BOOZE IS BAD

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness” (Habakkuk 2:15 NKJV).

Few things have had such a devastating impact on our society as booze. Alcohol floods our society with untold misery. Yet, in spite of all the problems with alcohol, few people seem concerned about it. More people drink it as the advertisements continues. Our verse speaks of two problems of booze - the curse on booze and the corruption from booze.

Curse on booze – “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk.” This is a divine curse upon everyone who makes, sells, delivers, or advertises booze. If you are involved in the booze business, you are under a Divine “Woe.” Of course, not many folk shudder at this verse of warning. But that does not nullify the warning, nor will it soften the coming judgment. You mess around and play down God’s warnings of “Woe” and you will know what it is to be dealt a knockout blow from the fist of Divine judgment.

Corruption from booze – “Even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness.” The word “nakedness” speaks of indecency, of immorality. Booze corrupts morals. When there is drinking, there will be moral debauchery. As far back as the time of Noah (Gen. 9:20-25), booze has been destroying morals. Hence the strong warning to the drunk and to all those who exploit others. We will never clean up the moral filth in our society until the booze business is removed from the land.

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading 3)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“I’m tired of hearing sin called sickness and alcoholism a disease. It is the only disease I know of that we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to spread!”

Vance Havner (1901 – 1986)

American Author and Preacher

Word Study

Eternal

In 2 Cor. 4:17 we read, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!” (NKJV).

Eternal is the Greek word aiṓnios (αἰώνιος = ahee-o'-nee-os). The word means existing at all times, perpetual, pertaining to an unlimited duration of time. In classical Greek aiṓnios means eternal, perpetual, endless time. In the Septuagint, aiṓnios carries the idea of for all time. In the New Testament, aiṓnios carries the idea of time without end. Especially noteworthy is that aiṓnios refers to the eternal condition of both the just and the unjust. It speaks of the believers who will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). And it also denotes the eternal fate and condition of the unjust: eternal damnation and torment (Matt. 18:8; 25:41, 46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thess. 1:9).

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 KJV).

Did You Know…

The apostle Paul accused the members of the early church at Corinth of being drunk at church feasts. The charge is found in 1 Cor. 11:21.

Bible Quiz

What judge of Israel accused Hannah of being drunk when she fervently prayed to God for a baby?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: What was the only item the Lord Jesus allowed the disciples to take with them when He sent them out to minister in twos? A staff (Mark 6:8).

Names For the Lord Jesus in the Bible

“COUNSELOR”

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!” (Isa. 9:6 NKJV).

1. Meaning – COUNSELOR speaks of the Lord Jesus as the One who can explain all the problems and mysteries if life.

2. Insights – A good counselor will listen, empathize, and point the way to healing, perfectly balancing grace and truth. The Lord Jesus is our “Counselor,” the One who bestows wisdom, because He “became for us wisdom from God” (cf. 1 Cor. 1:30). Yes, we have a perfect Counselor in the Lord Jesus. But to benefit from His counseling, we must be willing to listen to Him, meditating on His Word, and taking His prescription for our healing: our total obedience.

Did You Know – Christian History

Althea Maria Brown was born December 17, 1874, in Russellville, Alabama. She was an African American teacher and Presbyterian missionary.

Brown’s parents were emancipated from slavery as young adults, and she was raised on her father’s farm near Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Brown attended Fisk University and was the only woman speaker at the Fisk commencement in 1901. She underwent further training for mission work at the Chicago Training School for City and Foreign Missions. In her youth, Brown lived and worked as a nurse for a white family. While in college, she earned money as a cook, as a hairdresser, and as a summer schoolteacher. In 1901, she was commissioned as a missionary by the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the Southern Presbyterian Church and set sail for the Belgian Congo in August 1902.

In the Congo Brown worked at the Ibanche mission station run by William Henry Sheppard, an African American missionary. She taught school and Sunday school and was matron of the girls’ residence. Their work was relocated to Luebo in 1904, after an uprising against the missionaries. In 1905, Brown married Alonzo Edmiston, a fellow African American missionary, in 1905.

Brown reported on her work in missionary publications and to the Fisk University community. In 1920-1921 while on furlough in the United States, Brown and gave a commencement address at her alma mater, Fisk University: “May it not be that some of you will offer yourselves to answer the call? Africa needs the very best trained men and women that can be found.” Brown was back in the United States again in 1935 to speak at the Missionary Conference of Negro Women in Indianapolis.

Brown was an African American who had learned patient trust in her God. Without linguistic training, she accomplished the amazing feat of preparing a Bakuba grammar, although she had to wait twelve years before anyone would publish it! As an honors student and beloved teacher, she left her native United States in order to tell the Bantu people about Christ. On either side of the Atlantic, she was an example of applied faith, loving others and making things better for everyone through determined effort.

After battling malaria and sleeping sickness for several years, Brown died in 1937 at age 62. In her memory, the Presbyterian Church in the United States established the Althea Brown Edmiston Memorial Fund in 1939. A biography of Brown, “A Life for the Congo: The Story of Althea Brown Edmiston” by Julia Lake Kellersberger, was published in 1947. In 1975, Fisk University mounted an exhibit recalling Althea Brown’s life and work. Her story is still repeated in Presbyterian publications as an example of the work of African American women in mission, and she is often mentioned among the notable alumni of Fisk University.

A Little Humor

There was a young boy who was saying a prayer out loud one night and his brother was listening to him. The boy asked God for a fresh milkshake in the morning. His brother said: “just shake a cow and milk it. It will save God the trouble.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“We are saved not by what we do but by trusting what Christ has done!”