Avoiding Evil

I have a small house. Really small. It’s a two bedroom, one bath house with a small kitchen and no dining room. Only 800 sq. ft. of space and Sunday night we did the unthinkable. We invited the youth over to the house for a fellowship! While Sunday nights have been kinda down in numbers here lately it just so happens that on this Sunday half of our youth group actually showed up. We had 22 people stuffed in our little house.

We played some games, filled them with food, and then shoved everyone outside on our super huge deck. Don’t ask me why I have a wood deck attached to the house that is almost the same exact size as the house. I just know its nice for these sort of occasions. Anyway, we pulled out some material and talked about discipleship classes. On Sunday nights Kendall and I are teaching discipleship classes for youth who want to go deeper. It was my hope that I would be able to get out of these teens some of the things that they would like to learn. We talked about several different discipleship classes and I asked questions about what would be some things that they would like to learn or grow deeper in. In the end it seemed as though they want to learn about prayer, growing in their relationship with God, and about sharing their faith! Sounds good to me.

Next week we will be starting the discipleship series In God’s Presence by T. W. Hunt. This series is designed to help our students have an intimate and personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. Hopefully it will help them develop a meaningful and well=balanced prayer life. At least that is what it says on the back of the book, eh eh. I actually did this study when I was in the youth group and loved it. It really helped to develop my own prayer life and I think it is an excellent start for them.

Too bad I can’t find the youth edition on LifeWay’s website. Not that I can ever find anything on LifeWay’s websites other than the advertising of sponsors that is easy to find. If you want content, forget it!

As I have read more about the debate on Alcohol in the Southern Baptist Convention. Those opposed to the alcohol resolution are saying things like this: “Alcohol is a gift from God that should be enjoyed”, “This resolution is legalism”, “This is not a Baptist issue, its a Bible issue”, “This isn’t about Christian liberty, its about the Sufficiency of Scripture”, “The SBC needs to repent from total abstinence from alcohol”, “Abstinence from alcohol is rejecting the Biblical example of Jesus”, “Drinking alcohol is not a sin”, “Enjoying the things created by God, such as alcohol, help us to enjoy God better”, “This issue is much bigger than alcohol”, “This is the SBC leaderships fault”, “Alcohol can be used in such a way that cheers the heart and honors God”, “teaching abstinence needlessly draws a line in the sand on doctrines and traditions not essential for unity and for proclaiming the faith”.

Alcohol is a gift from God: Where in the world do they get this? Well 1 Timothy 4:4 says “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” This was in reference to foods when false teachers like some Gnostics required strict abstinence from certain things including marriage and food. While this verse does not refer to alcohol at all and while it does not call alcohol a gift from God, it does make it clear that everything created by God is good. Of course, it could be argued that alcohol or “strong drink” may not necessarily be one of those created things that are considered good. What do I mean by that? Well, humans have a way of not only abusing things, but we tend to take many of God’s “good” creations and mix them together to turn them into bad things. For example, you are not going to find many people who think that aluminum foil, charcoal lighter fluid, epson salts, gasoline, mineral spirits, batteries, table salt, coffee filters, towels, napkins, pots, pans, bowls, jars, sports drinking bottles, pressure cooker, stove top range, oven, microwave, grill, ice tea jars, drink dispensers, and gasoline cans with tubing are from the devil. In fact many of these are good, useful products that we use every single day. And yet these are all key ingredients and products used in the making of methamphetamine one of the most dangerous and addicting drugs on the street. Is methamphetamine a good gift created by God for his people? I think the answer is a definitive no! Trees are good. Man comes up with a way to take trees, make paper, print pictures and the next thing you know we have a porn magazine. Are porn magazines good gifts created by God for his people? Again the answer is no. We are good at screwing a lot of things up and so to say that modern day alcohol is simply a good gift from God is a stretch and a half if you ask me.

This resolution is legalism Ok, here is a shocker… I’m not going to disagree with this argument quite as strongly as some would suspect, cause I myself feel that this resolution could tip toe on the edges of legalism if it is used in the wrong way. Here is what I mean. I see this as a resolution from the convention, not a law. This is the convention saying that it urges its members to oppose alcohol, but there is no forcing of the issue. Many of those that oppose this resolution are looking at this as a pharisaical action of the convention that is forcing un-biblical issues upon its people. I disagree completely with this. After reading the resolution I don’t believe that the Bible has much to do with the reasoning behind creation of the resolution in the first place. The Pharisees were guilty of creating their own laws and calling them biblical and enforcing these laws as if God himself was the author and creator of them, such as washing your hands before eating. If the Southern Baptist convention were to adopt an amendment that declared drinking alcohol in any moderation a sin and began to enforce it as law upon the people, I believe that would be legalism. But for the messengers of the convention to say that we oppose alcohol and urge the convention to support legislation that curbs the use of it in our nation and to urge churches to educate people on the dangers of the use of alcohol because of the well known and proven facts of its destruction of both people and families is not at all legalism.

