Should a Christian Get a Liquor License?

by David J. Stewart | August 2016

Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”

       No, absolutely not, to get right to the point! How can I love my neighbour as myself by selling him something that may destroy his life and family? Booze has a tainted track record. Alcohol has claimed many victims. I want no part of that!!! No Sir, not me, no way! As far as I'm concerned, selling someone booze speaks loud and clear that you DON'T love them. God loves you friend! And I love you because I have God's Holy Spirit living inside me as a born-again Christian. I'm not going to do anything that may lead to your demise. Companies, like K-mart, who require liquor licenses for their cashiers, only want to make money. There are more important things in this world than making money, and loving God and your neighbour are the most important of them. It is my humble opinion that if you truly love your neighbour, you won't sell alcoholic beverages to them. I love you too much to sell you booze!!!

Biblically speaking, can a Christian businessman serve alcohol? Should a store cashier apply for an ABC (alcohol beverage control) license to sell alcohol? Should a Christian work at a business that sells alcoholic beverages? When should we take a stand for God, and when is it Ok to tolerate booze? I'm going to give you some Scriptures, and then I'm going to give you my sincere Christian opinion, and then you hopefully will have enough information to make your own decision. I think the answer is clear, but I need to show you a few things to help you understand. Please, read on...

Proverbs 23:29-35, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”

In ancient times, people drank naturally fermented grape juice, which unless you drank a gallon, it was difficult to get drunk. Even children drank wine back then, as during the Roman empire. That's how hard it was to get drunk with naturally fermented grape juice. Notice in the preceding Bible passage from Proverbs 23:30 that the only way to get drunk was to “TARRY LONG AT THE WINE,” or “SEEK MIXED WINE.” Aromatic spices were sometimes added to wine to increase its stimulating properties. Naturally fermented grape juice has a maximum alcohol content of about 12% to 15% (basically like cooking wine). In many cases, wine was mixed (diluted) with water (as much as 20-to-1), which greatly reduced the alcohol content of the beverage. Our text Bible verse very clearly discourages anyone from drinking wine and strong drink (not just strong drink, but also wine).

Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” The Bible says you are not wise if you drink wine. That's what God said. I have always had a big problem with the claim that Jesus turned water into strong drink, or even moderate wine, because that would have made Him “unwise” according to Proverbs 20:1. There is an inherent deceptive nature in drinking alcohol, evidenced by the horrifying statistics and untold destroyed lives. Please take a close look at the photos below from Skidrow in Chicago. This is where booze can lead. Not one of these men thought this could ever happen to them. There are also women on Skidrow, as seen in the last sad photo. Let the pictures speak for themselves. Alcohol is a gamble! Some people can handle it and some people can't, but from the horrible statistics it is obvious that no one knows who can and who can't...

Proverbs 21:17, “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.”

The following passage of Scripture from the book of Isaiah accurately describes the United States today. All across our once great nation, the court system is ruling in favor of wickedness and against righteousness:

Isaiah 5:20-23, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”


How To Decide What To Do
(an awesome MP3 sermon by Dr. Jack Hyles. How do we decide what to do concerning
things where the Bible does not speak? Pastor Hyles shares some Biblical wisdom in this practical sermon.)


Alcohol Historically Has Always Been Associated With Wickedness

Again, we notice the Scriptural warning how alcohol brings mighty men low, becoming their weakness. During The Prohibition Era (1919-1933) alcohol was rightly termed “BOOZE” by preachers like Billy Sunday, God's man! I grew up around Skidrow in Chicago, tagging along with my father who was a minister to Skidrow. I saw thousands of drunks, bodies laying in the streets, in the cold, being loaded into police paddy-wagons, et cetera. I stood by my father's side as a young lad at several dozen funerals, where it was just myself, my father and the corpse (who had died a lonely drunkard's death on Skidrow). Having seen all that, I could never take a liquor license in good conscience. I fully realize that 95% of the people who I would be serving or selling alcohol to, would be just fine and not become a casualty, but then there is that 5%, isn't there?

Alcohol-Related Deaths:

Nearly 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the United States. In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities).

SOURCE: National Institute On Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

It may not seem like a big deal to most people, reading that 88,000 victims die every year because of alcohol; but God cares! I care! And this is just deaths in the United States. Have you ever seen a large church auditorium packed full with 7,000 people? I have, many times. Now multiply that times 12 1/2, and that's how many people die every year in the U.S. from alcohol-related deaths. That's an unthinkable unnecessary loss! But that's just deaths. God only knows how many assaults, rapes, foolish talking, molestations, beatings and other forms of wickedness happen while people are drunk.

