by Mike Benson

According to a report published by the University of Texas, the typical means used to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus has an average failure rate of thirty-one percent! Think about that! Thirty-one percent!

If you got on a plane and the pilot came over the intercom and announced that there was a thirty-one percent chance that the plane would crash, would you stay on board? Of course not. So much for the modern idea of "safe sex."

Actually, the REAL safe sex is God's idea. It includes one man and one woman who save themselves for their marriage partners, and then remain faithful to each other for life (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 19:4ff; Galatians 5:19ff). That, my friends, is the real safe sex ... both physically and spiritually.

Think about it.

by Stan Mitchell

In an excellent article, professor Michael R. Weed observes that the goal of forming "successful" churches, where everyone finds his emotional needs met is an "unchallenged" tenet of church growth advocates, and gives rise to the phenomenon of "church shoppers." "A constant monitoring of trends, tastes, and fashions through questionnaires, surveys and polls now rivals the study and teaching of scripture as the sign of a church's devotion to ministry and zeal for evangelism" (Christian Studies, Vol. 19 Spring 2003, page 14).

His remarks raise some good questions. How do we define a "successful" church? And who defines success? If people tend to go "church shopping," doesn't that also lead to church hopping? Who should be forming the church's agenda, man or God? And are we aware of the difference between human wants and divine requirements?

Of course visitors to our congregation should expect a warm and loving welcome. Make no mistake, Jesus Christ meets man's deepest longings. But like a patient visiting a doctor, the newcomer to church only knows that he hurts; it's for the Great Physician to diagnose the illness! "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners'" (Mark 2:17).

"They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 8:11). Humanity is indeed sick, and the illness is fatal. This is not a time for cosmetics and placebos. This is not a case of what the customer wants to hear, but of what God wants to say! If you want to go shopping, may I suggest the mall; if you want salvation, come to Jesus!

by Richard Mansel

In Mark 8:34, Jesus said, "Whomever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (NKJV). What does it mean to take up or bear our cross? This is the very heart of Christian discipleship.

Many use the phrase in ways Scripture never intended. They will say, "I have a bad back and that is my cross to bear." Or, "I have arthritis and that is my cross to bear." They will use it to represent the hardships in their lives or of others. We must be careful not to cheapen this most sacred of tasks for the following reasons.

First, hard times are not bearing our cross because they exist for everyone. Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34, NKJV). Job said, "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble" (Job 14:1). Troubles come with living, not discipleship.

Second, bearing our cross is voluntary. We read in Matthew 10:38, "And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Luke wrote, "whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27).

Bearing our cross is our decision to make, as these Scriptures clearly show. Therefore, hard times cannot be bearing our cross because no one asks for storms to savage their life. No one willingly endures the pain of suffering and loss. Christ says, "take up your cross," not "receive your cross."

Third, bearing our cross is contingent on our continuing to bear it. Jesus said in Luke 14:26-35 that we must sit down and count the costs before we decide to become a disciple. He says, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it" (Luke 14:28). When we take up our cross, we must keep on bearing the cross until we die. No one seeks to maintain the troubles in our life.

Fourth, bearing our cross is directed toward the glory of God. When we take up our cross and follow him, it is to bring glory to God, not ourselves. We must lose our pride and self-interest in order to bear our cross. Jesus gave up everything to go to the cross and he asks the same sacrifice of us today.

When we discuss our pain, we are directing attention to ourselves, not our Savior. It is not wrong to talk about our pain. Yet it is not what Jesus meant when he asked us to bear our cross.

"Why did Jesus use this particular illustration? He used a radical symbol to get people's attention. He was not simply speaking of an individual's personal problem or obstacle. In that day and age, a person who was bearing a cross was walking to his death. Bearing your cross means dying to self, laying aside your personal goals, desires, ambitions and goals for your life." / 1

A. W. Tozer wrote, "In every Christian's heart there is a throne and a cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of man's soul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility."

/ 1. Author unknown.

by J. Randal Matheny

"Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist." --Ephesians 6:14, NET Bible

In the Matrix movies, the star wears an overcoat in which he runs, fights, and comes out on top. It's a movie! The guy looks good in sunglasses and a black overcoat, but nobody wears such a piece of clothing and manages what he does.

In the ancient world, robes, tunics, and loose-flowing clothing got in the way of fast and furious activity. To keep it all from hindering, people used a cloth sash or leather belt to bind it up and permit vigorous action. Sometimes the tail of the long robe would be brought up between the legs and tucked into the belt, making a sort of pants.

So it was that Elijah "tucked his robe into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:46, NET Bible).

Paul says an essential part of the Christian's armor is the belt of truth. This belt ties up the non-essential items, extraneous matter, and, especially, the harmful elements of life to permit one to fend off the evil one.

This belt is made up, not of physical cloth or animal leather, but of truth. Only by the truth can one identify and bind up that which would obstruct Christian progress.

Truth, then, does not restrict liberty, as some in the world think, but permits it! Another case of the truth setting free, as Jesus would say in another context (John 8:32).

Only a fantasy movie allows a person to wear a long flowing garment and still win. In real life, it just doesn't happen.

So gird yourself with the belt of truth and tuck up all that would impede your strenous activity in the Kingdom of God, so that you may overtake the evil one.

by Phil Sanders

No doubt you will see on the grocery store checkout counters tabloids that will predict the events of the coming year.

I keep thinking I'll buy one and save it till December to see how much came true. It's not so much that I am fascinated by the predictions of the so-called seers and prophets. Rather, I know they have no ability at all.

Solomon said, "I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them" (Ecclesiastes 8:11,12).

Things don't always turn out the way they were planned or prophesied, when men do the prophesying.

Jean Dixon was a famous prognosticator in the 50s and 60s. She predicted who would be nominated and who would be elected President in the 1952, 1956 and 1960 elections. She missed every guess.

Jean Dixon is very unlike God, who never misses a prophecy. Isaiah wrote by inspiration in 46:8-10:

"Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.'"

Unlike the tabloids, the predictions of the Lord come to be true. We can have confidence in God because we know that he tells us the truth every time.

This is reassuring, for we know that his promises will also come true. I wouldn't want it any other way.