Numerous times I’ve seen people claiming America is unique in how we treat alcohol. Prohibition (1920-1933) ruined everything in America, they claim. If we just taught others, including our children, moderate drinking, everything would be fine, just like it is in other countries.
They wax eloquent on the drinking utopias in Russia, France, England, Germany. Why, those countries they say, make alcohol a part of their everyday lives. They frown on drunkenness, yet learn to always drink responsibly and moderately.
As one among many recently said, You don’t see this kind of American debate against alcohol, in Europe where alcohol is just a part of the culture and its use is not attached to social stigma. Some have claimed American missionaries would be impolite to visit a Russian without drinking vodka with him.
So, Europe, Russia, and other countries don’t have the problems with alcohol that we Americans have? Well, their claims are impressive. The evidence, though, is lacking. Permit me to give the other side of the story.
French Combat Youth Binge-Drinking
“In decrying the excessive alcohol consumption of their compatriots, American and British health experts have long pointed to France with special admiration. Here, they said, was a society that masters moderate drinking. In wine-sipping France, the argument went, libation is just a small part of the broad festival of life, not the mind-altering prerequisite for a good time. The French don't wink like the English do at double-fisted drinking; they scorn people who lose control and get drunk in public. It's a neat argument. But it sounds a little Pollyannish now that France itself is grappling with widespread binge-drinking among its youth. Worse still, fully half of 17-year-olds reported having been drunk at least once during the previous month.” -Time Magazine, July 17, 2008; quoted in “Ancient Wine and the Bible.”
Vodka blamed for high death rates in Russia,
by Tulip Mazumdar Global health reporter
“The high number of early deaths in Russia is mainly due to people drinking too much alcohol, particularly vodka, research suggests.
The study, in The Lancet, says 25% of Russian men die before they are 55, and most of the deaths are down to alcohol. The comparable UK figure is 7%.
Causes of death include liver disease and alcohol poisoning. Many also die in accidents or after getting into fights.
The study is thought to be the largest of its kind in the country.
Researchers from the Russian Cancer Centre in Moscow, Oxford University in the UK and the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer, in France, tracked the drinking patterns of 151,000 adults in three Russian cities over up to 10 years.”
-bbc.com; January 31, 2014.
Every fifth German has a drinking problem
“Launching the centre's Annual Addiction Report 2011 in Berlin on Tuesday, director Raphael Gaßmann, estimated one in five people aged 18 to 64 had a drinking problem.
‘Alcohol consumption remains conspicuously too high, too risky, with too many consequences,’ he said…
Moreover, the effects of binge drinking have become noticeably worse in recent years. The number of alcohol poisoning incidents climbed by nearly 112 percent between 2000 and 2009. Most disturbingly, such incidents rose 194 percent among people aged 20 to 25...
The deaths of 73,000 people aged 35 to 65 could be traced back to ‘alcohol-related health problems’ each year, which is about one fifth of all deaths, Gaßmann said. For men, the figure was roughly one in four.”
-The Local, Germany’s News In English; April 26, 2011.
Europeans Drink More Alcohol
“People in Europe drink more alcohol than in any other part of the world, downing the equivalent of 12.5 litres of pure alcohol a year or almost three glasses of wine a day, according to report by the World Health Organization and the European Commission…
The report found that in the European Union (EU), almost 12 percent of all deaths in 2004 among people aged 15-64 were due to alcohol - equivalent to 1 in 7 deaths in men and 1 in 13 deaths in women. Just over 3 percent of deaths were due to alcohol consumed by others.”
-reuters.com, March 27, 2012.
These are not the drinking utopias that some Americans claim. Like America, they are wracked with the problems of alcohol. Drinking beverage alcohol as a way of life and a cultural heritage may not be the answer, but the problem. Don’t drink, and Europeans may even consider you wise.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, July 7, AD 2015.
Ancient Wine and the Bible - the Book; update
The Problem With Drunk Preachers
Israel, May They Prosper Who Love You
Basic Baptist Doctrines / Beliefs
Bob Jones, Sr. on Wine, Alcohol, Christian Drinking
More articles in lower right margin.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
SBC Resolution On Gambling
On Ending Government Sponsorship Of Casinos And Lotteries
Baltimore, MD - 2014
WHEREAS, A growing body of independent evidence from the health and social sciences shows government sponsorship of casinos and state lotteries perpetuates a system of exploitation; and
WHEREAS, Casinos and lotteries are permitted by government and its policies and are instituted to provide a separate revenue source distinct from direct taxation; and
WHEREAS, Casinos and lotteries enjoy governmentally established privileges without which they would not be spreading into mainstream American life as they are today; and
WHEREAS, Government has become an advocate for the transformation of gambling from a private and local activity into a revenue source as significant and accepted as taxation; and
WHEREAS, Government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries is predatory in that it exploits primarily poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged citizens by promoting participation in highly addictive behaviors which often result in financial disadvantage or ruin; and
WHEREAS, Government, by sponsoring and promoting gambling, is actively encouraging and profiting from the statistical certainty of citizens losing their money over time; and permitting such a process to occur under the full protection of the law conflicts with the public interest and historically has been viewed as dishonest; and
WHEREAS, Government-sponsored casinos and lotteries promote and perpetuate the mentality of getting something for nothing, which is contrary to Scripture and replaces biblical teachings of working for a living (Proverbs 13:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 6:9–10); and
WHEREAS, Both federal and state governments are now considering authorizing, regulating, or sponsoring internet gambling, which would open a casino or a lottery outlet virtually everywhere in America; and
WHEREAS, Government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries is inconsistent with its role to protect the people (Romans 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17); now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10–11, 2014, reaffirm our long-standing opposition to government sponsorship of gambling; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we believe no taxpayer dollars should be used by government to lure citizens into gambling, no government should depend on gambling to fund its activities, and no state legislature or Congress should pass laws to promote or sponsor gambling; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we believe that after four decades of unfulfilled promises, corrupt deals, and broken dreams, government partnership with organized gambling interests has failed, and it is time for government to end these partnerships and embrace a fundamentally different and higher vision of the path to American prosperity; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we encourage The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and all Southern Baptists to continue working to end government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we urge American citizens from all backgrounds, religious faiths, political convictions, and life circumstances, to join with us to make the United States free and independent of government-sponsored gambling, and once again able to resume its place as protector of our security, a leader in building a shared prosperity, and an example to the world.
*******
For those who may wonder, this is basically what Southern Baptists believe about gambling, casinos, and lotteries. Many more such resolutions against gambling have been passed through the years. It is not just that we oppose gambling, but that we are for those who are seriously hurt because of gambling.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, June 22, AD 2015.
Articles:
2006 SBC Resolution on Alcohol Use in America
SBC Resolution on Alcohol, 1988
SBC Resolution on Tithing
More articles in lower right margin.
Baltimore, MD - 2014
WHEREAS, A growing body of independent evidence from the health and social sciences shows government sponsorship of casinos and state lotteries perpetuates a system of exploitation; and
WHEREAS, Casinos and lotteries are permitted by government and its policies and are instituted to provide a separate revenue source distinct from direct taxation; and
WHEREAS, Casinos and lotteries enjoy governmentally established privileges without which they would not be spreading into mainstream American life as they are today; and
WHEREAS, Government has become an advocate for the transformation of gambling from a private and local activity into a revenue source as significant and accepted as taxation; and
WHEREAS, Government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries is predatory in that it exploits primarily poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged citizens by promoting participation in highly addictive behaviors which often result in financial disadvantage or ruin; and
WHEREAS, Government, by sponsoring and promoting gambling, is actively encouraging and profiting from the statistical certainty of citizens losing their money over time; and permitting such a process to occur under the full protection of the law conflicts with the public interest and historically has been viewed as dishonest; and
WHEREAS, Government-sponsored casinos and lotteries promote and perpetuate the mentality of getting something for nothing, which is contrary to Scripture and replaces biblical teachings of working for a living (Proverbs 13:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 6:9–10); and
WHEREAS, Both federal and state governments are now considering authorizing, regulating, or sponsoring internet gambling, which would open a casino or a lottery outlet virtually everywhere in America; and
WHEREAS, Government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries is inconsistent with its role to protect the people (Romans 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17); now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10–11, 2014, reaffirm our long-standing opposition to government sponsorship of gambling; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we believe no taxpayer dollars should be used by government to lure citizens into gambling, no government should depend on gambling to fund its activities, and no state legislature or Congress should pass laws to promote or sponsor gambling; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we believe that after four decades of unfulfilled promises, corrupt deals, and broken dreams, government partnership with organized gambling interests has failed, and it is time for government to end these partnerships and embrace a fundamentally different and higher vision of the path to American prosperity; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we encourage The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and all Southern Baptists to continue working to end government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we urge American citizens from all backgrounds, religious faiths, political convictions, and life circumstances, to join with us to make the United States free and independent of government-sponsored gambling, and once again able to resume its place as protector of our security, a leader in building a shared prosperity, and an example to the world.
*******
For those who may wonder, this is basically what Southern Baptists believe about gambling, casinos, and lotteries. Many more such resolutions against gambling have been passed through the years. It is not just that we oppose gambling, but that we are for those who are seriously hurt because of gambling.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, June 22, AD 2015.
Articles:
2006 SBC Resolution on Alcohol Use in America
SBC Resolution on Alcohol, 1988
SBC Resolution on Tithing
More articles in lower right margin.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Southern Baptists On Natural Marriage; Same-Sex Marriage
As Southern Baptist Christians, we are committed to Biblical faith and ethics. As a result, this body of Believers stands on the authority of Scripture and God's Truth as central to our lives.
What the Bible says about marriage is clear, definitive and unchanging. We affirm biblical, traditional, natural marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The Scriptures' teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Consequently, we will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court. We will not recognize same-sex "marriages", our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies.
While we affirm our love for all people, including those struggling with same-sex attraction, we cannot and will not affirm the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior or any behavior that deviates from God's design for marriage. We also believe religious freedom is at stake within this critical issue – that our first duty is to love and obey God, not man.
Therefore, we strongly encourage all Southern Baptist pastors, leaders, educators, and churches to openly reject any mandated legal redefinition of marriage and to use their influence to affirm God's design for life and relationships. As the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination with over 16 million members, we stake our very lives and future on the Truth of God's Word.
We also join together to support those who stand for natural marriage in the corporate world, the marketplace, education, entertainment, media and elsewhere with our prayers and influence, and resources.
Former SBC presidents signing the statement: Bailey E. Smith, SBC president, 1981-82; James T. Draper Jr., 1983-84; Charles F. Stanley, 1985-86; Jerry Vines, 1989-90; Morris H. Chapman, 1991-92; H. Edwin Young, 1993-94; James B. Henry, 1995-96; Tom Elliff, 1997-98; Paige Patterson, 1999-2000; James Merritt, 2001-02; Jack Graham, 2003-04; Bobby Welch, 2005-06; Frank S. Page, 2007-08; Johnny M. Hunt, 2009-10; Bryant Wright, 2011-12; Fred Luter, 2013,14; Ronnie Floyd, 2014-15 (current SBC president).
See more at:
http://bpnews.net/44950/floyd-and-former-sbc-presidents-take-marriage-stance
http://bpnews.net/44960/sbc-presidents-unite-declare-stand-on-marriage
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, June 17, AD 2015.
Jesus Christ on Same-Sex Marriage
More Articles in lower right margin.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Suicide And Pastors
I recently learned of a prominent pastor who struggled with depression and finally took his life. He was not the first. While unusual, sadly, he will not the be last pastor to do so.