It is also a woeful sin to offer someone alcohol in an attempt to get them drunk, to extract personal information from them, or to take advantage of them. Habakkuk 2:15, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” This Scripture refers to drugging a victim to have sex with him, her or them. We've heard much in recent years about the popular nightclub drug, Ecstasy (also known as the “date rape” drug). Alcohol is the much more conventional drug that evil people choose to victimize others. Alcohol is dangerous. I refuse to ever drink alcohol, for many reasons. It is for the same reasons why I don't drink alcohol as a Christian, that I would never take a liquor license (aka, an ABC license).


Why a Christian Should Never Drink Booze or Get A Liquor License

  1. Alcohol has a deceitful nature to it (Proverbs 20:1). The more you consume alcohol, the more you get used to it, so the less danger you feel while drinking it, and the more likely you are to abuse it over time!
  2. The Devil has ruined many people's lives with alcohol. I could spend hours telling you about the evils I have seen in my life from alcohol. I stood over the graves of a pregnant mother and her baby, both murdered by a drunken driver (he survived). There were two caskets. I'll never forget that small white casket being lowered into the earthly grave. It was a sad thing. Oh, how the Devil is a beautiful liar! Young person, decide in your soul that you will never drink booze! I've never drank a drop and never will.
  3. Someone is always watching you. When you drink beer, you're sending a message to others that it is an acceptable thing to do. When you take a stand and refuse to drink alcohol, people see that. I recently went into Chili's restaurant with my family (I like their new beef enchiladas, and I love their sizzling beef fajitas), and the waitress directed us toward the bar area. I immediately said, kindly, “We are Christiana and don't drink alcohol, could we please sit over there instead?” And so we sat away from the bar. I wanted her to know where we stood. I took that opportunity to take a stand against booze. They know in that restaurant that I am a Christian, and I don't approve of alcoholic beverages. Amen!
  4. The Holy Bible commands us to abstain from all appearances of evil. Alcohol has the appearance of evil. If you don't believe it, take a good look at the Jim Beam photo below. They don't call it “DEVIL'S CUT” for no reason. I never go into taverns and bars, because I don't want people (who are my neighbours) seeing me in a place like that. I avoid places that have reputations for being evil. When's the last time you read or heard about a bar fight breaking out at the Outback Steakhouse? I go to the steakhouse about once every 6 to 12 months. I don't eat there so often that it doesn't mean something special to me. I go there seldom enough so that I always feel blessed to be there, buying a steak dinner. I love their clam chowder at Outsteak Backhouse! (That's what my daughter used to call it). We are blessed in America to have so many restaurants, which didn't exist a century ago. We are a truly blessed people in history, yet we treat God so poorly, and forget about Him. Proverbs 30:9, “Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD?”
  5. By taking a license you are sanctioning the dirty liquor traffic. Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935) was right to preach hard against gambling, dancing and booze! Billy Sunday was right to take a stand for God against the dirty liquor traffic! By taking an ABC license, your cash register effectively becomes a tavern. Do you know that when I was a kid in the 1970's, alcoholic beverages were only sold in the back of grocery stores and pharmacies. All alcoholic beverages were only sold in brown paper bags for purposes of modesty, so that children wouldn't see the booze. People still cared about raising up decent children in the 1970's. We still had a sense of shame as a society. People drank booze with the attitude that it wasn't something best, not something that they wanted children to see and emulate. We've lost that in America today. Now, booze is sold at the checkout counter, right in front of the children. There is no shame anymore. Booze is no longer sold modestly in brown paper bags, but openly, as soda and milk are sold. During The Prohibition Era (1919-1933), booze was something illegal, bad and shameful. Wicked people broke the law. The places that broke the law, illegal barrooms called “speakeasies,” were notorious for also being brothels, gambling houses and entertaining all manner of sin. Chicago gangster, Al Capone, was infamous for his wickedness. Trafficking alcohol in the 1920's was as the illegal drug-trafficking today (and today, just as then, most gang murders were related to the trafficking of illegal substances).
  6. God deserves better than that from us. Don't pull on the same rope as the Devil by taking a liquor license!!! As Christians, God wants us to be holy, pure and excited about good works. Titus 2:14, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Although a person doesn't have to forsake sinful bad habits to receive the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sins, God still expects every believer to depart from sinful bad habits as His redeemed child. Unsaved people are held responsible for their sins by God as their eternal Judge (James 4:12; Revelation 20:11-15); but the Christian is held responsible for their sins by God as their heavenly Father (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11). God deserves better from His children than for us to take a liquor license and pull on the same rope as the Devil by selling booze!!! No Sir, I won't do it! It'll be a cold day in Hades before I ever apply for an alcohol beverage permit. K-mart, you can stick your license where the sun doesn't shine!
  7. You are an accomplice to any bad thing caused by the booze you sold. If you sell someone booze, chances are that you'll never find out about the bad things caused by it. When you hear about a drunk driver murdering a small child with their car, you never find out who sold them the alcohol. And brother, I am so sick and tired of hearing about “responsible drinking.” That's like a responsible game of Russian Roulette! That's like a responsible Oxycontin pill-popping party! That's like responsible residential drag-racing in a local neighborhood! IT CANNOT BE DONE!!! There is no such thing as “responsible” drinking of alcohol as a beverage.
