Admit You Have an Alcohol Problem

“You have to decide. You cannot have both God and the bottle. It can only be one or the other. Which will it be?”

A man visited with me, talking about his problem with alcohol. After listening for a while, I looked him in the eye and firmly stated, “You have to decide. You cannot have both God and the bottle. It can only be one or the other. Which will it be?” (Photo by Bence Boros on Unsplash)

The man I talked with is part of a larger problem. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics,10% of all Americans 12 years and older are alcoholics, and of those over 60% are men. And for many it is deadly, where 385 lives are ended every day due to alcohol.   

The millions who abuse alcohol are part of a long and storied history dating back over 3,000 years to a man named Noah. History records him as being the first person to plant a vineyard, make his own wine and booze it up until he became humankind’s first drunk.    

The biblical story recounts Noah as drinking alone in his tent, where the alcohol overtook him, then he disrobed and passed out on the floor without a stitch of clothes on. The incident caused embarrassment and division within the family. 

Let me point out, this was Noah, the one whom God chose to be His voice to the world leading up to the 40-day global flood. He was the one about which the Bible says, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless…Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)

It does not matter if you are a well-respected clergyman, or are in constant trouble with the law. Noah’s story tells us that anyone can fall prey to the temptation of the bottle.

Why did Noah drink? Why do others? Perhaps someone might be thinking, “It goes good with my meal,” “I like the taste,” “I just want to have some fun with a few friends,” or “It’s been a stressful day and I just want to relax.” For many, their intentions are likely innocent. For others, not so much. They have to drink, because they cannot control it. Instead, it controls them. What starts out as one drink, turns into two, three and soon the person is feeling tipsy, buzzed, and then full-blown drunk. 

God says about alcohol, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”  (Proverbs 20:1)

Have you ever been a little woozy or totally drunk? Are you able to go a day, week or month without a drink and have no physical symptoms? After drinking have you ever quietly passed out like Noah, or became loud, obnoxious and abusive around others?

If you cannot go without alcohol, then it has a grip on you. I urge you to get help. Recognize you have a problem. 

Some people go to great lengths to make the Bible sound as if God supports the abuse of alcohol. They are terribly mistaken! The practice of drunkenness is condemned by God. The Scripture says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery…” (Ephesians 5:18) And what is drunkenness? Our laws may equate blood alcohol concentration with certain numbers, but according to God, drunkenness occurs when alcohol hits the blood stream and it begins to intoxicate you affecting your mind and body. God’s view of drunkenness is much different than ours. 

You have a choice. You do not have to be a slave to the bottle. You can be free, and freedom begins with Jesus. He died and rose again that through Him you might overcome. If you need help do these three things. First, call upon Jesus with all your heart to be delivered. Second, contact a local pastor. Third, call 1-800-662-4357, which is a national alcohol treatment hotline. 

A prayer for you – Lord God, I pray for the one who is controlled by alcohol. Let this be the start of a new day for them. Bring them to confess their sin of drunkenness to you. May they reach toward the heavens in totally brokenness, crying out to you for complete and instant deliverance. Do a miracle today, O God! In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Hate: The Seeds of Racism

 

“From Israel, Africa to America and around the world, during the history of mankind, racism has been responsible for the senseless killings of millions, upon millions of people.”

In 1994 there began one of the most horrific national genocides in the African nation of Rwanda. In a period of 100 days, nearly 1,000,000 people were murdered, mostly members of the Tutsi tribal population, by the opposing Hutu tribe. My wife and I watched the movie, Hotel Rwanda, which portrayed the story of the slaughter. It was heart-wrenching. The killers and victims were both Africans, both Rwandans, but some belonged to one tribe, and some of another. Africans would call this tribalism, toward Jews it would be antisemitism and in America, we would call it racism. (Photo by Peter Forster on Unsplash)

From Africa to America and around the world, during the history of mankind, racism has been responsible for the senseless killings of millions, upon millions of people. It has risen where tyrants have asserted their power based on race or ethnicity, then used it to divide and conquer, by oppressing or enacting revenge upon their enemies, who were racially or ethnically different from them.

In the beginning it was not this way. Where did this evil come from?

The God of heaven and earth, who fashioned mankind together said, “God created man in his own image…male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) Notice how God makes a distinction regarding the two sexes, but makes no mention of race or ethnicity. Yes, they were created with a specific skin color, but God saw no value in highlighting it because He looked beyond that. Furthermore, after God finished creating, He called everything “good.” Therefore, the color He created our first parents, Adam and Eve, He took pleasure in.