Can a pastor commit suicide? Can a Christian commit suicide? Yes, I believe they can. Suicide is not the unpardonable sin. While suicide is wrong, Christians are not perfect. They are not immune from depression, pain, loss, mental illness, and other struggles of life. I believe in Eternal Security (John 5:24, etc.); if a person has truly trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, even in the case of suicide, they will go to Heaven. And I believe they will be embarrassed when they arrive. God is faithful, even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13). We are kept by the power of God, not by our own strength (Jude 1:24).
We should be careful not to be too judgmental. You never fully understand what the other person is going through. But God knows, loves us, and understands (Psalm 103:14). I know of an outstanding Christian man who was dying of a very painful condition. He committed suicide. While I can understand, sympathize, and I still look up to him, I nevertheless believe his suicide was wrong.
If you are a pastor or Christian minister - Realize you are not immune to struggles others endure. In some ways you may be more susceptible because of the stress in your life and ministry. You must, however, not only tell people how to live, but show them how to live and handle adversity.
Does the Bible speak against suicide?
Yes, at least indirectly.
You shall not murder. -Exodus 20:13.
Suicide is the murder of yourself.
Man in made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. -1 Corinthians 6:19
Suicide is often a spur of the moment decision.
If you can get someone to not commit suicide, they may not try to do so later.
I heard a counselor say years ago, if someone says they are considering suicide, ask them how they are going to do it. If they have a definite plan, they are in serious danger. If they don’t have a plan, they may not be all that serious (but this is not always true!; just a rule of thumb).
Another special concern is if a person begins giving away their most prized possessions.
For someone considering suicide:
1. Stay close to your support system, or create one.
Family
Friends
Church
Relationship to Jesus
Read the Bible (there is good reason why so many old saints start their day by reading God‘s Word; Psalm 119:50), pray, listen to good Christian music.
Read good Christian literature.
Read Happiness is a Choice by Minirth & Meier (both M.D.s); and Melissa: A Father’s Lessons From a Daughter’s Suicide by Frank Page.
2. Realize your situation is temporary and will change.
Some have said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Sometimes we must learn to weather the storm.
3. Seek help.
Seek help from a pastor, Christian friend, Christian psychologist, medical doctor, spouse, suicide hotline.
You do not, however, have to share your struggles with everyone.
Focus on the Family can direct you to a Christian psychologist near you. Many Baptist Associations, State Conventions, or churches can direct you to a good Christian Psychologist.
4. Realize depression is often normal.
Frequently after a big event, good or bad, we may go through a time of depression. On a slightly humorous note, pastors are usually depressed every Monday! Sometimes you need to remind yourself after what you’ve been through, that you would not be normal if you weren’t depressed for a time. Some of the most outstanding preachers have struggled with depression.
5. Clinical depression (very serious depression) needs the help of a professional.
Some mental or physical conditions need the help of a professional.
6. Do not isolate yourself.
Force yourself to go to church, get out around friends, get outside, go to the store, start a garden, volunteer…
7. Remove any temptations you may have toward suicide.
Guns, poison, pills, etc.
8. Think of all the people you will seriously hurt by your suicide.
9. Consider the bad example you would set if you gave in to suicide.
10. Realize you really have no right to take your own life.
11. Take care of the basics:
Plenty of sleep; R&R, rest and relaxation, whatever you find fun and relaxing; eat and drink right, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables; moderate exercise. Also, take care of the basic responsibilities of life.
12. Develop something in your life you can seriously look forward to.
13. Get involved in helping others.
Get your mind off yourself and on others.
14. In the midst of your struggles, remind yourself often of the good and beautiful things of life (Philippians 4:8).
15. Learn to laugh.
Don’t take yourself too seriously (Proverbs 17:22).
If a friend or family member commits suicide:
1. Realize it is over and there is nothing you can do.
That is one of the most frustrating things about suicide.
2. As much as possible, try to get over it, and make your life the best and most productive it can be.
They are gone, but there is still much you can do in this life for others and for the Lord.
3. Leave the unknowns in the hands of God.
Trust Him to do what is right.
This is certainly not intended to be an exhaustive or professional paper on suicide. But hopefully it can answer some questions and offer a little help. May God help us to end well.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, June 10, AD 2015.
Can a pastor commit suicide? Can a Christian commit suicide? Yes, I believe they can. Suicide is not the unpardonable sin. While suicide is wrong, Christians are not perfect. They are not immune from depression, pain, loss, mental illness, and other struggles of life. I believe in Eternal Security (John 5:24, etc.); if a person has truly trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, even in the case of suicide, they will go to Heaven. And I believe they will be embarrassed when they arrive. God is faithful, even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13). We are kept by the power of God, not by our own strength (Jude 1:24).
We should be careful not to be too judgmental. You never fully understand what the other person is going through. But God knows, loves us, and understands (Psalm 103:14). I know of an outstanding Christian man who was dying of a very painful condition. He committed suicide. While I can understand, sympathize, and I still look up to him, I nevertheless believe his suicide was wrong.
If you are a pastor or Christian minister - Realize you are not immune to struggles others endure. In some ways you may be more susceptible because of the stress in your life and ministry. You must, however, not only tell people how to live, but show them how to live and handle adversity.
Does the Bible speak against suicide?
Yes, at least indirectly.
You shall not murder. -Exodus 20:13.
Suicide is the murder of yourself.
Man in made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. -1 Corinthians 6:19
Suicide is often a spur of the moment decision.
If you can get someone to not commit suicide, they may not try to do so later.
I heard a counselor say years ago, if someone says they are considering suicide, ask them how they are going to do it. If they have a definite plan, they are in serious danger. If they don’t have a plan, they may not be all that serious (but this is not always true!; just a rule of thumb).
Another special concern is if a person begins giving away their most prized possessions.
For someone considering suicide:
1. Stay close to your support system, or create one.
Family
Friends
Church
Relationship to Jesus
Read the Bible (there is good reason why so many old saints start their day by reading God‘s Word; Psalm 119:50), pray, listen to good Christian music.
Read good Christian literature.
Read Happiness is a Choice by Minirth & Meier (both M.D.s); and Melissa: A Father’s Lessons From a Daughter’s Suicide by Frank Page.
2. Realize your situation is temporary and will change.
Some have said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Sometimes we must learn to weather the storm.
3. Seek help.
Seek help from a pastor, Christian friend, Christian psychologist, medical doctor, spouse, suicide hotline.
You do not, however, have to share your struggles with everyone.
Focus on the Family can direct you to a Christian psychologist near you. Many Baptist Associations, State Conventions, or churches can direct you to a good Christian Psychologist.
4. Realize depression is often normal.
Frequently after a big event, good or bad, we may go through a time of depression. On a slightly humorous note, pastors are usually depressed every Monday! Sometimes you need to remind yourself after what you’ve been through, that you would not be normal if you weren’t depressed for a time. Some of the most outstanding preachers have struggled with depression.
5. Clinical depression (very serious depression) needs the help of a professional.
Some mental or physical conditions need the help of a professional.
6. Do not isolate yourself.
Force yourself to go to church, get out around friends, get outside, go to the store, start a garden, volunteer…
7. Remove any temptations you may have toward suicide.
Guns, poison, pills, etc.
8. Think of all the people you will seriously hurt by your suicide.
9. Consider the bad example you would set if you gave in to suicide.
10. Realize you really have no right to take your own life.
11. Take care of the basics:
Plenty of sleep; R&R, rest and relaxation, whatever you find fun and relaxing; eat and drink right, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables; moderate exercise. Also, take care of the basic responsibilities of life.
12. Develop something in your life you can seriously look forward to.
13. Get involved in helping others.
Get your mind off yourself and on others.
14. In the midst of your struggles, remind yourself often of the good and beautiful things of life (Philippians 4:8).
15. Learn to laugh.
Don’t take yourself too seriously (Proverbs 17:22).
If a friend or family member commits suicide:
1. Realize it is over and there is nothing you can do.
That is one of the most frustrating things about suicide.
2. As much as possible, try to get over it, and make your life the best and most productive it can be.
They are gone, but there is still much you can do in this life for others and for the Lord.
3. Leave the unknowns in the hands of God.
Trust Him to do what is right.
This is certainly not intended to be an exhaustive or professional paper on suicide. But hopefully it can answer some questions and offer a little help. May God help us to end well.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, June 10, AD 2015.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Soul Sleep Is Unbiblical; Part 2 of 2
Body Without The Spirit Is Dead
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. -James 2:26 (see also Ecclesiastes 12:7). The body is buried in the grave, the spirit goes to Heaven to be with the Lord. As 2 Corinthians 5:8 teaches, absent from the body, present with the Lord.
Eternal Life / Everlasting Life
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. -Jesus; John 5:24
Everlasting life is not a picture of unconscious existence, but of conscious, abundant life with God that lasts forever.
In referring to 1 John 5:11-13 and eternal life, Walter Martin says,
“In the grammar and context of this passage eternal life is the present possession of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and if the term eternal life does not include conscious fellowship then the whole New Testament meaning is destroyed.” -Walter R. Martin, Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany Fellowship; 1977.
Shall Never Die
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” -John 11:25-26
Eternal life and “shall never die” speak of the believer never being separated from God.
Spiritual death is when a person is separated from God. How can you call it eternal life, if you are separated from God in the grave until the resurrection? Soul sleep sounds more like spiritual death than spiritual life and eternal life.
Today In Paradise
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” -Luke 23:43
Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross sounds a little hollow if it only meant an unconscious 2,000 year sleep. Implied is you will consciously be with Me today in Paradise.
I Commend My Spirit
And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. -Luke 23:46
This picture does not seem to align with Jesus being unconscious for the next three days.
Jesus Standing At The Right Hand Of God
55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” -Acts 7:55-56, 59
The picture is Jesus standing to receive the first martyr of the Christian faith. This glorious scene seems disappointing if only Stephen’s unconscious soul made it to Heaven; or, as some believe, his soul was destroyed to only be recreated in the far, distant future.
Whether We Wake Or Sleep
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. -1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
Whether we are alive or dead, we will live with Jesus Christ. Living with Christ does not seem to match up with sleeping for centuries.
Death Cannot Separate Us
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39
Would 2,000 years of unconscious existence count as being separated from God?
I Saw The Souls
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. -Revelation 6:9-11
Apostle John saw the souls of those martyred. What were they doing at this particular time? Speaking to the Lord about judgment. And they were spoken to. Not a picture of unconscious existence.
Elijah Goes Straight To Heaven
Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. -2 Kings 2:11
Strongly implied is that Elijah consciously went straight to heaven.
Departure
The time of my departure is at hand. -2 Timothy 4:6
Paul was facing death. He is about to depart, leave his body behind to be with the Lord. His spirit was not going to sleep with his lifeless body, but depart to Heaven.
If Our Earthly Body Is Destroyed
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
-2 Corinthians 5:1
The picture is of the Christian’s conscious life continuing uninterrupted after death.
These are some of the reasons most Baptists, and Christians in general, reject the concept of soul sleep and believe that upon the death of a Christian, the body sleeps and returns to dust, the spirit goes immediately and consciously to Heaven to be with the Lord.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, May 12, AD 2015.
Soul Sleep Is Unbiblical; Part 1 of 2
Our First Great Sorrow
Basic Baptist Doctrines / Beliefs
The Roman Road of Salvation
More articles in lower right margin.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Soul Sleep Is Unbiblical; Part 1 of 2
Soul Sleep is the belief when a Christian dies, the soul sleeps until the resurrection. The soul is in an unconscious state until the resurrection.