This is not a Baptist issue, its a Bible issue Of course its a Baptist issue. It’s been a Baptist issue for years and years and continues to be one. Yes it is that dreaded word, tradition. It’s not as if the SBC has never voted on a resolutions concerning alcohol. We’ve adopted plenty of resolutions concerning this issue, however few have been opposed until now. Why are those opposed trying to make this a Biblical issue? Because they believe that the Bible condones drinking alcohol and they believe that it is un-biblical and sinful for a group of people to oppose something that the Bible says is ok. I think they are also a little dismayed at the fact that this conservative led convention didn’t make it a Biblical issue. Time and again I’ve seen blogs that say that this is “basically” saying drinking is a sin and that this is completely a biblical issue. Funny thing is, the resolution itself doesn’t really make it a Biblical issue at all. There is no where that it even comes close to saying that drinking is a sin. It simply states the facts of the dangers of alcohol and declares that the messengers of the 2006 SBC have decided to oppose it because of those facts. Plain and simple. Is it wrong to oppose something simply because it is destructive? I don’t think it is.

The SBC needs to repent from total abstinence from alcohol Is abstaining from something a sin? Is declaring that as a group, we as Southern Baptists oppose alcohol a sin? I’m not buying this one. I believe that it is a worthy goal to abstain from something that is destructive. Now some might say, “why don’t we have resolutions against eating and things of that nature?” Well, maybe because you haven’t brought one up yet. Honestly, do I think the SBC should have a resolution on gluttony? Yeah, I would vote for that. Should we talk about the dangers of certain foods and urge churches to battle obesity? Yes. Same principle, its to help curb the destructive forces of things that are hurting the people around us.

Abstinence from alcohol is rejecting the Biblical example of Jesus If we decided to abstain from alcohol then we are rejecting Christ’s example and not following in his footsteps by drinking wine. That is kind of like saying since I don’t like to eat fish or unleavened bread then I am rejecting Christ’s Biblical examples of eating fish and unleavened bread. Since I didn’t attempt to raise aunt Bertha from the dead then I am rejecting Christ’s Biblical example of raising people from the dead. When Christ drank wine, was he really doing so to give us an example and to tell us that we should go and do likewise or was he just thirsty? Maybe the disciples ran out of quarters or the coke got stuck in the soda machine so they just had to settle for wine. Or maybe that is all they had to drink. Was the wine mixed with water? Was it a pure hard drink? Is it even possible to know the answer to this question? No. If it is impossible to know exactly what this drink was then how can we truly say that our wine today is similar? The other question I have is what does this say about other alcohol that isn’t wine? The Bible doesn’t speak to all of the other types of alcohol and yet I’ve read several arguments that believe believers are Biblically sanctioned to drink any kind of alcohol. I’ve not seen the passage that says drink Bud Light in moderation.

Drinking alcohol is not a sin Agreed. Well, for the most part. I believe that drinking wine in moderation without other influences is not condemned in the Bible. However, drinking other alcoholic beverages is really an argument from silence. The other thing is, many times people drink for the wrong reasonsw, which I believe can also be sinful.

This issue is much bigger than alcohol I think this issue has become much bigger than its original intent. Now it seems to be something to fuss over, something to argue about, something else to use to bash the conservative leadership, and the people in the middle of it arguing are the same people who are saying that we are spending too much time arguing about it rather than reaching people for Jesus. Doesn’t make much sense to me.

“Alcohol is on TV, in Magazines, at Wal-Mart, at the ball park, and SBCer’s will have to abstain from all of these things if they are choosing to totally oppose alcohol.” Yet again, I don’t see how the fact that we can’t avoid alcohol because its in everything we do in America makes it ok then to support it instead. The limited ability of people to not buy, look at, touch, or even get near something that is influenced by alcohol is not a valid reason for the support of it. Besides, the resolution itself doesn’t say anything about abstaining. I believe the word is opposing. But I don’t guess that matters. I think if giving up my personal free choice to drink wine will help curb the abuse then there is no question about what I will do. Will abuse go away all together? No. But it could help.

