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Bob Jones, Sr. on Wine, Alcohol, Christian Drinking by David Brumbelow

My Texas pastor friend, David Brumbelow, has a great list of quotes on wine and the Bible at his site. Here's one quote from Bob Jones, Sr.: It is wonderful when God saves a drunkard which He sometimes does, but it is more wonderful still when God saves little children before they become drunkards, libertines, and degenerates.” -Bob Jones, Sr., Comments on Here and Hereafter, BJU Press; 1942. Read the entire article: "Bob Jones, Sr. on Wine, Alcohol, Christian Drinking" Also, David has written a definitive book on alcohol and... Read more →

Alcohol Today, Alcohol Tomorrow: Are Southern Baptists any closer to agreement?

Six weeks ago, Nicole Kalil wrote an article for the Florida Baptist Witness entitled "Tallahassee pastor tolerant when it comes to alcohol." Kalil profiled Tallahassee's City Church lead pastor, Dean Inserra, concerning his views on alcohol consumption. Kalil framed Inserra's view as him deciding to not make "moderate consumption of alcohol a big deal" leading him to reportedly affirm the Convention's position as unnecessary. "We lose credibility when we force culture issues as absolutes," Inserra reportedly concluded. Since moderately imbibing intoxicating beverages constitutes a "gray area of Scripture," Inserra desires... Read more →

Latest statistics for usage of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco

Read but do not enjoy: Alcohol Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older Slightly more than half (52.1 percent) of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2012 survey, which was similar to the rate in 2011 (51.8 percent). This translates to an estimated 135.5 million current drinkers in 2012. Nearly one quarter (23.0 percent) of persons aged 12 or older in 2012 were binge alcohol users in the 30 days prior to the survey. This translates to about 59.7 million people. The rate... Read more →

English Baptist Charles Spurgeon on Wine at the Lord's Table--'We use unfermented wine at the Tabernacle'

I was looking for something else and stumbled across the little gem below I first posted in 2008. At that time, a lot of guys were ridiculing my moral reluctance toward imbibing intoxicating beverages for either recreation or worship, a reluctance based on moral principles derived from my understanding of biblical teaching and sound moral reasoning. After I posted several pieces on wine and the Bible amongst Southern Baptists I was pointed to a piece written by Trevin Wax on Spurgeon's practice as well as others who claimed Spurgeon loved... Read more →

The latest theological journal issue from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary deals with Calvinist, Arminian, and Baptist perspectives on salvation by Peter Lumpkins

The spring issue of The Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry deals with three perspectives on soteriological models: Calvinistic, Arminian, and Baptist. Authors include Steve Lemke, J. Matthew Pinson, and Kenneth Stewart among others >>> Especially helpful is a paper presented by Dr. Pinson, President of Free Will Baptist Bible College, entitled "Thomas Grantham's Theology of the Justification and the Atonement" with panel responses by several theologians including James Leonard, Rhyne Putman, and Clint Bass followed with a rejoinder by Dr. Pinson. We tend to forget that Thomas Grantham was... Read more →

A Conversation on Gluttony: Part II: If you’re not a glutton why are you fat? by Mary England

Everywhere you look people are packing on the pounds. It’s become epidemic. We live in a nation full of people who are “pleasingly plump.” Are Americans really all just gouging day in and day out on Whoppers and fried Twinkies? Or is it maybe a little more complicated than that? >>> SBC Tomorrow welcomes Mary England as Guest Contributor I love good ol’ American comfort food. No fancy expensive restaurant for me. Bob Evans does just fine. Do I want the country fried steak smothered in country gravy or the... Read more →

A Conversation on Gluttony: Part I by Mary England

So here we are at your (fill in state name) convention and as sure as the sun sets in the west someone is going to really show deem ol persnickety teatotelers a thing or two about a thing or two! They are going to go the floor and present a motion on gluttony. Take that you old dudes, you! “If we can’t have our alcohol you can’t have your Golden Corral!” They are gonna pull out the scales and the measuring tapes to show just who the real sinners are... Read more →

From seminary presidents to pastors...orders are coming in for Ancient Wine and the Bible: the Case for Abstinence by David R. Brumbelow

Brumbelow's book on abstinence cannot be overlooked by those who insist on affirming the questionable moral assertion that consuming alcoholic beverages for pleasurable purposes remains a choice indicative of ones "freedom" in Christ. Pastors to seminary presidents are already purchasing this volume >>> Employing solid historical sources, in Ancient Wine and the Bible: the Case for Abstinence (Free Church Press, October, 2011, $21.00, 306 pages), Brumbelow puts to rest several conventional myths, myths including the belief that ancients had no means to preserve natural grape juice from intoxicating fermentation as... Read more →