Some have said the soul sleeps with the body; others have said the soul goes to Heaven, but is unconscious. Or even that the soul is destroyed at death and later recreated by God.
There are verses that may seem to indicate Soul Sleep. For example:
5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes “under the sun.” In other words, without God in the picture and as though this life was all there was to life. In that sense, this passage is true. But Solomon concludes this book acknowledging God, and that life has no real meaning and satisfaction apart from God (Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1, 13-14).
Another way to put it is that a dead body doesn’t know anything because, when a person dies, the body sleeps in the grave, the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The New Testament uses the word “sleep” as a symbol of death. A doctrine should not be developed from a figure of speech. The body sleeps, but the spirit goes to be with the Lord.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 4:14
Notice those who are departed believers are with the Lord now, and at the Rapture / Return of Christ, God will bring with Him those whose bodies are asleep. At that time they will be reunited with their resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Scripture gives strong evidence against Soul Sleep:
Absent From The Body, Present With The Lord
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. -2 Corinthians 5:8
Notice there is no hint of an unconscious state, but we will immediately be present with the Lord.
Death Is Gain
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. -Philippians 1:21, 23
Why would death be gain for the Apostle Paul if he has now been in an unconscious state for 2,000 years? How can death be far better, if it only means unconsciousness for centuries? Rather, when a Christian dies they are immediately and consciously in the presence of the Lord, and that is great gain.
Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. -Luke 16:22-23
I am among those who do not believe the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable. It does not have characteristics of a parable, and does not say it is a parable. Unlike parables, it names one of the individuals. Scripture presents it as a real, literal story.
The Rich Man died, was buried, and was in torment in Hell. Lazarus was immediately in Abraham’s bosom, Paradise. In this story both the Rich Man and Lazarus are presented as being conscious immediately after death.
Mount of Transfiguration
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. -Matthew 17:3
And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. -Mark 9:4
30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. -Luke 9:30-31
Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) had long since departed this earth - yet here in New Testament times they were not sleeping or unconscious. They were alive and well, and speaking with Jesus about his coming sacrificial death.
Not God of the Dead, But of the Living
31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” -Matthew 22:31-32
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.” -Mark 12:27
For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him. -Luke 20:38
The body may be dead, the soul, spirit is alive.
Definition of Death
According to the Bible, death is not ceasing to exist. It is not annihilation. According to the Bible, death is separation.
To be spiritually dead, simply means to be separated from God.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they immediately died, spiritually.
They did not cease to exist. They still walked, talked, breathed. They still could hear the voice of God.
But they were spiritually separated from God.
To be physically dead, does not mean you cease to exist. It does not mean you are annihilated. It does not mean you know nothing or are unconscious.
To be physically dead simply means you, your soul, spirit, are separated from your body. The spirit, the real you, is separated from the physical body.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, May 11, AD 2015.
Soul Sleep Is Unbiblical; Part 2 of 2
More articles in lower right margin.
Some have said the soul sleeps with the body; others have said the soul goes to Heaven, but is unconscious. Or even that the soul is destroyed at death and later recreated by God.
There are verses that may seem to indicate Soul Sleep. For example:
5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes “under the sun.” In other words, without God in the picture and as though this life was all there was to life. In that sense, this passage is true. But Solomon concludes this book acknowledging God, and that life has no real meaning and satisfaction apart from God (Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1, 13-14).
Another way to put it is that a dead body doesn’t know anything because, when a person dies, the body sleeps in the grave, the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The New Testament uses the word “sleep” as a symbol of death. A doctrine should not be developed from a figure of speech. The body sleeps, but the spirit goes to be with the Lord.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 4:14
Notice those who are departed believers are with the Lord now, and at the Rapture / Return of Christ, God will bring with Him those whose bodies are asleep. At that time they will be reunited with their resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Scripture gives strong evidence against Soul Sleep:
Absent From The Body, Present With The Lord
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. -2 Corinthians 5:8
Notice there is no hint of an unconscious state, but we will immediately be present with the Lord.
Death Is Gain
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. -Philippians 1:21, 23
Why would death be gain for the Apostle Paul if he has now been in an unconscious state for 2,000 years? How can death be far better, if it only means unconsciousness for centuries? Rather, when a Christian dies they are immediately and consciously in the presence of the Lord, and that is great gain.
Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. -Luke 16:22-23
I am among those who do not believe the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable. It does not have characteristics of a parable, and does not say it is a parable. Unlike parables, it names one of the individuals. Scripture presents it as a real, literal story.
The Rich Man died, was buried, and was in torment in Hell. Lazarus was immediately in Abraham’s bosom, Paradise. In this story both the Rich Man and Lazarus are presented as being conscious immediately after death.
Mount of Transfiguration
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. -Matthew 17:3
And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. -Mark 9:4
30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. -Luke 9:30-31
Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) had long since departed this earth - yet here in New Testament times they were not sleeping or unconscious. They were alive and well, and speaking with Jesus about his coming sacrificial death.
Not God of the Dead, But of the Living
31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” -Matthew 22:31-32
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.” -Mark 12:27
For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him. -Luke 20:38
The body may be dead, the soul, spirit is alive.
Definition of Death
According to the Bible, death is not ceasing to exist. It is not annihilation. According to the Bible, death is separation.
To be spiritually dead, simply means to be separated from God.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they immediately died, spiritually.
They did not cease to exist. They still walked, talked, breathed. They still could hear the voice of God.
But they were spiritually separated from God.
To be physically dead, does not mean you cease to exist. It does not mean you are annihilated. It does not mean you know nothing or are unconscious.
To be physically dead simply means you, your soul, spirit, are separated from your body. The spirit, the real you, is separated from the physical body.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, May 11, AD 2015.
Soul Sleep Is Unbiblical; Part 2 of 2
More articles in lower right margin.
Monday, April 13, 2015
The Problem With Drunk Preachers
In 1886 in the Tennessee Baptist a preacher wrote of years before seeing a Baptist pastor drunk in the pulpit. So intoxicated he could not stand alone and had to hold on to the pulpit. His speech was difficult to understand. When the church tried to discipline him he declared he was not drunk because he did not fall down. He reproved them for being judgmental and said if he was disciplined he would expose the sins of other church members. The minister was not punished and according to the writer the church eventually died of strong drink. (-from Liquor in the Land of the Lost Cause by Joe L. Coker)
Such common abuse of alcohol is one reason Baptists, Methodists, and others began to speak against “distilled damnation” in the late 1700s and early 1800s. When you condone moderate drinking of alcohol, you have more immoderate drinking of alcohol.
Moderate drinking, is moderate intoxication. Many have pointed out moderate drinking is not the solution to drunkenness, it is the cause of drunkenness. That was true two hundred years ago, and it is true today.
Today many young pastors are being told the Bible condones moderate drinking of alcohol. In other words, it’s perfectly fine for even a preacher to partake of a recreational, mind altering drug. Yet, when moderate recreational drugs are accepted, it often leads to immoderate recreational drugs.
Today when Christian convictions against drinking are weakening, do we really have a problem with intoxicated preachers? Yes. For example, in his 2010 book Church Planter, Acts 29 pastor Darrin Patrick laments the significant problem of drunk preachers today:
“As I coach and mentor church planters and pastors, I am shocked at the number of them who are either addicted or headed toward addiction to alcohol. Increasingly, the same is true with prescription drugs. One pastor I know could not relax without several beers after work and could not sleep without the aid of a sleeping pill.”
For good reason, for well over 100 years, Southern Baptists and many other believers, have opposed the use of alcohol.
It is past time that believers return to the safest, sanest, most biblical conviction of opposing all use of beverage alcohol. Stay away from it. As Proverbs 23:29 says, don’t even look at it. Have nothing to do with it, and you will save yourself and others from a world of heartache.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, April 13, AD 2015.
For more information see the books:
Ancient Wine and the Bible by Brumbelow
Alcohol Today by Lumpkins
Articles:
2006 SBC Resolution on Alcohol Use in America
Deuteronomy 14:26 - Does it Commend Alcohol?
Acts 29, Alcohol, and the Southern Baptist Convention
B. H. Carroll on Pastors and Alcohol
Dr. R. L. Sumner on "Ancient Wine and the Bible"
Wine for Your Stomach's Sake; 1 Timothy 5:23
Other articles in lower right hand margin under Gulf Coast Pastor Articles (Labels).
Such common abuse of alcohol is one reason Baptists, Methodists, and others began to speak against “distilled damnation” in the late 1700s and early 1800s. When you condone moderate drinking of alcohol, you have more immoderate drinking of alcohol.
Moderate drinking, is moderate intoxication. Many have pointed out moderate drinking is not the solution to drunkenness, it is the cause of drunkenness. That was true two hundred years ago, and it is true today.
Today many young pastors are being told the Bible condones moderate drinking of alcohol. In other words, it’s perfectly fine for even a preacher to partake of a recreational, mind altering drug. Yet, when moderate recreational drugs are accepted, it often leads to immoderate recreational drugs.
Today when Christian convictions against drinking are weakening, do we really have a problem with intoxicated preachers? Yes. For example, in his 2010 book Church Planter, Acts 29 pastor Darrin Patrick laments the significant problem of drunk preachers today:
“As I coach and mentor church planters and pastors, I am shocked at the number of them who are either addicted or headed toward addiction to alcohol. Increasingly, the same is true with prescription drugs. One pastor I know could not relax without several beers after work and could not sleep without the aid of a sleeping pill.”
For good reason, for well over 100 years, Southern Baptists and many other believers, have opposed the use of alcohol.
It is past time that believers return to the safest, sanest, most biblical conviction of opposing all use of beverage alcohol. Stay away from it. As Proverbs 23:29 says, don’t even look at it. Have nothing to do with it, and you will save yourself and others from a world of heartache.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, April 13, AD 2015.
For more information see the books:
Ancient Wine and the Bible by Brumbelow
Alcohol Today by Lumpkins
Articles:
2006 SBC Resolution on Alcohol Use in America
Deuteronomy 14:26 - Does it Commend Alcohol?
Acts 29, Alcohol, and the Southern Baptist Convention
B. H. Carroll on Pastors and Alcohol
Dr. R. L. Sumner on "Ancient Wine and the Bible"
Wine for Your Stomach's Sake; 1 Timothy 5:23
Other articles in lower right hand margin under Gulf Coast Pastor Articles (Labels).
Monday, March 16, 2015
God Let Me Be A Preacher; B. H. Carroll
"I magnify my office, O my God, as I get nearer home. I can say more truthfully every year, 'I thank God that He put me in this office;' I thank Him that He would not let me have any other; that He shut me up to this glorious work; and when I get home among the blessed on the bank of the everlasting deliverance and look back toward time and all of its clouds and sorrows, and pains, and privations, I expect to stand up and shout for joy that down here in the fog and mists, down here in the dust and struggle, God let me be a preacher. I magnify my office in life; I magnify it in death; I magnify it in heaven; I magnify it, whether poor, or rich, whether sick or well, whether strong or weak, anywhere, everywhere, among all people, in any crowd. Lord God, I am glad that I am a preacher, that I am a preacher of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.”
-B. H. Carroll, Belton, Texas; 1892. Carroll (AD 1843-1914), was a pastor and founding president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I recall Evangelist Tom Clawson printing this statement by B. H. Carroll and handing it out at a state convention.
