Stephen is a Pentecostal minister. that should explain his strong ( wrong ) stance on this issue.
does that explain why he ignores certain passages, and refuses to be corrected?
Stephen is a Pentecostal minister. that should explain his strong ( wrong ) stance on this issue.
You just read it in your quote.I want to know what your real beef with alcohol is. Is it that something traumatic happened to you or is it that it's a cover for some shortcoming you possess? Some people like to have something to point a finger at to take the heat off of their own shortcomings. Sort of like standing up in church and saying...we need to pray for so and so cuz they drink to much while they go home and abuse their kids with religious piety.
Quote "Speaking of Pentecostal churches : I got saved by myself kneeling on the floor by my bed and then went to a Pentecostal church - it was full of legalism "
Ive sung in every denomination you can name,and a few you dont know about, and saw legalism. It depends on the church,not their "Pentecostalism". Unless you are talking Holiness that tell you you aren't saved unless you speak in tongues.
Legalism is all it's subtle forms is deadly to the true Christian life.
I am not aware of anything in the Bible that says to take strong drink sometimes. Just the opposite is true. We are supposed to stay away from strong drink.It is written to give strong drink in certain instances. Elsewhere it is written that wine is to make merry the heart.
From this I glean that getting a bit tipsy is not a sin, but if anything control us it is evil.
I do not drink anything alchoholic as a rule, unless you consider hving a beer every year or so is being a drunk...
I would never condmen anyone for drinking, nor for being an alcoholic, but I would pray for them. It is never good that anything other than the will of God have control over a person.
I pray we are all controlled by God's will. He is good always, amen.
I tell Pharisees like it is.Bump...
I can't believe this thread is still going.
Clearly some people are of the opinion that drinking in moderation, not getting drunk
and sticking to limits which does not affect you, is permissible.
While others disagree with drinking at all and will have their own reasons for that opinion.
I have bumped my thoughts from earlier so people know where I stand and the reasons.
What I don't understand is why people just cannot respect each other's opinion and leave it
at that. There is no right or wrong answer it is down to experience, each individual conscience,
what each person is at peace with.
The first handful of pages on this thread contained great testimonies and were a great
encouragement. But like so many it has turned into a gun slingers brawl.
Sorry if that offends but someone has to tell it like it is and start the peace talks.
1 Corinthians 10:23-33 NLT
[23] You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-but not everything is good for you.
You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-but not everything is beneficial.
[24] Don't be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
[25] So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising
questions of conscience.
[26] For "the earth is the LORD's, and everything in it."
[27] If someone who isn't a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation
if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience.
[28] (But suppose someone tells you, "This meat was offered to an idol." Don't eat it,
out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.
[29] It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.)
For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?
[30] If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
[31] So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
[32] Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.
[33] I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don't just do what is best for me;
I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
And Jesus didn't just make a bottle or two of wine. He made somewhere between 120 and 160 gallons.If wine was served at the Wedding at Cana, why would it be considered sinful to drink in moderation?When the wine ran out, Jesus made more out of water lol, so that to me alone states that drinking on moderation is okay and not sinful.
I'm sorry you didn't have enough toys to play with as a child, but that doesn't mean you ALWAYS have to rain on everyone's parade. And remember this Stevie, I prayed for you last night, but we both know you didn't pray for me. Take that to the bank and smoke it.Suuuure you are, after all, you said so, & Tintin put his "like" on it, so it must be true.![]()
How true. But running to the opposite extreme is just as deadly, in fact more so, cause most don't see it coming.
saying that some is a minister, which he himself has said publicly here, and my thoughts on that denomination's view on total abstinence , which is not Biblical, is not wrong to say.
I'm sorry you didn't have enough toys to play with as a child, but that doesn't mean you ALWAYS have to rain on everyone's parade. And remember this Stevie, I prayed for you last night, but we both know you didn't pray for me. Take that to the bank and smoke it.
I know plenty of Pentecostals that have no issue with drinking in moderation. I dont agree but I have plenty of friends that agree with it. I know pastors that have no issue with it. So its not a Pentecostal think. Many denominations come down on either side of the issue.
I'm blessed my sister! It's great to see you!Shout out! How're you doing brother!? Still loggin lots of miles?
o.k. I have never meet one, but since you are in that denomination, I will go with what you say and refrain from saying blanket statements.
Picking and choosing scriptures like a good little legalist with his head in the sand. No doubt baby Jesus never made poopy diapers either. Carry on.
