 Good afternoon pastor David. Hey John welcome everybody to unfiltered a random moment with pastor pastor on Sunday You mentioned that you'll be teaching in Ephesians chapter 5 this week and You mentioned something interesting that I want to tease out today, and then on Thursday spend a little bit more time on it The scripture that you're using it says and do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit So my question would be Can Christians drink, you know Christians can do a lot of things, you know Drinking is one that some Christians have a liberty to do. They believe that they can and And so they participate in in drinking alcoholic beverages and You know as I've told my fellowship before where I to walk into a restaurant and Where they to be there eating their lunch drinking a beer or sipping on a glass of wine. I've said to them Don't ever feel that I'm going to condemn you because I won't scripture forbids the the drunkenness the drinking to excess and the the dissipation or lack of self-control that is often the result of Overdrinking so there are those who will argue that because scripture does not forbid drinking That it's permissible. There are others who will say that you're not taking into consideration A variety of things that pertain to others and how you affect them Let alone what you may be doing in an unself-conscious way to yourself and So that's where the the crux of the argument seems to be But scripture doesn't say that I cannot do that scripture doesn't say that I can't have an occasional beer or whatever and so I excuse me, I have I Have never wanted to make a case for a total abstinence in the sense that That you should never have a beverage I do know scripture says that you should not drink in excess and lose self-control But I I I follow a greater a greater I don't know what the word would be maybe My philosophy Related to drinking it has a different kind of Approach and that is that I understand that in Christ. I have liberty and I also know that There are Christians who are legalistic So what I'm wanting to find is the balance between legalism and Access usage of my liberties, you know, there's on the one hand the straining of Nats the other would be the swallowing of camels and so instead of the liberty and instead of the the Legalism I like to say love so Out of love for other people I will voluntarily restrict what I might sense a freedom that I actually have I will restrict that Because I don't want to be a stumbling block To to a believer if somebody walked in from my fellowship walked into a restaurant that Marie and I were We're eating lunch at and they walked in and saw me with a beer or glass of wine I guarantee you it would stumble my people guarantee Because they expect their their leader the pastoral leader of the church to set an example and to take into consideration the the weaknesses of some of the saints and Not that not that having a Hatred for drunkenness is a weakness. It's actually a strength But sometimes the younger believers and all They can be stumbled at what somebody perceives as their their liberty their freedom And I don't use my my liberty to cause people to stumble now personally. I don't drink I haven't had a sip of alcohol in 40 some years So I don't I don't I don't even remember the taste of it. It's been that long John And on my case I was not a sipping saint ever But I certainly was a drunk prior to come to Christ I I drank and drank to excess and so I have a built-in rejection of that because I know That that is not the place I'm supposed to be that's not what I'm supposed to do And so in in our study tomorrow I'm gonna be sharing some things related to to drinking and perceived freedom And repercussions and what is it that should really rule my heart as it pertains to those things and What ought to rule my heart is the desire not to stumble a brother or a sister Love will always triumph over my perceived liberties. Do I believe that Christians should drink? I personally do not think that they should I personally feel that it's a trap I personally feel that it will Limit any ministry that you're ever going to be able to accomplish. I know it does I have no doubt in my mind that it does especially here in the United States and So I I will share scripture. I will share the variety of things that pertain to such a subject tomorrow and The answer to all of that is rather than drinking which causes a lack of self-control Paul says be filled with the spirit and the fruit of the spirit is self-control. So rather than yielding to my flesh and Coming under the influence of Alcohol I'm supposed to die to my flesh and come under the influence of the Holy Spirit So when people want to argue with me about their freedoms is usually a freedom to indulge their flesh That's what it usually is. It's not a philosophic. It very often is not a theologic It is a it's a personal belief that I like alcohol more than I like to walk in the spirit of God and That may be reducing it to absurdity But in the end that's pretty much what it is if I am willing to argue and fight for my alcohol But I'm real kind of what's the word? On the fence when it comes to things of walking in the spirit Then I'm exposing my own carnality to the world because I'm an alcohol evangelist Rather than an evangelist of the gospel, but anyway tomorrow night We'll be talking about it and want to invite you guys to come out and join us at Wednesday tomorrow evening at 7 p.m And I'm looking forward to this because so many people as you have heard Well Jesus drank and so they use all kinds of things but come tomorrow night and pastor They will be teaching on this and so I look forward to it pastor And I want to thank you guys for joining us and tuning in and so we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday just a reminder men in a couple days after Wednesday is our men's conference So I want to make sure there's conference tickets still available the day of conference tickets that will be sold up until the conference You can come join us for that. So pastor. Thank you so much for your time God bless you guys and we'll see you tomorrow