My dad, Joe Brumbelow, used to say he would not step down from the office of pastor to be the president of the United States of America.
Pastors, remember your high calling.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 16, AD 2015.
How To Keep Your Pastor
Random Advice to Pastors, Part 1
The Girl Who Saved His Ministry
How to Get a Life When Ministry Drains it Out of You
More articles in lower right margin.
-B. H. Carroll, Belton, Texas; 1892. Carroll (AD 1843-1914), was a pastor and founding president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I recall Evangelist Tom Clawson printing this statement by B. H. Carroll and handing it out at a state convention.
My dad, Joe Brumbelow, used to say he would not step down from the office of pastor to be the president of the United States of America.
Pastors, remember your high calling.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 16, AD 2015.
How To Keep Your Pastor
Random Advice to Pastors, Part 1
The Girl Who Saved His Ministry
How to Get a Life When Ministry Drains it Out of You
More articles in lower right margin.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Driving A Water Well
Recently I came across an old magazine with an article I had written; thought someone might enjoy it. The following article was published in Countryside & Small Stock Journal, vol. 81 No. 3, May/June, 1997.
Driving a Well: It Really Works!
by David R. Brumbelow, Highlands, Texas
February 9, 1996 was an important day for me. That is the day we drove a water well on our property in Brazoria County, Texas.
I have been slowly making improvements to the property for the last three years or so. I first got the idea of driving the well from Countryside. I also got more information from the Lehman’s catalog. I had never personally known of anyone who had driven their own well.
I ordered a pitcher pump from Lehman’s (Box 41, Dept 2-KGB, Kidron, OH 44626; they can also be ordered from many local hardware stores), and bought 1-¼” galvanized pipe from a pipe company in Baytown near where I live. I also ordered the special drive cap and couplings from Lehman’s. The well point was purchased at Lowe’s in Baytown. I had the pipe cut into 10’ and 5’ lengths and threaded at the hardware store in Brazoria. I had them put more threads on the pipe than normal so the drive cap would screw all the way down to the top. That way when we drove the pipe into the ground, the force of the blows would be on the pipe itself rather than the threads.
My brother, Mark, borrowed a driver. It was just like a T-post (steel fence post) driver except much larger. It had handles on each side and was made from 4” pipe. It weighed 53 pounds.
The property has a creek running through it that will dry up in the summer. We had a bulldozer dig a small pond out of the creek bed. I selected the site of the well about 20 yards from the pond and near a small ditch that runs into the pond.
We began on the big day, February 9. I’m single, but I had the help of Mark, his son Daniel, and my Dad, Joe Brumbelow. We began by digging a post hole several feet deep. We then put Teflon tape on the threads of the well point and added a coupling and a 10 foot length of pipe. The drive cap screwed down on top of the pipe.
The length was a little difficult to work with. (I was trying to save on couplings.) To begin driving the pipe we had to climb a step ladder with the 53 pound driver. It was hard work but the pipe went down pretty good. A lighter driver would have been more work in the long run.
When we got the 10 foot section down we unscrewed the drive cap and were surprised that there was no damage to the threads of the pipe. The extra threads and the drive cap really work! (I recommend you buy the coupling and drive camp from Lehman’s since they are made especially for this purpose.) we added Teflon tape, another coupling, a five foot section of pipe and the cap. I backed up my pickup truck and drove the pipe for a while standing on the tailgate.
After we got this section of pipe down a couple of feet we decided to check for water. A small bolt (for weight) was tied on a cord and let down the pipe. When we brought it back up it was wet.
The pitcher pump was screwed on top of the pipe and the pump primed. After pumping for a few seconds muddy water began to pour out. A couple more minutes and the water cleared up. We then took off the pump, added the drive cap, and drove the pipe down another foot or so to where the pump would be at a comfortable level.
We then took a generator and air compressor to “blow out” the well. The theory is that by forcing air down the pipe you create a cavity at the bottom of the well where water can collect. We put the air hose in the pipe and duct taped the opening closed. We ran air down the pipe for several minutes. When it was taken out air rushed out of the pipe. You could then put your ear to the pipe and hear water flowing and splashing back into the cavity. We added a sack of concrete to stabilize the top of the pipe.
By this time my mother, Bonnie, and Mark’s wife, Cherry, and other son, Micah, had joined us. Driving your first well and hitting water is exciting. We all pumped a lot of water that day just for fun.
The entire project took about three hours. The well ended up 16’ deep (including the 3’ well point). Later we poured a half gallon of bleach into the pipe and left it for 24 hours to disinfect the well. The water has been checked and is clean and pure. The taste isn’t all that great but some wells in our area that are 200-300 feet deep are also lacking on taste.
We have used it often since then and it has never run dry. If it ever does, it should be a fairly simple matter to drive the well a few feet deeper.
I eventually plan to put an electric pump on the well when we get a house and electricity there. We like the pitcher pump so much, however, that when that time comes we will probably drive another shallow well just for it.
Note: have a couple of good pipe wrenches with you and remember to use a back-up when you unscrew the cap or the pump; otherwise you might unscrew the pipe underground from the well point or the coupling.
What happens if you don’t hit water? You will still gain a lot of experience, and with some effort the pipe can be pulled. We had a good location plus I did some praying about the project. I happen to be a pastor and as I sometimes joke, “If a Baptist preacher can do it, anybody can!”
Why not try it yourself? Thanks to Countryside for giving me the idea in the first place.
*******
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 12, AD 2015.
Note: a link to Lehman’s is in the right hand margin.
The Roman Road of Salvation
More articles in lower right margin.
Driving a Well: It Really Works!
by David R. Brumbelow, Highlands, Texas
February 9, 1996 was an important day for me. That is the day we drove a water well on our property in Brazoria County, Texas.
I have been slowly making improvements to the property for the last three years or so. I first got the idea of driving the well from Countryside. I also got more information from the Lehman’s catalog. I had never personally known of anyone who had driven their own well.
I ordered a pitcher pump from Lehman’s (Box 41, Dept 2-KGB, Kidron, OH 44626; they can also be ordered from many local hardware stores), and bought 1-¼” galvanized pipe from a pipe company in Baytown near where I live. I also ordered the special drive cap and couplings from Lehman’s. The well point was purchased at Lowe’s in Baytown. I had the pipe cut into 10’ and 5’ lengths and threaded at the hardware store in Brazoria. I had them put more threads on the pipe than normal so the drive cap would screw all the way down to the top. That way when we drove the pipe into the ground, the force of the blows would be on the pipe itself rather than the threads.
My brother, Mark, borrowed a driver. It was just like a T-post (steel fence post) driver except much larger. It had handles on each side and was made from 4” pipe. It weighed 53 pounds.
The property has a creek running through it that will dry up in the summer. We had a bulldozer dig a small pond out of the creek bed. I selected the site of the well about 20 yards from the pond and near a small ditch that runs into the pond.
We began on the big day, February 9. I’m single, but I had the help of Mark, his son Daniel, and my Dad, Joe Brumbelow. We began by digging a post hole several feet deep. We then put Teflon tape on the threads of the well point and added a coupling and a 10 foot length of pipe. The drive cap screwed down on top of the pipe.
The length was a little difficult to work with. (I was trying to save on couplings.) To begin driving the pipe we had to climb a step ladder with the 53 pound driver. It was hard work but the pipe went down pretty good. A lighter driver would have been more work in the long run.
When we got the 10 foot section down we unscrewed the drive cap and were surprised that there was no damage to the threads of the pipe. The extra threads and the drive cap really work! (I recommend you buy the coupling and drive camp from Lehman’s since they are made especially for this purpose.) we added Teflon tape, another coupling, a five foot section of pipe and the cap. I backed up my pickup truck and drove the pipe for a while standing on the tailgate.
After we got this section of pipe down a couple of feet we decided to check for water. A small bolt (for weight) was tied on a cord and let down the pipe. When we brought it back up it was wet.
The pitcher pump was screwed on top of the pipe and the pump primed. After pumping for a few seconds muddy water began to pour out. A couple more minutes and the water cleared up. We then took off the pump, added the drive cap, and drove the pipe down another foot or so to where the pump would be at a comfortable level.
We then took a generator and air compressor to “blow out” the well. The theory is that by forcing air down the pipe you create a cavity at the bottom of the well where water can collect. We put the air hose in the pipe and duct taped the opening closed. We ran air down the pipe for several minutes. When it was taken out air rushed out of the pipe. You could then put your ear to the pipe and hear water flowing and splashing back into the cavity. We added a sack of concrete to stabilize the top of the pipe.
By this time my mother, Bonnie, and Mark’s wife, Cherry, and other son, Micah, had joined us. Driving your first well and hitting water is exciting. We all pumped a lot of water that day just for fun.
The entire project took about three hours. The well ended up 16’ deep (including the 3’ well point). Later we poured a half gallon of bleach into the pipe and left it for 24 hours to disinfect the well. The water has been checked and is clean and pure. The taste isn’t all that great but some wells in our area that are 200-300 feet deep are also lacking on taste.
We have used it often since then and it has never run dry. If it ever does, it should be a fairly simple matter to drive the well a few feet deeper.
I eventually plan to put an electric pump on the well when we get a house and electricity there. We like the pitcher pump so much, however, that when that time comes we will probably drive another shallow well just for it.
Note: have a couple of good pipe wrenches with you and remember to use a back-up when you unscrew the cap or the pump; otherwise you might unscrew the pipe underground from the well point or the coupling.
What happens if you don’t hit water? You will still gain a lot of experience, and with some effort the pipe can be pulled. We had a good location plus I did some praying about the project. I happen to be a pastor and as I sometimes joke, “If a Baptist preacher can do it, anybody can!”
Why not try it yourself? Thanks to Countryside for giving me the idea in the first place.
*******
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 12, AD 2015.
Note: a link to Lehman’s is in the right hand margin.
The Roman Road of Salvation
More articles in lower right margin.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Bob Jones, Sr. on Wine, Alcohol, Christian Drinking
Bob Jones, Sr. (AD 1883-1968) was an evangelist, author, and founding president of Bob Jones University (established in 1927). His father was a Methodist, his mother a Primitive Baptist; some say he split the difference.
Bob Jones’ early days were Methodist, then more nondenominational. He drew great crowds as an evangelist and it is estimated tens of thousands came to Christ through his preaching. Jones was a pioneer in radio preaching. His sermons were featured in John R. Rice’s Sword of the Lord.
Following are some of Bob Jones, Sr.’s comments on alcohol:
Jesus Turning Water to Wine
“Well you know He always had good wine and He’s talking about the fruit of the vine, not the intoxicating stuff that makes folks get drunk.
I know enough about Jesus to know what He made that day was not that kind.
They weren’t drunk either. They weren’t drunk.
They’d been drinking that wine then and this occasion I don’t think there’d been a drunken party that would have invited Jesus. They knew something about the Son of God and His mother was there, they were good people.”
-Bob Jones, Sr., Thou Hast Kept the Good Wine, John 2:1-11 (audio).
