We kind of figured that last week’s newsletter about alcohol would generate some feedback, and we were right! A good article or a good book should get people thinking. We definitely need to be using our brains more and more as we traverse through this life. You can find last week’s newsletter at this link: https://markcahill.org/when-you-booze-you-lose-part-1/
Here are a few of the comments we received. We thought you might enjoy reading them.
“So true. I tell everyone at work that police work involving alcohol takes up maybe 90 percent of our time. I used to joke that we would have no job if they banned alcohol. The other 10 percent or less was crime ordinary. Of all the cases I dealt with, non-terrorist related, I’d say it was higher than 90 percent. The last Christmas Day I worked, which is the busiest day for police―no clue as to why―we had two stabbings. Both were women who had stabbed their husbands and both were alcohol-involved―one through the heart and one through the eye.” ― Law Enforcement Officer from Overseas
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“Love this! Thanks for writing it! My Father taught me the same as Dr. Smith. In all the homeless ministries I’ve served in, I can completely confirm the same. I only wish more Christians would take this topic seriously. In England, we were dubbed teetotalers. I’ve even been mocked by a pastor for my ‘lack of faith’ for choosing not to partake. Crazy! I also think of all the marriages and broken families that might have been spared disaster had they chosen not to take that first sip! Anyway, I love what my dad taught me when I was just a little girl regarding alcohol. He said, ‘Name one good thing that comes from it?’ To this day, at age 52, I still can’t think of one.” ―Dawn
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“Thanks, Mark! Not too many preachers these days challenge the sipping saints to examine all the Scriptures on alcohol! Drinking is a huge stumbling block in the body of Christ. Hope you are well, my friend!” ―Johnathan
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If it is in the Bible, then Christians and pastors should be talking about it. If God didn’t avoid a subject, neither should we.
We know the problem with addressing subjects like this one is it can make people feel uncomfortable. They may not come back to church next week. Or, it might offend the one or two really big donors that keep some churches and ministries afloat. We can’t be so shallow that we avoid preaching truth, can we? And we can’t be so easily offended by truth that we quit supporting the work of God, can we?
I was talking with the manager of a sports bar and grill last night. We always seem to get into some deep conversations. She told me some horror stories about how alcohol has affected people around her and some of the patrons who come to her establishment.
I told her about a high school friend of mine. We were on the same basketball team and hung out together. I heard that he moved to Florida and basically drank himself into the grave. In high school, we used to drink and party together. And, like I was telling this manager, what a different life both of us would have had if we had never picked up that first drink. That was a good part of our discussion. It is that first drink, that first joint, and that first hit of a drug that can only lead to a second one. But there is never a second one if there was never a first one.
1 Timothy 3:11
Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Titus 2:2
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
Titus 2:6
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
I hope you have a very sober-minded week ahead of you!
Until the nets are full,
P.S. We heard from a friend of the ministry who is working hard to make an eternal difference:
Pick up audiobooks for yourself, your Bible study group, church, or others.
And, if you want to listen through your device, we have these audiobooks available for download as well.
Both are available at the link below!
https://markcahill.org/product-category/audio-books/
P.P.S.