Ancient Wine and the Bible: the Case for Abstinence by David R.Brumbelow

Free Church Press just released David Brumbelow's newest book, Ancient Wine and the Bible: the Case for Abstinence. Paige Patterson wrote the Foreword. Read what some are already saying about this extraordinary book >>> “Hip Christianity may make the appeal for the use of alcohol as a witnessing tool, but David Brumbelow’s exhaustive research presents a powerful case for abstinence. I commend him for taking an unpopular stand against a popular practice” Dr. Jim Richards, Executive Director, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention “David R. Brumbelow's passionate plea for abstinence from... Read more →

John MacArthur takes on evangelical boozers in his latest blog post by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. John MacArthur is not known for literary vagaries or indecisive language. He sports few, if any, words which meet the characteristics of what some dub "weasel words"—slippery little fellows which suck the significance out of a word leaving but an empty hull behind. MacArthur's latest online contribution entitled "Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty" does not disappoint >>> With moral courage ablaze, he looks the boozing bunch among the young, restless, and reformed right in the eye and tells them in John-the-Baptist-style, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance"... Read more →

Exciting New Book Just in Time for Sale at the 2011 SBC Pastors' Conference by Peter Lumpkins

Here you go! Just in time for the Pastors' Conference in Phoenix! With that, I am... Peter Read more →

Bob Allen & the Associated Baptist Press on "Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence" by Peter Lumpkins

Senior writer for the Associated Baptist Press, Bob Allen, profiles my book in his present piece entitled, "Baptists Debate Social Drinking." Offering commentary on the recent action of the North Carolina Baptist Convention to pursue a policy for social drink (North Carolina Pastor, Tim Rogers, presented a motion which prompted such action), Allen follows it up with a brief analysis including several quotes from my book, Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence. In addition, he records, in part, a few of my responses to his follow-up questions raised... Read more →

Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, The Roaring Twenties, and Today’s Culture Wars by Barry Hankins: A Brief Booklook by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Barry Hankins is Professor of History and Church-State Studies and Director of Graduate Studies at Baylor University. His latest book entitled, Jesus and Gin: Evangelicals, the Roaring Twenties, and Today's Culture Wars (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, $26.00) focuses on a single decade of the American experiment, the turbulent 1920s. Or, as the brief period is usually dubbed, “The Roaring 20s.” Quite candidly, I had no idea what to expect when I began reading; before I was finished with chapter one, however, I knew Hankins’ book (heretofore identified as... Read more →

Yoga: A Fatal Flaw for Theological Triage by Peter Lumpkins

Five years ago, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president, Al Mohler, put up a short piece on his blog entitled “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity,” a piece he probably did not realize at the time would become a hermeneutical shibboleth for some in Southern Baptist circles >>> In the short essay, he suggested doing community theology was like doing emergency room triage: “In recent years, emergency medical personnel have practiced a discipline known as triage–a process that allows trained personnel to make a quick evaluation of relative medical... Read more →

Fat Studies and the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

Yale University senior, Eve Binder, in an interesting article entitled “Fat Studies Goes to College” writes, “A handful of colleges now offer classes entirely devoted to the overweight and obese.” George Washington University, University of California, Oregon State, and Rutgers are among schools getting in on America’s obesity problem by offering students academic opportunities to study the world’s largest population of fatsos >>> According to Binder, the "sociological study of obesity has been creeping into academia for over a decade, often as a subtopic of Women's Studies or Health Sciences.”... Read more →

On J.D. Greear's View of Alcohol: Inadequate, Naive, Relativistic, Unbiblical Balderdash: And That's Putting it Mildly by Peter Lumpkins

After getting over my initial “Oh my” upon reading North Carolina pastor and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Adjunct Professor, J.D. Greear’s recent swab on imbibing intoxicating beverages, I thought it would be helpful to look at Greear’s argumentation since he’s apparently been dealing with this issue for years. “A common issue that I have had to address over the years is the question of whether Christians should drink alcohol,” reveals Greear. One would think Greear would have developed a relatively solid case for one position or another if years were... Read more →

Southeastern Seminary On Alcohol…Again! by Peter Lumpkins

I have a question: why is it when abstinence-oriented believers breach the subject of alcohol, they are accused of obsession with an issue which divides rather than unites? How interesting, however, when those who have no necessary scruples with imbibing intoxicating substances breach the subject--and do so over and over again--they are heaped with praise, endowed with courage in tackling such a timely issue, and estimated as possessing the moral aptitude to "speak out!" >>> I have another question: if alcohol use is not an issue at Southeastern Baptist Theological... Read more →

