming the phone down on the table. BOOM. ‘He was in six.’ End of conversation. The comedian lamented pub banter as a lost art. Yes, the correct information had been found, but it had been at the cost of the process. I am beginning to think that technology may be costing us more than we realise.

Caught in the Net

We are all distracted a lot of the time. This is probably not news to you. We have all at some point stopped listening to our friends because of the beep of our phones. We have all checked our social media in the middle of a presentation we should have been listening to. As I began to research the topic of distraction for this magazine I discovered an alarming mine of information about the detrimental ways we are being shaped by technology; prophets of doom - sociologists, psychologists, authors, teachers - their warnings echoing into the wilderness of the inter-web. I began to read perturbing things about the way we are processing information, that we could actually be re-wiring our brains to fast paced information decoding, whilst damaging our ability for deep contemplative thought. I found experts saying that there is no such thing as multi-tasking, we have all simply trained our brains to skip quickly from task to task to task (one doctor suggesting this fast paced concentration changing trains the brain for an Alzheimer’s-like state – yikes!). I read and heard many testimonies of people who used to love reading, plunging into the depths of an argument or losing themselves in the thread of a narrative,

but now struggle to maintain their attention for more than a few pages, becoming distracted, checking their phones, tuning out. Many will shrug off any criticism of information technology because of the vast good which it has afforded us: its encouragement of freedom of speech, its dissemination of information, its ability to connect us to more people and more content than ever before. But when theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the term ‘the media is the message’ he was pointing out that the way in which we receive information can be as formative as the information itself. In short, we are not just what we read, we are also how we read. I think perhaps we have embraced much of our information technologies because of the great content they bring us, but have overlooked a careful examination of the way we are taking in this content, and therefore the way the medium is shaping our processes of thought. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our Brains, says ‘when the Net absorbs a medium, that medium is re-created in the Net’s image.’ It takes literature, music, news, even people, and turns them in to flickering mega-pixels, infuses them with hyper-links, ads and related content. It defuses our concentration, pulling it in many different directions, causing us to skip from link to link to link (it’s in their interest - the more links, the more ads, the more money. Contemplative reading is not very profitable at all.). Carr says, where we once would scuba-dive in a sea of words, music, images or discussion, we now zip along the surface like a jet skier. Rather than feasting on the wisdom and talent of others we become mere decoders of information. Alarmed by the effects of this distraction epidemic I began to see its fingerprints in my own life. I began to notice the way information traffic had squeezed its way into every available space in my day. I read of psychologists suggesting that the rate at which we intake information correlates with our levels of stress, and my alarm increased. I know this correlation is true in my own experience, but I began to see how anxiety levels have increased all around me. I heard of more and more people no longer able to cope with their level of anxiety, especially young people. I heard of chaplains beginning the school year presented with a list of entering year sevens already known to have anxiety disorders. It didn’t used to be like this. Are we allowing kids to fall into damaging cycles of pounding their brains with information, sentencing them to sickening anxiety, without any warning? Are we all unknowingly falling into this trap? What does this mean for disciples? Certainly there are some questions to be asked about the way we interact with information technologies. But this distraction epidemic has some unique implications for disciples of The Way. If you take some time to mull it over you will probably come up with a few of your own. Here are just a few of the ways I see our state of distraction eating away at discipleship.

That’s part of the wonder of Jesus, our God in the flesh. By coming to earth he could get dusty feet, cry salty tears, feel hunger, thirst and pain. God and man relate on an intimate level because he has been with us. It is important that we do not hold on to a false sense of connection through technology. Or simply become too distracted to really connect with those God puts in our path. God calls us into committed relationship with our family, the poor and marginalised, our spouse, our church, the land he has put us on. We do not honor him by neglecting these relationships out of distraction.

WISDOM

When the practice of writing was being developed Plato voiced quite prophetic concerns in the dialogue Phaedrus. Concerns that through the new medium people would ‘receive a quantity of information without proper instruction’, would ‘be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant,’ and would ‘be filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom.’ This misunderstanding of wisdom is prevalent today, where the speed at which information is attained is valued over what is actually done with that information and how it is synthesised. We cannot afford to begin to process the words of the Bible the way we take in other information, skimming along the surface, taking key points and skipping on, lest we be deceived by ‘the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom.’ The Bible is to be devoured, soaked in, wrestled with. It is a text that if allowed, shapes us, re-forms our world view, allows us to see the spiritual as well as the physical. My Dad says that ‘gold found has ten times the value of gold given to you.’ The things that I wrestle with to a point of understanding, and the gems that I find within the pages of the Bible that grip me, will hold so much more value for me than those things that I receive on a plate due to someone else’s wrestling and study. Those things we come to for ourselves are the basis of wisdom.

Depth

As I have dwelt on this topic over the last few months there has been one thing that God has consistently and gently challenged me with. It is that God needs deep leaders. People who don’t switch off at the sight of pain, who ponder the roots of injustice, who re-imagine the world made new, who sit and ask God about his mysteries, who listen to people whole-heartedly and seek to understand their story. The uncomfortable edge to this is that I hear God’s voice prompting me that I cannot practice being shallow now, and expect to be able to lead from a deep place later. Never before has such a war been raged against our inner peace and depth. If you are waiting for culture to give you permission to carve out true Sabbath and quiet space to hear God’s voice, you will wait in vain. There is much at stake, and perhaps the time has come for some drastic measures.

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

where we once would scuba-dive in a sea of words, music, images or discussion, we now zip along the surface like a jet skier. Rather than feasting on the wisdom and talent of others we become mere decoders of information. We cannot afford to begin to process the words of the Bible the way we take in other information, skimming along the surface, taking key points and skipping on, lest we be deceived by ‘the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom.’

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DEEP DISCIPLESHIP IN A SHALLOW LAND

PRESENCE

I was in an airport terminal picking up my sister from a long trip recently and while she waited in the customs queue I got to thinking about the importance of presence. I had video chatted with her multiple times while she was away, seen her pictures, heard her stories, told her that I loved her - all online. Yet when she walked through the doors and I got to see her in the flesh I felt like crying. Why is that? Because physical presence is so important. Being able to touch someone, see their expressions, walk with them, allows such a deeper level of connection than anything you can achieve from a distance or online.

Amy Stephenson

I recently heard a comedian speaking about the death of pub banter.

