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May 10, 2023

Alcohol use has become so commonplace in society, it’s often the person abstaining rather than the one overindulging who gets sideways glances and faces questions from perplexed peers. There’s no doubt alcoholism has become an epidemic, with new data revealing alcohol-induced liver disease soared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So how should Christians engage with alcohol?

Robby Gallaty, an author and senior pastor of Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, recently addressed from the pulpit whether it’s wise for believers to consume alcohol.

An alcoholic himself celebrating 20 years of sobriety, Gallaty employed statistics, expert analysis, and Scripture to make his case, putting to rest the suggestion there is any difference between being drunk and “buzzed.”

“You can’t be full of the Spirit and buzzed at the same time,” the pastor declared, later pointing to two police officers in the congregation whom he said would vouch for his assertion there is no real distinction between a person who is drunk and one who’s “buzzed,” because neither person is sober.

Of course, there are those who will make the obvious point: Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine, as it’s written in John 2:1-11. Gallaty, however, offered some context.

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In addition to explaining it was safer in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry to drink wine rather than water, because the latter was often contaminated with bacteria, the Tennessee pastor pointed out a stunning reality: the alcohol consumed today is drastically more potent than the wine of biblical times.

To make his point, Gallaty referenced the work of Charles Quarles, a research professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary who has studied the makeup of alcohol in the first century.

“A careful study of the Mishnah and Talmuds [Jewish texts] shows that the normal dilution rate among the Jews was three parts water to one part wine,” Quarles wrote. “[T]his was very likely the commonly accepted dilution rate among Jews of the [New Testament] era as well. This dilution rate reduces the alcohol content of New Testament wine to 2.75 to 3.0 percent.”

Gallaty used those numbers to compare the wine of Jesus’ day to the alcohol consumed in 2023:

The pastor was careful to note consuming alcohol is, in and of itself, not a sin and cautioned churchgoers to follow their own convictions. But he warned the line between what is wise and unwise, when it comes to drinking, is particularly blurry.

Gallaty turned to the apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:15-18, where he wrote: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk not as unwise people but as wise  making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So dont be foolish, but understand what the Lords will is. And dont get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit” (CSB).

“In essence,” the preacher said, “here’s what he’s saying: Be careful how you live. Pay very close attention to things in your life that could cause you to go astray. Let me ask you a question: How many people in here have a big dog or a medium-size dog in a small backyard? Anybody have two dogs in a small backyard? Anybody bold enough or crazy enough like us at one time to have three dogs in a backyard?”

He continued, “Do you ever walk at night, in the dark, barefoot? Never! Why? Because you may step on something you will regret. So if you won’t walk in the dark in the backyard in a grassy area because of dogs, then what he’s saying is don’t you dare walk in this world as unwise people, not taking account of how you’re living.”

“What he’s saying is watch how you’re living to make sure you don’t stumble into something that’s going to cause harm,” Gallaty added.

He went on to explain there are, in his view, very few circumstances in which someone drinks without the express purpose of getting drunk or “buzzed,” which, as he soon argued, are both sinful.

To make his point, Gallaty jokingly albeit poignantly quoted heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who once said, “People don’t drink because they enjoy to drink; they drink to change. Most drink to get buzzed.”

Although sobriety is certainly a worthwhile goal, the pastor ultimately declared it is wholly insufficient without Jesus. Using his own life story, Gallaty said he used alcohol to “drown” his own problems only to find them staring back at him when he came out of his stupor.

“For some of you, drinking has become a coping mechanism in your life to forget your problems momentarily, sadly, only to wake up later to find out they’re still there,” he said. “It’s easier to dull the pain in the present with alcohol because it seems simpler. But the problem is they will arise later in life.”

Ultimately, Gallaty explained he had to go through rehabilitation twice because he tried at first to find sobriety and wholeness “without Christ, which is why I tell people sobriety without Jesus is always a dead-end street.”

