photo by: delphaber

Last week I wrote about saying the phrase, “I need a beer.”  Then a few days ago, I came across this passage in my morning reading.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes?

Those who tarry long over wine;

those who go to try mixed wine.

Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

In the end it bites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter perverse things.

You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast.

“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I must have another drink.”

(Proverbs 23:29-35 ESV)

I love having a nice beer while hanging out with family waiting for the bird to cook. A glass of wine goes so well with dinner when it’s ready too. You also can’t forget about toasting in the New Year. Alcohol and this time of the year just seem to go together. Everyone seems to be offering you another beer or glass of wine or egg nog or peppermint schnops or Irish coffee or glass of scotch (I’m getting thirsty).

I want to remind you though that your relationship with Jesus is more important than your next drink. With the spirits flowing so easily this time of year it’s east to abuse it (especially if your drunk uncle is egging you on). Your sin can easily be compounded by the fact that you are around friends and family. Not only to do you sin by getting drunk, but you ruin your witness.

Therefore, remember to stop and think before you take Uncle Bubba up on that next round of drinks. It’s not a sin to enjoy a nice cold one, but it is a sin to get drunk…plus no one wants to see your Santa Claus underwear again this year.

Click here to watch the video if you can’t see it.

***Spoiler Warning***

Watch the video first.
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Honestly, there is this weird tension in me right now.  I’m sad that I’m saying goodbye to being the main contributor on this blog, but I feel a since of relief.  As you can probably tell, I haven’t had the time to devote to this blog as I did when I first started it several months ago.  Because of that, I’ve become overly guilty and stressed.  I love beer, and I love the friends that I’ve made through this blog.

I’m also feeling a sense of excitement at the possibilities.  As I said in the video, thebeerean.com is now open for anyone to contribute.  You simple have to be a registered user.  To start off with I’ll be checking posts before the go live…but as someone shows that they aren’t a spammer I’ll give them full rights to post their articles right away.  I hope that thebeerean.com continues on after me to be a vibrant community where believers can share their views on God, Jesus, the Bible, and beer.

Don’t worry though.  I’ll still be around in the comments and at my personal web site.  I fully intend to be part of this community as it grows.  And don’t forget, “We’ll always have Paris.”  Wait no…umm….

Remember “whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God.”

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. – 1 Timothy 6:17

Paul drops this simple phrase at the end of this verse like a bomb on my feeble mind. Everything that God provides me with is for me to enjoy.  I’m not suppose to trust in what God provides or to place my hopes on them but on God.  But it is clear in this verse that God desires for us to enjoy His creation.

One of the earliest and first heresies that entered the church was the concept that everything physical is evil. They believed that Jesus couldn’t have been both man and God. He was either a spirit or just a man.  Therefore a truely holy person would never enjoy anything of this earth. They would deny themselves and wouldn’t enjoy what God has clearly provided for us.

I see this still today.  Whether said with words or actions, the mainstream Christian point of view is that it is wrong to enjoy creation.  Someone is truely holy when they deny themselves of everything earthly and focus only on prayer and reading their Bible.  But I would say that this is just a continuation of that early heresy.

I see scripture saying quite the opposite though.  When God is done with creating, He says it’s very good.  He tells His creation to eat of every tree (except on…but even it was considered good to the eye and edible).  He rejoices in them taking pleasure in His creation.

One of the best ways that I see that I can glorify God with my beer drinking is by simply enjoying the beer that I’m drinking. I do so in a way that I don’t put any trust, hope, or faith in beer. But I enjoy my beer knowing that it came from my creator.  I enjoy my beer knowing that God is the Brew Master.

I end each Beer Tip of the Week with the verse, “whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God.”  But what does that mean…how do we drink to the glory of God? How can someone be a God glorifying beer drinker.  I hope that I have given you some insight into this arena here already, but I hope to be more focused on this topic over the next few weeks in a series on the God glorifying beer drinker (I honestly have no idea how many posts I’ll do on this).

Here is my major concept that I live by (most of the time). There are things in this world that can be used to either do evil or do good.  Photography, sex, sleeping, running, watching tv, graphics design, surfing the net, eating and drinking are all neutral in and of themselves.  Therefore they can be used to either glorify God or drag His name through the mud.  Therefore I want to try to use everything in my life to glorify God.  I want everything that is neutral in my life to be used to point myself and others to Jesus.

But the major question is how do we do this?  How do I drink beer to the glory of God?  I have some major thoughts on this, but before I start posting on this I want to pose this question to you….do you glorify God with your drinking?  Have you even thought about how to glorify God with your passion for beer?  Do you think it is even possible?