Partying

jeff_osu · Tiger Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 838 Location: Oklahoma

Here's something I can talk about, and something I know about. I'm not as blessed in the literary arts as Punkstar, so just bear with me. Smile

People always told me you shouldn't drink and do this and this and this when I grew up. But they had done it. And it was fun for them. So why shouldn't I be able to do it? So I partied in high school. I had a good time at every party too. I never saw anything wrong with it because everyone else was doing it. Thankfully I stopped before I went too far down the bad road, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Why do kids ignore warning from older, wiser parents who have been there? For me, it was presentation. I never liked hearing people spout off on how they did this but you shouldn't because it's bad. So I'm not going to turn this post into one of those speeches, but just try and be absolutely honest. No one ever told me why you should stay away from this lifestyle. Here are the most realistic reasons:

1) One thing leads to another, even if you think you are in complete control.
2) You sink into indifference to life-changing aspects of life.
3) Sometimes alcohol/tobacco/marijuana/etc make you just flat-out mean. Also, you hurt people who care about you whether you mean to or not.

Partying isn't necassarily "evil", but it does not nourish your relationship with God. The only thing it can possibly do is get in the way. To me, that is the biggest reason it should be avoided. You can say all the reasons that I just said, but that is by far the biggest reason in my opinion. And this is where Satan comes in. When I heard people refer to Satan as a boogie-man out to take you away from I God, I usually thought "Oh wow... Rolling Eyes

" Thing is, alcohol and other such things are not a vehicle for God's purpose. Sin is pretty clever sometimes and you don't see it coming. So better safe than sorry. And....I'm done.

Feel free to put in your own input.

sharring · Tiger Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 812 Location: Texas

I agree Jeff-"it does not nourish your relationship with God" And the older i get, the more precious time becomes. And now i want to spend my time getting to know Him more (I want to know you...I want to hear Your voice...I want to know You more...) and it hurts to think of the time that was wasted. Most of my partying/substance abuse was to try to get closer to people cause i didn't feel very good about myself. But alcohol and drugs just made it worse-the people that abused didn't respect themselves, why should they respect me? But accepting Christ as my Savior made me respectable-suddenly i didn't need people's opinions to prop me up. And like attracts like. Be God's-scott

Steve · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:07 pm Post subject:

Alcohol consumption is a legal business for "of age" citizens in the US.

I think separating "partying" from consumption of abusable substances would break things into easier pieces to examine the merits or debits of.

Jesus made wine at a "party" (wedding). Neither the party nor drinking the wine was condemned.

From the Greeks we inherit the idea of "moderation."

Intoxication is more the point. And habitual intoxication may well be a component of contemporary "partying," however we as Christians could seek out alternatives.

Last weekend my wife and I attended the graduation party of two sisters who graduated High School.
A good time was had by all: there was live music; dancing; and "partying" on a nice social level.
I had a diet soda, but I believe there may have been some Light Beer in the same cooler.
Nobody got intoxicated that I observed, and it didn't degenerate into any ugliness behind misbehaving like a fight or argument fueled by abusable substances.

I would not dare to presume that this dear Christian family and their friends should observe total abstinance behind this social partying.
As the girls were not "of age," they did not partake.

Alcoholism is a disease.
It is called a disease because it is chronic, progressive, and terminal.

Gambling is legal in some areas.
Gambling "addiction" ruins many lives and families.
That doesn't mean I have the disease.
If I thought I was a gambling addict I would follow the Biblical principle of not letting my feet take me to the Casino.

I don't know if I'm adding a perspective or just confusing the issue?

Separating the issues and THEN trying to come up with a valid lifestyle approach (keeping in mind that part of our witness must include responsibility with those who -perhaps do NOT have the same level of Faith in a particular area that- may be observing our behavior) is part of what I'd call "working out our faith in fear and trembling," on a daily basis.

The Lord has walked with me through many personal predilections, and I believe He can work with me about any desires I may be ashamed of if confronted with CERTAIN people, if I will be honest with myself, and Him, about whatever it is.
That said, certainly I want to live a life "above reproach."

I CAN therefore go to parties, and may drink diet soda as one choice.
If I thought it would be alright to have a legal substance like an alcoholic beverage our "drink," I could choose to do that.
There have been times in my life when I would not have considered that a choice (anyway you want to take that last sentence is ok with me, you can private message me if you'd like to talk, anybody).

