Running To Win on Oneplace.com

Adam and Eve tossed paradise aside when they disobeyed God. Like them, we manipulate each other to meet our own needs, not realizing that meeting our mate's needs is the real key to marital happiness.

When the family unit breaks down, culture itself breaks down. Communication failures affect nearly every marriage at one time or another, and this began quite early in history. In fact, we have record of it in the Garden of Eden.

The family is an endangered species. Fractured, stressed, broken, dysfunctional, these words describe a crisis in society's most basic unit. This crisis begins when marriages fail.

In marriage, two people have to care for each other. This combats our inherent selfishness. In many ways, marriage is a crucible in which character is forged, where happiness is found in pleasing your mate, not yourself.

Those who think marriage is a magic door to happiness should note that half of all marriages fail today. God intended marriage to develop character, and a hard heart can break the bonds between a couple if one will not repent.

On their wedding day, few starry-eyed couples realize the searchlight that their marriage will be in revealing the character flaws they both have. Being happy is not the purpose of marriage as far as God is concerned.

There is good evidence in the Bible that marriage is more about developing character than insuring a lifetime of bliss. When the rough spots come, and they will, what are couples to take from those experiences?

Jesus renounced His privileges and humbled Himself to the point of permitting His own death. Unless we do the same, we will never reach the lost.

While on earth, Jesus chose to contain His glory and limit His options. And that is the key to how we can bring His message to lost mankind. As we learn why the cross can do what politics cannot, today we will find out how to effectively take the cross into the world.

There is a basic problem in evangelism: the world thinks the cross we preach about is foolish, but to us, it is the power of God. How do we bring the message of the cross to a rejecting world?

Today's common philosophy is, "if it feels good, do it." But believers know that the cross is a potent reminder of the price of wrong moral choices. Today Pastor Lutzer further explains why the cross is the only basis for morality.

Americans are adrift in a sea of moral relativism. We need a moral compass. The cross of Christ is that compass, and the church must live by the cross if our culture is to survive.

What happens when moral standards are set by the will of the majority? It becomes "okay" to kill a baby right before birth, but it is murder to kill one after birth. Confusion reigns and the price tag is devastating.

A culture that rejects Christ is a culture that makes its own standard for moral choices. This moral standard influences our votes which determine our nation's destiny. So where does true morality come from?

One day there will be no more racial or ethnic divisions. One day, redeemed humanity will glory only in the cross. Saints from every nation will exalt the Lamb of God. The good news? It is possible for the church to mirror that future reality today.