Alcohol

a Jesus thought...
Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. (Matthew 16:24)

a Godly thought...
He who offers a cup of cold water to the weakest and poorest who bears no honourable name has ministered to Christ himself, and Jesus Christ will be his reward. (p197 Bonhoeffer)

a leading thought...
When we forget God's absolutes, we lack the discernment we need to face different kinds of situations. (p127 Barber)

a Dave thought...from the Baptist Standard
Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., recently wrote on his blog a satirical list of 10 reasons why tea and coffee drinkers should be excluded from Southern Baptist leadership and missions service.
Burleson—whose earlier blog postings nearly led to his removal as an International Mission Board trustee—poked fun at many of the arguments traditionally used to promote total abstinence from alcohol by applying them to the use of tea and coffee.
“Drinking tea leads a person to addition to caffeine,” he wrote. “There might be some who allege that drinking just one or two glasses of tea does not lead to caffeine addiction. This is technically true, but unfortunately, not all Christians who partake in moderate tea drinking can stop with just a couple of glasses.
“It is not uncommon for Christian men and women to progress from tea, to coffee, to 64-ounce colas or Mountain Dews. Where does it stop? How does one know when the line of addiction has been crossed? If caffeine is addictive, then why play with fire?”
Knowing how to take a firm stand against something destructive without making it into “forbidden fruit” that seems irresistibly attractive can be challenging, Broyles noted. Even so, he hopes Baptists don’t water down their views on alcohol consumption too much.
“I’d hate to think we’re softening our stand on this issue when it’s causing such untold problems in families—when it’s at the root of so much physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse,” he said.

It is interesting to note that the baptists continue to debate alcohol consumption. Although I have many young adults who still believe our stance is too extreme, I believe having high standards of personal discipline is better than lowering the bar. We can lower the bar of how we do church, but we must raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple of Christ and then we will raise the standard of what church truly is.

Just a thought.