What do you say to those who claim drinking is OK because Jesus drank wine?

You say, “I think you meant to add just a word or two to that sentence, like ‘drinking can be OK’ … OK?” The statement “It’s OK” may or may not carry in their mind a pattern of life that’s healthy.

I would say some drinking is definitely not OK, like drinking to drunkenness. That’s clear in the Bible. Another one that’s not OK is drinking with a person who is manifestly having their conscience wounded and being tempted or drawn into something that they just spent six years trying through Teen Challenge and AA to get free from. And now you’re drawing them right in to what killed them! And it kills millions of people in this culture. It’s killing marriages, it’s killing jobs. Alcohol is deadly in this culture.

Now I don’t know how deadly it was in Jesus’ culture. Drunkenness was real. Clearly the Bible condemns it. How real and deadly it was though, I don’t know. I just know what I’m dealing with when I go to talk at Teen Challenge or when I pray with a man like I did after church last Sunday who said, “When I’m done here, I’m going out and getting drunk, because I’m  done. I think I’m apostate, and I’m beyond help and forgiveness. And I’ve been through treatment so many times it’s hopeless.” I just know that is so prevalent. People that are cavalier about this thing called alcohol make no sense to me.

So, I’m just saying, “Add a word to that sentence.”

Of course you can’t defend teetotalism in any absolute way from the Bible. It’s clear that wine is a blessing in the Bible.

If you make the choice, like me, that I’m going to be a teetotaler, it’s just not based on the condemnation of the evil of wine. That’s just not it at all! It’s the context in which I live. It’s my children and my grandchildren. It’s my addictive personality. I can’t even buy a pack of gum without going through it in an hour.

I sense a lot of young guys who don’t want to be legalistic and want to spread their wings and know gospel freedom are just not very realistic about the world in which we live.

So that’s a little warning. And I know the pushback would be real strong from a lot of people I admire greatly that I could easily fall into a trap of ruling out for everybody what God has given as a precious gift.

Just a month ago or so, a gospel artiste (a well known for that matter) was being interviewed on a national television, on a show that most Kenyan youths watch or connect to. He was asked on the revolutionary on the gospel music industry, his answer â??gospel nowadays has swagger that even the secular cant topâ? that got me mad, asking myself how can a minister not even mention or drop some memory verses but confident to say our swagger cant even be topped by the world? We are in the age where the word has got a highway in our mouths, like a freeway at night. But really what are we confessing to ourselves? With so many songs with the word, we have accepted it as if itâ??s a good word, or you may. If I remember well the word wasnâ??t in use that much until jay-z, T.I and there pals dropped the joint â??swagger like usâ? this was followed by gospel ministers using this word on their joints, even others naming their joints the name. Milliyon, a HHH (Holy Hip Hop) artiste singed to CAJOint, dropped â??swagingâ?. first of all the whole joint lived to the name, its all about swagger with the lyrics going like â??from the way I walk/to the way I talk/ homey am just swagingâ?¦â? the video is shot inside limos, in conferences, hummer tracks n whatever u imagine to see in secular videos. Buddycrunk, another HHH artiste singed to CAJOint, drooped â??swag n poseâ? with the lyrics like â??now swag/now poseâ?, Mouthpi3ce dropped â??blame it on my swagâ? just to mention a few international artistes. The syndrome spread fast to our local ministries with Holydave jamming the line â??na bounce na swaggerâ?¦â? a well known producer when asked what new thing he is doing to the market answered â??am giving Kenyan gospel swagâ? these are just few instance I can remember on â??swagâ?
On the flip side few gospel artistes sing against swag, with guys like KJ-52 on â??swaged out tugs outâ? featuring Da T.R.U.T.H, and the remix with Victory. Pro with, â??Murder swagâ? just to mention a few. But really what is swag? As per the Oxford pocket dictionary  swagger as verbs is, â??walk or behave arrogantlyâ?. Well swag is pride, In Jer 13:15 the Bible says â??Hear and give ear; do not be proud; for Jehovah has spokenâ? so are we going against what Jehovah has spoken? Look at king Nebuchadnezzar, he was sent from men as a result of his pride (read Daniel) the Lord with always deal with the proud, but still on the king, he was returned to the throne after he was humbled, this also applies to us, humble yourself and the Lord will restore you to your position. In order for us to make disciples (as the great commission commands us) we need to kill pride in us, we cant reach out to people while showing we are better than them, even Christ himself lowered himself to our level, but still remained relevant to the word. Christ came in a manger, not in a five star hospital (heheheheh if it exists) Christ rode on a donkey, not on a escalade, why are we busy showing how blinging we are getting by the days? Why are our gospel ministers busy trying to show they are better than others? Pride will kill us, we need to be humble, this is accepting that we are not the best, and there is someone way good. Humility brings grace, believing on someone to have favour on us, which we donâ??t even qualify to have, grace demands faith, this is believing someone will do something great in our situations, situations that may look impossible, that we may even look like fools, yeah ad rather be a fool for Christ, whuz fool are you? You canâ??t have grace when u believe in yourself, you canâ??t have faith if grace is an alien word or experience in you. We got to murder swag. So looking the definition of â??swaggerâ? are our artistes using the word in a different way? Or are they using it as the arrogant meaning? And do u think you are being proud when you say u have swagger? We need some self examination. Thanks family. PEACE
*am not against anyone, am just against pride, hiding in swag

