Sin doesn't change from place to place

"But they will not change; they do not fear God." Psalms 55:19

"All sex that leads to hell is unsafe." That roadside sign in Swaziland got mine. Maybe Swazis and South Africans are like Americans and tend to ignore road signs, because one cemetery in Durban, South Africa, that used to bury 60 people a month now buries 600 people each month. Some children orphaned by AIDS carry glue bottles to sniff because huffing dulls hunger pain and glue is cheaper than food. Aging grandparents raise their children's children. Then when the grandparents die, the children are left to be raised and learn their values from the government.

In a country where 40 percent of the people have AIDS or they're HIV-positive, the government is working hard to educate people to use condoms. Religious groups that encourage abstinence can receive no federal money unless they teach condom use.

Visitors to Swaziland find the government's armor against AIDS at the border crossings where boxes of condoms lie on countertops free for the taking. AIDS is high priced; condoms are cheap.

And AIDS is high priced for nations as well as individuals. Nations are reeling from the AIDS pandemic because they are losing the backbone of their society. Young and middle-aged laborers, wage earners and parents die, leaving grandparents to raise small children and no one to build houses, fix roads, raise crops, build the economy or pay taxes. AIDS disables and wipes out the young people who are about to become the most productive members of society and turns them from being a nation's blessing into a nation's drain.

When I was considering the dangers of going on a mission trip to an African nation with a high percentage of AIDS cases, I talked to a nurse friend of mine.

She said, "June, unless you're going to share needles or have sex, you'll be fine. So go!"

After one mission trip, I'm no expert on Africa, but I've seen that culture varies from country to country and age to age (Most people in South Africa wear Western garb and many city-dwellers speak English), but sin does not change much from place to place or time to time. Sin 2,000 years ago is still sin today throughout the world. Homosexuality, adultery and fornication were and are sin. I seriously doubt that God gets concerned about our clothing styles, music styles or entertainment choices as long as they're decent, but his Bible makes it clear that he wants all his children to put him first in their lives and to avoid sin.

The Good Book says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

I grew up in an era when we thought sunshine was good for us. I was a lifeguard and camp counselor as a college student and spent my summers canoeing, swimming, water skiing and soaking up sunshine. I had a skin cancer removed 20 years ago, and my doctor told me to use sunscreen. Today I still like to swim, but I slather on No. 60 ultimate sunblock lotion that's waterproof and sweatproof or wait until evening to turn into a fish.

Overeating is causing Americans to be obese and sick. Yes, I've heard Christians joke as they gather around overloaded tables at potluck dinners that we Christians gorge ourselves because all we can do that's not a sin is eat. Well, guess what? The joke's on us fat Christians, but it's hard to laugh when you're suffering from diabetes and heart problems.

We can keep our pet demons and our pet sins, or we can get rid of them. I know one thing, though; I need more than a spiritual condom for my sin. I need God's forgiveness, and I need to change.

June Seabaugh is a member of Christ Church of the Heartland in Cape Girardeau.