Newsletter Vol.2, #23—June 18, 2006

Matthew 8 ²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." ²⁸And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Thanks to Harold for taking the class last Wednesday night. I began to feel bad Tuesday morning and did not see much improvement Wednesday. Clara went to the wound doctor Monday and then to her regular doctor Tuesday. She has what appears to be another hernia developing

and is to have a CT Scan next Tuesday; she continues to have problems with itching and has an appointment with a dermatologist August 2^nd. Barry wasn’t feeling 100% Wednesday and we hope to all be here today!

Our Bunch reunion is scheduled for the weekend of the 24^th and we will be gone the 25^th and 28^th. We will probably leave the 22^nd for Kerens, Texas where my middle son lives.

The Teen Trap continued from last week

Gary L Coles

As Brad was sitting up and preparing to leave, he suddenly thought of Kathy. He asked one of the nurses if the girl that had been with him was all right. He noticed a hesitancy in the nurse's response. She told him that his father and mother were waiting in a waiting room down the hall. They could answer any questions he might have.

When Brad walked into the waiting room, he saw his mother sitting on the sofa crying and his father looking out the window. When Brad's mother saw him, she immediately ran to him, embraced him and asked if he was ok. Brad said that he was fine and proceeded to ask about Kathy. Brad's mother returned to the sofa sobbing and his father continued to look silently out the window.

Brad's heart began to race and tears began streaming down his face as feelings of dread and remorse began to envelop him. Then his father turned from the window and asked him to go with him. As they were walking down the hall, Brad noticed the stern steel expression that was on his father's face. Brad asked his father several questions about Kathy. His father just ignored him and continued his silent walk down the hospital hallway.

They came to a set of double doors that would take them into the ICU. Brad's heart began to leap with joy. She's not dead, he told himself, she's only hurt. Brad noticed that at the end of the hall was a large observation room. As they got closer, he saw that there was a lot of activity in the room. When they reached the window, Brad's father turned to Brad and asked him to look into the room.

As Brad looked into the room, he saw a person lying on a strange looking table. Going into this person were all types of wires, tubes and hoses. A few of the wires appeared to be connected to some type of screws that had been embedded into this person's skull.

A nurse moved and then he was able to see the face of the person lying on the table. Brad's stomach began to twist and turn. His vision became blurred by tears. The person lying on the table was Kathy. Brad could see that Kathy's beautiful long blond hair had been shaved so the screws could be placed into her skull. His beautiful sweet Kathy remained motionless on the table.

Brad's father finally began to speak. He told Brad that Kathy had suffered a spinal cord injury. Her spine had been severed. She would never walk again. In fact, she was permanently paralyzed from the neck down.

Brad fell to his knees and began to sob uncontrollably. His beautiful Kathy, the girl he loved with all his heart, the girl he planned to marry one day, would be unmercifully trapped in a motionless body for the rest of her life, all because of his stupidity. Why hadn't he listened to Kathy when she pleaded with him to leave the party? Why hadn’t he allowed her to drive him home? His pride and arrogance had done this. His concern about his "Big Man" image had tragically shattered Kathy's life.

Brad's father looked down at his son lying prostrate on the floor and placed his hand on Brad's shoulder and said, "Son, I truly believe your pain and suffering will far surpass Kathy's."

Comments

The preceding story dramatically depicts a tragedy that is taking place in our country today. Millions of our young people are falling into the Teen Trap of drinking alcoholic beverages. Many teens believe that drinking makes them look grown up and will enhance their status among their peers. This way of thinking has created a trap from which many teens never escape.

Statistics seem to show that drinking among teens is a significant problem. Of the 20.7 million 7th through 12th grade students nationwide, 10.6 million say they have drunk an alcoholic beverage. That is 50%. This same survey revealed that eight million of these students drink weekly.

Beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink of teens today. This is primarily due to the easy access of beer. Minors illegally consume more than one billion beers each year.

Young people are also operating under the mistaken notion that beer is a harmless drink. They don't realize that one can of beer, five ounces of wine, or one wine cooler has roughly the alcohol equivalent of one shot of vodka. Most young people do not know that a 12 ounce can of beer has the same amount of alcohol as one shot of whiskey.

What about the young people in the church today? Are they truly aware of the dangers of drinking? Have we as parents and leaders in the church, done an effective job in convincing our young people that drinking alcoholic beverages is not something a Christian does?

So often I have heard people say, "The Bible does not explicitly condemn the moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages." Oh really! Please take note of Philippians 2:15: "that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you appear as lights in the world." You tell me how a Christian can possibly comply with this passage of Scripture while standing around with a can of beer in his hand?

Unfortunately, many Christian parents have been setting a very poor example for their children. By their example, they have been saying to their children, "Go ahead, drink up, there's no problem." Then, when their children find themselves in a similar dilemma as illustrated in our story, they hang their head in sorrow and disbelief and ignorantly say, "Why did this happen ... where did I go wrong?" It is time for Christians to wake up and see that drinking is not only dangerous and stupid — it's sinful!

In 1 Corinthians 5:5 we are told, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?" For too many years, many congregations have been entirely too tolerant of social drinking. Many have placed drinking in that nebulous category, often called a "gray area."

Our Bible classes and pulpits are going to have to do a better job of convincing people that abstinence is the only scriptural approach to drinking. Throwing a few Scriptures at an audience or a class is not going to convince anyone. Unfortunately, too many have become too calloused for that approach to work anymore. Preachers and teachers must powerfully and dramatically show the destructive effects of drinking. Furthermore, preachers and teachers need to take the Bible and use it to present an irrefutable argument against drinking. Finally, elders need to discipline those individuals who stubbornly refuse to comply with God's teaching on this matter. Doing this may help some of our young people to avoid the teen trap of drinking.

www.dcoc.org