Does your preacher smoke cigars?

macjoe53 said:
Funny but I don't remember "Thou shalt not smoke" as being one of the 10 Commandments. I also don't remember seeing a "Thou shalt not drink."
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No, not specifically against smoking and drinking, but the people who are adamantly apposed to both will quote this:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (King James Version)

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.


Your body is the temple of God. It's not yours to defile, it's "on loan". I obviously don't subscribe to the philosophy of the "antis", but that's the argument. See, I read the whole thing, and it also says this:
Matthew 15:11 (King James Version)

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

And those words come from The Man Himself. Yeah, I've already been through this, more times than I could ever count. As you can imagine, there are some circles where I am no longer welcome. I don't lose a lot of sleep over it.
 
macjoe53 said:
Funny but I don't remember "Thou shalt not smoke" as being one of the 10 Commandments. I also don't remember seeing a "Thou shalt not drink."
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Drinking and smoking are sins because the extremist don't like them and they interpret the Bible in a way that fits their agenda. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that Jesus turned water into grape juice.
 
My pastor...who's also a good friend...DOES partake of the leaf AND of the ale. You see, we're Lute-rans, and have no problem exercising our freedom, all in moderation, of course. I got married in July. After the wedding, he enjoyed a Cohiba at our reception.
 
PerpetualNoob said:
No, not specifically against smoking and drinking, but the people who are adamantly apposed to both will quote this:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (King James Version)

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.


Your body is the temple of God. It's not yours to defile, it's "on loan". I obviously don't subscribe to the philosophy of the "antis", but that's the argument.
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It's interesting that a theological discussion would arise on a cigar forum, but I have to reply here. In nearly every translation of 1Cor3:17 the word "destroys" is used in reference to "God's temple", except in the KJV (referenced by perpetualnoob) and NKJV where the word is translated as "defiles". Not that it makes a meaningful difference, because one would be hard pressed to find a scholar who thinks this passage refers to our individual bodies as "God's temple". Rather, nearly every theologian agrees that Paul is referring to the "church body" at Corinth, of which each individual was a member, and which was being defiled in many ways that Paul expands upon in later chapters. None of those means of defilement is smoking, although drunkenness is mentioned. I think it's dangerous when people take scripture out of context and start clubbing other folks with it. Thank goodness none of us here is them.
 
I am pretty sure he does. I know he will enjoy a few brews watching the game. I dont see anything wrong with that. I have a few family members that dont agree with me smoking cigars, but its not a religion thing. My whole family are Christians. The few that dont want me smoking cigars, dont want me to because of the health aspect, not because its a sin.
 
My best friend on this planet is a preacher. He just opened a new church in the last few weeks, and he preaches at another. I talk to him daily, or at least would like to.
He loves a good cigar. When he's in the mood for one he calls me and says "Hey brotha, send me down a couple nice ceegars, would ya?"
 
shilala said:
My best friend on this planet is a preacher.
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That's great, because pastors and preachers need best friends that aren't in the same business as they are. Friends that they can just be themselves with, who don't put them on a pedestal, who treat them like normal buddies. Hair, warts and all. Friends who they can confide in, have a cigar or beer with.:tu
 
my current pastor does not, some of mine in the past have (I move frequently).

I think, like with alcohol, consumption in moderation is just fine, both health wise and biblically. I don't for a second buy the "the wine in the bible wasn't fermented" BS, that's a convenient story some use to denounce alcohol. My bible says wine, it says not to get drunk on that wine, and you can't get drunk on grape juice. Anyway, I probably know an equal amount of pastors who would think smoking (cigars) is ok or not ok.

I figure, if you're going to smoke, a cigar is about as innocuous as it gets
 
lets see where to start... yep both my pastors, and most of the elders and deacons at my church enjoy fine cigars, scotch, and ale. Clearly these are liberties given by God to men for his enjoyment. God does set boundaries, be ye not drunk...but the problem is when men,(with good intentions) think they are wiser than God and set a larger boundary. If God said dont be drunk, then we shall not drink at all...that way we are safer and avoiding sin...well if God wanted man not to drink he would have said , do not drink, but no he did not, in fact jesus himself drank wine,(and don't give me some lame story about the wine he drank was very low in alcohol, because why would there be a warning of not getting drunk if the possiblity didn't exist), anyways i digress, Smoking is not even an issue in the bible, and yes jesus did say that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of him, out of his heart come all sorts of defilements. As far as any other pastors or theologans that smoked and drank, we have a long list but for time sake i will list only a couple, Charles Spurgeon and C.S. Lewis.
 