Caught in the Net

WISDOM

Depth

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

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DEEP DISCIPLESHIP IN A SHALLOW LAND

PRESENCE

In one hand resides the great and adventurous search for human meaning found in the history, literature & traditions of the great religions, and in the other are kitsch advertisements for nights of hedonistic pleasure facilitated by cheap drinks & reality TV starlets. If these timeless questions are unimportant to the distracted and disinterested younger generations, what consumes their time and quenches their search for meaning? For vast amounts, it is an unrelenting obsession with pop-culture. Pop-culture has become for many the very source from which all their desires are formed, questions answered, and self structured. Entertainment has become a religion for emerging generations.

pop-culture religion How Emerging Generations are Increasingly Indifferent to Faith and Why

Ian DiOrio What is the meaning of life? Is there a god? Is their life after death? What does it mean to be good? These questions and others like them used to be the very questions that grounded human beings in the world, giving them a sense of self and a vision for their lives. Yet, in our day and age there has been a cultural shift, in which timeless questions have been replaced by tabloid fanaticism and pop culture mythology. For a large majority of society, substance has been replaced by spectacle.

The airwaves and media machine daily perpetuate a cultural drama before the eyes of the viewing public. Whether it is the legal trouble of celebrity bad-girl Lindsay Lohan or the wardrobe malfunctions of Lady Gaga, the sources of meaning for millions of youth and young adults are found in the daily trials and tribulations of someone’s life whom they have never met. This voyeuristic obsession distracts from peering into the depths of ones own soul, because ones eyes are ever turned towards the glitz and predicaments of someone else’s life. In this short piece I offer a reflection on the distracted and disinterested posture that characterizes youth and young adults when it comes to religion. I argue that one of the contributing factors to this phenomenon is the power of pop-culture and the entertainment media machine, which for many has become the sole source for discovering and answering the meaning of human existence. In America, where I work with young adults, we are witnessing an astounding phenomena. The fastest growing religious group in America is that of the “religiously indifferent,” especially pervasive among young adults, these are people who “neither care to practice religion or oppose it. They are simply not invested in religion either way; it really doesn’t count for much.”1 Of this

The wild world of entertainment was once a leisure activity embarked upon after the day’s jobs were done and the higher human priorities of life, such as time with God, family, and friends were finished. Currently, entertainment is an essential commodity that is indispensable to society’s story, selfhood, and economy. The glittering and immediate world of entertainment— in television, movies, Youtube clips or video games—consumes massive amounts of money and in turn, forms the lives of people in incredible ways. This is especially true for younger generations. Currently, those who are part of the “millennial generation” spend ten hours of their mind-activity using some form of media every day.4 A recent study on media in the lives of 8-18 year-olds gives statistical weight to a delicate predicament. “Over the past five years, young people have increased the amount of time they spend consuming media by an hour and seventeen minutes daily, from 6:21 to 7:38—almost the amount of time most adults spend at work each day, except that young people use media seven days a week instead of five. Moreover, given the amount of time they spend using more than one medium at a time, today’s youth pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those daily 7 hours—an increase of almost 2 hours of media exposure per day over the past five years.”5 This overwhelming exposure to entertainment culture is normal for today’s younger generations, but what does this have to do with their religious sentiments?

Christian Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

If there was ever a perfect picture of the tension we currently live in, this is surely it. Stuck between two worlds, seeking either explicitly or implicitly to answer the questions that lie within all of us. In one hand resides the great and adventurous search for human meaning found in the history, literature and traditions of the great religions, and in the other are kitsch advertisements for nights of hedonistic pleasure facilitated by cheap drinks and reality TV starlets. For 25 percent of emerging adults, the quest for meaning does not go beyond the pulsating dance floors and fog machine illusions of club life and entertainment culture. When over eight hours of a young adult’s day is spent in the world of pop-culture, the hour and half church experience cannot hope to compete in shaping the mind and values of an emerging generation. We live in a time when pop-culture has become a religion, in that it has become the binding reality that helps younger generations make sense of the world they live in. Yet, the world of pop-culture is not the real world; it is an illusion, a technologically created distraction that consumes time, but answers and fulfils little. It is in this context that the church has to begin to ask itself tough questions about how it structures and lives out the worship of God. Are we merely another form of entertainment? Or are we an outpost of the Kingdom of God; the emerging reality of God in action in our midst? The greatest temptation for the church is to use pop-culture in ways that make the distinction between church and world confused. This does not mean we do not attempt to be culturally relevant, but it does mean, that as the church we think about relevance in terms of being relevant to the Kingdom of God rather than what happens to be popular on television at the moment. If the church is perpetually in playing the game of ‘cultural catch up’, we are engaged in a losing battle. Instead, we are people who are relevant because we are radical. The Kingdom is always peculiar, but always timely and transformative, and we who profess the name of Jesus, must learn to become comfortable with being strangely attractive in a world in love with fantasy. Our beauty, our vision of life, our souls must bear witness to a reality that can’t be ‘pop’, but in the end, if expressed faithfully, may be more entertaining than anything pop-culture can offer.

4 http://www.kff.org/entmedia/8010.cfm

2 Christian

Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

5 http://www.kff.org/entmedia/8010.cfm

3 Christian

Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

6 Eastside

Christian Church www.eastside.com

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

It would be a relief to discover that the religiously indifferent made up only a small piece of the spiritual pie. But in fact, the situation is otherwise. Of those who would articulate their religious stance, those who fall into the religiously indifferent category represent “at least 25 percent” of young adults.3 That means that one out of every four people discards questions that have driven human beings to their deepest insights and expressions, their most aweinspiring charity and love, as meaningless. One out of every four young adults in America today believes questions about heaven and hell, God and the Bible, Jesus, his Resurrection, and life everlasting, is unimportant to their daily life.

I am a pastor at a Church6 that is adjacent to the largest California state university. Everyday, I witness thousands of students zooming from one class to another with cell phones wedged tightly to their heads and glossed-over looks on their faces. Consumed with their daily school schedules, work-loads, friends and significant others, not to mention the uncertain and questionable job market that awaits them, these students walk like sheep without a shepherd through the immense sea of their college experience. Overwhelmed by all that comes with being a young adult, their relief is found in the thousands of flyers littered on car windows advertising celebrity guest appearances at the local nightclubs. It is not uncommon to witness students with a stack of books under one arm and a stack of nightclub flyers under the other. This often-repeated image sticks to the interior of my mind. In one hand, there are great books of literature, religious studies, art and science, and in the other, a glossy half-page flyer for a club night entitled Real College Girls of Orange County with celebrity host Kim Kardashian. The flyer goes on to illustrate that there will be a “Nasty School Girl” competition along with a special on $2 draft beers and $3 well drinks.