  8. God has made us as kings and priests, and we shall reign with Christ. The Bible teaches that born-again believers will one day reign with Christ during the time of the millennium. The Bible says that we are as kings and priests unto God. Consuming alcohol is an irresponsible thing to do, which is why the Bible teaches for leaders never to do it! Proverbs 31:4, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink.” I happen to believe that as a child of God, who does God's work, that what I do for the Lord in my online ministry is far more important than what some worldly king or president does. The position of being U.S. President is just a title, nothing more. I am going to reign with Jesus Christ one day when He reigns. Revelation 5:10, “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” If secular leaders ought not drink alcohol, then neither should God's children. Shame on any preacher who drinks booze, or permits drinking it. Only a wicked person would claim that Jesus turned water into intoxicating booze, risking the woes common to booze drinking. Jesus wouldn't provide the booze necessary to help people get drunk at a wedding. Jesus made wine, grape juice, but it was not strong drink, nor even alcoholic wine. Proverbs 20:1a teaches that “WINE IS A MOCKER!!!” The Lord knew the Old Testament very well. Why would Jesus give people something that mocked them?
  9. Worldly companies like K-mart only care about making money, not morality. Just because K-mart is open on Sunday, doesn't make it right to dishonour the Lord's day once a week. In the old days of America, store owners pulled their store blinds, so that people couldn't window-shop on Sundays, out of respect for God. Businesses were closed on Sunday, people went to church, and America still had backbone and decency back then. Hollywood has ruined the family in America! And may I say, just because secular companies like K-mart don't honor the Lord, choosing to sell booze to the public, doesn't make it right! We need to give up our WRONGS in America, not our RIGHTS! I am against the sale of alcohol as a beverage! Why? Simply because historically alcohol has earned a very bad reputation, has a horrible track record, and oftentimes a destructive outcome!
  10. Don't follow the world. James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Before there was ever the evil of so-called “Christian rock and roll,” there was the world's rock and roll. Rock music began with the sexually immoral crowd. Due to its popularity, such wicked music has crept into the churches. Rock music is of the Devil. There's no such animal as “Christian rock and roll,” just as there is no such thing as “Christian embezzling” or “Christian adultery.” Likewise, there is no such thing as a Christian tavern or a Christian disco. There's no such thing as a Christian brother or a Christian bottle of booze. Liquor is of the Devil, and always has been of the Devil. God never instructed any man to produce booze! In fact, because Samson was dedicated to serve the Lord, he was forbidden from drinking any alcohol. You'll find booze, tobacco, gambling and tattoos in worldly establishment, not a New Testament church. Friend, the truth is that many of you would never even consider getting a liquor license if it weren't for the love of money, which is the root of all evil (1st Timothy 6:10). But you say, “I need a job!” That is what the love of money means. You are placing your need for money as a higher priority than the things of God. Even a little child knows that beer is not a good thing. Beer makes people go out of their minds. Beer causes men to beat their wives. Beer causes many car accidents and murders!!! Beer causes fathers to molest their children. Beer causes much violence and foolish jesting. Beer causes evil, everywhere that you find it!
  11. Jesus never got drunk! You can never get drunk if you don't drink alcohol at all. The Bible teaches that drunkenness is a sin (1st Corinthians 6:9-11). Jesus never got drunk, nor did He help anyone get drunk. There is not enough preaching today about the evils of drunkenness. What is drunkenness? It is losing control of your own mind to a substance. When you get drunk, you are under the influence of a substance. You are intoxicated with alcohol or some other drug (or drugs). It is a common thing for young people today, particularly college students, to drink booze with the intention of getting buzzed or drunk. This is wickedness! I believe it is wrong for a person to drink an alcoholic beverage, knowing that it will make them sedated and topsy-turvy. We live in a wicked and irresponsible society today, who drink alcohol with no way of knowing when they've had too much. And in fact, MOST alcohol related car accidents involve beer drinkers WITHIN THE LEGAL LIMIT of .08 BAC. That speaks volumes right there! People with a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of between .04 or .07 oftentimes murder other people, when they run over them!!! Wicked, greedy, rotten, beer executives, lawyers, legislatures and judges keep the BAC at .08!!! It ought to be .01!!! No one should be behind the wheel of a 5,000 car whose BAC is .04 or .05!!! Most companies will fire you if your BAC is .01!!! What an ungodly hypocritical legal system!!!
  12. Worldly music always glorifies booze, but never in Christian hymns. I've never heard any Gospel hymns that praise drinking alcohol, and neither have you! But we've all heard dozens of worldly music praising and glorifying the sin of drunkenness and drinking booze. The fact that the heathen world sings about booze is another reason why we as Christians ought to avoid it. James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Nearly hard core rock and roll band, like Van Halen and AC/DC, glorify booze in their satanic music. Bon Scott, original lead singer of AC/DC, choked on his own drunken vomit and died. On January 27, 1980, the final show of the Highway to Hell tour took place at the Gaumont Theatre in Southampton, U.K. This would be Bon Scott’s last show. Bass player, Rick Danko, of The Band, died from heart failure after years of alcoholism. Sadly, ten years earlier his son, Eli, also drank himself to death. Liquor license? I don't think so Devil! Oh, how the Devil is a beautiful liar!
  13. I've Seen Too Many Horrible things Happen Because of Booze. I remember going fishing at Olive Park in Chicago. One summer night (many years ago) some guys passing by warned us that we might snag a dead body. I thought they were kidding. Then saw a rescue helicopter hover above, and the fire department arrive. I walked down to the balcony which overhung the lake. Some people had been drinking booze and one of the men jumped over the balcony at Olive Park. He couldn't swim, because he was intoxicated with alcohol. I watched fire department scuba divers search the water, looking where the man had jumped in. Sure enough, about 45 minutes after he entered the water, rescuers pulled his dead corpse from Lake Michigan. His body was pickled, puffed up in size from absorbing water. He was dead. As the paramedics desperately tried to resuscitate the man, people where standing around, some laughing. I couldn't believe their lack of reverence for what had just happened. A man had drowned to death! The laughing spectators couldn't have cared less.