My wife and daughter are "normies."
They can leave a half of glass of wine on the coffee table and go to dinner, return later and throw the remains out.
I do not understand people like that at all!

I don't understand people who finish a trip with half a bag of uneaten Doritos still left in the back seat of their car!

But that's just me.
They can do it.
I can't.

ANYTHING can be an abusable substance to a guy like me.
But I can choose to "party" without the substance abuse component. Wink

jeff_osu · Tiger Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 838 Location: Oklahoma

... I guess I should have clarified "partying"...more or less just stuff you shouldn't be doing. I have had "parties" at my cabin that were just hot dogs and mountain dew (had a blast too). What I am referring to is cutting out at 10 o'clock Thursday night and getting plastered. Then Friday...and Saturday. I knew people that lived for this stuff in college.

I did the math from my family's history with alcohol and there was over a 200% chance I'd become an alcoholic if I drank regularly (go figure). I know I get kinda mean if I've had a few, big reason to stay away from it.

I don't mean birthday parties or socials, I mean just going and getting drunk (or more).

Steve · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:20 pm Post subject:

PunkStar · Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 12:56 am Post subject:

Good work with your tutorial Jeff. I like how you said why you should avoid partying. Instead of just not to do it. It is a far better persuasive technique because people can see the consequences and how to avoid them (I sound like my Psychology textbook Laughing

). It's good work dude, congrats.

jeff_osu · Tiger Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 838 Location: Oklahoma

Figured I should add to this thread. Kinda bummed out as I write this. I went and hung out with some of my friends tonight, ends up 2 were high (there were 5 of us) and all were about to go drinking. I wasn't really aware of this when I got in the vehicle. We ended up swinging back by my truck and I quietly just got out and went home (at 10:30 on saturday night Confused

). After some time of just going to work and getting things done, I saw my friends from a different perspective tonight.

The point of this thread isn't to be patted on the back, just to let whoever reads this know that it can be really tough to say no or just really tough to get away from it. I've done all I could to separate myself from this environment because I know how easy it is to slip into it. I gave up going to a concert all weekend (which would've been a blast) because I know I would have been tempted to just get drunk with my friends. A scripture came to mind as I was driving home tonight, and I don't know it exactly but it went something like this :
"If your hand sins, cut it off, better to lose the hand than the whole body."
So basically you sometimes have to give up things you care about (certain friends in my case) to stay on the right track. I guess this is why it's called "the road less traveled."

Steve · Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 10:46 pm Post subject:

Good on you, Bro.

The Lord never asks us to say "no" to something, that He doesn't have some other GREAT things to say "yes" to!

We spend a lot of our lives making adjustments, and some entail a bit of grieving and processing as we fit ourselves for the adventure God calls us to.
Christianity is a call to die: to our entanglements in the world. We're soldiers on duty, but as I look back I miss NOTHING I've repented of as God has called me to a closer walk with Himself. He loves us, and always wants what's best for us.

A door isn't closed that some others won't be opened. He's that big, and understands. Cool

I love Psalm 139!

Shaggy · Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:24 am Post subject:

Yeh, partying....hmm we all have stories from our adventures in this area.
many not good. But, now that i guess im out of my teenage rebellious rampaging days and have seen that theres more to life than that im a bit more tamed now.

Its also cool in a way though i guess how having a few drinks with a mate whose "unsaved" and who likes a good whiskey, can lead to some interesting discussions. Like 3 nights ago i was hanging out with my neighbour. we had a few whiskeys, had some sing alongs on the guitar, then got into some deep discussion about God untill 3:00am! Man i was tired, and my brain wasnt very articulate at that time of the morning, but the discussion was interesting nun the less. He is very set in his views, but we managed to share a conversation in a certain "context" (music, a few drinks)....
...i guess all im trying to say is that in this day and age God can still be found in any situation. Im by no means supporting getting "wasted" or anything. Moderation is that way.
...ive ranted on for a bit now...but yeh by his amazing grace, God wants to be in all of our lives, no matter where we're at.
Smile

Keep the Faith Wink

jeff_osu · Tiger Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 838 Location: Oklahoma

Wow....this is a year old, time flies. I didn't even go to a single party this year, just kinda lost interest. The only drinking I've done all year is having one or two Shiner Bocks while I go out to eat with a handful of friends.

Shaggy · Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:28 am Post subject:

yeh know what you mean man. drinking (alcohol) has kinda lost its taste with me. ill occasionaly have a beer with my neighbour.

but yeh, your doing well man Smile