told me this morning after services; They would like to have drinks & food before, & after services. (Wanted me to know Christ was a wine bibber.)---so, (that makes it ok. -They told me.) What would you all say??

Ummm, hard to know what to say to that....If it's alcohol I would say no to them. Christ, in his day, only had 2 choices...Wine and water and wine was for special occasions

Watered Wine in the day was common practice to prevent sickness in the spoiled water as it was stored in containers that could stagnate, such as sheep bladders and wood barrels lined with oiled to prevent leaks.

From the standpoint of Christ, the partaking of wine should be viewed as sacrament, a symbolic gesture of you allowing Christ into your heart.

drinking in excess is wrong, it reduces our ability to make good the proper choices and allows us to invite evil into our hearts and to turn a blind eye to wickedness.

...

I personally do not know scripture well enough find the proper passages or to quote them, I am sure there are answers that other more experienced Christians here that can point us to.

Obviously if they need to drink before and after Church they have a problem with drinking. Here are a few Scriptures...

Ephesians 5
17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Proverbs 20
1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

1 Corinthians 6

9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

listen to beauty she nailed it

I have had my problems with alcohol in the past and I can honestly say that no good EVER, EVER came of it. Except for maybe when the Lord warned me (quite strongly I might add) that alcohol was the wrong road, even in moderation. Moderation almost always leads to abuse of alcohol...I don't really share my story of how God warned me very often but it seems fitting to mention it here, so here goes. Please keep in mind that I am not proud of my youthful ignorance in the past and I no longer drink ANY AT ALL. When I was about 18 I decided to go out drinking with my friends even though God had given me many less severe warning earlier in life. So at the end of the night I drove a friend home and felt fine to drive on to my house (bad idea). Ten minutes later I completly passed out at the wheel, drove off the wrong side of the road and got stuck in a ditch less than half a mile from my house. Needless to say I was arrested and fined for DUI, I lost what was left of my car, and broke my nose. The next morning though the only thing I could think of was if there would of been someone else coming the other way when I crossed the center line. I don't know how I could of handled it if I hurt or killed anyone else and just the thought of that scares me even to this day. GLORY BE TO GOD there wasn't anyone else involved and I was the only one that suffered for my ignorance. I am very ashamed of what I did and don't like to share about it but if my story can help just one person make a better choice than me then I will tell it gladly. I thank God everytime I think about it that know one else was injured and for showing me the error of my ways. May God Bless All.

Tracker,
Many (if not all) of us born again Christians have similar testimonies. Sure, they all vary based on the individual's life circumstances. But God performs miracles every single day--you just have to have your eyes open to see them! But He has also saved us all in very personal and different ways. You may feel ashamed of your past or regret your sins, but truly you must forgive yourself because Jesus loves you just as you are and He has also forgiven you ALL of your sins. You are a perfect, beautiful person because God has made you this way and that is exactly how He sees you and how you need to start seeing yourself! And He will continue to perfect you even more each day as you grow closer to Him in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Though it is true that you should not dwell on the past, you should also never ever be ashamed to share your testimony with others. Your testimony is just one of many miracles that God has performed in your personal life and by telling others how you were saved, how He has changed your life for the better, how he has transformed your mind and heart, and everything that He has done to impact your life--it brings such great, awesome GLORY to our most high Lord! Also by witnessing to others the things you have seen, and felt by God's glorious hand, you are also leading by example. And sometimes your story is all it takes to make a non-believer reach out to Christ.
May you continue to grow in the love of the Lord and may all of your days henceforth be blessed!

If anyone has really studied the bible and understand about the wine of that time period it was a very weak form of what now call wine. The water was foul for the most part in many parts of the world or scarce. Wine was as common to drink as pepsi or coke is today.

hmmmm well, to set the record staight, drinking is not a sin, drunkeness is..Jesus at the wedding in Canaan turned something as pure as water into wine...Jesus drank, but He did not get drunk

If you really study into the whole water into wine thing, the bible states that he turned the water into new wine. New wine is actually wine that has not had a chance to firment yet and therefore has no alcohol content. Just something to think about.

There is no context to the word "new" wine...


John 2:1-11

1."And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there;
2. and Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding.
3.And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
4. And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come."
5. His mother said to her servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
6. Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
7. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
8.And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter." And they took it to him.
9. And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from(but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,
10. and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine forst, and when men have drunk freely, then thet which is poorer, you have kept the good wine till now."
11. This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Canaof Galilee, and mainifersted Hos glory , and His Disciples believed in Him..."




This isn't the idea of the actual act, but to show Jesus' miricles....

Wine back then or i should say grape juice back during Jesus time fernented much quicker since they didnt have a way of refrigeration back then to preserve grape juice so wine was a common drink of the day.

you guys are awesome