<Story Courtesy Of Juma Johnson;an x-hoodz correspondent>

Dear Friends and Supporters:

First I want to thank everyone for your understanding, mercy and grace while my family and I worked on rebuilding our marriage and reconciliation. From the very beginning, I have wanted to communicate with you. However following the advice of the church leadership, and others to whom I entrusted my restoration, I remained silent.
Back in late April 2009, the Lord exposed me and consequently delivered me from being entangled in a season of willful disobedience, deception and darkness. I was involved in a non-sexual but very inappropriate relationship with a woman other than my wife, thereby betraying my Lord, my wife, family, Epiphany Fellowship (the church I love and was instrumental in founding) my co-laborers and ministry supporters like you.
It has often been suggested that no genuine Christian can willfully sin habitually for a prolonged period (1 John 3:6). And that those who do sin cannot do so without some sense of great conviction and internal disturbance. My life is a personal witness to this statement, as I for several months battled great depression, gradual and graphic spiritual deterioration. However, it indeed was Godâ??s mercy that exposed me, breaking sinâ??s enslaving grip on me. It was also His mercy which used that to lead me to experience what David did when Nathan revealed that the â??gig was upâ? and said, â??You are the man!â? (2 Samuel 12:7).
Like David, I instantly knew that, â??I have sinned against the Lordâ? (2 Samuel 12:13). I was crushed by an enormous weight of guilt, shame, fear and sorrow, and I knew that the journey back to â??ground zeroâ? would be insanely difficult. Even to this day, I wrestle with that shame from time to time, but I also know there is one place I can turnâ??the gospel! I have to continually contradict my feelings and believe the rest of 2 Samuel 12:13, â??The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.â?
After nearly a year of retreat, rehabilitation and intense family focus, Godâ??s grace has me reset on a trajectory toward spiritual wholeness. Like Paul the great apostle I admit, â??Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfectâ?¦â? â??But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesusâ? (Philippians 3:12-14). Godâ??s grace is teaching me that I am not supposed to attempt to â??workâ? my way back to some supposed level of super-spirituality and then come out feeling â??qualified.â? But I am to recognize that I am never â??sufficient in myself,â? but â??our sufficiency is from Godâ? (2 Corinthians 3:5). As someone once said â??He doesnâ??t call the qualified, but rather qualifies the called.â? I am deeply comforted by this gospel truth and equally dependant on its reality. Without this comforting and affirming word, I might never have come back to the service of our Lord.
So I say now, what I believed thenâ??I sinned greatly against the Lord Jesus, my wife and family, the other woman and her family, my church, and all my ministry co-laborers and supporters. I ask you to forgive me for being a prime example of the spiritual leaders I have often â??put on blastâ? in the past, and further reinforcing the notion that the church is full of hypocrites. Forgive me for how my actions have caused many to be confused and insecure about the faith, and brought disruption to the peace  of homes, churches, and ministries. May God give you the grace and the ability to forgive me, â??as I have received the Lordâ??s forgivenessâ? (Colossians 3:13). By Godâ??s grace, many that I have offended have forgiven me, most notably, my wife and kids. Pray that the Lord will continue to permit us to build on this foundation that will give the Lord Jesus Christ the greatest glory.
This has been an extremely painful time and now I accept the fact that although Godâ??s grace is based on the merit of Christ and not my own performance, favor with man (Luke 2:52) must be gained through consistency over time. All I ask is for the opportunity to get started!
I have spent the past ten months in concentrated prayer, counseling, reading, studying, and fellowshipping with saints, and I am committed to diligently continuing on this course. Unfortunately, the sin has taken a toll and has created some unpleasant consequences. Among many, the one that particularly grieves me is the separation from my church. With regard to the Epiphany Fellowship, I will not be permitted by the leadership to continue in covenant fellowship. This decision brings me much grief. However I trust the Lord Jesus Christ to heal my heart and that of my family and the covenant community. After all this I have so much more tenderness toward the â??fallen,â? and an appreciation for the glory of a gospel that is so easily preached but not as easily applied. Lord permitting, I plan to proclaim the gospel with even greater passion than ever before and herald its liberating truth wherever the Lord will allow. The plan is also to musically represent the Lord Jesus so that the â??fall of Ambassadorâ? will not end with a period, but rather, with a comma. As you may or may not know Cross Movement the group had retired but as a soloist I was planning to continue as long as the Lord Jesus would provide grace. The release of my third solo album The Chop Chop actually fulfilled my contractual obligation with Cross Movement Records, so now as The Ambassador Iâ??m trusting the Lord for new direction and for what lies ahead.
My experiences during this time of seclusion and obscurity have indeed been very challenging. And, Iâ??m still not clear on all the things that the Lord has been doing. But I plan to leverage every lesson learned and every insight gleaned for the glory of God and the benefit of others. Since the very beginning, I have been under the care of a restoration team led by Pastors Byron Craig of Macedonia Baptist Church (Norristown, PA) and Zach Ritvalski of Sweet Union Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA). They have given me the â??green lightâ? to move forward in serving the Lord Jesus Christ publicly. My wife has also given her blessings and support to this decision. Therefore the Uplift! Group and I are actively seeking Godâ??s direction for new opportunities to honor the name of Jesus Christ. The nature of my call to be an aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15), a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18), and his ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20), compels me to reengage my generation and â??proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you (me) out of darkness into his marvelous lightâ? (1 Peter 2:9). This experience has taught me many things but one that will always stand out and I hope to become the embodiment of is Godâ??s grace and mercy is more than sufficient.