    I knew another woman, at church years ago, whose boss drank booze on the job. While working, she was required to go somewhere with her managers, but because he had been drinking he crashed. She was permanently injured and lost her left eye when the car's steering column went through her head. She was in a coma for 6 weeks in the hospital. The man fled the area for fear of prosecution when she revived. She is blind in one eye for life. This is the horrifying reality of alcohol!!!

Perhaps you ask, “Where in the Bible does it say that it is wrong to get a liquor license?” I'm glad you asked! Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” 1st Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Alcohol is always associated with evil. Alcohol causes evil. Noah wouldn't have become drunk if he hadn't drank wine. Lot's daughters wouldn't have become pregnant from incest if booze had not be involved. Oh, how the Devil is a beautiful liar! All of Satan's apples have worms!!! You can never take two drinks of beer if you don't take the first drink! That is wisdom!

I long for judgment day, when God judges the legislatures, judges, lawyers and prosecutors for their utter hypocrisy and wickedness! The same corrupt court system that sentences a man to 7 years in prison for stealing $200, allows people to murder their children by abortion. When Scott Peterson murdered his pregnant wife, he got two life sentences in prison! That's utter hypocrisy! It is a wicked thing for men to do right only when they feel like it. Marijuana is illegal one day and legal the next. Homosexuality was a punishable crime in all 50 states in 1962. Now, in this perverted country in 2016, same-sex perversion is legal in all 50 states. Truly, the end of America is near! God's hand of blessing is being removed. God is merciful and slow to anger, but His judgment will not rest forever. We are all sinners and have made foolish decisions; but the wicked parade in their filth, defying God, justifying their evil deeds, calling evil good and good evil, tempting the hand of God's judgment. Sin always undermines a nation! If we don't repent as a nation, America is headed for the dust!
 

Statistically, 80% of Prison Inmates are There Because of Alcohol

The media is largely to blame, for refusing to be truthful about the evils of alcohol, and refusing to warn people about the problem and dangers of booze. Tragically, alcohol is to blame for 80% of the people incarcerated behind bars in the United States...

