A few weeks ago I preached a message on the impact that alcohol can have on a person's life. I preached on the passage in Proverbs 23:29-35. Read it if you get a chance. Regardless of the alcohol content, Solomon makes it very clear that "wine that sparkles in the cup" posions like a viper.
What has amazed me in the past few weeks is how many people have been ministered to by that message. It has been very clear to me that a lot more people are struggling with alcohol abuse than I realized. My heart breaks everytime I hear another story of how alochol has destroyed lives.
If you know someone whose life is being ruined by addiction to alcohol I recommend that you send them a copy of that message or have them check it out on itunes. If just one person finds freedom from alcoholism, the whole message was worth it.
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About Me
- Ken Adams
- I am a Pastor at Crossroads Church in Newnan Georgia and the Director of Impact Ministries. My blog is an encouragement to people everywhere to Walk as Jesus Walked.
Recommended Reading
- Love and Respect by Emmerson Eggerichs
- Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
6 comments:
By the number of comments it Looks like we have a lot of people who say NOT ME, Booze is a drug of choice.
Park outside any liquor store on a Friday or Saturday night and witness the volume of traffic.
How many are "Above" drinking and pop Prozac like candy?
America has a drug problem folks. Thats the way it is July 26 2008
By the number of comments it looks like we have a lot of people who say NOT ME, I may sip a glass of wine but I do not have a drinking problem.
Booze is the #1 drug of choice.
Park outside any liquor store on a Friday or Saturday night and witness the volume of traffic.
How many are "Above" drinking and pop Prozac like candy?
I don't know many people who haven't been impacted negatively by alcohol. I have seen it hold people I love captive...chained to a bottle.
This message was a refreshing, truthful approach to the age old questions, "Is it okay for me to drink?".
This is a great message for the entire family. It led to some great conversations with our kids.
Ken, thanks for preaching from all of God's word and not just bits and pieces.
The message was a good challenge to me again to be on guard about anything which I allow control in my life that is not of God... be it food, drink, drugs, media, etc.
I believe with some the confusion in the message may have been that one "heard" that drinking alcohol is a sin (period.) But that is simply not true otherwise we'd have problems with not only Jesus drinking wine but making it (John 2)
Actually the issue goes deeper and wider. On the one side we have freedom in Christ. Yes even allowance as Paul talked about in eating meat sacrificed to idols. (I Corinthians 8)
BUT the freedom Paul talks about does not allow room for abuse or misuse AND comes with a warning label attached...Be mindful of "your brother."
That is a huge thing to be the cause of someone else's stumbling. And yes that goes for drinking as well as how one dresses as well as jokes one tells as well as media one watchs as well as... I think you get the idea.
Paul gives some incredible boundaries in making these decisions that surprise of surprise tells us to include God in the equation of our choices. Check out these verses found in I Cor 10:31-33...
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;
just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved."
What a reminder that my choices effect others and my relationship with God. We are free in Christ in so many areas we have allowed ourselves to get bound up in and entangle and drag down others.
I am wondering why our church can not be more supportive of our singles. We were able to put our last event in the bulletin. We often why our events cannot be announced in church on Sunday monring. We would also like to have a information table on Sundays to let people know about out community groups, divorce care, care counseling, etc. We have a Cafe Solo event on Sat. and a awesome band with very little attendance because a lot of people didn't know about it. We have a lot of singles in our church that do not know about our events and our community groups. I wish the church would be more in tune with us...
When asked why I don't drink, I am reminded of 1 Cor 10:23,24 which states "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."
I have to answer their question with a few questions of my own. "How would I be different from the world, if I did what everyone else did? Whose life would I possibly be impacting for worse, if I were drinking out in public? How can I possibly teach my children that drinking alcohol can be dangerous and to stay away from it, if I am drinking at home? What benefit could alcohol possibly have that can't be gained through much less harmful things?"
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