BACK TO THE BASICS
by C.J. Hitz

If you’ve practiced a sport for any length of time, you know what it means to go through a “slump”.  Professional athletes go through slumps.  Whether you’re talking to an NBA basketball player struggling with his jumpshot or a PGA golfer struggling with his swing, they’ll tell you the same thing when it comes to working out of a slump…”it’s time to get back to the basics.”  The fundamentals.  These are the essentials necessary to play the game correctly.  In golf, something as simple as the way you’re gripping the club can throw your swing off.

We live in an age of gimmicks, fads, and fancy solutions to many problems we face. Churches are no strangers to these “cool, hip, state of the art” methods.  There’s only one problem…

They’re not working.

Records show the largest protestant denominations in the U.S. have reported 0% new growth over the last couple years.  Zero.  Even with multi-million dollar building campaigns, the most expensive gadgets, or the hippest youth facility, churches are seeing little impact.  We’ve been relying on gimmicks over God. 

Jesus gave his disciples a key “fundamental” to practice after his resurrection.  Are you ready for this?  Here it is…

Waiting.

In Acts 1:4, Jesus tells the disciples to “wait in Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised.”  So simple, yet so profound.  Many times, we rush to begin a new program in the church and then we ask God to bless our efforts rather than asking for his direction in the first place.  When it doesn’t get the desired result we hoped for we’re left scratching our heads. 

Ready to come out of your spiritual slump?  Get back to the basics.  

 
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BRAIN MATTERS
by C.J. Hitz

Ready to brush up on human anatomy? What part of our brain stores memory?  If you said Hippocampus, you’re correct.  Studies have shown that once information is loaded into our hippocampus, it’s almost impossible to erase.  In a sense, our brains are the most sophisticated computer systems on the planet. The last I heard, no company has created a computer with unlimited hard drive memory.  My laptop has 60 gigs of storage space which is nothing compared with the latest technology.  But even the most sophisticated computer we have at our fingertips pales in comparison to the human brain.  As long as we’re alive, we’re able to load as much information as possible into our brains.  But unlike a computer, our brains do not have a delete button.  How many times have you loaded images or words into your brain and wished you could delete them?

I was nine years old when a kid next door brought over his dad’s Hustler magazine.  At that age, I barely comprehended what I was looking at, but those images were burned into my brain for years afterward.  Television, movies, video games, and the internet have a profound impact on our lives.  I know people who say they have trouble sleeping at night.  The first question I ask them is what were they doing right before going to bed?  Tell me what you were watching or reading before bedtime and I’ll have a pretty good idea how well you’re sleeping.

Just remember this: Whatever you load into your brain will either be your friend or your enemy…for a lifetime.

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23 

 
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BUG WARFARE
by C.J. Hitz

We have some missionary friends in Paraguay, South America who’ve been bombarded with some interesting tropical ailments.  They’ve gotten scabies, tick bites, and the latest….piques (PEEKS).  Piques are tick-like creatures found on stray dogs and live in the sand.  They like to embed in your feet and develop their family in your toes!  As you can imagine, they really get under our skin!  Every night, they do a pique check to make sure their feet are clean.  When they spot the microscopic black dot under the surface of the epidermis, they go in with their pique artillery…alcohol, a needle and a cotton swab.  If a pique is not discovered within a day, it starts to infect the entire area causing lots of pain and major walking discomfort, and worse, they are contagious!

They told us that during one pique cleaning session, (their record is 8 at one time) the analogy came to them that we need to perform a daily inspection of spiritual piques on ourselves.  That is, we need to constantly be analyzing our lives to make sure we are living with integrity (the Bible uses the word “Holy”) that’s pleasing to God.  One small sin left unchecked will wound not only us, but also those around us.  It will also affect our relationship with God and will hinder our prayer life. 

With our spiritual pique artillery (the Bible, prayer and the conviction of the Holy Spirit) let’s get in the habit of doing regular “spiritual pique checks.”

Scripture: Ephesians 6:13

 
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CLOUDY WATER
by C.J. Hitz

Have you ever seen one of those glass bubble-looking things that you shake and it looks like a blizzard inside?  Eventually, after you set it down, all the little flakes settle on the bottom.  You can get a similar effect when you take a glass jar, fill it with river water and shake it up.  After several minutes, the sediment settles on the bottom.

At times, our lives resemble these containers when they’re shaken up.  The waters of our lives become cloudy and stirred up to the point where we lack focus and clarity.  During these times it becomes necessary to quiet ourselves so we’re able to hear the voice of God again.  The only way this really happens is to take a break from the distractions and activity.  Jesus knew the importance of allowing the ‘water to clear.’  Luke’s Gospel tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places for prayer.”  Yes, even Jesus’ life became cloudy at times.  Jesus was, quite possibly, one of the busiest people to ever live, constantly encountering people who wanted something from him.

