BiblicalInsights.net

In an interview with the New Yorker’s David Remnick, President Obama said, “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a y0ung person up through a big chunk of my adult life.  I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol” (Molly Reilly, www.huffingtonpost.com, 1/19/2014 updated: 1/25/2014).
Perhaps we should ask, “how dangerous is alcohol?”  There are approximately 88,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use each year in the U.S.  This makes excessive alcohol use the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation.  Excessive alcohol use is responsible for 2.5 million years of potential life lost annually, or an average of about 30 years of potential life lost for each death.  In 2006, there were more than 1.2 million emergency room visits and 2.7 million physician office visits due to excessive drinking.  The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in 2006 were estimated at $223.5 billion.  (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–Fact Sheet Alcohol Use and Health).
The standard measure for a drink is 0.6 ounces (1.2 tablespoons) of pure alcohol.  Generally, this amount of alcohol is found in:  12-ounces of regular beer or wine cooler; 8-ounces of malt-liquor; 5-ounces of wine; or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (gin, rum, vodka, whiskey) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).  Binge drinking is defined for women as 4 or more drinks during a single occasion.  For men, 5 or more drinks during a single occasion.  Heavy drinking for women is more than 1 drink per day on average and for men it is more than 2 drinks per day on average!  A small amount of alcohol becomes very dangerous very quickly.
Here is a list of the immediate health risks of excessive alcohol use:  unintential injuries, including traffic injuries, falls, drownings, burns, and unintential firearm injuries;  violence including intimate partner violence and child maltreatment.  About 35% of victims report that offenders are under the influence of alcohol.  Alcohol use is also associated with 2 out of 3 incidents of intimate partner violence.  Alcohol is the leading factor in child maltreatment and neglect cases, and is the most frequent substance abused among these parents;  risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners, and increased risk of sexual assault.  These behaviors can result in unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases;  miscarriage and still birth among pregnant women, and a combination of physical and mental birth defects among children that last throughout life;  and alcohol poisoning, a medical emergency that results from high blood alcohol levels that suppress the central nervous system and can cause loss of consciousness, low blood pressure and body temperature, coma, respiratory depression, or death.
Some of the long-term health risks of excessive alcohol use are:  neurological problems, including dementia, stroke and neuropathy;  cardiovascular problems, including myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation and hypertension;  psychiatric problems including depression, anxiety, and suicide;  social problems including unemployment, lost productivity, and family problems and  cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast.  In general, the risk of cancer increases with increasing amounts of alcohol.  Liver diseases including, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, which is among the 15 leading causes of all deaths in the United States, and among persons with Hepatitis C virus, worsening of liver function and interference with medications used to treat this condition. Excessive alcohol use also causes gastrointestinal problems, including pancreatitis and gastritis (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).  I gave this list because I wanted you to read what the President of the United States left out of his statement that marijuana is not any more dangerous than alcohol.  Do you see how dangerous alcohol is?  Do we need another drug that destroys the brain and other vital organs of the body?  Do we need another drug that will rob of life, peace and happiness?  By our choices we reflect a penchant for the indulgence of the flesh at the expense of our own well-being and that of others.  Such self-indulgence leads to self-destruction!  Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is!  The President of the United States was minimizing a grave danger.  Don’t be fooled.

Shame is “a painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt, or having done something that injures reputation; or by that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal” (av16ll.com).  It is often accompanied by a downcast look or by blushes, called confusion of face.
Shame and guilt go together.  Adam and Eve sinned.  They transgressed the commandment of God and ate of the fruit that God had specifically forbidden (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-6).  The experiential knowledge of evil produced a self-awareness of sin.  Their conscience convicted them and guilt followed.  Their guilt was intensified in the presence of God (absolute holiness).  Consequently, they hid from God.  If you are hiding from God, you might want to ask “why?”
David describes the misery of shame and guilt.  In Psalm 32, he writes, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:  my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Psa. 32:3-4).
We can ignore the feelings of shame and guilt and by this suppression harden our hearts against God.  Men often resist God.  They stubbornly reject God’s offer of pardon and restoration of the joy and peace that comes thereby.  Instead, they escape into denial and attempt to avoid the sin problem within altogether.
David sought relief from the feelings of shame and guilt through confession of sin and a plea for mercy.  “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me” (Psa. 51:1-3).  David sought spiritual renewal through God’s mercy.  He desired for the joy of salvation to be restored.
Confession of sin is the first step.  Then, we must repent of sin.  Repentance is a universal command of God (Acts 17:30-31).  Repentance is a change of heart that affects a change of life.  Repentance involves significant change in God’s direction according to God’s Will.
Repentance is followed by baptism into Christ.  Significantly, Peter indicates that baptism is an answer of a good conscience toward God.  “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 3:21).  In baptism, we obtain the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  We taste of God’s power which changes a sinner into a saint (Rom. 6:3-4).  The old man of sin is crucified and buried and a new man in Christ is raised from the waters of baptism.  At baptism, the transition is complete.  We stop being a child of the devil and begin a new life as a child of God.  We are truly born again (John 3:3-5).  Shame is replaced with the joy and peace that comes by knowing we are right with God.
Guilt is the result of sin.  Shame is produced by guilt.  Guilt and shame should motivate us to seek relief by appealing to God’s lovingkindness and mercy.  Instead of running away and hiding from God, we must run to God.  Only then, will we find the answer of a good conscience before God.

I have posted a five and one-half page book review of the Divorce Dilemma by James Woodroof.  This book was published in 1977.  The author states that the main purpose of the book is to make application of the divine law on divorce from the viewpoint of the circumstances of the first century.  The book misses the mark.  The author does not thoroughly examine the primary divorce legislation in the New Testament.  There is very little exegetical work done on the specific passages that touch on this important subject.  The author contradicts himself several times.  He makes Paul contradict Jesus.  He makes Paul countermand Jesus.  He attempts to establish his case on pure speculation and yet feels very confident in doing this.  You’re going to want to read this review.  It is located under Book Reviews on this blog.