When God says to get drunk

Christians differ in their attitudes toward alcohol. Some Christians believe that we have freedom to consume alcohol in moderation. Others hold that the Bible forbids all consumption of alcohol or that, even in the absence of a clear command to abstain, it is so dangerous and so likely to lead to addiction, that it is downright foolish to drink. Regardless, all Christians hold that drunkenness is a sin and that thissin relates to the loss of control. A drunkenman loses his sense and his self-control. As Solomon says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” On Monday I attempted to anticipatesome of the cost to the church if young Christian men continue to spend their youth embroiled in the pursuit of pornography. Solomon warns that pornography is sapping them of their strength. In their strongest and most energetic years, in the years when so many promises and possibilities lie open before them, they are giving it all away to pornography. It saps them of strength and it saps them of life. In that same passage Solomon asks, “Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?” He describes this sexual captivity as a kind of intoxication, a form of drunkenness. Do not give up self-controland throw yourself into the arms of another woman, whether those arms are real or simply pixels on a computer screen. Do not invest your strength where it will bewasted. That is thevery height of stupidity. But it is not onlyillicitsex that is intoxicating. The same Solomon who wouldforbid getting drunk on wine or strong drink, and the same Solomon who would describe the stupidity of getting drunk on illicit sex, would command a different kind of intoxication. “Rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill youat all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love (Proverbs 5:19).” He doesnot criticize or downplay the presence of sexual desire and the longing to find sexualfulfillment. Rather, he admits it, celebrates it, and shows that to direct that energy toward adultery, fornication or pornography is to completely misuse it. His solution is simple: Put your sexual desire tothe best use of all.“Rejoice in the wife of your youth…be intoxicated always in her love.” Donald Spence-Jones interprets this way: “The teacher, by a bold figure, describes the entire fascination which the husband is to allow the wife to exercise over him.” Go ahead and lose control. Go ahead and get intoxicated, but get drunk inthe love and passionate pursuit of your wife. What wine does to your body, let your wife do toyour affections and desires. Let her captivate you. Let her fascinate you.Let herhave that kind of power over you, that kind of control, that kind of ownership. Be addicted to her. When you are with her, when you are in her arms, let yourself go and just enjoy God’s good gift of sexual pleasure. Jim Newheiser says it well: “The man who has to look away from all the other female breasts put on display in our culture can freely enjoy his wife’s breasts. The wife may delight in being desired and being overwhelmed by the loveof her husband. Their sexual thirst can be quenched in a way that pleases God.” Pornography, adultery, fornication and all other sexual sin distort a good desire for a bad use. By its very nature this desire was intended to be intoxicating. That intoxication delights God, and is meant to delight us, when it is directed to the pursuit of marital intimacy. So go ahead and drink—drink of the love of your wife. Go ahead and drink to intoxication—get drunk in her love. But do not drink, and do not get drunk, in any other love