ALCOHOL, DRUGS and CRIME

Alcohol and drugs are implicated in an estimated 80% of offenses leading to incarceration in the United States such as domestic violence, driving while intoxicated, property offenses, drug offenses, and public-order offenses.

Our nation’s prison population has exploded beyond capacity and most inmates are in prison, in large part, because of substance abuse:

The Impact of Alcohol

Because alcohol use is legal and pervasive, it plays a particularly strong role in the relationship to crime and other social problems. Alcohol is a factor in 40% of all violent crimes today, and according to the Department of Justice, 37% of almost 2 million convicted offenders currently in jail, report that they were drinking at the time of their arrest.

Alcohol, more than any illegal drug, was found to be closely associated with violent crimes, including murder, rape, assault, child and spousal abuse. About 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking and statistics related to alcohol use by violent offenders generally show that about half of all homicides and assaults are committed when the offender, victim, or both have been drinking. Among violent crimes, with the exception of robberies, the offender is far more likely to have been drinking than under the influence of other drugs.

Alcohol is often a factor in violence where the attacker and the victim know each other. Two-thirds of victims who were attacked by an intimate (including a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been involved, and only 31% of victimizations by strangers are alcohol-related. Nearly 500,000 incidents between intimates involve offenders who have been drinking; in addition, 118,000 incidents of family violence (excluding spouses) involve alcohol, as do 744,000 incidents among acquaintances.

SOURCE: https://www.ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol-drugs-and-crime

God only knows the untold evils caused by alcohol. Do you want that kind of blood on your hands? Getting a liquor license is the same as working at a dirty-magazine stand, a brothel, or as a janitor in an abortion clinic. I would never work at 7/11 or any store that sells smut-filled fleshly magazines! I couldn't work there in good conscience, selling somebody a Penthouse magazine. It would never take a liquor license, not even if you paid for it and gave it to me!!! I would never apply for any kind of a job at any abortion clinic. I would never drive a beer truck. I know a professed Christian man who chose to drive a beer truck. I might drive it into the river! Oops! I think it is wrong for a Christian man to drive a beer truck, because you're helping the Devil destroy lives. Most of the worst things in history have been done with the best of intentions.

Most state lotteries (which is nothing more than evil gambling) were started with the bogus claim that it would finance the schools, benefiting the children. That's how we humans operate, always looking for lame excuses to justify our sinful choices in life. Look at those states today, who take in billions of dollars in lottery profits. Look at their schools. Look where the money is going. What a bunch of thieves and liars! But even if the money goes to good causes, the lottery is evil, because it does not involve honest labor. The lottery is gambling, preying upon citizen's covetousness and greed. It is blood money! No Christian should sell lottery tickets. I realize that many Christians do some of the things I am mentioning, because they need to pay their bills and jobs are becoming scarce these days, but I am not going to trim my preaching to fit the wicked agendas of our generation.

A godly married couple in Oregon refused to bake a wedding cake for two lesbians. The state punished them, finding them guilty of discrimination, and they were fined $136,927. That blood money which the lesbian couple received will cost them more than they could ever imagine in eternity! God will punish the wicked (Isaiah 13:11). Let them fine me $100,000,000,000, I'll never bake a cake for two wicked homosexuals! Thank God that there are still God-fearing Christians in America, who are willing to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus Christ! The good thing is that the couple who were sinfully fined, received $515,000 in sympathy donations from angry Americans who are sick of the homosexuals forcing sex on everyone! That's what the homosexuals did in Sodom, forcing Lot's door open, trying to rape the two angels from Heaven! Homosexuals today are FORCING their perversion on the rest of us!
 

By Taking a Liquor License You Could Open a Tavern

When you obtain a liquor license, you are sanctioning the dirty liquor traffic! You are getting into the same boat as the tavern owner. Literally, with your ABC license you could open a bar and serve alcohol legally. If you think about what I just said, it should become obvious why you SHOULDN'T get a liquor license as a Christian. But you say, “I need a job, where else will I work?” My friend, whom do you serve, God or man?

If you serve the Lord, then you need to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (John 5:39) for an answer. Where in the Scriptures are we taught not to get a liquor license? There are many principles to guide our decision making. James 2:8, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” Applying for a liquor license risks hurting my neighbour, and the people that they hurt, by consuming alcohol. In America, alcohol is being sold as a Madison Avenue product, widely marketed as a fun thing to do in our irresponsible American culture. Sadly, booze is largely promoted at all major American sporting events.