Activity in our lives is a good thing.  Let’s just remember to allow the water to clear from time to time.

Scripture: Luke 5:16 

 
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SAVED SEX IS BETTER THAN SAFE SEX
by C.J. Hitz

A message for the young people of Belize

There is a killer in Belize that has been on the loose since 1986.  When he strikes, his victims always die-some more quickly than others.  As a matter of fact, this killer has taken over 500 lives and people are wondering how he can be stopped.  It is believed that over 10,000 others are currently in the grip of this hideous criminal.  This killer does not discriminate, but in fact, will take anyone (red, yellow, black, white, brown, tall, short, fat, skinny, young, old, etc.) he can get his hands on.  We are currently able to see patterns in this killer's movements and can identify some key places he likes to hide.  This killer wants to take as many lives as possible which is why we are warning people everywhere in Belize to be on the lookout in order to prevent themselves from being a target on this hit man’s list.  We know this killer goes by the initials H.I.V when he introduces himself in the beginning but he eventually changes his initials to A.I.D.S.  By now, you know we’re talking about a disease that’s spreading across this little country and around the world like wildfire.  For those of you who don’t know what this disease is, here is a definition:

HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus – This virus has no cure and begins to destroy a person’s T-cells which are the cells that fight infections that try to come into our bodies (immune system).  The average healthy person has between 1,000 and 1,200 T-cells in the body.

AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome – This is the last stage of any disease caused by the HIV which attacks and weakens the body’s natural immune system.  A person officially is diagnosed with AIDS when their T-cell count is 200 or below.

Here are some other important facts:

• Belize has the highest HIV/AIDS rate (2% of population) in Central America
• The U.S.A. is 1000 times larger than Belize in population but has only 40 times the amount of HIV/AIDS cases.
• In 2002 there were 431 new HIV infected people in Belize, the highest year ever.

A couple World statistics:

• In 2000 there were 5.3 million new HIV infections throughout the world
• In 2000 there were 3 million AIDS deaths around the world (This would be like saying 12 countries the size of Belize died in one year from this disease)

Many of you may know some of the ways you can be infected by HIV.  The following activities put a person at highest risk:

• Exposure to infected blood or other body fluids like semen of a male and vaginal secretions from a female, breast milk of an infected mother.
• Intravenous drug users (those who use drugs by injecting needles that have been shared)
• Homosexual men
• Those who have vaginal or oral sex with multiple partners

The National AIDS Commission, which was started in 1999 has the following strategy in fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS: “to promote healthy sexual behavior, prevention and intervention to reduce incidence by 2003.”  What year is it today?  2003.  The following information tells us Belize has a long way to go and perhaps needs a whole new strategy:

• There was a man in this country who was recently diagnosed with AIDS and he was found to have over 40 sexual partners! 
• A 15 year-old girl was recently diagnosed with HIV and was found to have over 50 sexual partners!
• An 8 year-old boy was recently diagnosed with HIV, most likely being infected through sexual abuse.

The Truth about Condoms

As of the beginning of March 2003 I have had the privilege of speaking in over 40 schools to young people ranging from Standard 4 through 4^th Form around Belize.  In each school, I ask students to tell me the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the words “safe sex.”  In every school I get the same response… “Condoms!”  What many people may not realize is the fact that 17% or 1 in 6 condoms produced around the world today fail…have errors…are deficient.  That would be like a person being offered a glass of orange juice and choosing from six different full glasses set before them.  The problem is that one of those glasses also has a deadly poison mixed in.  Would you still take the risk of choosing one of those glasses not knowing which one contained the poison?  Any person with common sense would say, “No, I’m not that thirsty.”  Condoms have a 55-75% chance of preventing HIV virus from spreading, which means a person still has a 25-45% chance of still being infected with this deadly disease when using a condom.  Does that seem very “safe” to you? 

Changing the Strategy

I believe SAVED sex (saving sex until marriage) is better than SAFE sex.  Staying sexually pure and remaining abstinent is the only 100% effective way to avoid being infected with HIV/AIDS.  Young people, God intended sex to be shared with only one person, and that one person in the setting of marriage between a man and a woman.  God didn’t set that boundary to take away our “fun” or make our lives miserable, but to keep us safe from the diseases that would threaten to kill us.  Sex is something God created for us to enjoy…within the setting of marriage. 