One of my favorite scriptures, I felt I should share it...have a great day

The Temptation of Jesus Is Not about Your Battle with Sin Byron Yawn 14 I was sitting on a ledge two hundred feet above the Judean wilderness. A lifeless andvirtually unending sea of sand dunes was below me. It’s one of those visuals you never quite get your head around. A network of sandy spines reaches out to the horizon and then disappears. This is where things in this region go to die. Ironically, it’s a beautiful place. The scale alone is spectacular. And when the deep colors of the afternoon sky in Israel collide with trillions upon trillions of granules of sand it’s a breathtaking masterpiece. I was here reconnoitering for my local church. A trip to Israel was in the works. This was my first time in the Holy Land. Bythe time we arrived at this particular spot I’d been traveling for five days. Several of the places we stopped offered an opportunity for reflection and teaching. This qualified as one of those places. We were herded out of our bus and up a slight hill. Once we reached the crest the world fell out below us into the desert. The group found spots here and there and sat down in complete silence. It was a massive sort of natural amphitheater where the show was the deepest stillness nature has to offer. “This is the approximate location of Jesus’ temptation.” Obviously, this fact made it all the more spectacular. Somewhere down there the Son of God battled for mysoul. I kept thinking to myself, “My sin, ohthe bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole…” Somewhere in the midst of this devastation after forty days of fasting the Holy Son of God was led out to bear the burden of humanity and face down the same adversary who led the first Adam to causesuch destruction in the first place ( Hebrews 2:9). Needless to say, my heart was tuned to worship. I was ready to see Jesus exalted. Just then the designated preacher stood to deliver the message, “Turn with me to Mathew chapter four. I would like to offeryou five steps to resisting temptation in your life.” Or, something to that effect. Onthe inside I was devastated. “Why would you do that? Jesus is right here! Give me Christ!” On the outside there was nothing but a sacerdotal smile. In light of where I was seated, the popular church’s ability to miss the point (Jesus) was more obvious than ever. It was a very sad moment. Normally, this would not have been so surprising, but we were standing on the spot. Typically, this is standard stuff. It’s what the contemporary church does with scenes like this. (In fact, this was how I interpreted it the first time I encounteredit in the Gospel of Matthew.) Basically, we take the epic of redemption laid out before us in events like the temptation and bury it under our narcissistic need for “relevance.” We get in our own way of theglory of our own redemption. It’s maddening how ubiquitous this tendency is within evangelicalism. Seriously. What’s the assumed application of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness? By assumed I mean - What have we been told(over years of preaching) this event is about? Is it not usually offered as a set of “principles” on how Christianscan resist temptation? Or to put that another way, it’s about us. But honestly, is this really what’s happening at this moment? Is Jesus really offering an example how we can personally resist the temptation of the devil? Is this a tutorial for daily living? Of course not! A “how to” on resisting temptation is a secondary application at best if not tertiary. He’s not telling us to do anything. He’sactuallydoing it for us. There is something much greater under way in this moment. More importantly, dowe need to be standing within view of the actual site to realize how misguided our take on it is? What we are witnessing here has little to do with us except as it involves Jesus’ willingness to take on the burden of humanity to save us. What we are beholding is our Lord – the second Adam – obeying where the first Adam failed to obey ( Romans 5:17). We see him bowing his will to the Father’s, taking the suffering of the cross upon himself and redeem us from our bondage. Jesus isn’t offering a lesson on how to resist temptation. He is actually resisting temptation on a scale we can barely fathom. Although Jesus’ hunger was no doubt fierce, the first temptation isn’t really about hunger per se. Nor is it about how you and I can use the Word of God to resist the devil (although we can and do.) It’s about Jesus choosing the suffering and indignity of the cross over his rightfuldignity as the Son of God. “Why would theSon of God suffer under the consequencesof humanity’s rebellion? Why not simply command stones to be bread and relieve the indignity? Why suffer such demeaningpain for such unworthy subjects?” It’s a valid question. The only answer to this question is grace ( Titus 2:4-7). Additionally, the second temptation has little to do with Jesus proving his sonship to Satan. Nor, is it about how we can trustGod in a trial (although we can and do.) It was about the necessary obscurity of the Son of God. In obedience to the Father Jesus took on humanity and veiled his glory in order to take up the cross ( Isaiah 53:2-3). Basically, “Why suffer the pain ofthe cross when you can reveal yourself as the Son of God in a (self-serving) display of your glory?” In this scene Jesus’ humility is beyond compare. The Son of God refused his rightful status in order to save men whose determination to exalt themselves above God had condemned them in the first place. The third temptation cuts to the chase. There’s not much spin on this one. It is a blatant attempt to have Jesus avoid the anguish of the cross and, thereby, disobeythe Father ( Hebrews 12:2-3). He could be declared “Lord of Lords” without bearing God’s wrath on behalf of sinners if he merely subjected himself to Satan. In response Jesus commits to do that which humanity had failed to do in the very beginning – worship God only. It’s a glorious scene. And one I’ve only begun to unpack here. The intent is for usto marvel at the grace of God in Christ. In a sense, we’re called to sit on a theological and biblical ledge and peer into the awe inspiring landscape of God’s grace. This is what he did for us. The point is be confident in what Christ has done for us and not to grow confident in what we can do for ourselves. In this present passage, the contradiction between the contemporary translation (us) and the actual point (Him) could not be sharper. Why we constantly choose to focus on theformer when the latter is screaming at us from the pages of the Bible is hard to explain.

One of my favorite scriptures, I felt I should share it...have a great day

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord

One of my favorite scriptures, I felt I should share it

One of my favorite scriptures, i felt i should share it, av a great day.... Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord

Saw this on my facebook timeline and thought it wise to share

When a house is marked 'X' By the federal govt for demolition because a road wanna be constructed, sooner or later, d govt wil demolish such house. The occupants of such House dont waste their money (treasures) buying expensive furniture and fittings to beautify the house. Their hope is no longer in that house. They put all their treasures preparing for a new House. So also is the case of Planet earth, she has been marked for destruction. Why waste all your strength (time) gathering treasures here. Why dont u use all your treasures (time) investing in a new house (HEAVEN) Because sooner or later the earth will be demolished. Hope u're earnestly awaiting rapture? This world is passing away. Dont be caught unaware. MAY GOD'S GRACE SEE US THROUGH. Please share..

Welcome everyone! Yeapee!

Been a long time coming. Just want to officially welcome everyone to this blog. Like the blog info reads its all out to spiritually uplift Gods children with bible quotes. So excited..this happens to be my firs post and I know by his grace we'll be remembering this post in the nearest future. This ministry has started moving guyz to its permanent site...Oluwa is involved