The statistics available (irrefutable facts) evidence that alcohol has a big element of DECEPTION in it. Things don't just happen when it comes to beer, they are made to happen! Drunk driving is never an “accident,” because you have to make the choice to drink the booze first before you drive your car. Never trust a drunkard! Never trust a drug-addict! When a man becomes an addict, he will do unthinkable things to obtain more of that which he is enslaved to. Liquor enslaves! Booze enslaves!

No one ever says, “When I grow up, I want to be a drunken bum laying in the gutter.” Yet it happens! Look at the photos I shared with you earlier. My father took these pictures on Skidrow, working as a rescue mission director for four decades in Chicago. Satan always shows you the tavern's bar row, he never shows you Skid Row! The Devil shows you the neon lights of Broadway, but he doesn't show you the highway to Hell.

They call it “Liquid Devil” for a very good reason! Alcohol historically has been associated with all manner of wickedness. Wherever you find sexual immorality, you'll find booze. Wherever you find casino gambling, you'll find booze. Wherever you find dirty dancing and filth, you'll find booze!!! As a born-again Christian, I don't want to be associated with alcohol. I absolutely refuse to take an Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) permit to sell booze!!! I've never had one, and never will. I'll die first! The fact that you need a license is proof that something is very dangerous about alcohol. You have to be trained, legally restricted from selling alcohol to minors. Alcohol by definition is a narcotic drug! It is a Schedule I type drug! That is, it is a highly addictive drug, but has no medical purpose. As Christians we ought to keep our mind set on Heaven (Colossians 3:1-4), and there's no booze in Heaven!

I'm sick and tired of the liquor traffic making lame excuses to manufacture, sell and drink booze. They use farfetched scenarios, like the fact that in many poorer nations the water is unsafe to drink, so it's better to drink canned beer. Well, we have plenty of clean, pure and uncontaminated water to drink in the United States, so the argument is void if you live here. There is no good excuse to drink beer. The dirty liquor cartel and their greedy lawyers don't care if 100,000 people are murdered by booze every year. They couldn't care less! Tens-of-millions of crimes each year are committed because of alcohol. The best policy is abstinence. Praise God, I have drank one drop of booze my entire life.

I watched a co-worker, a big 250 lb. man from Iowa, cut his thumb nearly off while intoxicated. He was cutting a rubber hose with a pocket knife and ran it across his thumb. I watched a drunken neighbor one fourth of July beat his wife, terrorize his kids, and smash out all the glass windows in front of his apartment. When I lived in Chicago, it was a common sight to see smashed cars at the end of the alley, where drunks hit parked cars. It was common to see street utility poles knocked down in Chicago. Where I live now in the tropics, due to typhoons the utility poles are 3 feet thick concrete. So, now it is commonplace to see flowers displayed alongside dozens of utility poles at any given time, where drunken loved ones have died when they struck an immovable object. I've seen the damage and consequences of drinking BOOZE! That's what alcohol is... BOOZE... LIQUID DEVIL!!!

Do we really have to ask ourselves as Christians if the Lord would approve of us applying for a liquor license? Not me buddy! Kindly, I want no part with a substance that is known to causes misery, death, sexual immorality and death. Noah was the captain of his ship, until he made booze, then he became a drunken sailor! Righteous Lot was delivered from Sodom by angels, but he foolishly took booze with him as he fled the coming judgment upon Sodom. Lot's daughter's took advantage of Lot, because he was drunk, and they all commit incest together, and two illegitimate pregnancies resulted. Oh, how sin thrills and then it kills! Oh, how the Devil destroys so many lives with alcohol. By the way, by definition, alcohol is a narcotic drug (a Schedule I drug, that is, alcohol is highly addictive but has no medical use). A Schedule II drug (like Percocet or Oxycontin) is a highly addictive substance with a medical use.

What About Alcohol in Food Flavorings?

Now, I believe that it's Ok to use vanilla extract, which contains a small amount of alcohol. I'm not saying that we should become paranoid about the substance alcohol. NyQuil helps people sleep at night, because it contains alcohol. I use NyQuil when I need it, as a medicine to help me sleep. I love cooking and use vanilla extract in my Swedish pancakes and cheesecake. But it'll be a cold day in Hell before I ever drink an alcoholic beverage! Using alcohol as a medicine or food flavoring is very different than drinking it recreationally. I've never heard of anyone wrecking their car, smashing into a group of grade school kids, because they overdosed on cheesecake containing vanilla extract. I know there will be differing opinions on this subject, but this is mine.