Al Mohler and Moral Reasoning as Applied to Yoga & Perhaps Another Thing or Two by Peter Lumpkins

The Associated Baptist Press reports an interesting panel discussion between several panelists, including two Texas Baptists. The subject? Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President, Al Mohler's recently expressed opposition to yoga practice. According to Dallas Morning News reporter, Sam Hodges: "...Albert Mohler, caused a stir with a recent column decrying the practice of yoga by Christians...[concluding] the [second] column this way: "Christians who practice yoga are embracing, or at minimum flirting with, a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a `post-Christian, spiritually polyglot' reality. Should any... Read more →

Danny Akin, SEBTS, SBC Voices, and my Take on Acceptable Engagement by Peter Lumpkins

Warning: THIS PIECE IS VERY LENGTHY I initially prepared the piece below (below the double under-lined section) as a comment for this thread. I do think. however, it needs wider exposure. It is a longer comment exposing I think a fundamental divide between what I find as acceptable, honorable exchange and what other bloggers—specifically some Southern Baptist bloggers—judge as the “best” and “worst” in blogging. I think it beneficial if one is interested in knowing what drives me to write as I do. More importantly now, please read at least... Read more →

Peter Lumpkins: The Worst Kind of Baptist Blogging: A Rejoinder by Peter Lumpkins

UPDATE: I have to be honest here. Though I still recommend your reading the Miller post and my subsequent response to what I would still characterize as Miller's non-sensical critique of my last post, it's difficult for me to recommend the SBC Voices' site (only on this particular post is this applicable). The problem is, the comment thread lost all rational toward the subject at hand, so much so, that not even Danny Akin logging on could salvage it. If you do read, expect to gain little so far as... Read more →

Here Come Those Boozin' [young, cool, and hip] Baptists: A Problem for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary? by Peter Lumpkins

I'll never forget Baptist Historian, Walter Shurden's little volume on Baptist history--the first history of Baptists I ever laid eyes on and required to actually read--Not a Silent People (link for 2nd edition, not the original edition). In the volume he used the catchy refrain "Here come those battlin' Baptists!" while dealing with several controversies which have shaped Baptists--particularly Southern Baptists--throughout history. Over the past couple of days, Between the Times, the official blog of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has posted on the subject of abstinence from alcohol. Yesterday, a... Read more →

Warm Endorsement for "Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence" by Peter Lumpkins

Many thanks to Dr. Brad Reynolds, Vice-president at Truett-McConnell College, Cleveland, Georgia for his warm endorsement of my book, Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence: "At a time when purity within the evangelical church is being sacrificed at the altar of unity, and holiness is asked to bow to pragmatism Peter Lumpkins delivers a clarion call for the church to behave as the pure bride of Christ with respect to the consumption of alcohol. With biblical exegesis, philosophical effectiveness and journalistic excellence Peter reveals the Biblical case for... Read more →

Peter Lumpkins Interview on Faith Radio

Recently, I spoke at the annual Alabama Citizen's Action Program (ALCAP) in Montgomery, Alabama (//link). While I was there, Faith Radio host, Bob Crittenden, interviewed me, along with Dr. Joe Godfrey, Executive Director at ALCAP (//link). The questions to me centered around my book, Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence. For anyone interested, an mp3 of the broadcast is linked below. With that, I am... Peter Interview with Peter Lumpkins Read more →

Southern Baptists & Booze: A Lesson from Recent History by Peter Lumpkins

I'm a junk-store addict I must confess. And, nothing better pleases me than finding a good book cheap. Sometimes it's a buck or two, and at other times it's no more than a dime. Whatever the case, cheap truth is a thrill to buy. Today's featured "cheap truth" title is Shadow Over America by Dr. John Freeman, a book I picked up in Anniston, Al over the weekend. Freeman was a prominent Southern Baptist pastor, as well as editor for two state papers: Tennessee's "Baptist and Reflector" and Kentucky's "Western... Read more →

Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence by Peter Lumpkins

The publication of my book is now complete. Even though the official release date is still June 1st, it is already available online at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon.com, and several Christian bookstores. Soon Hannibal Books will have it up. Also, if one is interested, I have some copies available. You may order here if you like. For those going to the Southern Baptist Convention, I have a scheduled book-signing Monday, June 22, 2009, from 11:00 am until noon at the convention Lifeway store. Dr. Jerry Vines will accompany me. I... Read more →

New Book Release from Hannibal Books: June 1st by Peter Lumpkins