IS SMOKING A SIN WORTHY OF DISFELLOWSHIPMENT?
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I myself would not refuse smokers in church. Everyone needs deliverance from something, & that's what the church is for.
The only people that should be dismissed are those who have properly been counseled with their issue, such as gossip, hatred, adultery, etc., & they refuse to repent.
See what dcon said? I haven't said anything to him today, yet there's that attitude again as if I cussed him or something.
I would not refuse him in church for his attitude, as long as he kept it to himself. There's always hope.....
I understand..... it took a great deal of self-restraint not to answer him the way I wanted to.
I hope I'm able to do the same thing tomorrow, because I have learned an important lesson about apologizing & reneging on a promise. I've discovered thru this reneging I need to rise above that myself.
Please pray for me that I won't fail on mine.
Point A.....Good
Point B.....Does that apply to every sin habitually committed in your view
Point C.....I was not angry or had attitude per se....am so used to your personal vendetta against me that I just responded off the cuff...
Point D.....Good
Point E.....Good
Point F.....Yes indeed
Point G....We all need it
Your right....I should be more mindful of my chosen words.....I too am trying....Sorry for my mouthy response!
OK. I understand what you meant.
But what Stephen63 and I are saying is that Jesus couldn't list each and every sin we might ever commit, or each and every product we might ever ingest, that might be bad for us.
So Jesus never mentioned cocaine --- but if we become addicted to cocaine it wouldn't be good for us.
I believe it's Ephesians 5:18 that says not to get drunk on wine. I guess we could get drunk on anything... Maybe this would cover it?
I'm not saying that smoking is a sin. I'm just trying to explain how Jesus could NOT have mentioned the smallest iota of everything...
And herein lies the problem.
Perhaps you're right..... I don't know of anyone addicted to poop or getting cancer from eating poop.
Tarantula's are actually a delicacy in Cambodia...Tried them once and who knew protein could be so yummy....they were fired..tasted like sweet garlic french fries..
H
Huckleberry
Guest
You are obviously free to believe whatever you want to believe,
but the characterization of addiction being a "disease"
is total MALARKEY that's being pushed by liberals who
refuse to hold themselves accountable for anything.
People choose to participate in the activities they become addicted to.
They don't choose to get cancer or Parkinson's.
Obviously peoples' choices can lead to disease,
but cut the crap about addiction being a disease!
I'm tired of hearing this old cop-out.
Based on some of the responses, my position is being construed as self righteousness.
Couldn't be farther from the truth.
I have my current vices and have overcome others.
However I don't blame anybody or anything for my transgressions except me!
I won't say what they are, because that's not relevant here,
but out of respect for my fellow congregants, I leave them home on Sunday.
And for the record, I voted that smoking is not a sin.
O
OldSoldier
Guest
I think Jesus concentrated on the heart and soul, everything else is trivial in my opinion. We nit pick each other to much. It will all sort itself out with us as God instructs us and lays on our hearts where we need to change. Pastors should concentrate on the same things Jesud did. A drug addict will come around as he is led by God. It is our job to gently lead them there and get out of the way before we scare them off with all our advice on how they should be. That is not to say that we cannot be there as a sounding board for them, and to help them develope. But we do not need to be saying to them "you need to quit drinking. it's a sin". Baloney. You need to accept Christ, be led by the spirit, and change your life as God directs you to.
jesus instructed his followers of two things outside the body not to do and that was not to drink or eat blood and not to eat meats or foods sacificed to idols. You do obey that and you are doing good.
I would think if I started drinking & become an alcoholic that it would defile me spiritually before God, because with that other sins would follow as a result of the alcoholism.
Sin takes you farther than you want to go,
Keeps you longer than you want to stay,
and costs you more than you want to pay.
Strangely, few people are allergic to car emissions. Especially in Canada, where we have high standards for emission control. I am, however, allergic to diesel exhaust. It means I cannot follow diesel cars or trucks. Buses and large trucks release the exhaust up higher, so they are not as bad!
My husband wanted a Dodge diesel pick up, but it gave me an asthma attack! But that is controllable, having someone light up a poisonous cigarette next to you is not!
However, your "Heaven is all that matters!" Scenario, defies the fact that we are real people, living in the real world. And smoking is evil and a sin!
But I will say, getting back to the OP, I do not think we should break fellowship with smokers, but my hope is that they would not come into church with the foul smell of cigarette smoke on their clothes and breath! Because I will retreat!
I
Infusion
Guest
D
Depleted
Guest
Yes, less chemicals for the RYOs. Still not good for us. And, yeah, everything to quit smoking cost more than actually smoking. (I know, I tried them all.)
Has she tried e-cigs yet? We get what we crave -- nicotine -- without getting what is bad -- carcinogens. (Nicotine is not hazardous to the health, unless overdosing on it. And, unless you drink nicotine, you can't overdose.) I tried that too, but there is habit and then there is addiction. Part of my habit, is to let go of the cig when puffing, and when I did that with the e-cig, it fell. Every. Single. Time. lol
And, I had trouble with getting that first puff too. It feels a bit like trying to suck in a marshmallow with a straw. BUT, many smokers have quit smoking the carcinogens by vaping the nicotine. Worst that happens is she loses another $20-30 to try it. Best that happens is she can keep the addiction without the health risk.