“We should love sinners, but hate sin. It is all right to love gamblers, but we ought to hate gambling. We should love drunken ‘bums’ and pity them, but we should hate the liquor traffic.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“It is wonderful when God saves a drunkard which He sometimes does, but it is more wonderful still when God saves little children before they become drunkards, libertines, and degenerates.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“A man who had been married for a few months came home one night intoxicated. The young wife met him at the door and shrank back from her drunken husband, and began to sob out her heart. ‘What are you crying about?’ he asked. ‘You made me a drunkard. I was born with the appetite for whisky in my blood. My father died drunk when I was a little child. At my father’s coffin my mother made me hold my right hand up to God and swear I would never touch a drop. When we became engaged you stood at the punch-bowl and gave me my first drink. The appetite for whiskey woke up in my blood. I have been drinking secretly but periodically ever since. Yes, I am a drunkard. I am on my way to hell, and when I get there I will curse you for damning me.’ Men are not drunkards by accident. Every drunkard that ever staggered down a city street or traveled a country road was made a drunkard by somebody.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“Suppose I should run down a street in this town with a jug of whisky in one hand and a grindstone under the other arm. Suppose I say to my self, ‘Now. I ought not to have this jug of whisky. It is a sin to carry this jug of liquor. It is wrong. I am going to throw it down.’ I throw the jug of liquor down. But I have the grindstone. I say, ‘I will carry the grindstone; there is nothing wrong with that.’ The jug of liquor is a sin. The grindstone is a fault.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Things I Have Learned; 1944 (on Hebrews 12:1-2).
[More quotes may be published here later.]
Bob Jones, Sr. (and many other Christian leaders past and present) never believed Jesus made or drank alcoholic wine. Much of the wine mentioned in Scripture is unfermented wine.
For a defense of this view see the following books:
Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence by Peter Lumpkins.
Ancient Wine and the Bible: The Case for Abstinence by David R. Brumbelow
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 10, AD 2015.
More Articles (Labels) in lower right margin.
Bob Jones’ early days were Methodist, then more nondenominational. He drew great crowds as an evangelist and it is estimated tens of thousands came to Christ through his preaching. Jones was a pioneer in radio preaching. His sermons were featured in John R. Rice’s Sword of the Lord.
Following are some of Bob Jones, Sr.’s comments on alcohol:
Jesus Turning Water to Wine
“Well you know He always had good wine and He’s talking about the fruit of the vine, not the intoxicating stuff that makes folks get drunk.
I know enough about Jesus to know what He made that day was not that kind.
They weren’t drunk either. They weren’t drunk.
They’d been drinking that wine then and this occasion I don’t think there’d been a drunken party that would have invited Jesus. They knew something about the Son of God and His mother was there, they were good people.”
-Bob Jones, Sr., Thou Hast Kept the Good Wine, John 2:1-11 (audio).
“We should love sinners, but hate sin. It is all right to love gamblers, but we ought to hate gambling. We should love drunken ‘bums’ and pity them, but we should hate the liquor traffic.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“It is wonderful when God saves a drunkard which He sometimes does, but it is more wonderful still when God saves little children before they become drunkards, libertines, and degenerates.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“A man who had been married for a few months came home one night intoxicated. The young wife met him at the door and shrank back from her drunken husband, and began to sob out her heart. ‘What are you crying about?’ he asked. ‘You made me a drunkard. I was born with the appetite for whisky in my blood. My father died drunk when I was a little child. At my father’s coffin my mother made me hold my right hand up to God and swear I would never touch a drop. When we became engaged you stood at the punch-bowl and gave me my first drink. The appetite for whiskey woke up in my blood. I have been drinking secretly but periodically ever since. Yes, I am a drunkard. I am on my way to hell, and when I get there I will curse you for damning me.’ Men are not drunkards by accident. Every drunkard that ever staggered down a city street or traveled a country road was made a drunkard by somebody.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942.
“Suppose I should run down a street in this town with a jug of whisky in one hand and a grindstone under the other arm. Suppose I say to my self, ‘Now. I ought not to have this jug of whisky. It is a sin to carry this jug of liquor. It is wrong. I am going to throw it down.’ I throw the jug of liquor down. But I have the grindstone. I say, ‘I will carry the grindstone; there is nothing wrong with that.’ The jug of liquor is a sin. The grindstone is a fault.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Things I Have Learned; 1944 (on Hebrews 12:1-2).
[More quotes may be published here later.]
Bob Jones, Sr. (and many other Christian leaders past and present) never believed Jesus made or drank alcoholic wine. Much of the wine mentioned in Scripture is unfermented wine.
For a defense of this view see the following books:
Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence by Peter Lumpkins.
Ancient Wine and the Bible: The Case for Abstinence by David R. Brumbelow
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 10, AD 2015.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Ancient Wine and the Bible - the Book; update
“Addresses the subject with keen logic, a grasp of history, and thorough exegesis of biblical literature.”
-Foreword by Dr. Paige Patterson, President, SWBTS.
* Numerous quotes from ancient and modern authorities
* Examines ancient wine recipes, practices, and preservation.
* Study of controversial Bible passages.
* Chapter of quotes, stories, illustrations.
* Documents ancient methods of preserving unfermented wine.
Need the answer to the tough questions about drinking, alcohol, and the Bible? Find those answers here.
What people are saying about Ancient Wine and the Bible:
“I know of no definitive work offered today that does what Brumbelow does in his book. It is scholarly, sound and makes for an irrefutable argument in favor of abstaining from alcoholic beverages. I believe every pastor ought to have a copy.”
-Mark Creech, president, American Council on Addiction & Alcohol Problems (ACAAP).
“David, THANK YOU for your superb work entitled, Ancient Wine and the Bible. On several of my 41 trips to Israel I have talked with scholars about the subject and my research…confirms your splendid book. The subject needs to be addressed and you have done it masterfully."
-Nelson L. Price, Pastor Emeritus, Roswell Street Baptist Church, GA; president of SBC Pastor’s Conference and Georgia Baptist Convention; BSU president
Destroys “myth that the ancients had no way of preserving grape juice…I happily, enthusiastically, earnestly, wholeheartedly recommend Ancient Wine and the Bible to every pastor, teacher, evangelist, deacon and humble Christian in America. It will be a good investment paying rich dividends in the days ahead.”
-Dr. R. L. Sumner, Editor, The Biblical Evangelist.
“David R. Brumbelow's passionate plea for abstinence from alcoholic drink needs to be heard attentively in our day.”
- Dr. Daniel R. Sanchez, Professor of Missions, SWBTS
“David Brumbelow has done the Church of Jesus Christ a great service by penning Ancient Wine and the Bible…This book couldn’t have come at a more opportune time…I urge all who take up this book to read it prayerfully and with a desire to understand what the Bible teaches on this serious matter.”
-Pastor Gary Small, Liberty Fundamental Baptist Church, Lynden, Washington 98264.
“A masterful job explaining the times and customs of Bible days and the scriptural use of the word ‘wine.’”
-Pastor Jeff Schreve, First Baptist Church, Texarkana, TX.
“Left no stone unturned…Comprehensive and thoroughly researched, Ancient Wine and the Bible deserves to be read, considered and heeded.”
-Mrs. John (Alice) Hatch, pastor’s wife and mother of three girls.
“Hip Christianity may make the appeal for the use of alcohol as a witnessing tool, but David Brumbelow’s exhaustive research presents a powerful case for abstinence. I commend him for taking an unpopular stand against a popular practice.”
-Dr. Jim Richards, Executive Director, SBTC.
"With the clarity, logic, and thoroughness, an outstanding attorney uses to prepare a brief in a major lawsuit, David Brumbelow approaches the question of drinking alcoholic beverages from a Biblical point of view. This work is outstanding. I recommend it strongly. The upcoming generations need to know the havoc brought on our society and upon individuals by the use of alcohol. If we use it ourselves, we recommend its use to others. A Christian should not exercise his freedom to put himself and others at such a risk.”
-Judge H. Paul Pressler, Justice for the 14th Court of Appeals, Houston, TX.
*******
Author David R. Brumbelow is a pastor and graduate of ETBU and SWBTS. He has previously authored a book about his dad, The Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow.
How to Order Ancient Wine and the Bible: The Case for Abstinence
Order from your local bookstore
Order from Free Church Press
Order from amazon.com
Order from Barnes & Noble
Order from Cokesbury
Order from LifeWay
Order from Christianbook
And many others. Or order a signed copy of Ancient Wine and the Bible directly from:
David R. Brumbelow, P.O. Box 300, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566 USA. $21 postpaid.
Ancient Wine and the Bible is 304 pages, contains over 400 reference notes (endnotes), and is published by Free Church Press.
Makes a great gift for your pastor, youth minister, student, Sunday School teacher, professor, anyone interested in this subject.
Makes a great gift to a Church or School Library.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, March 9, AD 2015.
Note: No comments at this post.
Other Articles:
Dr. R. L. Sumner on "Ancient Wine and the Bible"
Deuteronomy 14:26 - Does it Commend Alcohol?
SCRIPTURE INDEX for Ancient Wine and the Bible
Adrian Rogers on "Wit & Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow"
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The Doctrine Of The Trinity
The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important beliefs of Christianity. It is central to the Christian understanding of God. This doctrine is held by the large majority of Christianity.
An Explanation of the Trinity
“The doctrine of the Trinity is the belief that there is only one living and true God. Yet, the one God is three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three have distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. They enjoy eternal communion and are coeternal and coequal.” -Dr. Bill Gordon, NAMB
“This word [Trinity] does not appear in the Bible. But it is clear that the one God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Spirit (Matthew 28:19). It is a revealed doctrine, not one arrived at by human reasoning. Yet it submits itself to reason.”
-Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs, A Layman’s Handbook of Christian Doctrine, Broadman Press, Nashville; 1974.
Some misunderstand and say Christians believe in three Gods; they do not. The Bible makes it plain that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; 1 Timothy 2:5), yet He is revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No one can fully understand the details of the Trinity, but it is taught and revealed in Scripture. Besides, if a lowly human could understand all about God, He would not be God after all. God’s being and understanding are far beyond our understanding.
Scriptural Evidence for the Trinity (there is much more than what is listed here)
While the Bible does not use the term Trinity, it teaches the concept of the Trinity. (Neither does the Bible use other oft used Christian terms: missionary, evangelism, etc.)
1. Obviously, God the Father is God. Psalm 89:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 17; Romans 8:15.
2. Jesus, God the Son, is God. Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8 (Psalm 45:6-7); 2 Peter 1:1.
3. The Holy Spirit is God. Acts 5:3-4. The Bible gives characteristics to the Holy Spirit that only apply to God. Psalm 139:7-13; Luke 1:35; Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Hebrews 9:14.
The Bible describes the Father, Son, and Holy Sprit as distinct Persons.
Several passages speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same context. Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4- 6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; Titus 3:4-6.
Illustrations have been used to partially explain or represent the triune nature of God. While none are perfect, perhaps they can give you a hint of the Trinity:
A three leaf clover - it is one, yet three.
A man - he can be a son, a husband, a father.
Water - can be solid (ice), liquid (water), steam (vapor).
God
"There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being."
-Baptist Faith and Message, 2000, the doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention; full statement can be found at sbc.net.
“God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”
-Christian hymn Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber, Baptist Hymnal, 2008, LifeWay, Nashville, TN. Also in many other hymnals.
“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 28:19
For more information: Jesus Christ is God, and Fights I Didn’t Start and Some I Did (volume 1; great chapter on the deity of Jesus) by R. L. Sumner; biblicalevangelist.org.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 25, AD 2015.
More articles in lower right margin.
An Explanation of the Trinity
“The doctrine of the Trinity is the belief that there is only one living and true God. Yet, the one God is three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three have distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. They enjoy eternal communion and are coeternal and coequal.” -Dr. Bill Gordon, NAMB
“This word [Trinity] does not appear in the Bible. But it is clear that the one God reveals himself as Father, Son, and Spirit (Matthew 28:19). It is a revealed doctrine, not one arrived at by human reasoning. Yet it submits itself to reason.”
-Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs, A Layman’s Handbook of Christian Doctrine, Broadman Press, Nashville; 1974.
Some misunderstand and say Christians believe in three Gods; they do not. The Bible makes it plain that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; 1 Timothy 2:5), yet He is revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No one can fully understand the details of the Trinity, but it is taught and revealed in Scripture. Besides, if a lowly human could understand all about God, He would not be God after all. God’s being and understanding are far beyond our understanding.
Scriptural Evidence for the Trinity (there is much more than what is listed here)
While the Bible does not use the term Trinity, it teaches the concept of the Trinity. (Neither does the Bible use other oft used Christian terms: missionary, evangelism, etc.)
1. Obviously, God the Father is God. Psalm 89:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 17; Romans 8:15.
2. Jesus, God the Son, is God. Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8 (Psalm 45:6-7); 2 Peter 1:1.
3. The Holy Spirit is God. Acts 5:3-4. The Bible gives characteristics to the Holy Spirit that only apply to God. Psalm 139:7-13; Luke 1:35; Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Hebrews 9:14.
The Bible describes the Father, Son, and Holy Sprit as distinct Persons.
Several passages speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same context. Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4- 6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; Titus 3:4-6.
Illustrations have been used to partially explain or represent the triune nature of God. While none are perfect, perhaps they can give you a hint of the Trinity:
A three leaf clover - it is one, yet three.
A man - he can be a son, a husband, a father.
Water - can be solid (ice), liquid (water), steam (vapor).
God
"There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being."
-Baptist Faith and Message, 2000, the doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention; full statement can be found at sbc.net.
“God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”
-Christian hymn Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber, Baptist Hymnal, 2008, LifeWay, Nashville, TN. Also in many other hymnals.
“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 28:19
For more information: Jesus Christ is God, and Fights I Didn’t Start and Some I Did (volume 1; great chapter on the deity of Jesus) by R. L. Sumner; biblicalevangelist.org.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 25, AD 2015.
More articles in lower right margin.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Wine for Your Stomach's Sake; 1 Timothy 5:23
No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities. -1 Timothy 5:23
This Bible verse has often been misused to justify the recreational use of a mind altering drug (alcohol).
Evangelist Sam Jones told of a man asked by a friend to take a drink. The friend said, “Didn’t Paul tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake?’
The man replied, “Yes, but my name is not Timothy; and even if it were, there’s nothing the matter with my stomach.”
A closer look at 1 Timothy 5:23 reveals no evidence for social or moderate drinking.
First, the wine referred to could have either been fermented or unfermented. The Bible and ancient writings often refer to unfermented wine by the name wine (Isaiah 65:8; Matthew 9:17; etc.).
Modern English translations do so as well.
Ancients knew and practiced multiple ways of preserving unfermented wine. It was available throughout the year. See “Ancient Wine and the Bible” for detailed explanation and documentation of this fact.
Unfermented wine or grape juice has the same, if not more, healthy properties as alcoholic wine; without the harmful side effects.
Health benefits of unfermented wine (grape juice):
1. Contains beneficial antioxidants.
2. Helps protect cardiovascular health.
3. Encourages flexible arteries.
4. Contributes to healthy blood pressure.
-gleaned from Welchs website; 2009, www.welchs.com.
(But watch out for grape juice with “added” sugar.)
“Older men and women who drank fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week were 76 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who drank juices less than once a week, a new study shows.” -alzinfo.org; 2006.
“Alcohol is not actually heart-healthy…Red wine contains some beneficial compounds such as flavonoids and resveratrol, a potent antioxidant in the skin of grapes associated with a number of health benefits. Of course, grapes, raisins, berries, and other plant foods also contain these beneficial compounds. You do not have to drink wine to gain these benefits.” -Joel Fuhrman, M.D., The End of Diabetes; 2013.
However, even if Paul was recommending alcoholic wine:
1. He only said a little wine.
2. Strictly for medicinal purposes.
At most, this is only justifying a little alcohol for medicinal reasons. In addition, today there are usually more effective medicinal drugs than alcohol.
3. It is also interesting that as a pastor, Timothy, for good reason, had been abstaining from wine.
Stomach health note: If you have stomach problems, many authorities have recognized several things that may help: 1. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. 2. Drink plenty of water. 3. The live culture in yogurt can be helpful. 4. The live culture in un-pasteurized Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar can be helpful. Incidentally, even vinegar is called wine (sour wine) in the Bible. 5. A pinch of baking soda mixed in water can settle an acidic stomach. (But, see a trusted M.D. for proper medical advice!)
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 9, AD 2015.
Alcohol and Cancer
Deuteronomy 14:26 - Does it Commend Alcohol?
Preserving Unfermented Wine in Bible Times
Wit & Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow, the book
Dr. R. L. Sumner on "Ancient Wine and the Bible"
Many more articles in lower right margin.
This Bible verse has often been misused to justify the recreational use of a mind altering drug (alcohol).
Evangelist Sam Jones told of a man asked by a friend to take a drink. The friend said, “Didn’t Paul tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake?’
The man replied, “Yes, but my name is not Timothy; and even if it were, there’s nothing the matter with my stomach.”
A closer look at 1 Timothy 5:23 reveals no evidence for social or moderate drinking.
First, the wine referred to could have either been fermented or unfermented. The Bible and ancient writings often refer to unfermented wine by the name wine (Isaiah 65:8; Matthew 9:17; etc.).
Modern English translations do so as well.
Ancients knew and practiced multiple ways of preserving unfermented wine. It was available throughout the year. See “Ancient Wine and the Bible” for detailed explanation and documentation of this fact.
Unfermented wine or grape juice has the same, if not more, healthy properties as alcoholic wine; without the harmful side effects.
Health benefits of unfermented wine (grape juice):
1. Contains beneficial antioxidants.
2. Helps protect cardiovascular health.
3. Encourages flexible arteries.
4. Contributes to healthy blood pressure.
-gleaned from Welchs website; 2009, www.welchs.com.
(But watch out for grape juice with “added” sugar.)
“Older men and women who drank fruit and vegetable juices more than three times a week were 76 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who drank juices less than once a week, a new study shows.” -alzinfo.org; 2006.
“Alcohol is not actually heart-healthy…Red wine contains some beneficial compounds such as flavonoids and resveratrol, a potent antioxidant in the skin of grapes associated with a number of health benefits. Of course, grapes, raisins, berries, and other plant foods also contain these beneficial compounds. You do not have to drink wine to gain these benefits.” -Joel Fuhrman, M.D., The End of Diabetes; 2013.
However, even if Paul was recommending alcoholic wine:
1. He only said a little wine.
2. Strictly for medicinal purposes.
At most, this is only justifying a little alcohol for medicinal reasons. In addition, today there are usually more effective medicinal drugs than alcohol.
3. It is also interesting that as a pastor, Timothy, for good reason, had been abstaining from wine.
Stomach health note: If you have stomach problems, many authorities have recognized several things that may help: 1. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. 2. Drink plenty of water. 3. The live culture in yogurt can be helpful. 4. The live culture in un-pasteurized Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar can be helpful. Incidentally, even vinegar is called wine (sour wine) in the Bible. 5. A pinch of baking soda mixed in water can settle an acidic stomach. (But, see a trusted M.D. for proper medical advice!)
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 9, AD 2015.
Alcohol and Cancer
Deuteronomy 14:26 - Does it Commend Alcohol?
Preserving Unfermented Wine in Bible Times
Wit & Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow, the book
Dr. R. L. Sumner on "Ancient Wine and the Bible"
Many more articles in lower right margin.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Resources - Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Sunday; March 15, 2015
Alcohol & Substance Abuse Prevention Sunday is the third Sunday of March each year. This year it will be March 15, 2015. Youth and adults need to be warned to stay away from recreational drugs. Please use this opportunity to do so in your church, Sunday School, and Bible Study classes. You may also want to use good quotes, like the one below, in your church bulletin or newsletter.
Resources:
“Ancient Wine and the Bible: The Case for Abstinence” by David R. Brumbelow
“Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence” by Peter Lumpkins
Can be ordered at any bookstore.
American Council on Alcohol Problems (ACAP)
ACAAP.us
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
wctu.org
Alcohol And Drug Abuse Prevention Sunday - Free Resources
Note: Some observe this emphasis at other times, such as the month of April. Whatever the date, get good information warning about drug use to others.
“The upcoming generations need to know the havoc brought on our society and upon individuals by the use of alcohol. If we use it ourselves, we recommend its use to others. A Christian should not exercise his freedom to put himself and others at such a risk.” -Judge Paul Pressler (quoted in Ancient Wine and the Bible)
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 3, AD 2015.
11 Reasons to Not Drink Alcohol
Other Articles (Labels) and Resources in lower right margin.
Resources:
“Ancient Wine and the Bible: The Case for Abstinence” by David R. Brumbelow
“Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence” by Peter Lumpkins
Can be ordered at any bookstore.
American Council on Alcohol Problems (ACAP)
ACAAP.us
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
wctu.org
Alcohol And Drug Abuse Prevention Sunday - Free Resources
Note: Some observe this emphasis at other times, such as the month of April. Whatever the date, get good information warning about drug use to others.
“The upcoming generations need to know the havoc brought on our society and upon individuals by the use of alcohol. If we use it ourselves, we recommend its use to others. A Christian should not exercise his freedom to put himself and others at such a risk.” -Judge Paul Pressler (quoted in Ancient Wine and the Bible)
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, February 3, AD 2015.
11 Reasons to Not Drink Alcohol
Other Articles (Labels) and Resources in lower right margin.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Why So Many Reject Man-Made Global Warming
Last year a San Antonio Express News editorial supporting man-made Global Warming was published. It lamented the fact that so many still reject this idea. Following are some reasons why so many Americans reject this agenda.
1. When I was in grade school, I was taught man-caused “Global Cooling” by the same group of scientists and experts. The first Earth Day saw protests against Global Cooling. Then, the same group began teaching the opposite, Global Warming.
2. A meteorologist said he had a difficult enough time accurately predicting the weather a week ahead of time; there was no way he could accurately predict the weather for the next 100 years. Yet Global Warming enthusiasts do so on a regular basis.
3. Sea level rise has actually slowed in recent years, despite carbon emissions. Actual world temperatures have consistently been below Global Warming models / predictions.
4. Our area has just experienced two cold fronts, one the end of July, 2014, the other the first part of August. Earlier this year a Global Warming study ship was trapped by miles of new ice, in the summer, in Antarctica. Isn’t it supposed to be getting warmer?
5. Everything is used to prove Global Warming. If it doesn’t snow, it’s because of Global Warming; if it does snow, it’s because of Global Warming. If there is a drought, or flooding, it’s because of Global Warming. Yet these climate changes have occurred for centuries.
6. The polar ice cap is melting. But what they don’t explain is the growing and receding ice cap, has been going on for decades. Glaciers are melting in some parts of the world; yet glaciers are growing in other parts of the world. Recently Artic ice is receding, however Antarctic ice is increasing. And despite dire predictions, the polar bear population is just fine.
