Over Las Vegas. Or at least the culture.

I'm over Las Vegas. Not the interesting stuff ,as I haven't seen the other hotels, which I'm assured are pretty cool, with fountains out the front and other amazing displays. I'm over the culture they sell and promote here.

Last night, we had the opening reception for the training conference that I'm here for. The first part of the conversation usually involved a lament on how hard it is to find good-looking and smart IT girls. The final part of the conversation involved a decision to go and find an establishment that provides satiation for the lusts of the flesh in as many different ways as possible. I will leave it to your imagination to fill in the rest. There was little interest in discussing anything else.

Oh, there was some business talk sprinkled in between, and some polite acknowledgement that since two of the chatting group were professing Christians (Dave and me) that we were free not to participate. I hadn't realised it was compulsory (...of course I am being sarcastic).

Dave and I go back a long way in IT. I had always suspected that he was a Christian, but I only got confirmation last night. Funny how we're always so up-front about our profession, our hobbys and our homes, but we're not so upfront about our faith when there is peer pressure and the possibility of ridicule and not being taken seriously.

Then there was the bar where the barmaid was dressed in a short skirt (it is 40 degrees remember) and she got up and danced on the bar itself. She was a good dancer. I could tell from watching the shadow of her on the wall. Most of our group went around to take photos, and came back like they were little kids who had found a valley full of chocolates and lollies, making comments that clearly showed that they were not seeing her as another person to respect, but an object to be coveted and lusted over. Seriously, is this how grown men with significant social and professonal responsibilities should behave? Dave and I gently reminded the other guys that she is a person too, not just an object of their lust, but I think they were too drunk to register.

The thing that got to me is that these guys did not see anything wrong with this. It was seen as good fun and 'naughty,' as in cheeky but not really wrong. What they don't seem to grasp is that there is a huge difference between admiring and lusting, between proper enjoyment and gluttony or debauchery. The difference is in the heart attitude, and the outcome is in what action one decides to take.

Dave and I talked to the guys about finding a woman they could get to know and respect, and making a life-long commitment to the relationship as equals. I think the other guys were not willing to give up their ways just yet, but they were jealous because they could see in our faces that the commitment to one woman pays off. You don't know how many times Dave and I looked a each other, sighed, and said "no, sorry, we're one-woman men." One guy (a good friend of mine) did say at one stage "I wish I could find a woman who is like your wives. I'm not getting any younger, but I find it hard to meet someone like that." Perhaps most girls are conditioned by the media, society and their peers nowadays to look for the wrong things in men.

In reflection, the phrase "beauty is skin-deep, but ugly goes to the bone" is so right in many ways here... and true inner beauty comes from God, because all people are made in his image.

After that event, we were then approached by someone who was either an undercover cop or a drug dealer or pimp. He boldly asked us what we wanted in the way of substance abuse and other things which I have already mentioned. He said he could get us anything. The men in our group couldn't seem to say no, so he gave our group his card. "Free limo ride to anything you desire" he said. Yeah, right, sure.

After that, our group said it was decision time, did we want to go with them to a strip club or not? Dave and I declined and went to our rooms to sleep. The other guys headed off to find their 'experience' for the evening.

These guys are lost. They can sense that the way they are going isn't right, but they don't know exactly how to get it right. God still loves all the lost, and we are His messengers of hope. Dave and I will keep trying to share the Gospel with these guys, since we are sprinkled with plenty of opportunity.. we are hanging out with these guys for 3 days straight from 7AM-11PM!

I won't say that I wasn't tempted. The Devil will stick temptations right up to your face. God is testing our faithfulness in these situations, and it would be impossible to resist without the help of the Holy Spirit.

So in the midst of this jaded, stale, smokey environment, surrounded by all this stuff, I also thank God that He has given Dave and me each other as brothers in Christ at the conference. "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst" is the promise that Jesus Christ gave us. That is so true. Dave and I needed each other as moral standards back-up last night.

As Christians, we need to boldly proclaim God's kingdom and message, and actively seek out other Christians in our workplaces to be able to support each other better.

Epilogue:

The next morning, to no surprise, the same men, all suited up in their presentation gear, looked so serious and professional delivering their training presentations. We all can be such chameleons.

That was "Storage Foundation and High Availability (SFHA)." Two and half solid hours of the most scintillating training on earth, if your rely on SFHA to keep your job!