Unfortunately the alcohol abusers in our churches today are not hearing anything other than this continued support for the drinking of alcohol. Sure, they may hear someone say now and then that the Bible says abuse of alcohol is a sin, but the thing they keep coming back to over and over again is “drinking is not a sin, drinking is not a sin”. People who are caught up in this stuff do not need to hear that it is ok for them to drink, they need people who are willing to stand with them in helping them abstain from the very thing destroying their lives. It’s kinda hard to help out your buddy who is an alcoholic when your chugging a beer.

I think in this case we should look back at a few things Paul had to say. He reminds us that we are free, but we shouldn’t use that freedom to indulge ourselves. And of course there is all that stuff he says about disputable matters too…

During the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 13-14, 2006 the convention voted overwhelmingly to adopt this resolution on alcohol:

Resolution No. 5
ON ALCOHOL USE IN AMERICA

WHEREAS, Years of research confirm biblical warnings that alcohol use leads to physical, mental, and emotional damage (e.g., Proverbs 23:29-35); and

WHEREAS, Alcohol use has led to countless injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways; and

WHEREAS, The breakup of families and homes can be directly and indirectly attributed to alcohol use by one or more members of a family; and

WHEREAS, The use of alcohol as a recreational beverage has been shown to lead individuals down a path of addiction to alcohol and toward the use of other kinds of drugs, both legal and illegal; and

WHEREAS, There are some religious leaders who are now advocating the consumption of alcoholic beverages based on a misinterpretation of the doctrine of “our freedom in Christ”; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 13-14, 2006, express our total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge that no one be elected to serve as a trustee or member of any entity or committee of the Southern Baptist Convention that is a user of alcoholic beverages.

RESOLVED, That we urge Southern Baptists to take an active role in supporting legislation that is intended to curb alcohol use in our communities and nation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Southern Baptists to be actively involved in educating students and adults concerning the destructive nature of alcoholic beverages; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we commend organizations and ministries that treat alcohol-related problems from a biblical perspective and promote abstinence and encourage local churches to begin and/or support such biblically-based ministries.

This resolution erupted into a firestorm of debate from angry people who believe that because the SBC has resolved to oppose alcohol that it is being anti-biblical or even extra-biblical. In fact, it took the SBC 45 minutes to debate over this issue, which seems almost unthinkable to me. As I have surfed the net to see what people are saying about it on blogs, I’ve found comments that claim that this resolution is saying that alcohol is a sin and that the resolution is adding to scripture what isn’t really there. I’ve even seen extreme comments that verbally bash and abuse all of the people who voted and debated on this issue as being legalists who waste their time over stupid issues like this instead of telling the world about Jesus. Many SBC folks who have come to oppose the resolution have seen it as a dumb move by a bunch of dumb christians who have bound themselves to something that they cannot carry out.

After seeing such a firestorm of comments about this resolution, I couldn’t help but to find it and read it myself. After doing so, I find it hard to believe that any Southern Baptist Christian would be opposed to the resolution at hand and the current wording.

First of all, this resolution says nothing about alcohol consumption being a sin. It doesn’t even come close to implying that those who drink alcohol are sinners. Secondly, this resolution doesn’t imply that the Bible says alcohol consumption is a sin. In fact, it is clearly a resolution opposing alcohol because of its destructive nature, not because of what the Bible says about it. The resolution lists only a mere reference to Biblical warnings which are clear and indisputable references of alcohol. The main premise of this resolution is that alcohol is dangerous, destructive, and it has a tendency to kill people, so lets be resolved in saying that we should oppose something that destroys human life rather than values it.

What is it about this resolution that causes people to oppose it? Is it the fact that we would openly oppose something that isn’t necessarily considered a sin in of itself? Is it because the issue of alcohol is more of a disputable matter and making such resolutions places us in a definitive stand against alcohol, even though many Christians consume it? Is it because this is the group of SBC’ers who are actually drinking alcohol and don’t want to give it up? Is it because they think this resolution somehow steps on peoples rights to do what they want? Really, what is so bad about refraining from something that has the proven potential to destroy?

What’s next? Will we say that we are resolved to oppose smoking pot and making meth in our church basements and will a group of people stand up and say, “The Bible doesn’t say that smoking pot or making meth is a sin, so you are all a bunch of dumb legalists for making such a resolution.”

Another argument that I continue to hear is that for SBC messengers to oppose the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages they must abstain from not only drinking alcohol, but from going to the ball park, going to wal-mart, or anything else that comes close to supporting or being supported by the alcohol industry. While I understand what they are saying, I don’t believe this resolution from the SBC is clearly saying that we must avoid or remove ourselves from anything that supports, advertises, or is funded by alcohol or the alcohol industry. Clearly that is impossible and to entertain such an idea is simply nonsensical. This resolution states that Southern Baptists should be opposed to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages. To be opposed to something does not make it possible to avoid it or to remove it as a reality in life.

