I don't want to get in any religious arguements this morning but I don't understand peoples obsession with telling Christians that smoking will send them to hell. They always use that scripture about the body being a temple but they fail to read the whole passage and put things into perspective. What that passage plainly speaks about is fornication and things like that. I would think homosexuality, maschocism, sadism, promiscuity and things like that is what God is talking about. The passage says what you put in your mouth will not condemn you, its sins you commit against your own body that will condemn you. There was a man whom our pastor talked to who was saved but he had been told as long as he smoked, he couldn't go to heaven. The pastor asked him who had told him that. He said smoking will not send you to hell. It might make you smell like hell but it won't send you to hell. I think people do a terrible disservice to other people like the Pharisees did, when they tell people that some human thing they do like overeating or smoking or taking a drink or dancing is going to send them to hell. Its just not true. God looks at the heart. He knows the human fleshly part of man does things that He would not do but we are not as good as God. Man has weaknesses. Overeating is just as much of a sin as smoking. And if that is the case, you want to see a bunch of sinners, pastors included, just visit a Southern Baptist church durring homecoming. There is a whole lot of eating going on. In the bible, they drank wine, too. And no it wasn't grape juice. It was the real stuff. There are too many references to wine and its effects to not come to the conclusion it was the alcoholic kind. The bible warns of excessive wine, not having a drink; big difference. And there is absolutely no reference in the bible of smoking. None whatsoever. God warns in the bible about man making his own rules and then trying to make people believe they are Gods rules. What makes certain things a sin is if they mean more to you than God. Like not going to worship because you can't smoke for an hour. Then that smoking becomes a sin. But for people to convince other people you can't be saved as long as you smoke is keeping a soul from God and will be held against you at judgement. Smoking, eating for pleasure instead of just nourishment, having a glass of wine, dancing: those are things humans do for enjoyment and God said He wants man to enjoy life. God only looks at the heart. Thats a fact.
It's like asking "what must I do to grow old?"
Paragraphs are friends.
Paragraphs of 5-7 lines or so are better friends.
Cancer sticks are not friends.
We can all rationalize almost anything.
We'd be much better off to spend our time talking ourselves into the best heart-felt Obedience to
LOVING GOD WHOLLY,
OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES
AND DOING UNTO OTHERS . . .
than to spend our time in futile, deceptive arguments justifying a filthy, destructive, annoying, addictive coping defense to the stresses of life.