William â??The Ambassadorâ? Branch

Informerz is a crew which consists of two artists, Daffqliz and K.B. They started working together in the year 2009 September, and they have managed to do a single called Why are you crying under an album called LEGACY which is still in the works. The song Why are you crying is out together with its video. Basically they are  more of ragga gospel music artists. However, they’ve done other genres including Afro fusion, hip hop and reggae depending on the inspiration and target market. They do music as a calling but not as a profession or hobby. Our main purpose is to reach out to all people not only youths, for the glory and honor of Jesus’ name.

If that’s what you think, or if you think KJ-52 is just a kiddie-rapper, then it appears he made this mixtape exactly for you.

Peep “battle rap KJ” (my words) flexing  over tracks like:

– I Wanna Rock
– Carry Out
– Made Ya Look
– Nothing But You
– Forever

With DJ Sematic & Blaze Torch

Free download with his lyrics follow this link HERE

It is certainly understandable that even a very earnest and sincere seeker after truth would be confused over the religious situation today, with hundreds of denominations, sects, and cults in Christendom alone, as well as hundreds more in other countries and cultures, and with new religious movements arising almost every day. Nevertheless, God has provided adequate instruction for us to enable us to â??know the spirit of truth and the spirit of errorâ? (I John 4:6) if we really want to do so.

There are three criteria which are especially helpful in evaluating a particular cult or movement: the teachings of its leaders concerning the Bible, concerning Christ, and concerning the way of salvation, respectively.

It is certainly understandable that even a very earnest and sincere seeker after truth would be confused over the religious situation today, with hundreds of denominations, sects, and cults in Christendom alone, as well as hundreds more in other countries and cultures, and with new religious movements arising almost every day. Nevertheless, God has provided adequate instruction for us to enable us to â??know the spirit of truth and the spirit of errorâ? (I John 4:6) if we really want to do so.

There are three criteria which are especially helpful in evaluating a particular cult or movement: the teachings of its leaders concerning the Bible, concerning Christ, and concerning the way of salvation, respectively.

Attitude toward the Bible

The Bible claims, many hundreds of time, to be the written Word of God. The Old Testament Scriptures were accepted by Christ and the apostles as divinely inspired and completely infallible. Jesus said: â??The scriptures cannot be brokenâ? (John 10:35). With respect to the New Testament, He promised His apostles that â??the Holy Ghost shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto youâ? (John 14:26), and that â??the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truthâ? (John 16:13).

Therefore, during the first century, the apostles who had been with Christ, had witnessed His resurrection and had received these promises, gradually wrote down the Gospels and Epistles which now comprise the New Testament. These were readily received and recognized by the early Christians as inspired Scriptures. The apostles claimed that these writings were divinely inspired and authoritative, and true Christians have always accepted them as such.

