WHAT IS THE MESSAGE…… FOR DRINKERS?
“Drinking should not be regarded as an activity but merely a pleasant part of social life.” That is the message the columnist has for drinkers in the local paper, The Northland Age, Thursday, October 21, 2010. Because she continues to write, “How can we bring this message home to our teenagers?”
She has some suggestions: Start education the children when they are very young, frighten them with “the mangled cars, the diseased livers, the vomiting teenagers, the old derelicts in the streets, the facts about alcohol as a poison.” Her message for the teenagers bingeing now is, “Take away their money, their cars, their freedom.”
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ABSTINENCE, NOT TEMPERANCE
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In the same paper is also a letter to the editor: “Drinking and driving.” We are confronted with alcohol wherever we go. So it seems. I mentioned already the article in a church magazine called “How to change our drinking culture?” In the article we are told that there are about 700,000 heavy drinkers in New Zealand. New Zealand has a population of 4,2 Million. That means that almost 20 % of the people living in New Zealand are heavy drinkers. But let us remember that the problem of drinking is worldwide.
I have to come back to the columnist mentioned at the the beginning. She says also: “I believed that my children would learn to drink in a civilised fashion if they occasionaly had a small glass of wine or beer with the family. IT DID NOT WORK.”
Is she not saying that her message does not work?
TEMPERANCE DOES NOT WORK!
What works?
The answer is ABSTINENCE. ABSTINENCE WORKS! Why? Because it is the answer of the Bible, the Word of the Living God.
Let me ask here a question very quick: WHAT TYPE OF WINE DID THE LORD JESUS CHRIST MAKE IN JOHN 2:9?
What does God say about liquor indulgence? Proverbs 20:1: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” This verse says that only fools consume liquor. Read also the following verses from the Word of God: Proverbs 23:29-35; Genesis 9:21.
This is what great men have said about alcohol:
“Alcohol is a poison men take into the mouth, to steal away the brain.” – Shakespeare “Strong drink is more destructive than war, pestilence and famine.” – Gladstone. “Drunkenness has killed more men than all of history’s wars.” – General Pershing. “The most criminal and artistic method of assassination ever invented by the bravos of any age or nation.” – Ruskin
Here is another question for you: Why do people consume alcoholic beverages?
SERMON OUTLINE
Let me close with a SERMON OUTLINE by Rev. William McCarrell. I found the outloine in the book One Hundred Bible Lessons by Alban Douglas.
Rev. W. McCarrell outlines his Lesson on liquor this way: Liquor indulgence is wrong because it:
Intr.:
1. Leads to other sins – Deuteronomy 21:18; Deuteronomy 21:20 (disobedience, disrespect, stubbornness).
2. Aids in breaking homes – Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
3. Leads from the seemingly harmless to chronic drunkards – Deuteronomy 21:20.
4. Brings severe judgment – Deuteronomy 21:21.
5. Because it is costly – Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
6. Because it is linked with debauchery- Proverbs 23:20 (winebibbing , riotous fleshliness).
7. Tends to poverty – Proverbs 23:21 (Eventually, if not immediately).
8. Causes one to miss God’s kingdom – First Corinthians 6:9-10
End:
I have here in my hand a little booklet with travel information you can trust published by Jasons Travel Media Ltd called “A Taste of New Zealand.” Yes, Unique Artisans, Local produce, Culinary Experiences are mentined, but WINERIES come first. Please let me know if I am wrong, but I think the whole little booklet is full of wineries.