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ever-increasing group, some “may profess to be religious or at least to appreciate religion,” but the “indifferent” are distracted and invested in other things and are sufficiently unconcerned with matters of faith to pay any real attention to religion. They may be willing to talk politely about it if asked, but religion is simply not a particular interest, priority, or commitment in their lives. Indifferent emerging adults can come from any religious or nonreligious background. Their motto, to put it in a nutshell, would be, “it just doesn’t matter that much.”2

pop-culture religion How Emerging Generations are Increasingly Indifferent to Faith and Why

Christian Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

4 http://www.kff.org/entmedia/8010.cfm

2 Christian

Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

5 http://www.kff.org/entmedia/8010.cfm

3 Christian

Smith, Souls in Transition, pg 168.

6 Eastside

Christian Church www.eastside.com

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

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Socrates declared at least 400 years before Christ, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Although it’s unlikely he was setting out to make a theological statement, there is plenty of biblical evidence to suggest that he was on to something. It may not be said in exactly those terms, but many of the psalms, proverbs, letters and examples in Scripture extol the benefits of self-evaluation.

Why then do we do so little of it? We are all creatures of habit. We prefer to live with some level of routine than with absolute chaos. We follow patterns; we build structure; we create shorter-term rituals and longer-term traditions. We live by rhythms. Unfortunately, however, we seldom make a habit of examining our habits. Our schedules, our routines and our habits are for the most part passively acquired. We work “X” number of hours because our job (or our debt!) demands that we do. We commute for as long as is required to make those work hours happen. We gather in groups as our beliefs and pastimes require. We catch up with friends and family when we want to, remember to, or have to—depending on the enjoyment we derive from their company. In the time left over we squeeze in our shopping, our eating, our banking, our cleaning, our mowing, and our sleeping. Not to mention our TV’ing, our iPod’ing, our txt’ing, our pxt’ing, our FB’ing, our tweeting, etc. All in all, culture relentlessly shapes us to live frantic, fragmented lives. With all of this going on, it is not surprising that most of our decisions are reactive rather than proactive. It’s not that we avoid decisions, we just make most of them on the fly. They lack intentionality. The resulting problem is that, for many of us, how we live our day-to-day lives has little connection to what we think life is actually all about. As John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy” warned us: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I am not talking here about hyped-up goal setting. The corporate world is awash with such motivational material and I think its usefulness here is limited. Perhaps should have realised that focusing on Key Performance Indicators might produce a generation of Christians obsessed with performance. As UK pastor Mike Breen has observed, “We are a group of people addicted to and obsessed with the work of the Kingdom, with little to no idea how to be with the King.” Appropriate goal-setting can be very helpful and in some cases I recommend it. But it can also encourage an overemphasis on achievement and end results. I am more interested here in how well we know and imitate Christ along the way—and how well our actual day-to-day practices fit with this vision of what life is about.

Simplicity and Generosity

Chris Webb from Renovare—an organisation that works to help Christians live more intentional lives—suggests our daily practices not only reflect our vision of life, they can change it. “We make some choices because of who we are, but others because of who we wish to become.” This is a crucial insight—how we live shapes who we are. He explains that most of us would benefit from the Christian tradition of intentionally structuring our lives through a Regula Vitae—a “Rule of Life.” Don’t panic, this is not a legalistic set of rules to follow. Rather, it’s an invitation to intentionally write down a few guiding principles for the year.

Community

Regula was the Latin word for a length of wood with markings, used for measuring and alignment—similar to our present-day classroom rulers. We hold things against a ruler to see if they are straight and if their proportions and measurements are right. In the same way a Regula Vitae—a “Rule of Life”—is an opportunity for us to mark out some of our intentions in advance and then to regularly hold it up to our life and see how our alignment and proportions are fairing.

Fasting and Lament

Now the fun part! I am recommending that you write out your own Rule of Life for the year. I have made some suggestions on the next page based around some of the common Spiritual Disciplines. You will note that some of them are very regular— others are occasional. Some are quite specific and practical— others are fairly vague and more conceptual. Don’t get bogged down or overwhelmed—a common mistake with a Rule of Life is to aim too high, to include too many areas and to set unrealistic expectations in each area. This is not supposed to be your description of a perfectly pious life; this is meant to be a way to help you start examining your life and reflecting on it.

Thank God more often. Celebrate people’s milestones.

I want to encourage you to pause and ask: “What sort of life do I want to be living?” and therefore, “What do I want the rhythms and habits of my life to look like?” Chances are that you haven’t considered these sorts of questions for a while, if ever. Chances are, also, that your answers will look quite different from your current trajectory of activity.

Keep a diary of my discretionary purchases and reflect on them. Make a habit of giving things away.

Silence and Solitude

At least four times this year, plan a half-day alone. Speak less - listen more.

Host people for a meal once a month. Build intentional friendships.

Resting well

Learn more about the importance of rest. Stay home & do nothing at least one night each week.

Fast at least one meal once a month. Observe the anniversary of a personal tragedy this year.

Celebration

Patience and Submission Walk more – drive less. Meet with a mentor at least once every two months.

Meditation and Prayer

Practice silent praying and listening at least once a week. Speak less – listen more!

Worship

Commit to a church community and join them for regular worship services. Regularly ask myself what ‘living authentically before God’ might look like.

The Discipline of Service

This essay is a summary of the introduction and first chapter of The Hare and the Tortoise: Learning to Pace Ourselves in a World Gone Mad. The Gospel paints quite a different picture of the ‘successful life’ than much of 21st century culture – one marked not by haste and drivenness but by faithfulness. The Hare and the Tortoise invites you to discover healthy rhythms – rhythms that are grounded in Scripture and the classical Spiritual Disciplines that have refreshed and strengthened the church for two thousand years.

For more information see: www.compass.org.nz/ht/home

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

Sam Bloore

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Rhythms and rules of life

Simplicity and Generosity

Community

Fasting and Lament

Thank God more often. Celebrate people’s milestones.

Keep a diary of my discretionary purchases and reflect on them. Make a habit of giving things away.

Silence and Solitude

At least four times this year, plan a half-day alone. Speak less - listen more.

Host people for a meal once a month. Build intentional friendships.

Resting well

Learn more about the importance of rest. Stay home & do nothing at least one night each week.

Fast at least one meal once a month. Observe the anniversary of a personal tragedy this year.