I'm not saying it is Ok to have a glass of wine with dinner. For me, it would be a sin to drink even a drop of alcohol. I believe that! I know me. I am an intense person. When I'm sad, I get very down. When afflicted I pray, as the Bible teaches in James 5:13. When I'm happy, I give things away. When I'm angry, I get vocal and have to be very careful not to sin. I love music, because I am a deeply emotional person. And so I already know, that if I ever drank beer, I would take it to the limit and become a drunk! I heard Brother Lester Roloff talk about a man who never drank alcohol, but he started drinking a small glass of wine with dinner, after he attended a cooking class. In time, that small glass of wine was the door that led to him becoming a full blown alcoholic! It ruined his life! So we need to be careful and stay as far away from sin as possible. I decided as a teenage that I would never drink any alcohol, and I've kept that covenant with myself.

I don't think that using vanilla extract in a recipe is a problem, unless you feel that it may be for you, then don't use it. If you are a recovery alcoholic, then you probably need to avoid vanilla extract. I've seen alcoholics drink containers of vanilla extract, who were staying at a rescue mission. They are addicts. They will drink ANYTHING with alcohol. I have never had a problem with alcohol. I hate it. I avoid it. I don't drink it. The alcohol in a teaspoon of vanilla extract has never made me want to go buy a bottle of booze. The toxic substances in a Totinos pizza is worse for you than vanilla extract. For example: Sodium aluminum phosphate will do more to hurt you than vanilla extract will. But again, it depends on you, if you've had problems with alcohol. Everyone has different areas of weakness, and you are wise to know what yours are, and take the appropriate precautions. If a man has a problem with gambling, he needs to ask his wife to handle the finances. If a man has a problem with lust, he should avoid beaches. And may I say, you don't know who (or who doesn't) have a problem with alcohol, and by selling booze, you may be enabling someone to destroy their life.

I realize that someone could go home and cut their hand off with an electric saw. So should we not sell saws? But alcohol is something that we don't need. We need tools. We need chemicals for around the home, such as drain cleaners. There is no need for beer! There is no need for wine! The risks are too great. Perhaps you have drank beer your whole life, and nothing bad has happened yet, but I can show you thousands of people who after 20 years were sorry they ever drank the first drink. I won't name the names of umpteen celebrities who were arrested for drunk driving, but there are hundreds. You may get lucky, or you may become a victim. Why take the chance! Why drink alcohol when you don't need to? Most people that I've known in my life drank alcohol to get buzzed. That's why they drink it, to get that topsy-turvy feeling. That is a very foolish thing to do when you operate machinery or drive a car, or have children to raise, or a dear wife to love, or want to God faithfully!
 

Alcoholic Beverages are Something Better Left Alone

I speak to Christians who want to please God. If you are a worldly heathen, then why would you care? Alcohol is just one of those things that we never find out until it's too late, who can handle it and who cannot. I'm not willing to take that risk. And since I don't know who I would be selling liquor to if I worked as a cashier, I could never in good conscience sell alcohol to anyone. If your pastor says that it is Ok to drink alcohol and get a liquor license, find a better church! I want a pastor who loves me, and doesn't want to see anything bad happen to me, and warns me not to drink booze! I'm sure many people would agree. And what about our youth? Do you want them to have a quack for a pastor who doesn't warn them about the dangers of drinking booze!  And that what we ought to call alcoholic beverages... BOOZE (which has negative implications). Dr. John R. Rice rightly called alcohol... LIQUID DEVIL!

Drinking alcohol is like grabbing a stray dog by the ears! Sadly, many professed Christians drink alcoholic beverages and use the Bible to justify it. You cannot show me anywhere in the Bible where someone got drunk and did something good. But I can show you where Noah got drunk and naked, and it strained his relationship with his son forever. I can show you where Lot got drunk and committed incest with his two daughters, impregnating both of them. These were Christians who made bad decisions! Drinking alcohol is a bad decision! I can show you where Christians showed up drunk at the Lord's Supper in the church at Corinth (I Corinthians 11:21). Granted, I cannot show you a Bible verse that directly says drinking alcohol is a sin, but we can discern from numerous Scripture passages that God wants us to live holy as Christians, and dulling our minds with booze is not a holy thing to do! This is acquired knowledge, searching the Scriptures for godly answers.

There is also perceived knowledge, where we see what booze has done to destroy other people's lives. Hopefully, we won't end up having experiential knowledge, where we personally suffer because of the evils and consequences of booze. I believe God would be disappointed in any child of His that's takes a liquor license. God hates booze! Proverbs 20:1 teaches that drinking wise is unwise. I once looked up the Hebrew meaning of the word “deceived” in Proverbs 20:1, which comes from the idea of a fishing reel, being lured in for the kill. Satan reels his victims in. That hungry fish doesn't see the shiny hook ready to ensnare him. The fish only sees the bait! Wine mocks its victims, because it's just a matter of time unto you get burned. When you drink booze, you are playing with the Devil's fire! The Holy Bible says if you are DECEIVED, you are not wise!!!