My wife Shelley & I are from the state of Ohio in the United States and it gets very cold in the winter-sometimes below 0 degrees F!  Many houses are equipped with a fireplace to keep the house warm.  What if I was to come home one night and I ask my wife, “Shelley is there a fire going?”  She replies, “Yes.”  I go over to the fireplace because I’m looking forward to warming myself by the fire but I notice there’s no fire in the fireplace so I call to my wife again saying, “Where is the fire located?”  She replies, “Oh, I decided to build a fire in the middle of our bedroom floor.”  At that point, I would probably say, “Shelley are you crazy, you could burn our whole house down!”  In reality, my wife would never do such a thing.  A fire is supposed to remain within the fireplace when it’s inside a house, but when it gets outside the fireplace it can be very dangerous-even threatening to burn the house down!  As crazy as that sounds, that’s what it’s like when people choose to have sex outside marriage.  God created sex to stay within the “fireplace” of marriage and when it gets outside that boundary, it can become dangerous in a hurry as people risk being infected with deadly disease like HIV.

I realize that many young people today have not had adults in your lives that have been good role models and examples in this area.  Maybe some adults you know have let you down.  We definitely don’t see sexual purity being lifted up on television.  The message on television is usually just the opposite: “Have all the sex you want and do whatever feels good.” 

It’s Time to Stand Up Young People!

YOUNG PEOPLE, how would you like to affect this whole country with the example you set for others, especially those who are younger than you?  Did you know that a waterfall begins with one drop of water?  You could be that one drop of water that begins a waterfall of sexual purity throughout Belize.  Listen to what God is calling you to do as a young person:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example            for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”  I Timothy 4:12

You don’t even have to wait until you “grow up” to set the example.  If the adults in your community are not setting the example in the area of sexual purity, the young people have an awesome opportunity to lead the way!  Think about it…the young people of this generation could turn back the army of sexually transmitted diseases that threaten to destroy lives (like HIV)!  I believe God wants to raise up this generation of young people for such a purpose.

There was a survey taken in the United States with over 1,000 teenagers (12-17 years old) being asked several questions concerning sex.  Here are some of those results:

• 58% said sexual activity for high school age is totally unacceptable, even if precautions (condoms, etc.) are taken.
• 69% of 12-14 year-olds said the same thing.
• 93% of teens said it is important to receive a strong abstinence/sexual purity message.
• 63% had a helpful conversation with parents.
• 78% said teens shouldn’t be sexually active.
• 87% of these teens don’t find it embarrassing to be a virgin.  (This doesn’t mean that all 87% were virgins, but for those that chose to be, the others didn’t find that embarrassing).

A Classy Role Model

How many of you enjoy watching NBA basketball on television?  Basketball is my favorite sport and I enjoy watching those professionals.  There’s a guy named AC Green who plays in the NBA and is getting ready to retire after 16 years of playing.  You may remember him best when he played for the Lakers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  He’s a good athlete, he’s wealthy, and many women would say he’s a good-looking man.  But do you realize AC Green is also a virgin?  That’s right, he has chosen to remain a virgin until the Lord brings a wife his way.  You see, he made a commitment when he was a teenager and has stayed faithful to that commitment.  Can you imagine how many offers and temptations he’s had over the years as a professional athlete?  He’ll tell you the only way he’s been able to stay pure is through God’s help and strength.  AC Green travels around the United States challenging young people to make godly decisions with their bodies.  Does AC Green want to experience sex?  Yes, but he wants to do it God’s way.  God will honor this man and God will honor you too!

The Power of One Man’s Example

There’s a man mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible who is now world famous because of his decision to stay sexually pure – his name is Joseph.  The Bible says:

“The Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in all he did…” (Genesis 39:3). But Joseph had some very jealous brothers who came up with a plan (Genesis 37) to sell him into slavery and then come back and tell their father that Joseph was attacked and eaten by a wild animal.  So Joseph found himself serving in the house of a man named Potiphar, the captain of the palace guard for the king of Egypt.  Soon, Potiphar noticed how Joseph could be trusted with responsibility and put Joseph in charge of his entire household (39:4).  We also read that “Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man.  And about this time, Potiphar’s wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her.” (39:6-7).  Joseph could have had several good responses to Potiphar’s wife, such as “This is going to be something we both regret years later” or “What would Potiphar think if he found out?”  But look at the response Joseph gave to this temptress: “…How could I ever do such a wicked thing?  It would be a great sin against God.” (39:9).  Did you notice what Joseph’s first motive was?  He was concerned with what God thought about the situation before anything else.  I challenge you to think about your motives-do you try to do things that please mankind first or do you always put God first in your decision-making?  Joseph probably didn’t realize how far his example would reach.  Your example to remain sexually pure could reach further than you ever dreamed possible.

