Churches hosting chats about faith over beers (Theology on Tap)

Statesman ^ | 08/09/09 | Joshunda Sanders

[Recovering_Democrat]

It took a couple of pints of Shock Top ale, but eventually Danyelle Price knew what she wanted to ask her pastor about the book of Psalms...Price, 31, was sitting in the Tavern bar with about 20 members of an after-church gathering called Austin Inklings and hosted by Immanuel Church. Like several other groups in Austin, the Inklings pair drinking with spontaneous dialogue about faith. Price said she thinks such groups should be called "Christians like beer, too."

[Recovering_Democrat]

You know what, it isn't a bad idea. Of course, Christians have been doin' this for years...some strict evangelicals might be doin' it under the radar...but for a church to embrace it, well, that is something different.

Responsible use of alcohol is not biblically prohibited, so why not use it as an outreach, hm? :)

[bigbob]

Bars have been doing it for years, too ;-)

[hinckley buzzard]

Martin Luther received much of his support as a parish priest from running the parish brewery. His "Table Talks" were a precursor of this genteel tradition.

[max americana]

Jesus turned water into wine. This is a natural relationship.

[humantech]

The thing is, most people have been fed an incorrect vision and version of Christianity.
The bible tells us not to be drunk , or unprepared.
It also tells us to avoid causing a weaker brother to stumble.
But it never says you cant have a beer or wine or even hard alcohol.
Christians need to start attending regular service then assemble into small groups that meet during the week. If its over beer and BBQ, God is there too.
If its a drunk fest that leads to weakness of control and makes you sin more, Gods not interested in that.
Christians, its time to get into the parks, the streets and the neighborhoods and show people the light.
:-)

[Soothesayer9]

What has always puzzled me is that Jesus brought MORE wine even after the guests were sloshed!

[ETL]

The Real Story Behind Rev. Wright's Controversial Black Liberation Theology Doctrine
Monday , May 5, 2008
FoxNews/Hannity's America
[special Friday night edition--original airdate May 2, 2008]

(some key excerpts)

["(Jose) Diaz-Balart is the son of Rafael Diaz-Balart y Guitierrez (a former Cuban politician). He has three bothers, Rafael Diaz-Balart (a banker), Mario Diaz-Balart (a US Congressman) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (also a US Congressman). His aunt, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was Fidel Castro's first wife."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Diaz-Balart]

JOSE DIAZ-BALART, TELEMUNDO NETWORK: "Liberation theology in Nicaragua in the mid-1980's was a pro-Sandinista, pro-Marxist, anti-U.S., anti-Catholic Church movement. That's it. No ifs, ands, or buts. His church apparently supported, in the mid-'80s in Nicaragua, groups that supported the Sandinista dictatorships and that were opposed to the Contras whose reason for being was calling for elections. That's all I know. I was there.

I saw the churches in Nicaragua that he spoke of, and the churches were churches that talked about the need for violent revolution and I remember clearly one of the major churches in Managua where the Jesus Christ on the altar was not Jesus Christ, he was a Sandinista soldier, and the priests talked about the corruption of the West, talked about the need for revolution everywhere, and talked about 'the evil empire' which was the United States of America."

REV. BOB SCHENCK, NATIONAL CLERGY COUNCIL: "it's based in Marxism. At the core of his [Wright's] theology is really an anti-Christian understanding of God, and as part of a long history of individuals who actually advocate using violence in overthrowing those they perceive to be oppressing them, even acts of murder have been defended by followers of liberation theology. That's very, very dangerous."

SCHENCK: "I was actually the only person escorted to Dr. Wright. He asked to see me, and I simply welcomed him to Washington, and then I said Dr. Wright, I want to bring you a warning: your embrace of Marxist liberation theology. It is contrary to the Gospel, and you need, sir, to abandon it. And at that he dropped the handshake and made it clear that he was not in the mood to dialogue on that point."

Source: The Real Story Behind Rev. Wright's Controversial Black Liberation Theology Doctrine:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354158,00.html
_______________________________________________________

"Their founding document [the Weather Underground's] called for the establishment of a "white fighting force" to be allied with the "Black Liberation Movement" and other "anti-colonial" movements[1] to achieve "the destruction of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world: world communism."..."-Berger, Dan (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. AK Press, 95.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherman_Underground#cite_ref-Berger_0-0

Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity (Paperback) by Dan Berger
http://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-America-Underground-Politics-Solidarity/dp/1904859410
_______________________________________________________

"This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English..."

