I get the impression that some of you may think I actually condone my own behavior and think the last two posts are all about how much fun it is to get plastered. Yes, I had fun all those times. If I tried to do that now, I'd be in a hospital with chest pains so intense I'd swear I would be having a heart attack. Beer makes me feel lousy now. You see, I think I consumed too much beer in too short of time periods and now my body doesn't like it anymore. Another thing is that I did put a positive spin on my stories because that is how I remember them. It has nothing to do whether my actions were sinful or not (they were). I could use these things as a testimony of sorts, telling you all how turning my life to Jesus I conquered my willingness to overdrink on field trips and LSF events. I could, but then I'd have to become a Baptist and try to live the "Victorious Christian Life!" I could tell of how I earned (and yes, that's the word because I deserved it) my first hangover (not enough water before going to bed), how I've almost prayed to the porcelain God more than once by overdoing it, and why guns, lasers and alcohol don't mix. Yes, I've abused my Christian freedom more times than I care to admit.

Do you want to know what's different now? I grew up. That may sound strange to some of you, but the only alcohol I drink with any regularity also happens to be the Blood of Christ. Now, I'd rather have a glass or two of scotch (when I do drink scotch) and leave it at that. I don't need to drink a lot any more. I don't want to.

Please elaborate on how pietism was encouraged.

Maybe saying pietism is a little bit of a stretch, but that particular gathering was inconsistent. I wrote up something of a review of it soon afterwards (no poker games or mentions of alcohol within it) and the inconsistency drove me up the wall. Maybe it is better to say that pietism was mixed in with a whole bunch of other isms as well as orthodoxy. I wrote that I slept in one night because I tried to avoid a morning of contemporary music.

Stupid trivia: this blog received it's name because of an offhand comment the speaker at that particular gathering (Todd Wilken) made. Somehow, in that talk, he said his father told him that, "Beer is for amateurs." For some strange reason, I clung to that. I wonder why.