The official can Christians drink debate thread.

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tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#41
moderation? it's just a small place, about 30 kilometers southwest of dispair. not many tourists there, either the salties or the drop bears usually get them. nice quiet place for drinking though
I believe that I may go there. And soon.
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#42
Perhaps the concept of asking should we rather than can we is a more appropriate way to look at the issue. Why do people feel the need to use it as a way of having fun? has socialising with the people one normally hangs out with gotten so boring that they need to bust out the alcohol to liven up the matter? Is the food you're eating not cutting it? Music getting old? Football/basketball/insert other sport here getting lame? Methinks it might be time you find a new hobby, or new friends, or new artists, or perhaps you're dependant and in that case you need help, but be honest about it.
Beliefs on alcohol aside, the same could be said about a bunch of other areas of Christian life; should we dance? What music should we listen to? what movies should we watch? Is kissing permissible? And I've even heard debates among Christians as to weather or not we should be using the net! the question should be, which ones are compromising our walk with God and drawing us closer to the sins outlined in the bible? We cannot compromise with God. Sin is sin, and doing what's right is something we should strive to do, but we do need to understand that what might be wrong for one person won't necessarily be wrong for everyone. Romans 14:23 plainly states that everything which does not come from faith is sin, which means that if you believe in your heart that it's wrong, then you shouldn't do it, because at the point you do that thing you believe to be wrong then you are sinning, because you've gone against what you believe to be right. Pray, read, discuss, repeat if necesary until you're sincerely settled on the matter.
I am tired of reading and discussing. "All I wanna do is have some fun. I got a feeling, I'm not the only one..."
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#43
My advice is to avoid the drugs and alcohol and just be sober.
I don't do either. It does say in the bible that one reaches a point where a little alcohol maybe beneficial, medically speaking of course...
 
May 3, 2013
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#44
And yet... Christ Himself apparently felt that He not only could, but SHOULD, because He chose to serve the finest wine at a social event for the purpose of celebration. He saw nothing wrong with using wine as a way of "having fun".

Scripture doesn't say that He thought about the possibility of alcoholics in the crowd, or the possibility of over-usage, or the possibility of offending someone. It just says that he turned the water into wine, and it was the best wine anyone had tasted. (I'm not condoning drinking in front of those it might offend. Just making a point.)

How do people explain that?

Yes, caution should be used. Yes, people can and do abuse alcohol. But as with anything, the sin is in the heart of the people, and not with the wine itself.
John Chap. 2

Worth noting the amount... To get them drunk? Certainly not! (Joh 2:6 Six stone water jars were there.)

Hypocrisy has led some people to "believe" the wine was added WATER to reduce the alcohol power but John´s records clearly says it was wine (... men have well drunk,G3184. From Strong´Hebrew).
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#45
And yet... Christ Himself apparently felt that He not only could, but SHOULD, because He chose to serve the finest wine at a social event for the purpose of celebration. He saw nothing wrong with using wine as a way of "having fun".

Scripture doesn't say that He thought about the possibility of alcoholics in the crowd, or the possibility of over-usage, or the possibility of offending someone. It just says that he turned the water into wine, and it was the best wine anyone had tasted. (I'm not condoning drinking in front of those it might offend. Just making a point.)

How do people explain that?

Yes, caution should be used. Yes, people can and do abuse alcohol. But as with anything, the sin is in the heart of the people, and not with the wine itself.
Elegantly stated. Beautiful.
 

kingerik

Senior Member
Sep 25, 2013
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#46
This thread is made for the purpose of debating if Christians can drink. Come here to debate the topic, especially if you've derailed any threads with this topic.
Christians can't drink? Mannn, I just bought this sprite... :(.
 
Sep 6, 2013
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#47
I see this example in Scripture given all the time to support the consumption of alcoholic beverages...........

Know what IS MISSING from this Passage? Any mention of someone at that Feast being DRUNK! Now, GIVEN that the miracle Jesus did came at THE END OF THE FEAST, how is it possible that NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON had consumed a wee bit too much? Possibly we should consider this.............?
What do you mean? Ideally yes, people should be able to have a drink and not be drunk, and there is no sin involved in that. This is what I was trying to say. :)
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#48
I see this example in Scripture given all the time to support the consumption of alcoholic beverages...........

Know what IS MISSING from this Passage? Any mention of someone at that Feast being DRUNK! Now, GIVEN that the miracle Jesus did came at THE END OF THE FEAST, how is it possible that NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON had consumed a wee bit too much? Possibly we should consider this.............?
The guest of the wedding feast were probably too wasted to issue a coherent statement afterwards. Obviously, the bride and groom had something else all together on their minds and could not be found. I believe that a brother of Jesus may have gotten more that just a little tipsy but I may need to do some additional study on this. I do know that he had a bad headache in the morning but felt much better after a breakfast of a tiny loaf of bread and a couple of small fish. Oh yeah, a refreshing glass of ice cold Florida OJ as well. There may have been a splash of vodka in it to take the edge off. Again, I can only surmise and would not say that this is a statement of fact but take it as a reasonable assumption.

I am not a drinking man but this thread may drive me to drink.
 

