No he meant kool-aid. It's a figure of speech.
As for alcohol, are you against any and all alcohol consumption?
While I have never been drunk, I do have a wine cooler every now and then. Maybe some champagne on our anniversary or for another celebratory event.
I have nothing against alcohol as long as it's in moderation. You drunk not to get drunk, but just a glass here or there. My grandfather would have one beer a week, on Sundays with our pasta dinner (we're Italian) as well as maybe a glass of wine for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My grandfather was captain of the ushers for 25 years at the Catholic church that I grew up in.
My Lutheran friend, please don't be offended by what I am going to say here. I remember your wonderful salvation testimony, and for that I think kindly of you if you have a wine cooler here and there or not. I'm not anybody to tell you what to do, but I have studied this subject extensively and for many years gave myself permission to indulge in moderate alcohol consumption using the same arguments from Romans 14 and other passages which people in this thread are using to make allowances for ungodly pleasures. Alcohol is a self-indulgent thing. Noah was a righteous man, he got drunk, and God did not condemn him for it but it caused a lot of hard consequences because one of his grandsons was cursed for looking on Noah's drunken nakedness. The Bible is clear that we are supposed to stay away from alcohol. The people who say things like "he that condemns not himself in the things that they allow" and stuff like that to use it as an excuse for indulging with alcohol are still acting worldly, ungodly, when they indulge. I'm not going to say you are a wicked person if you have a drink or two now or then. I can't say it's ok and I can't say it's good and I can't say God does not care if you indulge in moderation. That's another verse people use to excuse a drink of two..."all things in moderation" or "let your moderation be known unto all men". I took college classes supporting those kind of arguments, and I was very good at making those arguments before I took the college classes in a Christian College. It's wrong. We are called to holiness, not to compromise so we can have a social drink like the rest of the world and go with the flow of the gathering.
Yes I am against all alcohol consumption. I think it's clear the Bible is against it. When Paul told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake, I don't think he was talking about alcoholic wine. Grape juice was called wine in Bible times. When Jesus made water into wine at the wedding, He performed that miracle in vessels which had been purified according to mosaic law. That means no leavening, which would cause alcohol in the wine. There is one passage in the Old Testament where God told the Israelites to buy wine and strong drink to celebrate, but that was a one time command which was to be obeyed. Everything else in the Bible is against indulging in intoxicating substances, specifically mentioning alcohol.
Again, my Lutheran friend, this is not an issue we have to be enemies over. When people get offended by my position on this issue, that's a good sign that they have a much deeper pride issue in their hearts than the issue of moderate alcohol usage. I hope you can see I am not against you, I am against alcohol. I will not go to any restaurant, bowling alley, or sporting event where alcohol is served. If I could, I would only buy my groceries from stores that do not sell alcohol, but those are hard to find. I think there is only one grocery store near me that does not sell alcohol, and I can't shop there all the time. I will not allow alcohol in my house, I won't even pick up a returnable beer can to claim the 10 cent deposit.
I want the whole world to know I am property of the one who bought me with His life's blood and justifies me in His resurrection, and I do everything I can to avoid any appearance that my affections are on the things of this world which will be burned away, more than my affections are on the treasure I hope is being laid up in heaven for me by my own efforts. Jesus said I'm supposed to lay up treasure in heaven, where my treasure is there will my heart be also....there are rewards to be gained and opportunities to be missed in the way we handle our time.
If family gatherings are going to have alcohol involved, I won't be there and they know it's because I'm a Christian. If they think that's bad of me, well...I am more concerned about what God thinks. I can't place family affections above my affection for the one who said "if any man love father or mother, sister or brother, more than me, he is not worthy to be my disciple". We are even supposed to hate our own life, and that's the old me, the self-centered me, the things that will be judged and burned away, the things I get no reward for in heaven, the things that mean I could have used the time better to do things that would remain in heaven forever honoring to God. Every word matters, every thought matters, every action matters. They will be either remembered in heaven as honorable with rewards accordingly, or they will be found dishonorable to God and burned up and forgotten with no reward for the time wasted in them.
Many here think I'm being judgmental or self-righteous or whatever. They are wrong. I simply desire to serve God and honor Him in everything I do, everything I say, and everywhere I go. I'll be the first to admit I fall short and deserve to die for my sins NOW. Every morning, as quickly as I can remember, I thank God for his mercy because the only thing new in this world is God's mercy by which we are not consumed. We need His mercy every moment because we are sinners. I know I'm a wicked sinner and I deserve to die for my sin now and there is never a moment of the time God gave me when I don't deserve to die and burn in Hell for my sin. I know I'm ugly at heart, and I despise myself for it, and thank God for everything He gives me no matter how bad or hard it may seem because it's better than I deserve.
I can't say I approve of moderate drinking, but you sure gave a fine salvation testimony and I look forward to talking with you in heaven one day if I never meet you on earth.