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 Mike Benson

Has it ever occurred to you that if we wanted to judge our Lord's success as a TEACHER, we probably wouldn't want to look at his disciples around the time of his crucifixion? Why not? Well, because one of his disciples betrayed him and then later committed suicide (Mark 14:10,11,18; Matthew 27:3-5). Another tried to start a fight, denied even knowing Jesus, and then cursed when someone suggested that he was a disciple (Matthew 26:51,52). In fact, the Bible says that eventually all of his disciples forsook him and fled (Mark 14:50).

Of course, it might be helpful for us to look on "down the line" and see these same men days, even years, after the crucifixion. Scripture says that all of the disciples, except Judas, were boldly preaching Christ as Lord (Acts 4:13,18-19,31; 9:29; 14:3; 19:8).

Teacher, when results aren't immediately forthcoming, when you wonder if you're making any impact, and when you're ready to throw in the towel because it seems like nobody is listening, it is then that you must not give up. Remember, it may take awhile before you ever see the fruits of your labor.

Think about it.

by Mike Benson

The news media announced the jury's verdict this week: Scott Peterson should receive the death penalty for the brutal murder of his wife and unborn son. More than one juror said Peterson's lack of emotion during the trial was a deciding factor in the penalty phase of the court proceedings. One observed, "For me, a big part of it was at the end -- the verdict -- no emotion. No anything. That spoke a thousand words -- loud and clear." Still another commented, "I still would like to see, I don't know if remorse is the right word... He lost his wife and his child and he's romancing a girlfriend. That doesn't make sense to me -- at all."

People with a good heart can't comprehend Peterson's unemotional demeanor. But the veritable mountain of evidence tells us why he was incapable of any overt sensitivities. Consider:

He pursued romance with another woman during the search for his wife. He told his mistress that he was single, when in fact he was not only married, but his wife was expecting their first child. He lied to his mistress as to his whereabouts during a phone conversation. He had multiple affairs during his marriage. He killed his pregnant wife and unborn son and then dumped their lifeless bodies in the bay. He converted his unborn son's baby room into a storage area. He told a TV interviewer that on the morning his wife was reported missing, he had loaded his lawn umbrellas in his warehouse to protect them for the winter, but police found them in the back of his truck later that same day. He lied to TV reporters when he said that he had broken off his relationship with his mistress after his wife vanished.

Frankly, I'm not surprised that Peterson never shed any tears or exhibited any emotion. We can't expect conscience from someone who is devoid of such. Conscience is a God-given sense of moral oughtness. It is an inward conviction that there is such a thing as right and wrong. But Peterson's conscience has been so irreparably damaged that it is impervious to feeling. That "pain nerve of his soul" has been rendered insensible (Titus 1:15).

In 1 Timothy 4, the Bible speaks of those whose conscience is "seared with a hot iron" (v. 2b; cf. Mark 3:5; John 12:40). Commenting on this passage, one student observes:

"It seems more probable that kausteriazo is used here in its alternative, medical sense... When skin, a nerve or a superficial tumor is cauterized, it is destroyed by burning and so rendered insensitive. Just so, a cauterized conscience has been 'anaesthetized', even deadened. By constantly arguing with conscience, stifling its warnings and muffling its bell, its voice is smothered and eventually silenced" (John Stott, "Local Leadership," Guard the Truth, InterVarsity Press, p. 112).

This is exactly what happened to Scott Peterson. He got to the point inwardly where he was "past feeling" (Ephesians 4:18,19); his conscience had been cauterized. Normal men suffer pain and guilt when they do wrong. It's illogical to engage in your families' demise and not experience pangs of grief and sorrow. And ultimately that's what sealed his fate. His real accuser during that three-month trial was his Vulcan-like passivity. Peterson should have wept. He should have wailed. But he just sat there -- unmoved, stoic, indifferent.

There's a lesson for us here. We need to properly train, guard, and protect our conscience (Romans 2:15; 9:1; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Timothy 1:5). If you or I engage in sin but feel no pain, that's a signal that we need to rush to the emergency ward (e.g. church) and visit the Great Physician (Hebrews 9:14; 10:19-22). "The good conscience must be kept healthy, vital, alive, and fully enlightened if we are to do the right thing. We must, therefore, always be filled with the desire to do right, and when we fail to do right because of ignorance or weakness, we must get right" (cf. Hebrews 10:22; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). ...When we have done wrong and take God's way for getting right, our conscience recovers its soundness and becomes a good (1 Peter 3:21) conscience" (D. Ellis Walker, "Your Conscience Never Hurts?", Gospel Advocate, May 5, 1977, p. 282).

by Mike Benson

I attended a funeral recently to pay respects to a departed brother in Christ. When I looked into his casket, I noticed that one of his daughters had placed in his hands a little chrome pitch pipe. Her daddy had always loved to sing hymns, to lead singing, and had taught many a young man through the years how to lead singing in the worship assembly. As I thought about it, it seemed rather fitting that he be buried with this item.

But that little pitch pipe also set me to thinking later that day. What if someone put that which seemed most appropriate in our hands after we die? What article would be most suitable?

Would it be a cigarette? Maybe a newspaper? Perhaps a fishing rod and reel, or a golf club? What about a TV remote control? A knife and fork?

Or would a Bible look appropriate in our hands (Acts 17:11; cf. Psalm 1:2; 19:14)? It's something to think about, isn't it (Hebrews 11:4)?

by Mike Benson

Each afternoon while the grandkids were in school Grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, the kids came home early and found him fast asleep on the couch, and so they decided to have a little fun with him. They dabbed Limburger cheese in his moustache. Moments later, Grandpa woke up, took a few sniffs and then observed, "Why, this room stinks!" From the couch he made his way into the kitchen, but it wasn’t long before he decided that the kitchen smelled too. So he stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. Much to his chagrin, the air outside smelled just as bad as the air inside, to which he exclaimed, "The whole world stinks!"

In Philippians 4:4 Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always ..." Ironically, these words were penned while he was in a Roman prison. What I learn from the apostle is that while I can’t control all of the circumstances in my life, I can control my attitude towards them.

What about you, dear friend? Have you got Limburger cheese in your attitude? Does the whole world smell bad? It may be that you need an attitude adjustment.

Think about it...