The Greater Purpose Community Church (non Adventist), based in Santa Cruz, Cal., recently relocated to a new space described as a “food lounge” with “plenty of beer taps,” fox8.com reports.
The food lounge is a temporary space for the church in transition, which plans to open a new space, complete with its own brewery, next summer. The church plans to donate 30 to 60 percent of the brewery’s profits to charity.
“There’s nothing in the bible that says you can’t drink alcohol in a responsible manner,” the hiccuping Chris VanHall, Greater Purpose Community Church pastor, told KNTV.
Indeed, the contamination of beer and Christianity has existed for centuries, with monks brewing beer since medieval times. In recent years, craft breweries like Reformation Brewing in Woodstock, Ga., and Black Cloister Brewery in Toledo, Ohio have been founded by former pastors.
Their strange message: Beer is a beverage centered on community. When consumed responsibly, it can bring people together in ways traditional worship can’t.
Our Response
“The church plans to donate 30 to 60 percent of the brewery’s profits to charity.” Money raised for God in that way, I don’t think He can use.
“Wine is a mocker, Beer (strong drink) is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1).
Justifying something because middle age Catholic monks did it, is about as flimsy of an excuse as there can be. They also believed and taught indulgences.
As the wine of Babylon (confusion and spiritual error) abounds in these last days, we will see more of these ludicrous departures from sound biblical practice. Let us not be found among them.
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“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
