The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-E26 | 04-14-23

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Question #1Continuation: So many Christians continue to drink alcohol and seem to justify it by scripture that talks about wine. They always say “drunkenness” is sin but drinking in moderation is okay. Can you please discuss this topic and explain why Christians shouldn’t partake in alcoholic beverages?Question #2I was hoping you would share your thoughts on prayer structure. Matthew 6:9-13 give us instruction on how to pray. I listened to a teaching that went further and broke it down into 6 segments:Always pray to the Father – Glorify God – Prayers should be Kingdom minded (eyes for eternity) - Pray for your personal needs – Pray for forgiveness for you and for others – Pray for protection from spiritual warfareHow important is prayer structure? Do you have a different/insight on how to pray?Question #3Why did your parents name you Hope?

Real Talk. Real Talk. Real Talk. Real Talk. Hello and welcome to the Hope Hotline. So glad you're with me today. Last, I think it was Wednesday. Yeah, it was Wednesday.

Wednesday, we did the last question that we did ran over, is running over into this, this today's podcast because I started it very late and then I didn't even get halfway through, not even close to halfway through so it's a continuation but in case you missed Wednesday's podcast I'm going to start off with this question I'm going to run through it super quickly so I don't bore the people who did see Wednesday's podcast and then go from there but I do want to say hey listen Mother's Day is coming up, and we've got one month before that, a couple things with that. One is it's going to be a special week here on the Hope Hotline. Got some guests that, both podcasts that week.

We're going to have guests, guests with me. First podcast, I'm not going to tell who the guest is. It's not because it's so huge and great it is it is great but it's a topic that I'm gonna leave um unannounced until um that day um super sweet super great uh guest it's a topic that everyone's gonna want to hear about and listen to and um it's a little controversial but it it's going to be good. And then that will be on Wednesday's podcast, and then on Friday's podcast it's going to be,

I might throw Talia in there, but definitely it's going to be, my mom's going to be on the podcast, my daughter's going to be on the podcast, Heather's going to be on the podcast, Tracy's going to definitely be on the podcast. Heather's going to be on the podcast. Tracy's going to definitely be on the podcast. The reason why Norma, my mom, and Heather are going to be on the podcast because really it relates to my family. It relates to me.

Obviously, my mom's my mom. Norma's my daughter. But Heather is kind of like a pseudo adopted daughter so what that looks like and things like that how that transcends I want people to know that relationship and then we got Tracy Tracy's a a character all around and um so I'm gonna bring her in, and that'll be fun for her mama to watch too. Kim. What does Norma call her? Bopski.

Bopski? Bopski. Bopski? Bopski. So every wedding, well, Talia does too. Everyone knows Tracy's mom as Bopski. Bopski. Bopski.

I call her Kim. I don't know. Bopski? Bopski. Bopski. I call her Kim. I don't know. Bopski. Like, what is that? Yeah, okay. Tracy will explain the name when we see her. But everyone that knows and loves her. Is that her grandbabies that call her that?

Or do you call her that too? Okay, just her grandbabies call her that. So, it's her grandma name. Okay. So, that's the reason why Norman and Tal call her that. I's her grandma name okay so that's the reason why norma and tal call her that i get it okay so that'll be fun for her mama to see her on there and you guys get to know her and then we might just go tell in there oh little talia so everybody gets to know the team everybody sees when i talk to people who they're talking to, but it'll be a good time.

So make sure you tune into that. And the last thing is if you want a really great woman's conference to go to outside of mine, because mine's pretty dang great, Pastor Donica just had hers. Top of the line. Like, oh my gosh. That woman killed it. Pastor Donica killed it. She did such a great job. First of all, her team and how they set that whole thing up from the decorations to the whole atmosphere, ambiance. Fantastic job.