I play bass on my churches worship team and everyone knows I smoke cigars. They laugh when I come to Sunday nite service after leaving the B&M smelling like cigars. A good friend of mine got to smoke cigars with some of the members of Third Day, a Christian rock band. While my church does not encourage smoking, they don't speak out against it either.
 
shemp said:
lets see where to start... yep both my pastors, and most of the elders and deacons at my church enjoy fine cigars, scotch, and ale. Clearly these are liberties given by God to men for his enjoyment. God does set boundaries, be ye not drunk...but the problem is when men,(with good intentions) think they are wiser than God and set a larger boundary. If God said dont be drunk, then we shall not drink at all...that way we are safer and avoiding sin...well if God wanted man not to drink he would have said , do not drink, but no he did not, in fact jesus himself drank wine,(and don't give me some lame story about the wine he drank was very low in alcohol, because why would there be a warning of not getting drunk if the possiblity didn't exist), anyways i digress, Smoking is not even an issue in the bible, and yes jesus did say that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of him, out of his heart come all sorts of defilements. As far as any other pastors or theologans that smoked and drank, we have a long list but for time sake i will list only a couple, Charles Spurgeon and C.S. Lewis.
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Amen!
 
Cigarmark said:
I play bass on my churches worship team and everyone knows I smoke cigars. They laugh when I come to Sunday nite service after leaving the B&M smelling like cigars. A good friend of mine got to smoke cigars with some of the members of Third Day, a Christian rock band. While my church does not encourage smoking, they don't speak out against it either.
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A friend of mine at church had a 4th of July party this year, and everybody there was from our church. It turned into a full-blaze herf. I love being Lutheran!

Several of us from the worship team were there, by the way. Word's out...

:chk
 
Cigarmark said:
A good friend of mine got to smoke cigars with some of the members of Third Day, a Christian rock band. While my church does not encourage smoking, they don't speak out against it either.
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I would love to have a cigar with Third Day!!! Great Band!!!


Dgar said:
I attend a large church with a few pastors on staff, and a couple of them smoke cigars. Heck weve smoked right outside the church before.... ohh the shame:tu
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They smoke cigs right outside my church every sunday!:w

PerpetualNoob said:
No, not specifically against smoking and drinking, but the people who are adamantly apposed to both will quote this:

Your body is the temple of God. It's not yours to defile, it's "on loan". I obviously don't subscribe to the philosophy of the "antis", but that's the argument.

See, I read the whole thing, and it also says this:
Matthew 15:11 (King James Version)

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

And those words come from The Man Himself. Yeah, I've already been through this, more times than I could ever count. As you can imagine, there are some circles where I am no longer welcome. I don't lose a lot of sleep over it.
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How about this one:

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
Colossians 2.20-22

I was raised in a very strict denomination... where I learned that most of the big stuff gets ignored while the small stuff get emphasized!!!

People strain out nats and swallow camels... Or smoke them!!!:r

If I handed my pastor a cigar he probably would smoke it with me!!!
 
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HEY! You stole my sermon! :) This is exactly what I used to preach when I was REALLY against smoking. The problem with the interpretation is CONTEXT. (A text without it's context is a pretext.) ;) Anyway, when someone now challenges me with this particular Scripture, interpreted this way, I send them back to the preceeding 15 verses. The body there is the "body of Christ" that they were fragmenting by division...not our physical bodies. Amazing what a little context will do. :)

(Sermon over...resume your normal duties) :D

PerpetualNoob said:
No, not specifically against smoking and drinking, but the people who are adamantly apposed to both will quote this:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (King James Version)

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.


Your body is the temple of God. It's not yours to defile, it's "on loan". I obviously don't subscribe to the philosophy of the "antis", but that's the argument. See, I read the whole thing, and it also says this:
Matthew 15:11 (King James Version)

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

And those words come from The Man Himself. Yeah, I've already been through this, more times than I could ever count. As you can imagine, there are some circles where I am no longer welcome. I don't lose a lot of sleep over it.
Click to expand...
 
PerpetualNoob said:
No, not specifically against smoking and drinking, but the people who are adamantly apposed to both will quote this:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (King James Version)

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.


Your body is the temple of God. It's not yours to defile, it's "on loan". I obviously don't subscribe to the philosophy of the "antis", but that's the argument. See, I read the whole thing, and it also says this:
Matthew 15:11 (King James Version)

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

And those words come from The Man Himself. Yeah, I've already been through this, more times than I could ever count. As you can imagine, there are some circles where I am no longer welcome. I don't lose a lot of sleep over it.
Click to expand...


When I am quoted these Scriptures I always take it to its inevitable conclusion which is basically to live like a vampire amish. You can't buy groceries from the store because they have preservatives. You can't drive a car because of pollution. You can't even walk out in the sunlight. Almost everything in the modern world is bad for you.
 
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