Celebration

Patience and Submission Walk more – drive less. Meet with a mentor at least once every two months.

Meditation and Prayer

Practice silent praying and listening at least once a week. Speak less – listen more!

Worship

Commit to a church community and join them for regular worship services. Regularly ask myself what ‘living authentically before God’ might look like.

The Discipline of Service

For more information see: www.compass.org.nz/ht/home

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

Sam Bloore

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Rhythms and rules of life

Lynn Moresi I can still remember the precise moment when I realised that my faith, as I had known it, was no longer ‘enough’. I had just completed another mundane daily devotion and something inside of me just snapped. I closed my Bible, looked out the window towards the sun breaking through the clouds and I sobbed out the words, “That’s it! I can’t do this any more! I can’t keep pushing! I can’t keep straining! I’m so tired of trying to keep it all together and make it all work!

I give up!” In hindsight, I’m sure God breathed a huge sigh of relief at that moment and said “Thank Me she’s finally given up!” At the time however, I did genuinely believe that I was letting go of my faith and deeply disappointing the loving Father I had devotedly served my whole life.

Searching for answers to my doubts and questions from within my own faith tradition proved difficult. Friends listened sympathetically to my ‘crises of faith’ and most prescribed the same antidote to my apparent backsliding: “Pray more, read the bible more, fast more, confess more, proclaim more, attend small group more….more, more, more.” Basically, DO MORE. It seemed right – surely I was responsible for the sagging sails of my faith? Perhaps I just needed to blow more wind and keep paddling even faster? The trouble was, I just didn’t have the energy. I was sick and tired of trying to hold it all together, and I realised that these activities, although important and necessary, had become a distraction that had drawn me away from a true and authentic relationship with God. In essence, I had substituted intimate fellowship with Christ, for Christian service. So, I just let go. What happened then, totally surprised me. Instead of plummeting into the chasm of sin, guilt and apostasy, I began to feel a deep, abiding, comforting peace seeping up from within. I felt the still, small voice of the Spirit calling me to stop doing and simply be. I woke several times throughout the night with the voice of Jesus in my heart beckoning me, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” 3 And I was reminded that Elijah did not find God in the huge supernatural experiences around him, but in the absolute quiet of a still small voice.

I was sick and tired of trying to hold it all together, and I realised that these activities, although important and necessary, had become a distraction As a Minister, Preacher, and Bible College lecturer, I had spent most of my adult life learning about God, talking about God, listening to God and praying to God. My days were a blur of activity that centered around God, but no longer centered in God. Standing alone in my kitchen that day, looking up toward the heavens, I realised that somewhere in the midst of the hype and celebrity of Christian ministry, many aspects of my faith had become selfish, shallow, superficial, and ‘plastic’… My heart longed for a more authentic, deep, spiritual encounter with God.

This is a do-it-yourself meditation kit. Just cut out this page and pin it up at your desk, your mirror or your toilet door. Whatever place you can regularly take a minute to centre yourself.

Spend a moment dwelling on the different nuance of each set of words. You can then read back: line 1, line 1 to 2, 1 to 3, 1 to 4, 1 to 5.

The process of this meditation is to clear your mind and simply read from line 1 through to 5 and dwell on the words. Then read line 1 to 4, then line 1 to 3, line 1 to 2 and finally just line 1.

This meditation can also be read aloud as a group exercise. You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. Psalm 119:114

Richard Foster writes, “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.” 1 That statement resonated within my heart. I knew it was true: my faith was more hype, than substance; more emotion, than reality; more comfort and blessing, than suffering and sacrifice. And now God, in His great and wonderful grace, had brought me to a place of acute awareness that my own spiritual efforts could no longer sustain me. It was as though He stood back, folded His arms and said, “You think you know me, but you don’t. You know a version of me, one dimension of me. You know me as the ‘consumer God’, the one who meets your every need, but you don’t know the mystery of my love or the reservoir of my grace, or the stillness of my presence, or the fellowship of my suffering.” 2 I had known the ‘triumphant king’ and had avoided the ‘suffering servant’, and my desperate attempts to maintain my preferred image of God had left me emotionally and spiritually exhausted.

Instead of straining to reach God, I allowed him to fill the silence around me and I simply rested in it. In the past, I would religiously set time aside to study the Bible and pray because I believed that was what I needed to ‘do’ in order to stay ‘close’ to God. But now, in the stillness, I was aware that my efforts toward God had often been self-serving and arrogant. My faith had unconsciously become ‘transactional’ where I ‘paid’ God with my Christian activity and he ‘paid’ me back by answering all my prayers. However, now that I’d stopped straining to complete my side of the transaction, I was shocked to discover that the great and majestic God of the universe was dwelling in the silence. He was mysterious and wild, but loving and filled with peace. It was not about me any more. It was all about Him. It felt different, and it felt unfamiliar, but it felt right, and it felt true. God, himself, gave us the secret to experiencing his life within us and it’s not about what we can do. He said, ‘BE STILL, and know that I am God.’ 4

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 2008:1

2 Phillipians 3 Mark 41

3:10

6:31

Kings 19:12

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Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

BE STILL

This is a do-it-yourself meditation kit. Just cut out this page and pin it up at your desk, your mirror or your toilet door. Whatever place you can regularly take a minute to centre yourself.

Spend a moment dwelling on the different nuance of each set of words. You can then read back: line 1, line 1 to 2, 1 to 3, 1 to 4, 1 to 5.

The process of this meditation is to clear your mind and simply read from line 1 through to 5 and dwell on the words. Then read line 1 to 4, then line 1 to 3, line 1 to 2 and finally just line 1.

This meditation can also be read aloud as a group exercise. You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. Psalm 119:114

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 2008:1

2 Phillipians 3 Mark 41

3:10

6:31

Kings 19:12

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Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

BE STILL

Brenton Killeen

It seems ironic that I sit with the intention of writing an article on the subject of distraction and within the first hour I am interrupted six times, and every interruption via modern technology. Phone calls, sms, emails, social media… relentless! Indeed it could be said that our culture’s convenient modes of communication have become the grand platform for distraction and indeed I count myself one of the worst offenders.

