Karl - we will MISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS you too!!!!!!!! If you stay away too long so DON'T!!!! Just get well again and take care of yourself and yours.
Chicks - Love the Chicks !!! Bertha is still off her feet and I am pretty sure she may not stand again. I have taken to putting her in my arms while I do my morning rounds and we have a little chat to God about her wee foot and leg and we ask him to make it better and help her to have no pain. So it is up to the good lord what he decides - of course he may think he needs another chicken for his yard upstairs to go with his cattle on a thousand hills - we will see?
Rancher - Well now Billy Sunday That was a character - Shows your age though if you remember him!!!!! - He practically fell out of the ark! Are you really that OLD?
We all have different views on things and different reasons behind the way we interpret stuff particularly when it comes to Religion and the Church. Billy Sunday did a great deal to help folk see the evils of too much drink, something sadly a lot of folk were suffering with at that time and still do today.
I am not so sure about wine in biblical days not having alcohol in it though. There is a very strong argument that they did brew Wine very like ours today. Back in Roman times they were very, very good at keeping all sorts of records about things and so there is quite a bit of evidence supporting that theory, though some like yourself feel very differently. I go by the word of God and of course the social history of the time. There are many references to Wine in the bible and indeed that of alcohol consumption in excess. You can find this throughout the bible from Geneses to Revelation. For example 1 Kings 20:16, Genesis 43:34, Zachariah 9:15, Judges 16:25, Esther 5:6, through Revelation 17:2. The most recognized events in the New Testament are those of Jesus turning Water into Wine at a Wedding feast John 2, and also his advice to Timothy regarding his bad stomach,1Timothy 5:23. Then there is the story of the holy spirit coming at Pentecost When the disciples were given the gift of the Holy Spirit Acts 2: 1-13. They were mocked and accused of being drunk.
Some folk argue that there was no alcohol in the days of the bible and use this to advocate total abstinance amongst believers. However these verses provoke one to ask why so many would act drunk if they were drinking something that had no alcohol content or why they should be accused of being Drunk because they acted in a bazaar way???? Personally I believe that Wine was alcoholic in those days as the evidence is overwhelming. However when Jesus turned water to wine - he did not say now go get drunk and do all the rotten things that comes with over indulgence! NO he didn't he gave them free choice. I also think there is an element of healing in a good wine or Jesus would not have told Timothy to use it for his stomach complaint. (We do not know what this was or why Jesus chose not to heal him immediately but instead get him to rely on a little wine?)
As a Christian and a brewer of wine - I feel no guilt in what I do and it is really good stuff!!! Thankfully I was brought up to respect drink and not abuse it. Sadly some folk cannot limit themselves and they have real issues. I dont believe the problem is with the alcohol but rather within the person who cannot control what they do with it. In the same way guns are not Evil the folk who use them for Evil are! Chocolate is lovely but too much and you get Fat and unhealthy. The Chocolate is not the problem. It is all about doing things in moderation and using those things for good and not bad. I am sorry you have had a bad experience with alcohol Rancher I really am as wine making is a wonderful hobby that I so wish you could enjoy! I do understand where your comming from though.
Oesdog - of course I am always good !!!!!!
Cheers!