It seems to me that the assumption many people are making here is that to be opposed to something means that you can’t be around it and that you can’t be a part of things that may correlate with the said opposition. If you think about this logically then you will have to conclude that things that you cannot keep from being around are things that you cannot be opposed to which makes no sense. Alcohol is such a part of the American culture that it becomes impossible to avoid. It’s at Wal-Mart, its at the gas stations, the advertising is on billboards, and unless we live in a bubble, there is no way to escape the influence of alcohol on our society. Since it is impossible for us to not be exposed to such things, does that mean we should be accepting of them instead? Since there is no way to go to a Cardinals game without supporting Anheuser-Busch in some way, does that mean that I should no longer be opposed to Alcohol consumption if I want to go see a ball game? Is it really dumb for us to say we are totally opposed to the advertising and consumption of alcohol because it harms families and destroys lives? I don’t think it is. I’m opposed to pornography and yet every time I drive down I-44 I have to see pornography being advertised. If I am going to oppose pornography and the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and viewing of pornography does that mean I have to not drive down I-44 and does that mean that I have to avoid movies that may somehow support the porn industry and gas stations that sell it and any business or industry that might support it or get support from it in some way or another? And if there is no way to avoid it all together should I just shut up about it and not say that I am opposed to it? Should I instead be accepting of the pornography industry? We could even make the same argument for sin. Should Southern Baptists not be totally opposed to sin, since we cannot avoid it or abstain from it? I don’t think Southern Baptists are dumb because they oppose sin and yet live around it, in it, support it, and even do it sometimes. After-all, the opposite of opposing sin is accepting it.

All that to say this, I agree that the consumption of alcohol and its relation to the Bible is ambiguous and disputable. What is not disputable is the overwhelming evidence of what alcohol has done to families and people. The number of people killed every year in alcohol related deaths is astounding, and the number of abused children and women who are beaten because of alcohol is astronomical. My own family can be included in that assessment since I come from a long line of men who are alcohol abusers. I’ve seen first hand what alcohol can do. I know that it consumed my father, that it consumed his father, and that for generations of men in my family it has been a destructive force. I can honestly say that I am totally opposed to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages and rightly so. Does that mean its a sin? Not necessarily. But I do wonder, is it not better for Southern Baptists to give up a freedom and abstain from alcohol rather than risking their own lives and the lives of others by drinking alcohol. It only takes one mistake to ruin a life forever.

I dealt with this issue some on my post about Christian Liberty. Here is a small snippet:

Scripture prohibits drunkenness (Eph 5:18), and while I think that even an occasional drink of alcoholic beverage is not wise, the Scriptures are still morally indifferent to social or occasional drinking. Do I think Christians should drink? No. But, while I believe that there are plenty of other logical reasons why Christians should not drink such as addiction, impaired judgment, poor witness, it’s a drug and while I believe that people drink for the wrong reasons, which is sinful, I still must conclude that the Bible certainly does not condemn the act of consuming alcohol in itself unless it leads to drunkenness or something else that the Bible speaks against. What is the absolute here? Drunkenness is sin. What is the moral indifference? Drinking small amounts of alcohol but not getting drunk.

I am glad that the SBC adopted this resolution because I think it is right for Southern Baptists. We should actively do what is necessary to value human life and morality. To oppose drinking is the right thing to do. We are not saying that it is sinful, we are not saying that the Bible condemns it, but we are saying that it is unwise and that it does lead to the destruction of families and even lives.

I could go on and on about this issue and I could probably give a thousand more reasons why drinking alcohol is unwise. I could go into the influence it has on teens, the reasons it is used by people, and the elements of temptations that it imposes on its Christian users. I could talk about its impairment and its general effect on the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of the individual users. I could come up with story after story of lives that have been destroyed by alcohol abuse, but really none of that is the point since those that oppose this resolution are really ignoring those issues in the first place. What concerns me the most is the antithesis of being opposed to it… that is, being accepting of it. If we cannot oppose alcohol for the reasons listed in this resolution, then there is something wrong with us! Life is far more important than a simple beverage preference. I can’t imagine the day when Southern Baptists will say choice and preference is more important than valuing life. I pray that day never comes.

I am particularly proud of the SBC messengers for voting in favor of this resolution.