Of course the constant contact isn’t limited to personal communication devices. For some time now, advertising analysts estimate that we are exposed to approximately ten thousand advertisements every week. Through digital media, magazines, billboards, product placement (the list goes on) we are bombarded with constant messages demanding of us a choice. The implication is, whether realized or not, we literally make thousands of decisions every week. It’s exhausting! Is it any wonder we are distracted, fatigued, and disconnected? This constant clamouring for prime real estate in our minds and lives is having a significant negative effect on individuals and therefore shaping the culture they form. Indeed decision fatigue and personal distraction has become the norm for those living in western civilization. Australian’s are avid tech lovers and BIG smart

Add to this the personal pressures from our working worlds, the emotional demands of relationships, and rarely are we free to sit with the luxury of one thought at a time. The implications for family, friends or those we love most are significant. I recently noticed that my daughter started repeating my name three times every time she wanted to talk to me – ‘Dad, Dad, DAD!!!’ Such was her effort to get my attention away from the distractions in my mind and become present to her needs. I had forgotten what it meant to fully offer myself - thoughts and all - to those who matter most. Whilst living in a constant state of distraction leaves us personally ineffective and relationally disadvantaged, it also seems to affect the quality of our decisions. A recent article in the New York Times followed the decision-making patterns of a parole board. They discovered that approximately 80% of cases heard in the morning resulted in parole being granted to the applicants, with only 30% of cases being granted parole through decisions made in the afternoon. It was noted that as the day progressed decision fatigue set in for individuals and an affirmative decision for applicants was less likely, for fear of making a ‘wrong’ decision. In short, the overload of numerous decisions inhibits our ability to focus well and make good decisions. The effects of this phenomenon are far-reaching for a culture that is already preoccupied beyond reason. Consider the implications for personal spending habits, work-life balance, and relationship priorities not to mention the pursuit of God. Retailers and marketers are astutely aware of this, and in fact they bank on it. In a regular viewing day the evening prime-time slot is the most expensive airtime advertisers can purchase. Why? It yields the best return for their advertising dollar. More people are watching, people are more fatigued and therefore more vulnerable to be influenced toward foolish purchasing decisions. It would seem that

It’s a simple hypothesis - downtime lets our brain process and apply learning to our experiences, and when the brain is in constant stimulation it is unable to process the information, therefore we learn less! It seems the constant contact and knowledge accumulation offers little to no personal benefit. Smart phones are not making us any smarter. phone users, but the bad news is that the constant stimulation generated by smart-phones is possibly hurting our brains in ways we don’t really understand. A study from the University of California in San Francisco has linked lower productivity and lower learning outcomes to the overuse of smart phones. “People think that they’re refreshing themselves, but they’re fatiguing themselves” says Marc Berman, a University of Michigan Neuroscientist. It’s a simple hypothesis - downtime lets our brain process and apply learning to our experiences, and when the brain is in constant stimulation it is unable to process the information, therefore we learn less! It seems the constant contact and knowledge accumulation offers little to no personal benefit. Smart phones are not making us any smarter. If anything the distraction they offer is stunting our growth. The constant phone-fiddling, usually intended as personal recreation and refreshment, is leaving users more distracted and more fatigued than ever before.

late night store sales, particularly around peak seasonal times are not purely based on consumer convenience either. The consumer enters the retail temple tired, fatigued and distracted, faced with more choices at a time when they will inevitably struggle to choose well. The result: retailers make more money, consumers experience buyers remorse. So how do we counter this? Is it possible to flee from the inescapable state of distraction and fatigue perpetuated by our tech devices and insatiable appetite for information? How do we jump off the distraction carousel in order to redeem our fatigued lives? In my humble opinion it is possible, especially if we are committed to the pursuit of peace, by learning to become ‘intentionally present’. Scripture reminds us that it is good to pursue peace (Psalm 34:14) and as we are active in this pursuit we are more likely to notice the alternative and reject it.

To do this well takes a considerable effort and long-term commitment. But we need to start. Here’s a couple of things that I find help me to remain present and pursue peace… 1

Switch off

I do something that marks my decision to be attentive to myself and others. A physical marker can be really helpful with this. For example, I touch an imaginary switch, turn off my phone, shut down the laptop (don’t just close it)… basically anything out of the ordinary that communicates ‘I am now switching off the white noise and becoming present to the moment.’ 2

Become mindful of my current environment

PAUSE… BREATHE… PRAY… I take time to notice the detail in my surroundings and really look at it. People, places, objects, everything. I feel my heart beat, I thank God for my life, I take it all in and enjoy it! 3

Give people & circumstances my full attention

I look people in the eye and treat them as if they are the only thing that matters THEN and THERE… I look for the ‘light and life’ within those I’m with. When I notice something of this I try to tell them. Occasionally I am tempted to think about what it is I need to do next. But If my mind wanders, I resist this by admitting it to the person I’m with, apologising, and refocusing my attention to them. Interestingly, I’ve discovered that the future can wait, as can my face-book friends. 4

Do this regularly

It takes commitment and discipline to turn this into a natural habit, but after a while the benefits follow. This should come as no surprise when we consider that people of faith have followed the ancient discipline of Sabbath keeping for centuries. This regular practice is not only an obedient response to God’s command, it is just plain good for us and an excellent way to develop the behaviour as a priority.

Our culture perpetuates busyness beyond reason, distraction as a default position, and constant fatigue as a result. I am choosing to live differently this year, call it a purging of the soul if you like. That said I could do with some help. This is why I find comfort in the words of Jesus, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives…’ John 14:27 TNIV Are you fatigued? Distracted? Then you are possibly living out of that which ‘the world gives’. May you switch off. May you become present. May you know peace. Over to you... how is ‘distraction’ an issue for you? How do you feel the effects of ‘fatigue’? How do you become ‘intentionally present’ and find ‘peace’ amongst white noise?

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Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

WHITE NOISE

Brenton Killeen

To do this well takes a considerable effort and long-term commitment. But we need to start. Here’s a couple of things that I find help me to remain present and pursue peace… 1

Switch off

Become mindful of my current environment

Give people & circumstances my full attention

Do this regularly

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Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

WHITE NOISE

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

MY YEAR WITHOUT SPORT and 5 tips for doing your own experiment in going without

It’s ironic that the capital letter ‘M’ in the Wingdings font is an image of a bomb about to explode.

