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Are You Drunk?

Granted, there are many stories in the Bible that cause me to shake my head and wonder what was going on. In fact, the Old Testament is downright entertaining for anyone who has ever channel flipped and landed on The Jerry Springer Show and not been able to look away.

Not that I have ever done that.

But if there was ever a Top Ten Crazy Moments in the Bible, then I would like to submit Acts 2 for your consideration. Acts 2 is when the Holy Spirit is introduced to the Church and the result is a big party. It's the kind of party where a DJ just happens to show up with all of his equipment and pushes one button and instantly has a dance floor hopping. 

The Holy Spirit unleashes in such a big way that outsiders start asking if the believers are drunk. And that's when the Church's first spokesman takes a mic. Peter stands up and says that 9am is way to early to be drunk. He didn't say that there might not be times that they would be drunk. Just not at 9am.

Now, Pete does go on to explain the positive reason, explaining the power of the Holy Spirit. But still, no one denied that the believers looked drunk.

It makes me wonder if there should be more times when we appear drunk to non-believers. Shouldn't our actions make people question? What are those people doing out there, serving in this bad weather? How can they forgive when they were so deeply hurt? Why are they constantly being humble and passing up on the glory offered?

Are you out of your mind? Has some drug altered your thinking so much you are acting like this?

If we are full of the Holy Spirit, we should probably appear to be drunk more often.

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