7. Weather goes in cycles, yet that fact is easy to forget. While the Houston, TX area usually gets down only in the 20s and 30s F. in winter, we forget it got down to 7 degrees F. in Houston in 1989. Few remember the terrible ice storm of 1951. Few know that Galveston Bay froze over at least two times in the 1800s. We have hurricanes in Texas, then we go for years with no hurricanes. Weather changes, regardless of what man does. Despite the predictions of global warming, we will have another bitterly cold winter. Seems it happens here roughly every 20 to 50 years.
8. Global Warming supporters often ignore the Medieval Warming Period (c. AD 950-1250). Global temperatures rose during this period long before our modern day industry and transportation. And, as cycles go, it also eventually cooled without the help or interference of mankind.
9. The Global Warming experts have changed from Global Cooling, to Global Warming, to Climate Change. When this change is complete, they’ll not have to worry about skewing the records or being sure the world wide temperature is rising. They will only have to demonstrate the climate is changing. Now that is a winner! The climate always changes. Even before the “evil” internal combustion engines and big oil, the climate radically changed, and the weather often goes in cycles.
For those interested in the scientific evidence, see that evidence and documentation at cornwallalliance.org. See also the book, “The Great Global Warming Blunder: How Mother Nature Fooled the World’s Top Climate Scientists,” by Roy W. Spencer, a former senior NASA climatologist.
I’m against pollution and for wise use of our God-given resources. I’m also for responsible big oil, exploration, drilling fracking, and pipelines. Unless you walk or ride a bicycle everywhere you go, you should be too.
Why not simply judge environmental protection by its merits. Instead of creating a false crisis, let’s just consider reasonable limits to pollution.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 26, AD 2015.
Note: This article, slightly revised, was published in the Baytown Sun August 6, 2014.
More Articles (Labels) in lower right margin.
1. When I was in grade school, I was taught man-caused “Global Cooling” by the same group of scientists and experts. The first Earth Day saw protests against Global Cooling. Then, the same group began teaching the opposite, Global Warming.
2. A meteorologist said he had a difficult enough time accurately predicting the weather a week ahead of time; there was no way he could accurately predict the weather for the next 100 years. Yet Global Warming enthusiasts do so on a regular basis.
3. Sea level rise has actually slowed in recent years, despite carbon emissions. Actual world temperatures have consistently been below Global Warming models / predictions.
4. Our area has just experienced two cold fronts, one the end of July, 2014, the other the first part of August. Earlier this year a Global Warming study ship was trapped by miles of new ice, in the summer, in Antarctica. Isn’t it supposed to be getting warmer?
5. Everything is used to prove Global Warming. If it doesn’t snow, it’s because of Global Warming; if it does snow, it’s because of Global Warming. If there is a drought, or flooding, it’s because of Global Warming. Yet these climate changes have occurred for centuries.
6. The polar ice cap is melting. But what they don’t explain is the growing and receding ice cap, has been going on for decades. Glaciers are melting in some parts of the world; yet glaciers are growing in other parts of the world. Recently Artic ice is receding, however Antarctic ice is increasing. And despite dire predictions, the polar bear population is just fine.
7. Weather goes in cycles, yet that fact is easy to forget. While the Houston, TX area usually gets down only in the 20s and 30s F. in winter, we forget it got down to 7 degrees F. in Houston in 1989. Few remember the terrible ice storm of 1951. Few know that Galveston Bay froze over at least two times in the 1800s. We have hurricanes in Texas, then we go for years with no hurricanes. Weather changes, regardless of what man does. Despite the predictions of global warming, we will have another bitterly cold winter. Seems it happens here roughly every 20 to 50 years.
8. Global Warming supporters often ignore the Medieval Warming Period (c. AD 950-1250). Global temperatures rose during this period long before our modern day industry and transportation. And, as cycles go, it also eventually cooled without the help or interference of mankind.
9. The Global Warming experts have changed from Global Cooling, to Global Warming, to Climate Change. When this change is complete, they’ll not have to worry about skewing the records or being sure the world wide temperature is rising. They will only have to demonstrate the climate is changing. Now that is a winner! The climate always changes. Even before the “evil” internal combustion engines and big oil, the climate radically changed, and the weather often goes in cycles.
For those interested in the scientific evidence, see that evidence and documentation at cornwallalliance.org. See also the book, “The Great Global Warming Blunder: How Mother Nature Fooled the World’s Top Climate Scientists,” by Roy W. Spencer, a former senior NASA climatologist.
I’m against pollution and for wise use of our God-given resources. I’m also for responsible big oil, exploration, drilling fracking, and pipelines. Unless you walk or ride a bicycle everywhere you go, you should be too.
Why not simply judge environmental protection by its merits. Instead of creating a false crisis, let’s just consider reasonable limits to pollution.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 26, AD 2015.
Note: This article, slightly revised, was published in the Baytown Sun August 6, 2014.
More Articles (Labels) in lower right margin.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for other’s?’”
“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”
“If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
“The principle of self defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi.”
“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 19, AD 2015.
The Roman Road of Salvation
Nelson Mandela Quotes; and Comments About Mandela
Black Lives Matter; All Lives Matter
Other articles in lower right margin (Labels).
“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”
“If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
“The principle of self defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi.”
“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 19, AD 2015.
The Roman Road of Salvation
Nelson Mandela Quotes; and Comments About Mandela
Black Lives Matter; All Lives Matter
Other articles in lower right margin (Labels).
Thursday, January 1, 2015
On Small And Large Churches
If a church is a sincere baptized body of believers meeting to worship, study God’s Word, fellowship, and evangelize, then I am for them.
If a church believes and preaches the Bible, I am for them whether they are large, small or anywhere in between. After all, aren’t we are all on the same team?
Large churches can do things small churches cannot do.
Small churches can do things large churches cannot do.
Large churches have both pluses and minuses.
Small churches have both pluses and minuses.
There are some bad large churches.
There are some bad small churches.
No church, whatever the size, is perfect.
Some folks are more comfortable in a large church.
Some folks are more comfortable in a small church.
Regardless of size, each church seems to develop its own personality.
God has a place for every size church if it is preaching the Word.
Some small churches become large.
Over the course of time, some large churches become small.
Because of deaths, people moving away, and other transitions, a church, large or small, usually has to work hard just to stay even.
Some churches, large or small, eventually die.
Even if a church dies, that will never erase the good they did during their years of ministry. None of the churches started by the Apostles are operating today, but they accomplished much for the Kingdom of God. Other churches have risen to take their place.
A large church can give a huge gift to missions.
A number of small churches giving small gifts, combined, can give huge gifts to missions. Through both, many are enabled to hear the Gospel.
It is unseemly for large church pastors to run down small churches or pastors of small churches.
It is unseemly for small church pastors to run down large churches or pastors of large churches. At least they should not run them down simply because they are large or small.
Thank God for the large churches that lead hundreds to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Thank God for small churches that may lead one or two or ten to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When you count how many church members it takes to lead someone to Christ, sometimes the small church may be the most effective, but certainly not always. There are many variables and fruit will vary from year to year, but all should be telling others of Jesus and His salvation.
Regardless of church size, some church fields are more responsive than others.
One church may be more effective in some areas, other churches in other areas. But God can use us all.
Ultimately, God will be the righteous Judge of each church and pastor.
Large and small church pastors have struggles and stress those who are not pastors will never understand. Some of that stress is the same between large and small church pastors, some is different. But all those pastors need our prayers and support.
Being a large church pastor has its advantages and disadvantages.
Being a small church pastor has its advantages and disadvantages.
You can raise a family well in a large or small church. Again, each will have advantages and disadvantages; but if a family is faithful and committed to the Lord, it can be done and done well.
Inevitably some small churches will lose members to large churches.
Often, however, large churches lose members to small churches.
Each can offer things the other cannot; perhaps it all balances out in the end. Regardless, Christ is being preached.
I read somewhere that you will get to know about 50 people well in your church, regardless of it’s size. So, in some small churches, you will know everyone!
Large churches have small groups. Some churches are a small group.
I believe God is honored by a faithful church, regardless of the size.
Some need to repent of their arrogant attitudes against large churches.
Some need to repent of their arrogant attitudes against small churches.
All believers should be a faithful part of a Bible believing church, whatever the size of that church. May God bless you and your church.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 1, AD 2015.
Other Articles:
Church Buildings - Dos and Don'ts #1
Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow; the book
Lester Roloff Letter to Joe Brumbelow / Separation
Conservative United Methodists
Baptists on Tithing
More articles in lower right margin
If a church believes and preaches the Bible, I am for them whether they are large, small or anywhere in between. After all, aren’t we are all on the same team?
Large churches can do things small churches cannot do.
Small churches can do things large churches cannot do.
Large churches have both pluses and minuses.
Small churches have both pluses and minuses.
There are some bad large churches.
There are some bad small churches.
No church, whatever the size, is perfect.
Some folks are more comfortable in a large church.
Some folks are more comfortable in a small church.
Regardless of size, each church seems to develop its own personality.
God has a place for every size church if it is preaching the Word.
Some small churches become large.
Over the course of time, some large churches become small.
Because of deaths, people moving away, and other transitions, a church, large or small, usually has to work hard just to stay even.
Some churches, large or small, eventually die.
Even if a church dies, that will never erase the good they did during their years of ministry. None of the churches started by the Apostles are operating today, but they accomplished much for the Kingdom of God. Other churches have risen to take their place.
A large church can give a huge gift to missions.
A number of small churches giving small gifts, combined, can give huge gifts to missions. Through both, many are enabled to hear the Gospel.
It is unseemly for large church pastors to run down small churches or pastors of small churches.
It is unseemly for small church pastors to run down large churches or pastors of large churches. At least they should not run them down simply because they are large or small.
Thank God for the large churches that lead hundreds to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Thank God for small churches that may lead one or two or ten to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When you count how many church members it takes to lead someone to Christ, sometimes the small church may be the most effective, but certainly not always. There are many variables and fruit will vary from year to year, but all should be telling others of Jesus and His salvation.
Regardless of church size, some church fields are more responsive than others.
One church may be more effective in some areas, other churches in other areas. But God can use us all.
Ultimately, God will be the righteous Judge of each church and pastor.
Large and small church pastors have struggles and stress those who are not pastors will never understand. Some of that stress is the same between large and small church pastors, some is different. But all those pastors need our prayers and support.
Being a large church pastor has its advantages and disadvantages.
Being a small church pastor has its advantages and disadvantages.
You can raise a family well in a large or small church. Again, each will have advantages and disadvantages; but if a family is faithful and committed to the Lord, it can be done and done well.
Inevitably some small churches will lose members to large churches.
Often, however, large churches lose members to small churches.
Each can offer things the other cannot; perhaps it all balances out in the end. Regardless, Christ is being preached.
I read somewhere that you will get to know about 50 people well in your church, regardless of it’s size. So, in some small churches, you will know everyone!
Large churches have small groups. Some churches are a small group.
I believe God is honored by a faithful church, regardless of the size.
Some need to repent of their arrogant attitudes against large churches.
Some need to repent of their arrogant attitudes against small churches.
All believers should be a faithful part of a Bible believing church, whatever the size of that church. May God bless you and your church.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, January 1, AD 2015.
Other Articles:
Church Buildings - Dos and Don'ts #1
Wit and Wisdom of Pastor Joe Brumbelow; the book
Lester Roloff Letter to Joe Brumbelow / Separation
Conservative United Methodists
Baptists on Tithing
More articles in lower right margin
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Christmas; Or Happy Holidays, Xmas?
At this time of year some Christians write articles saying the use of holiday and Xmas, instead of Christmas is just fine. After all, “holiday” comes from “holy day,” and the “X” is an abbreviation of the Greek name of Christ. Some say early Christians, under persecution, used the “X” as a secretive way of referring to Christ and Christianity. I disagree.
