[Phil]

Retreats and such can be a place where you really get on a spiritual high. This is because:
1) You basically around all Christan people, who are looking out for you and encouraging you.
2) You're away from the usually negative and sinful attitude of non-Christians.
3) You are guided by great Christian adults who are there for the sole purpose of serving you spiritually.
4) You are constantly hearing the Word of God preached daily and ways that you can apply it to your life.
5) You are given set amounts of time to be just for you and God.
6) You don't have the stress of responsibilities such as school, etc.


All those things are great, but certainly that is not how it is supposed to be. We are not supposed to be only surrounded by believers, because there would be noone to witness to.

So, once you go home, and get back into your normal routine, the "Spritual High" will be great, and you will be on fire for Christ. But give it a few weeks, and sure enough, it will not be like you wanted it to be.

Here are 10 steps of Drifting (by Dan DeHann):
1. Laziness: What are you doing (voluntarily) that is inconvenient or uncomfortable just to stay in shape spiritually
2. Lack of Purpose: Can you take 30 idle minutes and make them count for eternity? Can you create ways to stay in spiritual shape?
3. Restlessness/Lack of Peace: If you were alone for two days, could you make use of the time without climbing the walls?
4. Self Pity: How long does it take you to get over someone doing you wrong?
5. Pride: Do you easily compromise when you are in a situation and it is not "popular" to do what pleases God? Are you easily angered? Do you have an unusual fear of witnessing?
6. Murmuring: How often do you find yourself wishing things were better?
7. Impurity: What are the three greatest desires of your heart right now? What is your 2nd thought to impurity?
8. Hatred of Reproof: What is your attitude towards standards, rules, laws, etc.?
9. Bitterness/Resentment: Do you find yourself nourishing an attitude of unforgiveness?
10. Hardened Heart: Have you heard a thing said during the retreat? Place you finger on the pulse of your heart for God. Is it beating hard, medium, or is there no pulse at all?

[Scott]

I find the easiest way to stay in good shape that way after a retreat is not to expect to live with your head in the clouds all the time after the retreat. I mean, life happens. You are gonna miss devo's at times, and stuff like that, so realise that you arent gonna be perfect. When you go up a spiritual mountain, you have to expect to come down at some point, before going up another.

[OnEaglesWings]

Oh, man, I know what you mean...when I'm at camp it's like such a fantastic place...like things can't get any better. And then you come back to daily life and it's such a disappointment. But I think that you kinda gain something everytime you have one of those mountantop kinda times, so even though you kinda level out it feels different.

[Scott]

i find with practice you can bring the level that you level out at up a little.

[1twelve2]

I think that retreats are great places for spiritual growth, and they do provide a nurturing enviroment. But compared to the real world (and its problems), retreats are like Utopia. So I think the best way to live your faith after the "retreat effect" wears off is: take what you have learned from the retreat and apply it daily, and get into the Word yourself (feed your soul), and just taking it day by day with God. You're right, if we really lived in the "retreat enviroment" in the real world, then our purpose here has been defeated.

[JungleJonDOC]

I think one reason we get so close to God on retreats is the focus on God and the small ammounts of distracitons. I'm just going to make a comparitive list that I made for one of my Bible studies:

Camp: (great spiritual growth)

no television
no secular music
no video games
great christian fellowship
no drugs/alcohol/other addictive substances
peer pressure to be a good christian
focus is on God

Real World: (little or no spiritual growth)
television
secular music
video games
sparatic christian fellowship
drugs/alcohol/other addictive substances
peer pressure to be "cool"
focus is on yourself

solution: try to make the camp list meet the real world list. change your real world list so it looks like the camp list

after this summer I started to do that. these past few months I have grown more spiritually than the rest of my life combined. the great growth wasn't really at camp. it was after camp. real growth occurs in the valley, not on the mountain.

[Phil]

Originally posted by JungleJonDOC
I think one reason we get so close to God on retreats is the focus on God and the small ammounts of distracitons. I'm just going to make a comparitive list that I made for one of my Bible studies:

Camp: (great spiritual growth)

no television
no secular music
no video games
great christian fellowship
no drugs/alcohol/other addictive substances
peer pressure to be a good christian
focus is on God

Real World: (little or no spiritual growth)
television
secular music
video games
sparatic christian fellowship
drugs/alcohol/other addictive substances
peer pressure to be "cool"
focus is on yourself

solution: try to make the camp list meet the real world list. change your real world list so it looks like the camp list

after this summer I started to do that. these past few months I have grown more spiritually than the rest of my life combined. the great growth wasn't really at camp. it was after camp. real growth occurs in the valley, not on the mountain.

Very true...

[Scott]

except the alcohol bit, there is nothing wrong with alcohol people. Its alcohol in excess that is the problem. Otherwise Jesus wouldnt have made some would he?