MartyrNdaMaKn

Senior Member
Jan 22, 2013
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#49
I prefer not to drink, since I used to be an alcoholic and I rather enjoy having my brain cells healthy, instead of poisoning them.
 

gypsygirl

Senior Member
Sep 19, 2012
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#50
to me the issue is incredibly clear.

either you abuse alcohol, or you don't. is it an idol?

alcohol, like anything else can become an idol, an unhealthy coping mechanism designed to replace God in one's life. while i've never had an issue with alcohol, i've seen in my own life that i can turn almost anything into an idol that can be abused and substituted for God.

i think it's too easy for us to just accept that we can avoid the obvious things and miss the whole point of what is behind so much of the warnings of alcohol, or materialism, or almost anything that can interfere with our communication and communion with God.

things that we associate with a godly life can be made into idols. ordinary things can become idols. i've seen people make their boyfriend, wife, work, food, exercise, and so much more idols.

to me, alcohol is something to be regarded in cautious moderation, understanding it's potential for becoming a crutch if you're looking for such a thing.
 
Aug 15, 2009
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#51
And yet... Christ Himself apparently felt that He not only could, but SHOULD, because He chose to serve the finest wine at a social event for the purpose of celebration. He saw nothing wrong with using wine as a way of "having fun".

Scripture doesn't say that He thought about the possibility of alcoholics in the crowd, or the possibility of over-usage, or the possibility of offending someone. It just says that he turned the water into wine, and it was the best wine anyone had tasted. (I'm not condoning drinking in front of those it might offend. Just making a point.)

How do people explain that?

Yes, caution should be used. Yes, people can and do abuse alcohol. But as with anything, the sin is in the heart of the people, and not with the wine itself.



Well said! Now, knowing the direction the church is going in the last days(liberalism, apostasy), & how in the US more & more christians are drinking alcohol, abusing perscription medicine, etc, etc., Should the instructions to the church change with the times? (I can't belive as a staunch conservative I just said that). It seems as christians MAKE something sinful thru the abuse of it that the sin itself needs to be addressed like all the other sins. Sin is sin. And so true, sin is what we make of it. I'm glad you brought that up, Grace-Like-Rain :)
 
A

AgeofKnowledge

Guest
#52
I've never actually seen someone use alcohol for medicinal purposes though everyone of them assured me they were not alcoholics (as they kept drinking).

I have seen quite a number of them; however, get taken over by alcohol and watch their lives disintegrate over time. For most, like porn, it took many years of abuse to reach that point. Some, not so long.

People that partied all through high school and college and remained functional alcoholics at work (though unaware that's what they were) finally bottomed out in mid life losing it all. Most kept drinking which makes sense as they are alcoholics. Interestingly, few seemed aware they were even then as they continued to deteriorate from poisoning their lives with alcohol.

Eventually, most reached the black out alcoholic stage. These ones are dangerous. I've seen them start drinking in a bar like any normal person and the next morning they ended up in their car in another town with blood all over them none of which was their own and absolutely no recollection of what happened. Of course, they simply went to the nearest liquor store to get a bottle and continue drinking... for medicinal purposes, of course.


I don't do either. It does say in the bible that one reaches a point where a little alcohol maybe beneficial, medically speaking of course...
 
T

TashMeyer76

Guest
#53
I so saw that note sneak in there!
No they can not. Ok, actually i don't believe that, but i've got to start trouble here, since they start trouble everywhere else =P
 

gb9

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2011
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#54
funny I told you the pretty much the same thing a while back and you disagreed with me. alcohol, tv, internet, money , etc. are not evil. people abuse them and or turn them into idols. this is the sin, not the things.
 
Aug 15, 2009
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#55
Sooo lemme git 'dis strait......iiiiiiif a particular thing eeeeeeeasily becomes an idol in the hearts of the majority of people, weeze 'sposed to stays away from it? Iiiiiif the groups of da same people that duz dis gather all in one place to worship this idol, weeze 'sposed to stay away from dem too, riiiite? I'ze don'ts thinks we should runnaround wit idol worshippers..... it jus mite rub'off on us....dat's wut I'ze thinks. :)
 

gb9

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2011
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#56
o.k , so using that logic, no one should go to a sporting event, folks worship sports teams, watch t.v., folks worship entertainment, go to a store or mall, folks worship money. see, certain denominations, yours being one mr. Stephen, demonize anyone who has the occasional drink as a hell-bound sinner which the Bible does not do. do not make up rules which are not in there. if you think it is wrong, God bless you and more power to you. you have that right. just do not say it is a sin, the Word does not.
 

RickyZ

Senior Member
Sep 20, 2012
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#57
I've never actually seen someone use alcohol for medicinal purposes though everyone of them assured me they were not alcoholics (as they kept drinking)
You've never seen anyone ... but every one of these people you haven't seen have assured you ... I'ma gonna have to re-read this when I'm sober ;)

Sorry just poking fun
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
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#58
I am going to start drinking Mai Tai's with little umbrellas sticking up in them on Waikiki beach.
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
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#59
I am going to start drinking Mai Tai's with little umbrellas sticking up in them on Waikiki beach.
You really, really need to consider changing the channel on your radio............a wee bit too much Jimmy Buffett there.......
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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#60
I so saw that note sneak in there!
This debate seems a bit one-sided. The Holy Spirit has not sat down at my table and offered me any alcohol yet, but I'll let y'all know when it happens. I haven't seen to many people who are focused on dying-to-self simultaneously defending and demanding their access to booze.

Sorry if I've stepped on your shoe, but if it still fits, keep wearing it.

Oooops, didn't see that note sneak in there, Ugly:)