Sex is not just a Physical Act

One of the things I like to do when I speak to students is call a young man out of the audience to help me illustrate a point.  I ask for any young man who thinks he’s tough and can handle a little pain.  When the young man finally emerges, I pull out my roll of heavy-duty duct tape (the gray kind).  I pull off a piece and stick it on the young man’s arm and then proceed to tell him that I’ve done this many times before and have only noticed a “few times” where I pulled the tape off the arm and “some flesh” actually comes with the tape.  At this point, the young man is getting nervous and is wondering why he volunteered.  I tell him I’m only kidding but there will be some hair that comes off with the tape.  When I pull the tape off the arm, there are some hairs that come off and I do this three times with the same piece of tape.  When I’m finished, I ask the young man, “Which time hurt the worst out of the three times I pulled the tape off?”  He usually always responds, “The first time.”  I could continue putting that tape back on his arm fifteen times, but the tape will lose more of its ability to bond to the arm each time.  That’s the way it is with sex-when people choose to experience sexual intimacy outside marriage, they lose more of their ability to bond to the one person God intended for them.  Just like each young man I use for the illustration leaves a little more of themselves (hairs) on the tape, a person leaves part of himself or herself with each person they choose to experience sex with.  God wants sexual intimacy to be shared with one person and remain strong for a lifetime.  This bond is not only physical, but also emotional and spiritual.  C. Everett Koop, M.D., and former U.S. Surgeon General once said, “When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.”  Physically speaking, you can be infected with diseases that others have for up to ten years after they’ve been infected.  Now read the following passage from I Corinthians 6 think about what God is saying to you:  “…Our bodies were not made for sexual immorality (sex outside marriage).  They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies…Run away from sexual sin!  No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does.  For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”

“What if I’ve already experienced sex before marriage?”

I realize you may be reading this article and you’ve already experienced sexual intimacy with someone before marriage.  Some persons may feel used up and dirty due to the decisions you’ve made sexually.  Many young people I’ve talked with say they regret the decision to have sex before marriage and wish they could do it differently.  Another illustration I like to do with students is to take a one-dollar Belizean coin and ask the audience, “How many of you would like this coin?”  Many hands go up and then I take the coin and spit on it.  Besides getting many grimaces and groans from the students, many hands still go up when I ask them again, “How many want the coin now?”  Finally, I take the coin and drop it to the ground and get dirt all over it.  Again, I ask, “Now how many still want the coin?”  Many hands go up and I ask, “Why do you still want this coin after all I’ve done to it?”  “You can still spend it”, replies the audience.  “You mean it hasn’t lost any value?”  “No”, replies the audience.  “It didn’t go down to 75 cents?”  “No”, the students reply.  God sees us in a similar way-no matter what has happened to us in the past, God still sees each one of us with the highest value possible.  You haven’t lost any value in God’s eyes, despite the decisions you’ve made sexually, but God doesn’t want us to continue down the same path of sinful decision-making.  He desires to wash us and set us on the right track.  I John 1:9 says, “But if we confess our sins to Him (Jesus Christ), He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”  Notice it says “every” wrong.  There is nothing you’ve done in your past that God can’t forgive today through Jesus Christ.  Do you remember the story (John 8:3-11) where the woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus by the religious leaders?  They are testing Jesus to see if he agrees she should be stoned to death.  He tells them, “He who has never sinned, throw the first stone.”  One by one they drop their stones and leave until only Jesus and the woman are left standing there.  The last words Jesus gives her are, “Go and sin no more.”  Notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Go and sin some more.”  If you have had sex outside of marriage, Jesus is calling you to repent (turn from sin to God) and wait until your wedding day to experience that gift.  With God’s help, all things are possible-even remaining pure from now until marriage!  Read the following story which nicely illustrates changing our actions and learning from our past mistakes:

There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk (Road)
by Portia Nelson, (1989)

An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am…I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit…but,
My eyes are open,
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