The reason I know this is because when I started journaling about My Year Without Sport, the heading at the top of the page was in that font, just in case Jo, my wife, happened to pass by and look over my shoulder to see what I was typing. You see when this began it was a secret from everyone. I wasn’t quite sure how the journey would play out and I didn’t want to bignote myself. I’d never tried to go any period of time before without watching sport, so how on earth could I conceive of going a full 12 months? The ‘decision’ to take a year off watching sport was or is not one that was pre-planned or pre-determined in any way. It was not a counter to any overt addictive behaviours relating to gambling, over-watching or social limitations due to an obsessive compulsion to turning on the TV. The drastic experiment was a response to ... to what? An inkling? A calling? I’m not entirely sure, but it was a feeling that there’s something more to life than sport. Of course I knew this to be true, but all too often, my behaviors reflected differently. You see, I can’t hammer a nail into a board to save my life, I’m not a great cook, I don’t always know which great bands are touring and when, I’m not a gym rat and I couldn’t handle myself in an altercation to save my life. But when it comes to talking sport, I can hold my own. In that realm, I can connect, be a part of the culture in which I live. I have something to offer. You name it, whatever the activity – AFL, NBA basketball, English Premier League soccer, cricket, tennis, UEFA Champions League soccer, Australian A-League soccer, NFL American football, even the American baseball if the Red Sox go deep enough into the

p.15

Pete Evans playoffs, I am a fan. Add to that a lifelong following, to various extents, of WWE wrestling (enter standard anti-wrestling or wrestling fan remark here) and UFC mixed martial arts, it’s a lot to keep up with.

So, if you ever do decide to conduct your own social experiment, here are my Top 5 tips for thriving in a world without…

And it’s that which I found exhausting. So much of my mental headspace every single day was devoted to sport and making enough time in my day to watch it that night – the games, recap shows, web sites, stars, stats, controversies. And IT DOES NOT END.

1 Shut up and listen

One game leads into another, one season into the next, the seasons overlapping, some never taking a break... With the media cycle shorter than ever before - 3 days, if that, little or no time is granted to reflect or bask on what has transpired. The cycle doesn’t allow it. Mark Sayers, a gifted and prophetic speaker and analyst of all things cultural, posed a challenge over a year ago that spoke to my heart. People want to be more involved ‘in mission’, feel a greater part of their communities, help others, yet they ‘don’t have the time’. What did I need to give up in order to have more time for the important, the transcendent? I felt immediately as if sport and TV were my two elements to consider. And so I stepped away. 8 months in, much has changed. I’m going to be a dad for the first time in May. I am more connected and more present with my wife, family, friends, community and the outside world. It has not been all smooth sailing – I have missed a lot of exciting and significant sporting events – and everyone has not embraced the concept, but the robust dialogue I’ve been involved in has been significant. There are many distractions, crutches on which we lean – shopping, TV, music, fashion, spending, celebrity news – to name just a few. One of mine was sport. But there’s enough around us that if we all just stopped for a moment, we might just be able to identify them and make sustainable lifestyle changes that can draw us closer to God’s call on our lives.

If you ‘keep the noise up’ and maintain a normal chaotic and frenzied lifestyle, how can you expect to experience real, life-altering change?

Often, our crutches are vainly attempting to fill an unknown void in our lives. If you ‘keep the noise up’ and maintain a normal chaotic and frenzied lifestyle, how can you expect to experience real, life-altering change? You can’t and you won’t. Make time to sit down and reflect. Regularly talk to God, but for the love of God, shut up and listen from time to time! Hear from people whom you love and respect what they have to say about you – your heart, your imperfections and your very real qualities that they wouldn’t change for the world. Give yourself the space and time to contemplate what might be your dependence. Don’t say you’re too busy. It’s a rubbish excuse. And if you come up empty, ask someone significant in your life for his or her perspective. And demand an honest answer! 2 Be intentional

Engage with what you are doing. Early on, to maintain the integrity of my journey, I kept things quiet, journaling to myself about the early challenges. Once I felt settled, I was able to open up, talk to people, start a blog, and you know, change that stupid wingdings heading…

Make a list if you have to, of the different activities or relationships you would like to immerse yourself in more. Meet the challenge head on. It’s the only way you’ll conquer adversity. Engage with your peers – listen, but where necessary, be willing to confront the worldview of the 687 people who will say to you, ‘Well, that’s good for you, but…’

3 No replacements!

I found a fellow pilgrim from the USA who had dropped American football for 12 months. He ended up discovering AFL and blogging at length about our great game. Ironic. I had to make a rule not to rent a couple of DVDs every Saturday and watch them on my own, replacing my usual TV and online viewing. Don’t simply replace your viewing, listening, gaming or spending habits on something else just to fill the gap. You’re supposed to feel a harsh twang of missing your ex-love every now and again. If you don’t, your sacrifice isn’t sufficient. 4 Set ground rules

If you go into this with your eyes shut, forget it. Just ask the people who swiftly and blatantly failed in going without alcohol for the last Feb Fast, while I soldiered through 2 weddings, a hot February and 2 restaurants giving away free drinks. Not that I’m bitter.

Set some ground rules for yourself – not only am I going without watching sport, but online content is also being avoided. Go all out! If it’s shopping, stay away completely from all shopping centres. If it’s TV, pack it up and give it to a close friend until time’s up. Do it properly, or don’t bother. There’s nothing sadder than a feeble, half-hearted effort. Actually, they are bringing back Big Brother, so I take that back. And when you’re finished, tell someone what the rules are. Someone who will get in your face. Don’t try to do this alone. There are far too many intentional distractions out there to succeed by your own willpower. 5 Failing once doesn’t have to mean that it’s over

You’re not cheating on a husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend if you slip up here! Go gently on yourself if you buy that eyeliner, watch Glee, or read that trashy article about Shia LeBouf. I hate to go all biblical on you, but give yourself a little grace. Pick yourself up, identify what lead you to falling, and resolve to try harder, be better. You have time. On second thoughts, if you watch Glee, you’re on your own.

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

MY YEAR WITHOUT SPORT and 5 tips for doing your own experiment in going without

It’s ironic that the capital letter ‘M’ in the Wingdings font is an image of a bomb about to explode.

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So, if you ever do decide to conduct your own social experiment, here are my Top 5 tips for thriving in a world without…

1 Shut up and listen

If you ‘keep the noise up’ and maintain a normal chaotic and frenzied lifestyle, how can you expect to experience real, life-altering change?

3 No replacements!

serve as the Communications guy at Crossway Church here in Melbourne and I’m constantly interacting with phones, tablets and desktop devices every day. I live and breathe all things digital to help our church in its mission. I have four different devices sitting on my desk right now. Connected? You bet.

or leader in church. You may be checking the Bible verse that someone is reading in church. But here’s the thing - everyone else thinks you’re checking your email, or updating your Facebook or Twitter status. (Did I mention that I’m @stevefogg on Twitter?)

