Chapter 10: Friday Nights and Sunday Mornings

“‘Why does your teacher sit with tax collectors and sinners?’
‘…I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’”
--Matthew 9: 11b, 13b

“When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him,
‘They have no wine.’
…Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’
…the water had become wine.”
--John 2: 3, 7b, 9

“I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
--Ecclesiastes 3:12-14

Unless Dee and I are out of town, we attend Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd every Sunday morning. The same can be said about Murphy’s Wagon Wheel, a local Irish pub, on a Friday evening. Unless we are gone for the weekend, we are almost always there on Friday nights, sitting at Table #15 with many of our friends and colleagues. As a patron of Murphy’s, this may seem like a contradiction of my faith, but now that we are empty nesters, we enjoy going out.

Should faithful Christians be drinking alcoholic beverages? Should a grandmother? What kind of an example am I? I ask myself these questions and then answer them with the Bible verses above and my own life experiences...

To read the rest of this chapter, you will now need to buy my book, Simple Faith, Mighty Faith, published by Cornhusker Press and released 7-3-2011. Go to my website, http://www.JerriHaussler.com for ordering details. Thank you!

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Thoughts to Ponder/Points for Discussion

1. If you drink alcohol, are you satisfied with the amount you drink or do you feel you need to make some changes?

2. Do the actions and teachings of Jesus influence your position on drinking? How and where do you witness to Christ and His love?