[JungleJonDOC]

except the alcohol bit, there is nothing wrong with alcohol people. Its alcohol in excess that is the problem. Otherwise Jesus wouldnt have made some would he?

That's what I meant, getting drunk or drinking under the age of 21 is wrong.

Jesus also made the opium plant. does that mean that we can use it?

[LittleSkittle]

coming down from spiritual highs is something i've struggled with greatly in the past, in particular this summer. this summer was the best, and most spiritually filling, summer of my life - i spent 2 weeks on staff at the camp where i accepted Christ into my heart 3 years before, i spent another week at a younglife camp (as a camper), and a week and a half with my youth group and 3 other teams on a mission trip in jamaica. i was able to share my testimony, write unbelievable song lyrics, have amazing quiet times with God where He revealed more of Himself to me...i never wanted to go back home. but the time came when i had to.

needless to say, reality hit me like a ton of bricks. i'd seen so much of God in my life in the past months, and suddenly it was like he disappeared! my dad had lost his job, my parents were fighting like crazy, my dad went back to his old friend alcohol, i realized that most of my friends weren't quite the Christians they claimed to be (if they even claimed to be in the first place)...i just saw my world falling apart before my very eyes. a few close friends of mine knew about what was going on, but even with them i still pretended i was ok. i felt further from God than i ever had, it was the worst feeling i'd ever had in my whole life. but i was ashamed, so this i told to no one. i wore this mask, this "everything's-ok-and-i'm-happy" mask. did it work? for awhile, sure...but God saw right through it, He always does. he spoke through a good church friend of mine one day on the phone. i couldn't tell you a word of what he said to me, i can't remember the conversation at all - but at the time, it was exactly what i needed to hear. that night, driving to youth group, i turned down the radio and made a quick prayer to God, pleading for Him to find time for the 2 of us to spend together. well of course since God is AMAZING He answered my prayer, and thensome! my youth group leader had decided that for youth group that night, we were each to go off on our own for 10 mins...and just talk with God! talk about WOW!!! i started crawling back to where i was before the crash, and things have been great since! my dad still is out of work, he still struggles with alcohol, my parents still fight, and still not all my friends are model Christians...but God has worked in my heart to show me that it's gonna be okay.

ok, so maybe you're wondering why i bothered to type all that...basically, God took me from a major spiritual downfall and lifted me high again...JUST BECAUSE I CAME TO HIM AND ASKED HIM!!! He is there, and He is listening.

so, how do you maintain that spiritual high but still live in reality?well, since God lifted me back up, i've noticed some things that have been more prevalent in my life, most likely accounting for a big part of this...
1. Christian fellowship. while i hang out with non-Christian buddies, too, i try to keep in close contact with Christian friends. i have few of these at school, but i talk to and try to hang out with friends from church, camp, and retreats as much as i can. they have supported me as i have been going through hard times, they are always there for me!
2. the Word. while i still struggle to make time in my day for Bible reading, i regularly attend church, sunday school, and a Bible study. for a book written eons ago, it sure does have some stuff that relates to me! it's such an awesome thing, devotional and study Bibles rock, especially if you don't know where to even start when you pick up this huge book!
3. prayer. the Master of the Universe wants to talk to US!!! now, how cool is that? and i don't mean just when you need something. whether you wanna ask for something (for you or anyone else), or you wanna thank God for something cool going on in your life, or you wanna confess something that's been pulling on your heart, or you wanna sing His praises, or you just wanna say what's up...HE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU! He wants to have a relationship with you, He desires it so greatly. i pushed God aside for awhile there, i don't know how i could have done that!

these 3 things are what i've found to help A LOT with keeping that spiritual high, and really growing in your faith and love as well. even after you come down from the mountain, it doesn't have to feel that way.

[Scott]

I was referring to Jesus turning water into wine, but if you realised that then your argument doesnt stand, as Jesus didnt make opium from water, or whatever, did he? And drinking under age (21 for you, 18 for me), isnt wrong. BUYING alcohol under age is wrong. Getting drunk is plain wrong, obviously. And everyone thinks that using drugs is so bad. Most drugs have beneficial side effects, ie Cannabis Sativa relieves the pain suffered my MS sufferers and the suffereres of other ailments. Remember that even the medicine you use has the same effects as these drugs, like painkillers etc are addictive, and can impair your ability to drive etc and alter your perception of the world.

[LittleSkittle]

ok i didn't wanna get into this debate so i'll just quickly say, it's the misuse and abuse of drugs etc that is wrong...ie, misuse - taking a medication for the wrong purposes, like NOT for medical purposes. abuse - getting drunk. i think this is a very separate issue, tho, so if anyone wants to debate they should probably start a new thread.