Sometimes there are still physical consequences to deal with

Just like there are physical consequences if I put my hand into a fire (I get burned), there are also physical consequences when we choose to have sex outside marriage (STDs).  I was speaking in a school recently and shortly after, a young man approached me and told me the following:  “CJ, I’m scared.  I’ve slept with multiple partners and I’m afraid I may have picked up a sexually transmitted disease.”  He went on to say, “I’m also scared to tell my parents so would you mind going down to the clinic with me while I get tested?”  I told him I would and we set a time to go to the clinic.  We went to the clinic, he was tested and they found something-a sexually transmitted disease (STD) called Gonorrhea.  This young man was very fortunate because the clinic gave him an antibiotic medicine that cleared up this particular disease within 2-3 weeks.  He could have been infected with something as serious as HIV.  I heard another story concerning a young woman.  When she was 14 years old, she was approached by her boyfriend to have sex.  He told her that “if she really loved him, she would have sex.”  Afterward, he told her she was the “only person he had ever slept with.”  He lied.  Years went by and this young woman had forgotten about that time in her life.  She was now 26 and married to a different man.  They decided they wanted to begin having children so they proceeded to try…and try…and try without success.  Finally, they went to see the doctor and he examined her to find out why she couldn’t get pregnant.  After finding the problem, the doctor told the woman to take a seat so he could deliver the bad news:  “Young lady”, the doctor began, “You have scar tissue all throughout your sexual organs and around your reproductive system from a sexually transmitted disease called Chlamydia you had years earlier.”  The young woman remembered her past and the guy she slept with when she was 14.  The doctor went on, “I’m sorry ma’am but the disease has destroyed your ability to ever have children of your own.”  The woman was devastated.

But stories like this are quite common-even right here in Belize!  There are over 50 sexually transmitted diseases that have been identified.  Doctors still don’t know the full effects of several diseases.  Many of these diseases are viruses, which means there is no cure.  Once a person is infected with a virus (like HIV) they will have that virus for life.  As you read this article, you may be saying, “I’ve slept with many (or one) person(s) and I don’t know where they’ve slept in the past.”  If that is you, please go get tested at your local clinic or hospital-not only for yourself, but for your future husband or wife.  Some of you may be asking, “CJ, what do you mean by “sex”?  Let me define what I mean: any genital contact with another person.  In other words, if your private parts have touched another person (sexual intercourse, oral sex, etc.) and any fluid has been shared.

“How can a Young Person Stay Pure?”

This is a question many of you may be asking and it’s a great question.  As a matter of fact, it’s such a great question, it’s found in the Bible.  Psalm 119:9 says, “How can a young person stay pure?  By OBEYING your Word (the Bible) and following its guidelines…”  When my wife and I traveled to Belize, we drove through Mexico to get here.  We needed a good road map to prevent getting lost.  That’s what the Bible does for people in the journey of life-keeps people on the right path.  But we can’t merely read it and then do our own thing-we have to obey what we read.  God has already laid out his directions on how to have the best sex life possible in the Bible-check it out for yourself…you’ll be glad you did! 

Further Help:

10 Practical Ways to Handle Sexual Temptation

1. Be absolutely convinced and fully aware of the consequences if you fail to limit your sexual partners to one mutually monogamous relationship for life.
2. Write out your decision about sex.  Put a reminder of this decision someplace where you will see it and remember this commitment you’ve made to yourself and your future.
3. Develop self-esteem – believe in yourself! (God does) If you realize you are a person of worth, with opinions of great value, you can develop a confidence in what you think (Romans 12:2) and how you act.
4. Practice assertiveness.  Everyone has the right to make decisions concerning his or her own body, especially when one’s health is at stake.  It is also important to realize that the mind and heart can control the body’s urges! (We are not animals that only act on instinct)
5. Communicate your boundaries to your girlfriend/boyfriend/date.  Make sure you talk together frequently about these important issues.
6. Don’t date individuals who are disrespectful of you and your boundaries.  If you’re being pressured, step back and reevaluate this relationship.
7. Plan your dates (if you date).  Make sure you have packed your date with fun and positive things to help you get to know each other better.  Go in groups if possible.  Too much time with nothing planned can get you into trouble.
8. Avoid alcohol and drugs!  Alcohol and drugs deaden the mind and the ability to think and decide clearly.  You could come away from your “good time” with a great deal more than you bargained for!
9. Limit the amount of time spent on physical involvement.  Don’t spend excessive amounts of time “making out” or “exploring.”  This will only lead to frustration and regret.  Keep it short and sweet!  One rule of thumb could be “No kissing with the tongue” to avoid further temptation.
10. Find a good friend with the same resolve about sex.  Make sure you have someone you can talk to.  The two of you will be able to help each other through the “pressure” times and come away with a valuable and strong relationship.

Other Scripture passages on Sex to consider:

• Proverbs chapters 5 and 7
• Matthew 5:27-30     
• I Corinthians 7:3-5, 9
• I Thessalonians 4:3-5, 7
• Hebrews 13:4

 
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