To Drink or Not To Drink

The question of whether or not Christians should drink alcoholic beverages has come up a lot lately in the church where serve as the Executive Pastor.  This can be a tough question to answer because the Bible does not say "do not drink" in those exact words.  The Bible does warn us of the dangers of using alcohol even in social situations and states many times that drunkenness is a sin.  In their position paper on the subject of alcohol use the Assemblies of God makes a very convincing argument for abstinence from alcohol.  I am in complete agreement with this position and have committed to practicing and teaching abstinence as Christian response to this important question.

I encourage you to read the AG Position Paper by clicking on the link below and the corresponding scripture references.  Lay your understanding on this matter at the foot of the cross and ask the Lord to reveal His understanding to you.  Please post comments on the results of your Bible study and what God has revealed to you.

Abstinence From Alcohol Position Paper

Black Friday

It's that  time of year again.  The blessed time of year when we celebrate the birth of our homeless, impoverished savior with unbridled consumerism.  I can't help but think this day, aptly named Black Friday, is the exact opposite of how the Lord would want us to kick off the Christmas season.  I can't imagine Jesus had Black Friday in mind the day he came to earth as a man.

I have had the misfortune of participating in a Black Friday shopping event once in my life about 8 or 9 years ago.  It was a frigid mid-western November morning as I gathered with my family to go out and get some "door busting" deals.  I was not prepared for what I experinced.

 We arrived at the local big box store and assembled outside with about 300 other men, women, and children to wait for the doors to unlock.  When the store employee near the door the crowd moved in and began pressing the people at the front of the line into the doors.  Once the he unlocked the doors they burst open and people rushed in and complete madness ensued.

Immediatly men and women were giving each other icy cold looks and  actually yelling at one another.  People were shoving and running to find the best deals and fill their carts with products.  I saw a fight almost break out over a $50 shelf stereo system, I was run over by one of those "I can't walk to shop scooters", and because I was so deer in the headlights amazed at what was going on I forgot to grab something.  I knew at that moment as I gazed glassy eyed at the madness that this would be my last black Friday.

As sick as the spectacle of that one Black Friday made me I wonder what Jesus thought of it?  Did he say "Ah, yes, this is how I envisioned that the day of my birth would be celebrated, people behaving badly to get good deals on stuff people don't really need, and going deeper in debt in the process."  I don't think so.  If Jesus were here on earth physically today I think he would flip over the tables of what has become modern Christmas tradition.

As followers of the one that was born on Christmas morning we should evaluate how we celebrate Christmas according to what Jesus thinks about those celebrations.  For most of us what we during the Christmas season and how we do it has been dictated to us through traditions that have nothing to do with Christ, or the Bible.  Can't we do it differently?

What can you change in your Christmas tradition to make it more pleasing to the Lord?  I believe that if we desire to discover the mind of Christ on this subject that the way we do Christmas is radically going to change.  I for one am ready to make Christmas about Jesus once again.

Grow Up

"About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ” (Hebrews 5:11–14, ESV)

 
As preachers we may fail our hearers through not clearly presenting scripture but the primary reason that people have "dull hearing" is because of their own opinions, ideas, and understanding about Biblical truth without a foundation in the Scriptures.  Our understanding of God's Word should come from the careful study of the text not our own uninformed and uninspired ideas and notions.

The Greek word for "dull" in this passage is "nothros" and it simply means lazy.  "Dull hearing" today could be called selective hearing.  Even the most dedicated and mature of Christians are prone to the trap of only hearing what we want to hear.  God has spoken to me many times about things I may have enjoyed doing but were in the way of my relationship with Him.


I have pretended to not hear or not understand and as a result my spiritual life suffers.  Failure to obey our conscience in response to Biblical teaching is what dulls our hearing.  Our sensitivity to His voice will become weaker and weaker until we have become deaf to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We may still come to church, sing songs, and even give but we cannot receive from Him because we cannot hear his voice.


Our churches are filled with men and women who still need milk not solid food.  They may have been in church for 10 years but they have never matured.  It's unnatural, if we were talking about their physical growth we would label them freaks.  Growth is the sign that something is alive.  Death is the end of growth.


Why do men and women still need milk?  Because they have have spit out what was fed to them at some point in their walk.  They exercised selective hearing and dulled their conscience and as a result growth has stopped.  Because the growth has stopped their relationship with Christ is dying.  Another reason is that an increasing number of believers are depending solely on the church for spiritual nourishment.  Maturity is going to be stunted if you only eat once a week.


The author of Hebrews writes in Chapter 6, verse one "Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity"  We can only move past  elementary teaching and move towards maturity through obedience to what we learn in our elementary years.  As we are obedient to God's Word and His will for our lives He will mature us and we will grow and bear fruit in his world.


"Constant Practice" means we mature by spending personal time with God on a daily basis through reading His Word and prayer and being obedient to what He reveals to us during those times.  We also mature by worshiping and fellowshiping with other believers.  Make up your mind today to grow up and be all that God wants you to be.