“Maybe the reason you haven’t experienced freedom in your life … the reason you’ve been consumed by [sin or addiction] is maybe because you haven’t fully asked Jesus into your life and surrendered your life to Him to set you free once for all from something you’re trying to do in your own strength,” he said.

The question at the start of Gallaty’s sermon was: “Is it wise for a Christian to drink?”

“The answer is, according to Paul, in many situations and circumstances at different stages of life, it’s not,” the pastor said.

You can watch his full sermon in the video above.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwires daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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Kim Kardashian arrives at court to ‘confront’ her alleged attackers in Paris robbery trial

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Kim Kardashian arrives at court to 'confront' her alleged attackers in Paris robbery trial

Kim Kardashian has arrived at court to face a group accused of robbing her at gunpoint nearly a decade ago.

Wearing a black skirt suit, sunglasses, and with her hair pulled back into a chignon, the US reality star walked up the steps accompanied by her mother Kris and a large entourage.

The US reality star greeted the judge with a soft “Hello,” thanking the French authorities for “allowing me to tell my truth”.

Kim Kardashian waves as she arrives to testify regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016, in Paris, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
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Kim Kardashian waves as she arrives at court. Pic: AP

She began by telling the court of her love for Paris, calling it a “magical place,” before becoming tearful when describing the robbery, and talking of her “confusion” when two men entered her room dressed as police officers, accompanied by the handcuffed concierge.

She told the court: “I had fallen asleep naked with a robe on, I was flustered.”

Kardashian will face 10 defendants who it is alleged pulled off one of the most audacious celebrity heists in modern French history in the early hours of 3 October 2016.

Ahead of her in-person appearance, Kardashian’s lawyers said she was ready to “confront” the defendants and intended to do so “with dignity and courage”.

More on Kim Kardashian

It’s alleged that five masked men posing as police officers stormed the residence, with two entering Kardashian’s room and robbing her at gunpoint.

Kim Kardashian.
Pic: Reuters
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Kim Kardashian. Pic: Reuters

Police say the men escaped on bicycles, with around $9m of jewellery, including a $4m engagement ring from Kardashian’s then-husband Kanye West. Most of the jewellery was never recovered.

Earlier on Tuesday, in Paris’s central criminal court, Kardashian’s stylist Simone Harouche described the moment she was woken by the US star’s screams of terror and feared she had been “raped or violated”.

Ms Harouche, 45, who says she has worked for Kardashian for many years and has been friends with her since she was 12, told the court she was woken by “a sound I had never heard from Kim… It was terror”.

Sleeping in a separate apartment, on the next floor down from Kardashian’s, she went on: “What I heard specifically was [Kim saying], ‘I have babies and I need to live – that is what she kept saying… Take everything. I need to live'”.

She told the judge: “When I realised something terrible was going on upstairs and I realised it was not friends [in Kim’s room], I started looking for my telephone and I started looking for something to help save mine and Kim’s life.”

Simone Harouche.
Pic: Virisa Yong/BFA.com/Shutterstock
Image:
Simone Harouche pictured last year. Pic: Virisa Yong/BFA.com/Shutterstock

She went on to lock herself in her bathroom and hide in her shower, where she called Kardashian’s sister Kourtney and texted her security guard, Pascal Duvier, telling them, “Something is very wrong… Kim is upstairs with men and we need help.”

She says minutes later, Kardashian “hopped” into her room, explaining: “To see my friend with her feet taped and a very light robe with nothing under, and all messed up and pulled, I thought she could have been raped or very violated.”

She said she removed the tape from Kardashian’s feet, and her friend was “beside herself”, adding, “I’ve never seen her like that before. She was screaming, ‘We need to get out, what do we do if they come back? We need to jump from the first floor, we need to get out'”.

Later, when questioned by the lawyer of one of the defendants on why she did not come out of the bathroom, she said: “I’m the kind of person to hide, [Kardashian’s] the kind of person to take care of other people.”

‘Just because a woman wears jewellery, doesn’t make her a target’

When asked by the judge whether she or Kardashian had believed at the time that wearing and sharing images of such expensive jewellery would be a risk, Ms Harouche says: “Just because a woman wears jewellery doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying because a woman wears a short skirt she deserves to be raped”.