“Sadly, I would never have believed that I would see a 45 minute debate at the Southern Baptist Convention on a resolution on abstinence from beverage alcohol. When one considers that the alcohol industry devastates more lives and homes today than any industry other than the pornography industry, such a question is doubly unthinkable. Positively, the resolution was adopted by 90 percent of the messengers, a critically important resolution in light of some pastors who now openly boast of imbibing alcohol.” - Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson

Here are some other bloggers and articles you can read about this issue. I’m obviously one of few who actual agree with the resolution:

Florida Baptist Witness
Ethics Daily
Cross Connect
Between Two Worlds
John H. Armstrong
Internet Monk
BP
Pattersons Stance On SBC Issues
SBC Outpost
Agape Press
Dr. Akin’s view on the resolution
Benjiman Cole’s Rebuttal of Dr. Akin
The Thirsty Theologian

That is just a bit of light reading on the subject. Enjoy!

While on vacation I was introduced to a new game called Farkel. Kendall and I went over to her aunt and uncle’s house in Louisville one night for fondu. I enjoyed the food, had fun playing foosball (though the game was so intense that I broke my watch playing) and best of all I was introduced to this super addicting dice game.

This is a little game that comes in a small plastic camera film container and is played with 6 small dice. You roll the dice, remove only the dice you want to use for points, then re-roll the remaining dice. If you can make all six dice count for score, you can pick them all up and keep going. If none of the dice you roll count for score then you lose your turn and any points that you have earned during that turn. If that happens, you have farkeled and it makes you want to shout farkel and other various words that probably shouldn’t come out of your mouth.

The goal of the game is to be the first person to reach a score of 10,000 or more. While that sounds like a super high goal, really it doesn’t take long. How you score is up to you and whether or not you are willing to take a chance. It’s a fun game that I’m sure I will enjoy for years to come.

Ok, so I don’t know if I should even call it a “vacation” but honestly, that is what it was. After we were married in March and we went to Hawaii we really didn’t have any money for vacation this summer, so we decided to drive 6 hours to Louisville to stay with Kendall’s grandparents for a several days. This was a practically free vacation since we didn’t have to pay for a place to stay and we had delicious home cooked meals day after day. In fact, it seemed like the only thing we did all week was eat. Every time we were in the middle of a meal we would be eating while planning the next meal that came only a few hours later. We also were able to see some movies, play some new games, and we spent some time with Kendall’s aunt and uncle in KY. It was a good time.

The first movie we saw was Barnyard. We had actually gone to the theater to see Monster House. Unfortunately we had checked the time for the wrong movie theater and by the time we got there the show had already started 30 minutes earlier. Since we already knew that Talladega Nights was a big pile of trash we decided to see Barnyard at the last minute. As it turns out, I’m glad we did.

I thought this movie was hilarious. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as my wife did, but it was definitely worth the price of a movie ticket. At first the concept of the movie bothered me and so I approached it with the idea that I wouldn’t like it. I was also a bit dismayed by the fact that there are male cows in the film. Hello, there are no male cows! I would have to say that I thought that was not the best of ideas. However, once I got over that silly stuff, I really enjoyed it.

There are a few scenes that I would say are not kid oriented. Including the scary coyote scenes, stealing cars, joy riding, drinking, partying, and so on. Not sure that those are good themes for children, or adults for that matter. The idea behind it was that these are things that teenagers do and while it is funny for cows and barnyard animals, it isn’t so funny in real life.

All in all I would give Barnyard a B- . It seems that many others would disagree with me though. I’ve seen it as a C and below on other websites and on EW lots of commenters bash the movie. Don’t listen to them, go see it for yourself… you might like it.

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The other movie we went to see was Monster House. This movie was given an A- by Entertainment Weekly and by Christopher at WIT. I have heard several other good reviews so I was actually looking forward to seeing it. As it turns out, I was disappointed with this movie. I thought the animation was excellent, and it was entertaining for sure. I also love dark movies, and it was certainly dark. But the thing that disappointed me the most was the story line. I won’t spoil it for others that might go see the movie, but other than the suspense, animation, and dark or ’spooky’ nature of the movie, at the end I was left with a feeling of blah.

There were so many things that I enjoyed about the movie, that it becomes hard to explain why I ended up being disappointed, but for me there are some things that can ruin a whole film. For me, the story line about the house was not what I would have liked for it to have been. I should also point out that this is certainly not a film I would take a small child to. Although in today’s world of technology our media-aholic children might not even flinch at the sight of the film. I would like to think that it would be too scary for small children, and I for one would not take my own children to see it (if I had any). I think, all in all, this is a one time watcher for me and I wish I would have just waited to rent it for $1 at the RedBox. I give it a C+ . **Update: For Christopher I will upgrade to a B+, but no more than that.

I also played a game that I had never played before. I’ll talk about that later. For now, I’ve gotta go!