Smart phones are brilliant, iPhone or Android phones have radically changed the way we interact. Sorry Windows and Blackberry phone users. It’s almost impossible to call your phones smart so lets call them average phones for now. But I digress. You can check your emails, watch TV and movies, check the cricket or footy score, update your Facebook or Twitter status (mine’s @stevefogg and yes, I’m checking it RIGHT now to see if we’re connected. Go on I know you want to.)

You know what I mean don’t you? I’m sure you’ve never been that guy or girl checking your phone in the toilet, have you? I mean, come on, there are some moments when you should be disconnected and focused on more important matters at hand. Put it down, before you flush the other stuff down.

Oh and you can also make phone calls. You can also now read your Bible on your phone, not just one translation, but many. They even have pre-programmed bible reading plans. I read YouVersion which is a great, free App from LifeChurch.tv. YouVersion is the world’s most popular App with over 30 million downloads. Yes 30 Million! And it is available in over 45 languages. Over 11 billion minutes of the bible has been read on this App alone. However smart phones can be a distraction when you are in church you can be that funky young youth guy or gal who is checking their phone while I’m speaking. What you don’t know is that I can see that you are checking your phone. Yes you - I can see you. So clearly there are two options here. Either I suck at speaking. Which I don’t think I do too much. Or you just can’t concentrate. Here is a tip. Switch it off. Put it in your manbag or pocket and listen. Respect the guy or girl who has just put days into a message that could transform your life. Being on your smart phone can send the wrong message. You may be a preacher

Leaders. Perception is everything. Are you all here? There is a downside to smart phones. A dark-side. A side that we all know is there, but we never talk about. That unspoken dark-side is that you are on your phone just that little bit too much.

My wife and young kids are now very quick to remind me that our time together is our time together. Not us and the iPhone. I’ve never been caught playing at the swings checking my phone. Or checking my Facebook status while out on a romantic dinner with my wife, or uploading what I ate at that fancy pants restaurant to Instagram while I’m at the table. Because the food looked so cool with that blur effect and filter on top. No sir. That has never happened in my life. When God said that two should become one He wasn’t talking about me and my iPhone. He intended that I be married to my wife. You have to understand that my wife has never called my iPhone “the other woman”. No she has NEVER said that. You have to focus, be all there for your husband or wife. You can also tell how connected friends are in cafes when you see one of them check their phone while the other is talking to them. The not so subtle message that we give each other when we do that is something like ‘I’d rather be seeing what my ‘friends’ on Facebook are doing, rather than REALLY being with you now.’ Focus. Be all there. Now. Wait. Is that my phone ringing?

There is a downside to smart phones. A darkside. A side that we all know is there, but we never talk about. That unspoken dark-side is that you are on your phone just that little bit too much.

In a sea of distraction how can we remain aware of God’s presence and hear His still small voice? How can we invite into our day, our boat, the one who calms storms? The Prayer of Examen is a spiritual exercise that can be done individually, or tailored to a group. The prayer is generally credited to Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556) who encouraged this method as a way of deepening ones sensitivity to the working of the Holy Spirit. The prayer is in essence a practice to become increasingly aware of God’s presence and work in the day-to-day. The Prayer of Examen is primarily an exercise in remembering, a methodical reflection on the past 24 hours. More of a guide than a formula, it is for you to judge what you focus on and for how long. The purpose is reflection and awareness, not simply ticking each box. So remove yourself from distraction, grab your journal if you like, and spend as much or as little time as you have on this prayer.

Presence Begin the prayer by acknowledging the presence of God. You may like to light a candle as a symbol of God’s presence. Ask the Holy Spirit to increase your sensitivity to his voice as he speaks to you through this process In order to focus, it may be helpful for you to repeat a phrase such as ‘be still and know that I am God.’ There may be days when you need to solely focus on opening yourself up to the presence of God, don’t rush past this part, even if you don’t make it to the other three.

You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. Psalm 119:114

Gratitude ‘If the only prayer you say in your life is Thank You,’ wrote Meister Eckhart, ‘that would suffice.’ As you consider the last 24 hours, what causes you to be thankful? Recognise the big and small things that cause you to be grateful. Focus on these moments, people, things, and dwell upon the goodness and generosity of God. In a simple way express your gratitude to God.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3

Review Without taking time to look back we can miss the opportunity to learn from the past on a grand level as well as from day-to-day. We can become dislocated from our own story and from God’s big story that we are a part of. ‘Time flies’ we say as we lose track of the importance of each day.

By taking time to review the last 24 hours we get to learn more about ourselves and God’s activity in our lives. Try to look back objectively, observing rather than justifying or rationalising. As you ask yourself the following questions, call to mind situations and pay attention to the details. — When or where in the past 24 hours were you cooperating most fully with God’s action in your life? — When were you resisting? — What habits and life patterns do you notice from the last day?

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD. These gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there. Psalm 118:19-20

Response Response is an important step after having remembered God’s activity in the past 24 hours. How would you like to respond? Do you need to journal, or pray, or repent, or ask someone’s forgiveness? Do you need to seek wise counsel, share a concern, or express gratitude to someone? How do you want to live our life differently as you go forward? How will you resolve to make changes? What patterns do you want to keep living tomorrow? Having a record of your response will allow you to see patterns and praise God for changes in the future.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen. Jude 1:24-25

This is an adaptation of a wonderful resource from Mars Hill Bible Church. marshill.org/teaching/sp

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

Steve Fogg

Prayer of Examen

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digital discipleship?

There is a downside to smart phones. A darkside. A side that we all know is there, but we never talk about. That unspoken dark-side is that you are on your phone just that little bit too much.

You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. Psalm 119:114

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD. These gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there. Psalm 118:19-20

This is an adaptation of a wonderful resource from Mars Hill Bible Church. marshill.org/teaching/sp

Quarterly Issue 05 March 2012

Steve Fogg

Prayer of Examen

p.17

digital discipleship?

THE ROADTRIP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD Mark Sayers

In 1947 Jack Kerouac set off on a road trip that would reshape the mental landscape of almost everyone born in the West since that date. His cross-country jaunt would change how we viewed the world, processed our lives and interacted with our faiths. It would alter the cultural code of the West, re-orientating our collective psyches around the idea of the road.