Starting smoking in the first place makes it harder to deal with stress, why do you think smokers find it hard to quit? The receptors in the brain which create natural calmness, and also, proteins in the brain which control the sleep clock (in newer research), are damaged.
When someone started smoking in the beginning it was to 'cope with something'. Whether that was a dysfunctional family, childhood abuse or other trauma, lack of friends.
Did any non-smoker who became a smoker, see people smoking, think I know it's bad, I know it's unhealthy, but I'll do it anyway because my life is great and God is on my side in doing so?
But while some people may not have listened to the devil who says, you know you want one, you know you want to feel worthy, you know you want to forget about the past, you know you want to rebel, there are others who were fortunate to choose a different path. And smokers will not accept that, accept that they tend to be more weak-minded than those who never took up smoking.
This makes them more likely to be deceptive to themselves, and to others. And in answer to what StunnedByGrace said in a couple of responses, smokers will rarely speak positively of smoking in public. It's mainly if you want to try and help them quit, or you see it damaging their health, or you see them coughing all the time and try to advise.
I'm not here to make smokers feel bad, I'm here to speak the truth.
I've helped people quit drugs, I have never had any success helping anyone quit smoking.
And StunnedByGrace, not sure why you want to trample on my own observations of smokers and how they behave. Are you a smoker?
When someone started smoking in the beginning it was to 'cope with something'. Whether that was a dysfunctional family, childhood abuse or other trauma, lack of friends.
Did any non-smoker who became a smoker, see people smoking, think I know it's bad, I know it's unhealthy, but I'll do it anyway because my life is great and God is on my side in doing so?
But while some people may not have listened to the devil who says, you know you want one, you know you want to feel worthy, you know you want to forget about the past, you know you want to rebel, there are others who were fortunate to choose a different path. And smokers will not accept that, accept that they tend to be more weak-minded than those who never took up smoking.
This makes them more likely to be deceptive to themselves, and to others. And in answer to what StunnedByGrace said in a couple of responses, smokers will rarely speak positively of smoking in public. It's mainly if you want to try and help them quit, or you see it damaging their health, or you see them coughing all the time and try to advise.
I'm not here to make smokers feel bad, I'm here to speak the truth.
I've helped people quit drugs, I have never had any success helping anyone quit smoking.
And StunnedByGrace, not sure why you want to trample on my own observations of smokers and how they behave. Are you a smoker?
Nicotine actually has one good thing it does, but Doctors do not talk about it to people, because, for the most part, it does more harm than good. The good thing about smoking is that when one is in a great level of stress or such, smoking will work to calm the person down. Believe it or not, but when one is having coughing fits, smoking will stop them as well. Yeah, smoking is probably what caused the fits to begin with, but, not all the time. Sometimes chronic sinus drainage can cause a person to have a coughing/choking fit.......and smoking will greatly help to calm it down.
No, Doctors do not tell people about this...........but that in no way makes it untrue. If you know a Doctor, ask them to give a serious answer about this.
Anyway.........
From what I observe, it is people who take the Bible wholly literally to validate their own self-righteous perfect infallible view that is better than anyone else's, which makes them a Pharisee.
D
Depleted
Guest
I was going to also say that WINE does the same thing.......goes in RED and comes out............... HAHAHAHHAHAH yeah I know..........
Although I've not had any luck helping people quit smoking altogether, I have helped smokers move to ecigs. I truly believe they are 10x healthier than tobacco.
But you do get those hard-core smokers who in their self-justifying fabrication are 'suspicious' of ecigs (but not of their brown teeth?), and 'suspicious' of how unhealthy they probably are. I think to any human beings it is obvious how much healthier they are, and not one person who has moved over to ecigs has said that they felt healthier on cigarettes.
As for whether people have more success quitting from ecigs I'm not sure on that data, there probably isn't enough.
But you do get those hard-core smokers who in their self-justifying fabrication are 'suspicious' of ecigs (but not of their brown teeth?), and 'suspicious' of how unhealthy they probably are. I think to any human beings it is obvious how much healthier they are, and not one person who has moved over to ecigs has said that they felt healthier on cigarettes.
As for whether people have more success quitting from ecigs I'm not sure on that data, there probably isn't enough.
So are you a smoker?
Are you a gun addict?
Disease is an interesting word. Dis-ease, a body not at ease. But whether a body is at ease naturally, or unnaturally/synthetically, dis-ease does tend to come with vices/addictions. In this perspective addiction is a disease, because it is like a parasite.
Are you a gun addict?
Disease is an interesting word. Dis-ease, a body not at ease. But whether a body is at ease naturally, or unnaturally/synthetically, dis-ease does tend to come with vices/addictions. In this perspective addiction is a disease, because it is like a parasite.