Theology On Tap

It seems like the Catholic Church is coming at me from all directions lately. Today, my father went to lunch at the bar that is four stores down from where I work. He brought a flyer back with him and showed it to me. I tried to save it. I wanted to scan it and post it. When Lindsay, Isaac, Eli, and I ate there for dinner tonight I wanted to pick up another one. They were all out.

So I'm left with just telling you from my memory what was on the flyer. Hopefully, my memory is better than John Kerry's.

The Defiance Area Young Catholics invites you to Theology on Tap. The details were that every Thursday (day might be wrong) a group of people were going to start meeting at the bar for a Bible study to discuss theology from 6:30 - 8:00. I thought it was a great idea. I think if Jesus was around today he would be heading up Bible studies in bars. That's awesome.

But I don't believe drinking is wrong. However, I can't participate in drinking because I am allergic to wheat. Also, the Nazarene church is extremely strict on the no drinking policy. Okay, they're not strict. I don't think our church would discipline anyone for anything. It is in their constitution, but it's like many rules at the Christian college I attended. They are there but nobody is going to enforce them. They are just there to save face.

I wonder how a church can have such a dogmatic stance on something like drinking alcohol when there are verses like the following in Scripture.

(1 Tim 5:23 NASB) "No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments."

(Luke 7:33-34 NASB) ""For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, 'He has a demon!' {34} "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!'"

(John 2:7-10 NASB) "Jesus said^ to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. {8} And He said^ to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter." And they took it to him. {9} And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called^ the bridegroom, {10} and said^ to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.""

This is actually the first evangelistic effort I have ever seen a Catholic church active in. I pray that it will be fruitful. I wish I lived in Defiance, so I could attend.

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And Alan Keyes remains the only man in politics that will tell it as he sees it. I love the fresh air of honesty albeit sometimes I think it might be a little too harsh. But I'll take a little harshness any day over insincere fluff.

Yesterday, he called Dick Cheney's daughter a "selfish hedonist." However, from reading his other interviews, I think he is the only person out there who actually lays a moral foundation on why the institution of marriage shouldn't include gay marriage.

Here is a website that shows his stances on the issues. Most politicians will ignore the issues and you don't even know what their stances are. Not Mr. Keyes. He lets you know what he believes and tells you why he believes it. I wish there were more politicians like that. They don't even have to agree with me. I would just like the honesty.

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Also, in case you are ever planning a political convention, please make the backdrop a solid color and not a flag flapping in the wind. It annoyed me to death seeing the red change to white and back again. Lindsay says she noticed it and didn't mind it. I might be easily distracted.

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And I've added another nifty little feature. It allows you to email my post to one of your friends with the click of a button. It's right next to the comments. Like today for instance. You might want to tell someone that Regan is a big drunkard and is heading straight to hell. You can do that easily by clicking that button and sending them this post.