She went on to say: “I think that that moment changed [Kardashian’s] life forever… In terms of security, she doesn’t go alone to places anymore.”

Read more: Everything you need to know about the Paris trial

Following the robbery, Ms Harouche says she quit her job as a stylist as the experience “made me fearful of all the things that could happen to celebrities, and being around them”.

Asking for ‘forgiveness’

At the end of her time in the witness stand, the judge attempted to play a video message from one of the defendants, Yunice Abbas.

Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
Image:
Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock

Mr Abbas, who has admitted his part in the heist, published a book in 2021, titled “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian”. A court has since ruled he will not benefit financially from it.

A tech issue meant the message would not play, so instead, the judge read out the statement from Mr Abbas, asking for “forgiveness” for his actions. When asked by the judge if she had a reaction to the apology, Ms Harouche answered, “No”.

The trial, which is being held in front of three judges and six jury members, is due to conclude at the end of this week.

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday that quarterback Carson Beck has been cleared to participate in all team summer activities and is approaching 100 percent following elbow surgery last year.

Cristobal said Beck has been throwing for the past three weeks as part of his rehab regimen. Beck missed all of spring practice and has yet to throw to Miami’s receivers as part of organized team activities. But that is all about to change when Miami begins summer workouts next week.

“He’s good to go,” Cristobal told ESPN at the ACC spring meetings. “He’s exceeding every benchmark.”

Beck underwent surgery on his right elbow to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, which he injured on the final play of the first half in second-ranked Georgia‘s 22-19 overtime win against Texas in the SEC championship game Dec. 7.

Beck started at Georgia for two seasons, going 24-3, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had him rated as the No. 5 quarterback for the 2025 draft. But given his injury and inconsistent performance in 2024, Beck entered the portal in January. He quickly opted for Miami, where he will replace No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward.

Beck threw for 7,426 yards over his two seasons as Georgia’s starter, fifth most among all FBS passers since 2023, with 57 total touchdowns and 23 turnovers.

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NCAA prez is open to Trump’s idea of commission

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NCAA prez is open to Trump's idea of commission

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — NCAA president Charlie Baker said Monday he was “up for anything” when asked about a President Donald Trump-proposed commission on collegiate athletics.

Reports surfaced last week that Trump was going to create the commission.

While his conversations at ACC meetings with league football coaches, men’s and women’s basketball coaches, athletic directors and other school officials focused on governance and the pending House settlement, Baker was asked during an informal media availability for his thoughts on the presidential commission.

“I think the fact that there’s an interest on the executive side on this, I think it speaks to the fact that everybody is paying a lot of attention right now to what’s going on in college sports,” Baker said.

“I’m up for anything that can help us get somewhere.”

Baker noted the NCAA has already spent time in Washington asking for congressional help that is focused on three big issues. Among the biggest: a patchwork of state laws that relate to how collegiate athletics work in individual states; and whether student-athletes should be considered employees.

“I think [Congress] can help us. I really do,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said during an interview with ACC Network. “We have been very bold in the desire for a national standard when it comes to name, image and likeness. We need to make sure that we have something that comes out of Washington that connects all 50 of the states because we’ve had a piecemeal project and it’s really undermined college sports. It’s been a race to the bottom. So that’s one. Two is we need some legal protection. We cannot sustain one legal case after another legal case after another legal case. A reaffirmation that these are student-athletes. Those three things to me will be very important to see if that can come out of the commission.”

Baker said, “People in our office have talked to folks who are working on this, but I don’t think they’ve decided the framework around who they want to put on.”

When asked whether he felt the creation of a commission would enhance the NCAA’s chances at legislative relief, Baker said, “I don’t have a crystal ball on that one. I don’t know. I do think, though, that it’s quite clear at this point that there are a lot of people interested in college sports, and we do need some help at some point to create some clarity around some of these issues in Washington. Creating clarity one lawsuit at a time is just a really bad way to try to move forward.”

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