Jessica, Pastor Jessica and Pastor Kristen. They did so good. so good on that. What is that? You'll put some pictures on? Oh, man. So, see, the thing is, is, like, a lot of people have these conferences. Like, my girlfriend, Pastor Clover in North Fort Myers, she has River North Fort Myers. Like, her church is pretty much brand new like they're but they've they've grown

substantially they're they're somewhat of a new church but even when she does things it's done in excellence it's like I see the pictures I like she does things so good even though it's a smaller church you don't have to be huge because I think we've always done things in excellence from when we were small to when we are larger it's always consistently across the board there's a spirit of excellence but you know not every place has that like you'll go in and it is cheese wagon cheese wagon fest you sit there and go who in the world put this on and could they have done a cheaper job I mean how can we do how can we do this without spending a dime that's like that's a church mentality in some cases it's like don't

even bother don't even do it if you're going to do it like that. But always excellent. Always excellent. Pastor Donna, because it's just so good. And then Revival Today, man. Theirs is coming up in May. If you want a really great women's conference to go to, it's in Pittsburgh, PA, right near the airport, plenty of places to stay. We have a huge amount of people going. I just found out another group of ladies are going to that thing.

Five ladies from this church that I did, I just, somebody was telling me when they were leaving. Besides, we have like, I don't know, there's 12 women that I know of that are going. Plus now we got this five, that's like almost 20 women going that I know of. And I'm sure there'll be more from our church. So you want to spend some money on a really good investment for yourself? Go to that. Go to that conference. It will be done top notch.

You'll be treated very well because I think that, listen, if you're going to go there and invest in yourself, the people shouldn't be investing in you as well, right? If you go to something, then people should not take it for granted that you're attending, but put the investment back into you.

So you will be treated first class and um man you walk away with with more revelation knowledge and just who you are in Christ it'll just be a good time plus I get to talk I'll be I'm going to be speaking at that which I'm super honored super grateful that they asked me to come and it's going to be a really good time which I was planning on going we there was a group of us that were going to go before they even asked me to come I'd already planned to to come but also they're coming to mine adalas and magalas they're coming to speak at mine in august which we already have so much planned for we are killing it which we normally are done in march anyway as like far as theme name the whole thing we already have it all planned out

which we already do so we're right on target um but it's going to be really good theme this year so my beloved conference what it's going to be about i'll share when it gets closer but it's gonna it's gonna be so good this year i'm super excited so um okay let's go to the very first question so i'm gonna uh the the question that i'm going gonna start out with again was last podcast and then we're gonna move into it so it says so many christians continue to drink alcohol and seem to justify it by scripture that talks about wine they always say drunkenness is sin but drinking in moderation is okay can you please discuss this this topic and explain why christians shouldn't partake in alcoholic beverages. Again, I love this topic.

I'm just the girl to answer it. I don't drink at all. Everyone on my team, they don't drink, their families don't drink, and they don't have alcohol in their homes. The thing is, is I will say this, and I didn't talk about this part the last time, but if you look at anybody in scripture

that God had a purpose and a plan for, a lot of times he separated them. And one of the things he separated them from is drinking. He didn't allow them to drink any wine, even though their wine wasn't the same as our wine today. But there was reasons for that. So for me, I don't drink because I want to separate myself. I don't want to look like the world.

I'm not the world. I don't want to look like the world. I don't want to be like the world. I'm better. I am better than that. And I'm not better than other people. I am better than what the world has to offer. And the reason it is is because I want all that God has to offer. What God has to offer is far superior than what the

world has to offer. So I'm better than that. My body is the temple and unholiness is not going to be, not even temptation. It's to abstain from all temptation, right? I don't, I'm not going to be tempted by that nonsense. Ephesians 5 18 says do not be do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery instead be filled with the spirit so these are the scriptures that i went over so it tells us in the and um it says this for us in ephesians not to be drunk on wine also in first corinthians 6 9 through 11 it says do not know do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.

Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards. There you go. Nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Intoxicated. So when you are intoxicated, you are drunk, correct? Intoxicated. The definition of that is affected by alcohol or drugs, especially to the point where physical and mental control is markedly diminished.

I'm going to slow down just a little, okay? I've already gone over this, but I'm going to slow down just a little. So when you're intoxicated, it's either by alcohol or drugs. And a lot of people say, well, I can get high because it's an herb. So is opium. Both all of them create a form of intoxication. And we are not to be drunk. Drunkards are intoxicated.

And that is to the point where your physical or mental control is markedly diminished. When you get high by a weed or whatever, when you get high, there are people who use medical marijuana. They'll use oxycodone, oxycontin. What's one prednisone not do you can you get high off a prednisone they get high off of all this stuff you guys don't even worry about that if it's making noise I don't care oh man there's there's it starts with a pee I think a lot of people take for their back pain and things like that, besides oxycodone and Oxycontin. Tracy's looking it up. All of those things, if you're taking them for any other reason than medical,

normally if you're taking something, it's only for a short period of time. It is not something that you take on a daily basis and live on. That's where people separate. They're like, well, I have back pain. Well, great. What did you find, hun? Talia, what is it?