A liquor license makes you a third party to the Devil's game. Please don't play ball with the Devil. Don't help the Devil hurt children and families. Don't help the Devil make drunken drivers. Please don't help the Devil ruin lives. I want to leave you with one final thought. Someone, somewhere, sold the booze to the man who caused the worst alcohol related crash in U.S. history.
 

Worst Highway Accident in U.S. History Caused by Booze! (27 dead)

One of the deadliest bus disasters in U.S. history happened in May 1988 in Carrollton, KY. The youth group of the Assembly of God in Radcliff, KY, was traveling to an amusement park north of Cincinnati. A drunk driver was driving a pickup truck in the wrong direction on an interstate highway when it collided head-on with the church bus. The gas tank ignited immediately, and the fire blocked the bus’s front door. Twenty-seven (27) people were killed and 34 injured. ALCOHOL WAS INVOLVED!!! THE DRIVER WAS DRUNK. HIS BAC LEVEL WAS THREE TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT!!! The drunk driver only got 16 years in prison... not bad for murdering 27 people!!! There are many people serving life prison sentences for selling marijuana.

There is a man rotting in an Arizona prison, who was sentenced to 200 years in prison for downloading 20 dirty pictures. What injustice! No one should go to prison for 200 years for downloading dirty images! That's cruel and unusual punishment. Yet, a drunkard murders 27 people and is now enjoying life after having served only 9 years of his 16 year sentence (which ended in 1999). The U.S. court system is insane! I didn't mention any names here, because I am a sinner like anybody else, and I am not judging anyone. I think it is wrong, unbiblical and cruel for our nation to encage anyone in a 6' x 8' cell for any length of time, let alone for the rest of their life. If I had my way, I'd house prisoners in their own towns, living inside like a normal human being. I believe in the dignity of man, even for the worst of us. Biblically, capital punishment is God's way to deal with the worst of criminals. But for those criminals who are not executed, they are still human beings and ought to be treated with dignity. Locking someone in a cell is torture, and it hasn't deterred the crime rate at all. Prisons are a money making scam for the wealthy elite.

I hope something that I've said in this article will deter you from taking a liquor license. Tell the Devil what he can do with his license to sin! Now, I'm against drinking booze, but if you do choose to drink it, let it be for yourself alone! Don't take the burden upon yourself of risking the judgment of God one day, having to give account for the evils caused by booze that you sold to someone. Ultimately, we all have to give account as individuals to God (Romans 14:10-12). God won't hold you accountable for what other people did while drunk. Albeit, I believe God will hold you accountable to a degree, because you sold them the alcohol, especially when you were warned not to. Now that you've read this article, consider yourself warned! Alcohol has a very bad reputation, and everyone knows that, which is enough reason alone to refuse a liquor license. If you have a restaurant, lose money if you must, but don't sell booze! That is my opinion as a Christian who loves God. I detest our American beer-guzzling perverted culture. Cops arresting drunks is just another way for the legal system to keep making money, but the problem is as worse as ever. They don't care about stopping it, they want to keep making money from it, which makes them a bunch of evil hypocrites!!!

The same is true of neo-evangelical pastors all across America, who've been warned not to use or promote the modern corrupt Bible revisions. Those pastors won't be held responsible for the people who reject Christ. However, those pastors will be held responsible for their part in blinding people from the Gospel. The new Bible revisions are sinister—perverting the meaning of repentance, attacking Christ's deity, adding and removing words from what God said, diminishing the doctrine of Christ, watering down the authority of God's Word, et cetera. I've warned umpteen Baptist pastors, who don't care, and won't repent. They will be held accountable by God for all the people they've led in error. Many people today are coming to religion, but they're not getting born-again. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever getting born again. We are seeing this a lot today because of the watered-down modern Bible revisions. I have more respect for a street pimp, than I do for any pastor who uses multiple Bible versions! Get right with God you sorry rascal!!!

If you love the Lord Jesus Christ and your neighbour as thyself, please refuse to sell them alcohol. It's better to be safe than sorry.

The Greatest Book In The World! (video, Pastor Danny Castle; The King James Bible is God's Word!)


John 8:32 and 36, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ...
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Jesus Came to Save Sinners | You Need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!