YouTube Video:
The O'Reilly Factor confronts Bill Ayers:
October 24, 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP3uvK9gTIY
_______________________________________________________

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and Dr. William Ayers
are greeted by Rebekah Levin with the Committee
for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine.
(Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune / May 17, 2009)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ayers_wrightmay18,0,6689521.story
_______________________________________________________

For much more on Wright's Marxist
"Black Liberation Theology",
see my FR Home page:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/

[HiTech RedNeck]

The problem comes when addressing a group with strangers. That may or may not be an alcoholic who just walked in.

[HiTech RedNeck]

That last picture — Zero took BEER for communion?

[ETL]

Lol! It wouldn’t have mattered what he did in Wright’s bogus “church”, since it really isn’t a legitimate church, but that picture was from a basketball game he attended.

[Jagdgewehr]

Well, I lift my Steinkrug to those Christian monks of old who brewed the finest Bocks.

[skr]

You’re assuming that the wine wasn’t portioned out to the guests and/or that the guests would disgrace themselves by overindulging at a family event. Jesus would not give alcohol to drunks.

[RatRipper]

“It also tells us to avoid causing a weaker brother to stumble.”

I do not carry this banner at my conservative small church in north Alabama, but I think the alcohol issue (barrier) has been thrown up to people for years and, IMHO, is a stumbling block placed in their way for getting non-Christians into church. I think there are a couple of ways to look at that “stumbling block” issue. It has been used as a kind of a “you can’t be a part of our church if you drink” message that is antithetical to the Great Commission.

We are supposed to be bringing these very people into the church, and Jesus gave the example for us to do that very thing.

I do not at all promote the idea of a “drinking club” Bible study, but we should not throw alcohol up as an obstacle or barrier in bringing people to Christ, especially when God does not establish that standard. Apparently, Jesus himself drank alcohol enough to be accused of being a drunkard (Luke 7:33 - 35)

Some of the best and most effective witnessing I have done has been done over a cold beer. People let their guard down, you are like them, and not some potentially hypocritical churched do-gooder . . . IHMO

[PowderMonkey]

Is beer proper during religious gatherings? Interesting concept for a gathering of the faithful, and a variation on the theme of "Bible study." It calls to mind my favorite joke from my Catholic school days:
It seems there was a Franciscan monk and Jesuit priest attending a contemplative retreat at a Dominican Abby. Each afternoon in the rose garden the simple Franciscan monk and the Jesuit priest would sit on their white marble bench in the shadow of a large statue of the Virgin Mary, and enjoy a fine cigarette while in quiet meditation.
One afternoon, the Franciscan asked the Jesuit, "Do you think it's proper for us to be smoking during afternoon religious meditation?" The Jesuit replied, "I don't know. Let's each ask the Abbot this evening, and meet back here tomorrow afternoon."
The next afternoon, the Franciscan monk entered the rose garden to find the Jesuit sitting on the marble bench smoking a cigarette. Taken aback, the astonished Franciscan shouted, "Wait a minute! I asked the Abbot if it was permissible to smoke during religious meditation, and he specifically told me no!" Exhaling a luxurious cloud of rich tobacco smoke, the Jesuit smiled and responded with a finger raised skyward "Ah! But I asked the Abbot if it was permissible to engage in religious meditation while smoking, and he said yes."

[posterchild]

The Catholic archdiocese of Boston has been hosting Theology on Tap meetings for at least 10 years.

“...because without beer, things do not seem to go as well.” - Diary of Brother Epp, Capuchin monastery, Munjor, Kansas 1902

[robertwalker62]

i believe that sentiment ought not be limited to theology.

[Soothesayer9]

How do you that drunks would even BE there?

[skr]

What has always puzzled me is that Jesus brought MORE wine even after the guests were sloshed!

How do you that drunks would even BE there?

Did I misunderstand your two postings? They seem to oppose each other. My point was that people at the wedding were probably not sloshed, which is why Jesus made more wine when Mary asked Him to.