Until I read your post, you did not exist in my world, so make no mistake about it, I was not talking to you at any time before this moment. And for the record, I rejoice that you overcame your addiction. Kudos and blessings to you always.Having spent my youth in a county in North Carolina where Alcohol was forbidden, I was never exposed to people who drank Alcohol is probable the reason I have been a teetotaler my whole life. However, being in the middle of Tobacco country, in order to fit in with the society, you smoked, dipped, or chewed.
I become addicted to cigarettes at an early and was a very heavy smoker for many years. One day in my office, I discovered I had no more cigarettes left in a pack and I am not kidding when I say it left me in a panic.
I do not know how drugs and Alcohol controls one’s life, but I do know how overbearing the addiction to cigarettes is.
There was a small snack bar down stairs in the building where my office was and it became a priority above everything else to purchase a pack of cigarettes.
I was rushing down a staircase and when I reached the last step, I was completely out of breath. After pausing for a minute to catch my breath, I realized I was at a critical turning point and I knew I could not survive smoking over two packs of cigarettes a day.
I sat down on the bottom step, had a little talk with Jesus, and pleaded for help. The last cigarette I smoked in my office that day almost forty years ago was the last cigarette I ever smoked. Thank you Jesus!
Was it easy? Absolutely not, but I had the desire, determination and help from the Holy Spirit and was never in doubt I would come out a winner in the battle against cigarettes that was killing me. I have never witnessed the lure of Alcohol, but I cannot imagine it is any more powerful than Tobacco.
It is because of my experience that I never condemn or pass judgment on any addict because I know how difficult it is to quit. The major difference between being addicted to drug or Alcohol is the affect it has on other people. Cigarette smoke is obnoxious to people who do not smoke including me and will most surely shorten your life, and may rob members of your family of years of having you around.
As Christians, we should pray for those who are addicted to anything, because nothing else we can do will help them.
God can cure an addition in an instance as He did for me, but an addict must come to terms that there are no easy solutions aside from the intervention by a loving God.
If you are addicted to anything and have a real desire to give it up, the only rehab you need is a few minutes in prayer, but you must acknowledge God knows our heart and He also foreknows our actions.
Although I have never found It in my bible, there is a common saying that God helps those that help themselves, but He is more likely to have passion on those that cannot help themselves and there are many addicts that fall in that category.
The road to any addiction starts with the first time of use. Finding anyone addicted to anything that openly admits to being addicted, is as rare as a five legged pig. (Yes, there is such a thing as a five legged pig
Another point concerning any addiction is defining what an addict is. There is obviously an endless means to define an addict, but I can make it easy for you: you will recognize one when, you become one.
I have never known an alcoholic that did not start down that road as a casual drinker. There is no such thing as a born Alcoholic; neither is there such a thing as a hopeless Alcoholic.
Taking the first drink of Alcohol or the first hit of a drug or smoking the first cigarette is not a requirement for becoming an adult. The fact that the subject of Alcohol continues popping up in this forum is an indication that it affects many people.
If you have a problem with any addiction, there is help for you and it is only a prayer away and God awaits with open arms to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
One last opinion; Jesus Christ knows if the wine He created was fermented or not; you do not know and I do not know and what you or I think about it does mean a hill of beans.
Being addicted to Alcohol, drugs or Cigarettes is like putting a lighted firecracker in your mouth hoping it will not explode, but eventually it will.
Being disrespectful and demeaning to others (and we have all done it sometime in our life), will not further our understanding of the meaning of God’s word.
I am not sure who you were calling a legalist or Pharisee ,but I was raised in a Pentecostal church and if you were referring to Pentecostals as Legalist or a pharisee, although I do not understand your reference to a Pharisee I accept your derogatory remarks with a chuckle.
I am not adverse to being called a Pentecostal, but I do not accept any label for myself except Christian because that is what I am. I do not believe in denomination labels either and I have been a church goer most of my live, but I have never been the member of any particular church because the only identification I label myself with is a Born again Christian.
We live in a free country with freedoms found no where else in the world and there is little doubt that the most popular exercise of that freedom is demeaning and making jokes at other peoples expense.
A truth we should all remember is Satan is alive and well in the world today and if he is aware of the opinions on this forum today, which he probably is, it must leave his smiling.
We are all poor lost sinners struggling again principalities that are determined to divide and even destroy the Church.
God has no respect of person and each of us has the same God given opportunities to either accept or reject the truth of His word.
So, if you get pleasure from criticism and demeaning other people you have every right to do so, but I fail to see where it helps to further the word of God.
Don't misunderstand, I am not picking on you exclusively, we are all guilty of saying things we shouldn't and I am as guilt as anyone, but that does not alter the fact that it is wrong and it does not further the Cross of Christ and that is what this forum should be about.
God Help Us All