Contradictions in Righteousness

This post may be a bit incoherent - as it is midnight after a whole afternoon at Galveston Island. There is something exhausting about riding the waves all afternoon. But, I had a blast with the kids. It was a super fun day. But this post really isn't about that. I am saving that for tomorrow. There may even be a video clip involved!
I wanted to post my thoughts about this prohibitionist movement in the area where I live. It appears from reading the paper yesterday that the petition to have the issue of whether or not the county should allow alcohol sales on the next ballot or not has failed. It won't even make the ballot. No skin off my back - as I am not a regular drinker. However, as I have said, I would drink in moderation if I chose to without a guilty conscience.
The thing that is so perplexing to me is the emphasis on this one particular thing that people have such an issue with and complete neglect of other things that the Bible specifically forbids. (I do not think the Bible forbids the consumption of alcohol - but rather forbids drunkenness.) For instance, the fact that half or more of the church comes out the doors on Sundays to light up a smoke. What about our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit? (My temple is not spotless either - I am just illustrating a point.) Or the fact that the high school makes condoms available to students for 25 cents apiece. The last time I checked the Bible strictly forbids sex outside of marriage - period. Do we want to publish a list of the teens who are buying these things in the newspaper? How about the explicit pornography that is mixed in with the regular movies at the local video store? And yet every time I am in the store, half the Christians I have met in the area are in there as well. Where is the call to have that garbage removed from the shelves where our children can see it?
There are contradictions at every turn. Either we want the town completely clean - or we don't. Why is alcohol such a big issue? It is completely possible that the drunk driver that nearly caused a collision with my van filled with children was a resident of my county, leaving a bar in the next one because he couldn't buy alcohol in his own neighborhood. I am speculating - but my thinking is that we aren't really affecting the change we think. And what if all the preachers that are pouring so much energy into fighting this "evil" and keeping it out of their county put the same heart and soul into winning people over for Christ - even the drunks? That just might blow the lid off of the whole enchilada.
I just don't understand how people can get so fixated, hyper-focused on one area of what they consider unrighteousness, and miss the forest for the trees.

He Saved Us - No Really He SAVED Us

This is the cool thing about the Lord - He doesn't just save us from hell for eternity which is way more than enough even if that is ALL that He did - but He continually saves us from all sorts of things. Often He saves me from myself. Can anyone relate to that statement?
Tonight - about 10:30 pm the kids and I were traveling home from a very long day (which I will blog about with excitement tomorrow) through Beaumont. We were going about 65-70 mph, and suddenly traffic in front of me came to an abrupt stop. I swerved left hard and then realizing that wasn't going to give me enough time, I swerved right and ended up bringing the car to a stop on the right hand shoulder next to the car that had been in front of me. There was a single car accident two cars ahead of us. I had 6 children in the car - 3 of which did not belong to me. We were all shaken so badly - but we were praising Jesus that we were safe. I asked the officer directing traffic if it had been a single car accident. When he answered affirmatively, I stated that the wind had been making driving a challenge for me all day - to which he replied, "Yeah, well you aren't drunk either."
Wow. In spite of this incident - it wasn't the alcohol but the person who chose to overindulge in alcohol that was the problem. I think prohibition should have taught us that people will find a way to have what they want - and the more forbidden the fruit is made the more the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve will reach for it, and find ways to have it. I wish we could change hearts instead of trying to make useless laws. How long will history have to repeat itself? Don't get me wrong - I was mad as hell at the driver who came a breath away from causing an accident that involved us - but I think we're approaching it all wrong.
Thank you Jesus for saving us, and for SAVING us!

Lips That Touch Wine Will Appear in the Paper

A new concept that I have encountered since moving to Texas is "dry" counties where alcohol sales are prohibited. It is served in some restaurants, but not sold in stores. There are, however, liquor stores built at the edge of the county, making alcohol only slightly more difficult to obtain. Many pastors in our area are rallying to keep this county dry. There is a petition to put the issue up for a vote that is circulating in the county, and the list of those who have signed it will supposedly be published in the newspaper.
This morning we discussed the issue a bit in Sunday School. I remember something the pastor said about a month ago - in essentials unity, in non-essentials, peace. This is not an issue upon which our salvation hangs, and as such would qualify for the non-essential category. Alcohol is not forbidden in the Bible, although God's word clearly forbids drunkenness. I understand completely that as believers that we should stand for righteousness and against wickedness. The alcohol is not the evil thing - but how people behave because they overindulge. I see gluttony as a rampant sin that permeates the body of Christ (four fingers pointing at myself), and yet outlawing chocolate cake will do little to induce righteousness. I don't think you can legislate morality. The difference is that you do not become intoxicated if you eat chocolate cake, and do foolish things that you later regret. It pretty much ends with regretting the chocolate cake. Drunkenness on the other hand lowers inhibitions and makes you far more vulnerable to other sin - you name it.
My husband who grew up in a dry county pointed out that living in a "dry" county seemed to increase the incidence of drunk driving. Those desiring to purchase alcohol would head out across the county line on Friday and Saturday nights to drive-thru liquor stores and start drinking on their way back home.
There are uses for alcohol other than "partying" or intoxication. I have had more than one doctor recommend drinking a small glass of wine for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even pre-term labor. (I was in the final trimester and was having some miserably unproductive contractions.) I drink alcohol on a rare occasion, and feel no conviction against doing so. As a Christian, my biggest concern is causing someone who has a weakness towards drunkenness to stumble if they should see me buying or drinking alcohol, so I drink in extreme moderation.
The issue here has become quite heated. This week's newspaper is full of letters from readers, the majority of which are against the sale of alcohol in this county. There is one zealous pastor who takes out huge ads in the paper who seems to be provoking more discord than stirring the hearts of the community towards godly living. I wonder at that, and what the point might be in publishing a list of names that are already on public record. Jesus did not publish the names of the long list of men associated with the woman at the well - that would have been more the style of the Pharisees. I don't know what the right answer is - but I do know that making laws won't help us clean up those whose lives have been destroyed by alcohol. Christ alone can make that difference.