Kerouac recorded his road trips in his classic book On the Road. Even if you have never read the book, you have been influenced by it. It, almost more than any other work, laid the foundation for the culture of the road. It would ensure that Kerouac for decades would operate as a kind of template for the cool, brooding, hipster—would be a sort of grandfather for punk, indie, and everything cool that has come since. It would be read by millions, but its approach to life would be imitated in one form or another, by millions who had never read the book. True, the release of the book did not change the culture single-handedly but tapped into the desire for change that was already bubbling under the surface. Kerouac’s friend, the author William S. Burroughs, remarked, “The restlessness, the dissatisfaction were already there waiting when Kerouac pointed out the road.” Yet it was Kerouac’s motif of the road that provided the spark that would ignite the fire of cultural change.

WHERE IS HOME?

Before Kerouac changed the life script of the West, life was processed through the idea of home. Home was not just a building in which you lived. It was a place to which you were deeply connected. Home was a family and a community of people to whom you belonged. Home was a unified worldview. This worldview infused every part of your life: it informed your recreational life, your work life, your religious life, even your sex life. This sense of home was held together by traditions and a way of life to which the individual submitted.

Despite these traditions restricting options and personal freedoms, the ideal of home gave the individual a sense of purpose, belonging and place. You did not need to discover who you were. Your sense of rootedness and your communal connections gave you a sense of self, an identity that was set and solid. Sure, not everyone experienced home in this way, but for the culture it was the ideal; a secure home and a loving community was what we hoped for. Journalist Thomas Friedman uses the symbol of the olive tree to describe this worldview of home: “Olive trees are important. They represent everything that roots us, anchors us, identifies us and locates us in this world - whether it be belonging to a family, a community, a tribe, a nation, a religion or, most of all a place called home. Olive trees are what give us the warmth of family, the joy of individuality, the intimacy of personal rituals, the depth of private relationships, as well as the confidence and security to reach out and encounter others.” Today we could not be in a more different space. No longer do we view our lives through the ideal of home. Thanks to Jack Kerouac, our ideal is the road. We view life through the prism of the journey.

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, OR IS IT?

An award winning commercial for Louis Vuitton exemplifies this ideal. It features lush, cinematic shots of attractive individuals in deserts, cities, and exotic locales. There is a deeply sensual tone to the commercial. A suited man takes off his shoes and walks barefoot on the Saharan sand. Another man stands before the vista of an exquisite river, exhaling a cloud of visible breath in the cool morning air. A young female traveler sleeping in the alcove of a Tibetan village is awakened by the wind moving through her hair. Pages rustle in a journal; a young man drinks in both his tea and the sight of Shanghai at dawn. Across the screen come a series of statements and questions:

What is a journey?

A journey is not a trip. It’s not a vacation. It’s a process. A discovery. It’s a process of self-discovery. A journey brings us face to face with ourselves. Does the person create the journey, or does the journey create the person? The journey is life itself. Where will life take you?

It is easy to see why this commercial is award winning. It is beautifully shot, drenched with evocative images. Its romanticism resonates with us because it reveals one of the great values that our contemporary culture holds dear—that life is a journey, that true meaning and happiness are found on the road.

BEING ON THE ROAD IS A MENTAL STATE

The contemporary self does not have to literally be on the move to be on the road. Being on the road is primarily a state of mind, one which constantly is dissatisfied, looking for the next best thing, living in incompleteness, always engaged in a quest for a sense of significance. This search for meaning becomes even more problematic in a culture which flees from objective truth, which fears authority and the holding of belief too strongly. The contemporary person finds themselves engaged in a quest for a truth that they are told they cannot find. In which the act of questing itself is given more importance than the completion of the quest. In such an environment the worldview of the road is triumphant.

JESUS’ ROAD

The road has made us fickle. It has made our faiths weak. It has made us spoiled. To state it in its most brutal and blatant form, the road is ruining our lives and it is ruining our culture. It has left us lost and directionless, consumers not followers of God. When we open the pages of Scripture we find a different kind of person from the person of the road. A person of the way. The way of Christ. A pilgrim of a road that does not lead to the tantalising potential of a future destination but instead to a wooden cross. A way that promises life eternal but that also demands total obedience, complete surrender and death to self.

This article is an excerpt from Mark’s upcoming book The Roadtrip That Changed The World: The Unlikely Theory that will Change How You View Culture, the Church, and, Most Importantly, Yourself. Now available for pre-order at amazom.com

The Road: Young Leaders Training dates Saturdays 10am-2pm 31st March 16th June 15th September 1st December Info at www.uberlife.com.au

THE ROADTRIP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD Mark Sayers

WHERE IS HOME?

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, OR IS IT?

What is a journey?

BEING ON THE ROAD IS A MENTAL STATE

JESUS’ ROAD

The Road: Young Leaders Training dates Saturdays 10am-2pm 31st March 16th June 15th September 1st December Info at www.uberlife.com.au

2012 Calendar of events March

JUNE

State Youth Games Launch - Ballarat

State Youth Games 2011 – Greater

Fri March 23rd York Street Church of Christ, Ballarat 7.00pm – 10.00pm Costs $10

Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au

Fri 8th – Mon 11th, June Lardner Park Warragul

Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au www.stateyouthgames.com/vic

www.stateyouthgames.com/vic

State Youth Games Launch - East Fri March 30th One Community Church, Blackburn 7.00pm – 10.00pm Costs $10

Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au www.stateyouthgames.com/vic

JULY Quench Western Region Youth Ministers Fri 20th – Sat 21st, July Horsham Church of Christ

Contact Jarrod Risson P 53823877 E jarrod@horsham.org.au

State Youth Games Launch - South Sat March 31st Southern Community Church of Christ, Cheltenham 7.00pm – 10.00pm Costs $10 Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au www.stateyouthgames.com/vic

AUGUST YV Connect Breakfast

Sat August 21ST, 10.00am Shine Café, 74-76 Kingsway, Glen Waverley Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au

MAY

No cost. RSVP for catering essential

AND Festival of Ideas, Imagination & Stories Thurs 3rd – Sat 5th, May One Community Church, Blackburn

Contact Claire Egan P 94888800 E cegan@churchesofchrist.org.au

september Illuminate Camp

Mon 24th – Fri 28th,September Adanac CYC, Yarra Junction

www.andfest.com.au Costs range from $20 to $160

Contact YV office P 94888800 E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au Cost $270

A 1st Floor, 582 Heidelburg Rd. Fairfield VIC 3078 P 03 9488 8800

W vic.youthvision.org.au E yv@churchesofchrist.org.au