I understand “Happy Holidays” is sometimes used to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, it is also often used to be politically correct and so no one will be offended by the “Christ” in “Christmas.” It is regularly used to secularize Christmas. As a comedian said, “I’m dreaming of a secularized generic holiday.”
I also agree that some Christians can get obnoxious in arguing with store clerks about Christmas. Please use a winsome attitude in wishing someone a Merry Christmas!
I still like “Christmas” as being more understandable, meaningful, and descriptive than “Holiday” and “Xmas.”
A holiday can be as much Presidents Day or Columbus Day as Christmas. Very few would ever stop and consider, or know, that the word began as “Holy Day.” To most it just means a day off work. Holiday has become a generic term.
We may derive comfort that to a very few the X stands for Christ.
But the X seems to be just as secretive today as it may have been in the first or second centuries.
I doubt one in a hundred knows or considers, “Oh, the X in Xmas stands for Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem.”
I also doubt many know much about the ancient Greek language.
Abbreviations are often not understood, so why not take the time and effort to write it out?
Many more Americans understand the name Christ, rather than understand the name “X.”
To many, “X” stands for the unknown. Others may view Xmas as X-ing out the name of Christ.
I would not recommend an evangelistic preacher to go around preaching about X. They might think you’re talking about Malcolm.
So while I may not angrily protest, I do prefer stores have the courage to actually use the word Christmas. Recently I heard the Houston mayor speak of the city “Holiday Tree.” And yes, I suspect she was trying to not offend atheists, non-Christians (who usually have no problem with using the word Christmas), and to be politically correct.
So to all I wish you a Merry Christmas!
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, December 18, AD (In the Year of Our Lord) 2014.
Articles:
"Merry Christmas" is Preferred by Customers
10 Commandments for Christmas
Young Preachers - Finding a Place to Preach; Part 1
More articles / Labels in lower right margin.
I understand “Happy Holidays” is sometimes used to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, it is also often used to be politically correct and so no one will be offended by the “Christ” in “Christmas.” It is regularly used to secularize Christmas. As a comedian said, “I’m dreaming of a secularized generic holiday.”
I also agree that some Christians can get obnoxious in arguing with store clerks about Christmas. Please use a winsome attitude in wishing someone a Merry Christmas!
I still like “Christmas” as being more understandable, meaningful, and descriptive than “Holiday” and “Xmas.”
A holiday can be as much Presidents Day or Columbus Day as Christmas. Very few would ever stop and consider, or know, that the word began as “Holy Day.” To most it just means a day off work. Holiday has become a generic term.
We may derive comfort that to a very few the X stands for Christ.
But the X seems to be just as secretive today as it may have been in the first or second centuries.
I doubt one in a hundred knows or considers, “Oh, the X in Xmas stands for Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem.”
I also doubt many know much about the ancient Greek language.
Abbreviations are often not understood, so why not take the time and effort to write it out?
Many more Americans understand the name Christ, rather than understand the name “X.”
To many, “X” stands for the unknown. Others may view Xmas as X-ing out the name of Christ.
I would not recommend an evangelistic preacher to go around preaching about X. They might think you’re talking about Malcolm.
So while I may not angrily protest, I do prefer stores have the courage to actually use the word Christmas. Recently I heard the Houston mayor speak of the city “Holiday Tree.” And yes, I suspect she was trying to not offend atheists, non-Christians (who usually have no problem with using the word Christmas), and to be politically correct.
So to all I wish you a Merry Christmas!
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, December 18, AD (In the Year of Our Lord) 2014.
Articles:
"Merry Christmas" is Preferred by Customers
10 Commandments for Christmas
Young Preachers - Finding a Place to Preach; Part 1
More articles / Labels in lower right margin.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Quotes On The Free Will Of Man
Some time ago a Calvinist angrily said that there is no such thing as free will in the Bible. He was seriously wrong.
Free will is found throughout the Bible. Every time God gives a command, that command speaks to our free will. Every time Scripture says receive, repent, turn, believe, trust, have faith, call on the name of the Lord, it is speaking of man’s free will.
If man does not have free will:
1. Then men are robots and puppets, doing only what they are instructed, or hard wired, to do.
2. Then God is the author of sin. Some actually openly agree with this statement.
3. Then God does not love everyone; some people God wants to go to Hell.
4. Then God is mocking man, who has no ability to choose, when He commands him to choose, repent, believe, accept.
Without free will, this world becomes a fatalistic puppet show.
I recently told a fellow pastor of how two strong Calvinists had now become atheists. The pastor replied, “There’s not much difference between the two.” I would not go that far, but some have noticed the similarity between hard determinism (man has no free will) and atheistic fatalism. As Kenneth Keathley, author of “Salvation and Sovereignty,” said, “Most determinists are not Calvinists, but atheists and Muslims.”
A few quotes on free will:
“I just happen to believe that God is sovereign enough that He can make a man totally free if He wishes to do so.” -Paige Patterson, president, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, SBC president.
“Now, if you say that only certain people are elect and only certain people, therefore, can be saved, you take all the ‘whosever’s’ in the Bible and make them a lot of mumbo jumbo. The Bible is full of ‘whosoever will.’”
On Matthew 23:37, “Now, friend, if they could not rather than they would not, this is the biggest charade in history. Jesus is weeping salty tears, and He said, ‘I would, but you would not.’ That’s not unconditional election.”
-Adrian Rogers, SBC president and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, TN.
“Indeed, it is manifest that every call, every threat, every expostulation, every exhortation in the Bible supposes that man is a free agent. If he be not free, if he be the passive victim of inexorable, irresistible destiny, the Sacred Volume is a compilation of glaring inconsistencies--of sheer downright falsehood and mockery...
If we attempt to explain and reconcile the doctrines of predestination and free agency, we find impassable barriers hemming us in, and sharp adamant striking us back. Their harmony we must leave with God.”
-Richard Fuller, Predestination; 1885. Quoted by Peter Lumpkins at SBCTommorrow. Fuller was president of the SBC. He was a strong Calvinist who also believed in the free will of man.
“And yet, and yet, with us down here in this world, there's no violation of our moral integrity, or our free choice, or the sovereignty of our own lives. The two go together. The great decree of Almighty God leaves me absolutely and perfectly free. I am not bound; I am at liberty. The decree of God has in it my own free choice, and the two are not antagonistic. They go together in the will of God.”
-W. A. Criswell, SBC president, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX.
“Reasons that make free will important:
* Without free will, how can we be truly responsible for our actions?
* Without free will, what truth is there in words of praise for another’s efforts, courage or creativity? If the person is simply reacting chemically and has no choice in his or her actions, then such praise is meaningless.
* Without free will, we cannot have any measure of dignity over any other aspect of nature. There is nothing special about being just another cog in a machine.
* Without free will, what value is there to the love we have for another? Similarly, what value is there in friendship? Love is simply one set of chemical reactions to another’s chemical reactions.”
“Scripture has revealed that people are bearers of God’s image. God did not make us mere machines. We have the ability to choose that makes us morally responsible.”
-W. Mark Lanier, Christianity on Trial, IVP; 2014.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, December 16, AD 2014.
You may be interested in these brief books:
“Predestined for Hell? Absolutely Not!” by Adrian Rogers
“An Examination of TULIP” by R. L. Sumner
“What is Calvinism?” by Peter Lumpkins
Other articles:
Books on Calvinism, Predestination
Unlimited Atonement, Jesus Died For All
Adrian Rogers on Predestination, Calvinism
Paige Patterson on Calvinism
Roy Fish on Calvinism; part 1 of 2
10 Commandments for Christmas
More articles in lower right margin.
Free will is found throughout the Bible. Every time God gives a command, that command speaks to our free will. Every time Scripture says receive, repent, turn, believe, trust, have faith, call on the name of the Lord, it is speaking of man’s free will.
If man does not have free will:
1. Then men are robots and puppets, doing only what they are instructed, or hard wired, to do.
2. Then God is the author of sin. Some actually openly agree with this statement.
3. Then God does not love everyone; some people God wants to go to Hell.
4. Then God is mocking man, who has no ability to choose, when He commands him to choose, repent, believe, accept.
Without free will, this world becomes a fatalistic puppet show.
I recently told a fellow pastor of how two strong Calvinists had now become atheists. The pastor replied, “There’s not much difference between the two.” I would not go that far, but some have noticed the similarity between hard determinism (man has no free will) and atheistic fatalism. As Kenneth Keathley, author of “Salvation and Sovereignty,” said, “Most determinists are not Calvinists, but atheists and Muslims.”
A few quotes on free will:
“I just happen to believe that God is sovereign enough that He can make a man totally free if He wishes to do so.” -Paige Patterson, president, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, SBC president.
“Now, if you say that only certain people are elect and only certain people, therefore, can be saved, you take all the ‘whosever’s’ in the Bible and make them a lot of mumbo jumbo. The Bible is full of ‘whosoever will.’”
On Matthew 23:37, “Now, friend, if they could not rather than they would not, this is the biggest charade in history. Jesus is weeping salty tears, and He said, ‘I would, but you would not.’ That’s not unconditional election.”
-Adrian Rogers, SBC president and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, TN.
“Indeed, it is manifest that every call, every threat, every expostulation, every exhortation in the Bible supposes that man is a free agent. If he be not free, if he be the passive victim of inexorable, irresistible destiny, the Sacred Volume is a compilation of glaring inconsistencies--of sheer downright falsehood and mockery...
If we attempt to explain and reconcile the doctrines of predestination and free agency, we find impassable barriers hemming us in, and sharp adamant striking us back. Their harmony we must leave with God.”
-Richard Fuller, Predestination; 1885. Quoted by Peter Lumpkins at SBCTommorrow. Fuller was president of the SBC. He was a strong Calvinist who also believed in the free will of man.
“And yet, and yet, with us down here in this world, there's no violation of our moral integrity, or our free choice, or the sovereignty of our own lives. The two go together. The great decree of Almighty God leaves me absolutely and perfectly free. I am not bound; I am at liberty. The decree of God has in it my own free choice, and the two are not antagonistic. They go together in the will of God.”
-W. A. Criswell, SBC president, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX.
“Reasons that make free will important:
* Without free will, how can we be truly responsible for our actions?
* Without free will, what truth is there in words of praise for another’s efforts, courage or creativity? If the person is simply reacting chemically and has no choice in his or her actions, then such praise is meaningless.
* Without free will, we cannot have any measure of dignity over any other aspect of nature. There is nothing special about being just another cog in a machine.
* Without free will, what value is there to the love we have for another? Similarly, what value is there in friendship? Love is simply one set of chemical reactions to another’s chemical reactions.”
“Scripture has revealed that people are bearers of God’s image. God did not make us mere machines. We have the ability to choose that makes us morally responsible.”
-W. Mark Lanier, Christianity on Trial, IVP; 2014.
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor, December 16, AD 2014.
You may be interested in these brief books:
“Predestined for Hell? Absolutely Not!” by Adrian Rogers
“An Examination of TULIP” by R. L. Sumner
“What is Calvinism?” by Peter Lumpkins
Other articles:
Books on Calvinism, Predestination
Unlimited Atonement, Jesus Died For All
Adrian Rogers on Predestination, Calvinism
Paige Patterson on Calvinism
Roy Fish on Calvinism; part 1 of 2
10 Commandments for Christmas
More articles in lower right margin.
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