But the moment our first parents rebelled against their Creator, everything changed. They instantly became separated from God and all His goodness, and became filled with a moral darkness. This depravity forever changed mankind.

Soon this new evil revealed itself with history’s first murder. Cain and Abel were brothers with the same parents, Adam and Eve. Despite that, there was a difference between them. A religious one. The way Abel worshipped the Lord God, was acceptable to Him, but the way Cain worshipped the Lord, was rejected by Him. Due to this difference, Cain looked down upon Abel and his heart became bitter and angry. At the same time, God said to Cain, “…sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7) He rejected God’s Words and eventually, this anger turned into hate where he struck down his own brother in cold blood.

What was the cause of this horrible incident? Hate-filled differences. This is the seed that gives birth to racism. Differences do not divide us. Blacks and whites can live side by side. Jews and Muslims can co-exist. Christians and atheists can work together. The differences are not the problem, hate is. When a person begins to see the differences as a liability, and it leads them to become jealous, angry and oppressive – that is when the evil of division takes root.

The gospel of Jesus Christ takes direct aim at this, when Jesus stated, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew. 22:37-39) A fully devoted love for God and our fellow man, can destroy racism from the face of the earth. How? Because divine love poured into the heart of man, celebrates racial differences and sees the beautiful creation of God in it. However, racism seeks only the love of self, and to dismantle and destroy.

Jesus came to our divided human population, filled with so many differences, to change our hearts. He died and rose again to wash us of hate, and fill us with a holy and perfect love toward one another.

A prayer for you – Lord God, examine our hearts to see if any of our differences with others have sprouted into hate for them. Let us no longer be held captive by anger for others. Instead, fill our hearts with love for you and our neighbors. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thankfulness for The People We Denounce

 “What if a white man could give God thanks for a black man, and likewise, a black man for a white man?”

Our eyes light up when we see our holiday table filled with multitudes of Thanksgiving favorites. Moist and flavorful turkey. The best homemade mash potatoes. Warm and buttery dinner rolls, tasty desserts, and much more. Then before we start passing the food and filling up our plates, we offer a prayer of thanks to God. And our prayer, like the food on our table, is often filled with things we like and are grateful for. Obviously, it would seem odd to pray about things we do not care for, and to sit down at a dinner table overflowing with food we do not like. (Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash)

However -- what if we could learn to be thankful for those things we look down on? Let me explain.

Peter was a close disciple of Jesus. One day he fell into a trans-like state and saw a great sheet coming down from heaven. On it were all sorts of animals. Then a voice was heard that said, “‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’” (Acts 10:13-15) This vision with the sheet repeated itself three times, then Peter woke up and wondered what it all meant.

About the same time some men came to the house where Peter was staying, looking for him. After visiting with them, the next day Peter travelled with the men to the home of Cornelius, the Roman centurion who inquired of him.

Shortly after arriving Peter addressed the group gathered in Cornelius’ home, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” (Acts 10:28)

Peter realized how God used the sheet of animals to teach him something. He learned how the people he rejected, because they were a different race and religion than him, were created by God just like the Jewish people were. He learned how God wanted him to go to the non-Jews, and befriend them so they could hear the good news of Jesus.

It is written, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving…” (1 Timothy 4:4) Peter came to realize that God made both the Jews and non-Jews, and both are good and to be given thanks for.

When it comes to being thankful, we tend to be thankful for only those things we view as good, and are ungrateful for those things we reject and look down upon, like Peter did. Through the power of the Lord God though, Peter was able to change and give thanks for that which he once despised.

Racial differences are a point of division in our modern world. But imagine with me if hearts were changed like Peter’s? What if a Jew could give God thanks for the Arab, and the Arab for the Jew? What if a white man could give God thanks for a black man, and likewise, a black man for a white man? Imagine if a person of one race, saw a person of another race, not as someone to be rejected and looked down upon, but as a person created by God and someone to be given thanks for?

Jesus’ life, death and resurrection all served to enable this. When a person enters into a covenant relationship with Him, they are instantly filled with the love of God. This causes them to be thankful for that which they used to be ungrateful, and compels them to lovingly serve those people whom they once rejected.

A prayer for you – Lord God, this Thanksgiving help us to be thankful for the things in life and the people in life, whom we have previously rejected. For you have made all things, and called them good. Fill our hearts with your Spirit, so we can love others as you do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.