Finally, the last of the apostles, John the Beloved, near the end of the first century, was enabled to look prophetically into the future ages and to write down the last of the true Scriptures, the book of Revelation. This completed God’s written words,

â?? I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. â? (Revelation 22:18, 19).

These last words of Christ’s apostles give us a most important rule. The Scriptures are fully inspired, even to the very words, and those who would add to them or take away from them are, to the extent they do so, false teachers.

In general, cultists have been guilty of â??adding toâ? the Scriptures, claiming either that the writings of their own founders were divinely inspired or that the interpretations of their leaders were uniquely necessary and authoritative. Modernists and liberals, on the other hand, have been guilty of the even more serious error of â??taking away fromâ? Scripture, culling out or allegorizing those portions which they decide are unscientific or unreasonable to modern man. The true teacher, however, will accept all the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures, as the infallible Word of God.

Attitude toward the Bible

The Bible claims, many hundreds of time, to be the written Word of God. The Old Testament Scriptures were accepted by Christ and the apostles as divinely inspired and completely infallible. Jesus said: â??The scriptures cannot be brokenâ? (John 10:35). With respect to the New Testament, He promised His apostles that â??the Holy Ghost shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto youâ? (John 14:26), and that â??the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truthâ? (John 16:13).

Therefore, during the first century, the apostles who had been with Christ, had witnessed His resurrection and had received these promises, gradually wrote down the Gospels and Epistles which now comprise the New Testament. These were readily received and recognized by the early Christians as inspired Scriptures. The apostles claimed that these writings were divinely inspired and authoritative, and true Christians have always accepted them as such.

Finally, the last of the apostles, John the Beloved , near the end of the first century, was enabled to look prophetically into the future ages and to write down the last of the true Scriptures, the book of Revelation. This completed God’s written words,

â??I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.â? (Revelation 22:18, 19).

These last words of Christ’s apostles give us a most important rule. The Scriptures are fully inspired, even to the very words, and those who would add to them or take away from them are, to the extent they do so, false teachers.

In general, cultists have been guilty of â??adding toâ? the Scriptures, claiming either that the writings of their own founders were divinely inspired or that the interpretations of their leaders were uniquely necessary and authoritative. Modernists and liberals, on the other hand, have been guilty of the even more serious error of â??taking away fromâ? Scripture, culling out or allegorizing those portions which they decide are unscientific or unreasonable to modern man. The true teacher, however, will accept all the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures, as the infallible Word of God.

It is certainly understandable that even a very earnest and sincere seeker after truth would be confused over the religious situation today, with hundreds of denominations, sects, and cults in Christendom alone, as well as hundreds more in other countries and cultures, and with new religious movements arising almost every day. Nevertheless, God has provided adequate instruction for us to enable us to â??We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.â? (I John 4:6) if we really want to do so.

There are three criteria which are especially helpful in evaluating a particular cult or movement: the teachings of its leaders concerning the Bible, concerning Christ, and concerning the way of salvation, respectively.

Attitude toward the Bible

The Bible claims, many hundreds of time, to be the written Word of God. The Old Testament Scriptures were accepted by Christ and the apostles as divinely inspired and completely infallible. Jesus said: â??If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken–â? (John 10:35). With respect to the New Testament, He promised His apostles that â??the Holy Ghost shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto youâ? (John 14:26), and that â??the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truthâ? (John 16:13).

Therefore, during the first century, the apostles who had been with Christ, had witnessed His resurrection and had received these promises, gradually wrote down the Gospels and Epistles which now comprise the New Testament. These were readily received and recognized by the early Christians as inspired Scriptures. The apostles claimed that these writings were divinely inspired and authoritative, and true Christians have always accepted them as such.

Finally, the last of the apostles, John the Beloved, near the end of the first century, was enabled to look prophetically into the future ages and to write down the last of the true Scriptures, the book of Revelation. This completed God’s written words,

â??I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.â? (Revelation 22:18, 19).

These last words of Christ’s apostles give us a most important rule. The Scriptures are fully inspired, even to the very words, and those who would add to them or take away from them are, to the extent they do so, false teachers.

In general, cultists have been guilty of â??adding toâ? the Scriptures, claiming either that the writings of their own founders were divinely inspired or that the interpretations of their leaders were uniquely necessary and authoritative. Modernists and liberals, on the other hand, have been guilty of the even more serious error of â??taking away fromâ? Scripture, culling out or allegorizing those portions which they decide are unscientific or unreasonable to modern man. The true teacher, however, will accept all the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures, as the infallible Word of God.