Oh, I can't read them. That's why I'm coming to church. Oh. hun tell what is it morphine codeine morphine you mean you have to like P ER P-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R-C-E-R- them because I have back pain or whatever. My thing is to you is if you have to take a, if you have to take something that, that helps you get out, like people have to, for morphine, they have to, if they take it for so long, they have to have assistance in getting off of it. Even like ADD medications it starts with an R. Ritalin, there's actually cocaine in that. Ritalin has a form of cocaine in it, and it's addicting.

And I've known people who have been on it, and they had to wean themselves off of it. Like this is so bad, and it's very deceiving. It it's the it's it's very deceiving it's very deceiving it's very demonic so people need to know what they're taking and they need to be super careful because if it's addicting then I I don't know I would be very careful about taking any kind of or any form of drug I would be just because of what it says in the Bible you can justify things all you want to well I have to because I have such bad back pain figure it out that's why God says

he heals every sickness and disease you know get in the Bible unless in your prescription drug get in the Bible and receive the healing that he has promised you and get off the meds. So let's go back to, so let me go forward. So wine, let's look at the content of how much alcohol is in wine. The average glass of wine contains 11 to 14% alcohol. Beer has 5% alcohol in a can of beer. So a shot glass is like 1.5 ounces of anything heavy alcohol. It's like tequila. What did I say? Tequila, rum, gin.

What's another one? Whiskey. That was the other one. Vodka. Thank you. 40%. 40% in a 1.5 ounce fluid glass is 40% alcohol. That's insanity. So right now we're pulling up a chart.

You can look at this chart with me. And it's breaking down from a can of beer all the way to a shot glass or like whatever. You know how they have those glasses that people put a lot of ice in? It's not a shot glass, but it's a smaller glass that they put rum or whiskey in. I like a rum on ice. A bourbon on ice. Whatever. It's always 1.5 flu ounces is what it usually contains. What did you say?

Yeah, a whiskey drinking glass. No, a whiskey drinking glass can be like a fluted glass, though. This is like a regular tumbler glass. It's small because even that like brandy the brandy glass is like it's like a wine glass but super short a smaller but it's got the fluted top whereas this one's just like a regular cup or a regular glass that but you put ice in and it's smaller but you only put like one and a half ounces of liquor in it do you know what i'm talking about now you can see it well if you look at my the people can see

it that are looking at this right now because i you have the the um graph up for them but um so if you look at this and you break it down beer beer, a can of beer, which is 12 ounces, has 5% alcohol. Then the next one is just a regular glass, and that's 8 to 10 ounces of a malt liquor or a malt beverage or hard seltzer, like that iced tea, that hard iced tea, that is 7% alcohol. Then there's five ounces of wine in a regular wine glass. That's 12% alcohol. And then if you look at the next regular wine glass, it's three to four ounces, but that wine is a higher grade of wine. It's like a sherry or a ported wine.

So there's a higher alcohol content, which is 17%. Super high for one glass. And you're thinking about that's only three to four ounces. How many people pour that glass and it's way more only three to four ounces. How many people pour that glass in? It's way more than three to four ounces in that glass. It's way more than that usually in that glass. And so that means you're taking in way more than 17% of alcohol. Then you have just a normal glass, a smaller glass of wine, and that's two two to three ounces and that's like a liqueur

which i don't even know what that is what is a liqueur but that has 24 alcohol i'll be honest with you when i drank i just stuck to beer because every time i went and drank anything like a screwdriver or cranberry with vodka, they taste great going down, but it's so strong, like coming up. It was bad coming up. I'm telling you, vodka and I, I did not like that coming back up. I don't hold my liquor down. I hold my beer down, but I never held my liquor down. And if I mix the two, it was not a good night.

I spent, like, what is that when you sit around the, I literally, I cannot tell you how many times I lifted my head and it was hanging down in the toilet. I know, it was miserable. I don't know why I drank so, I would drink so much. It felt great going down, but not coming back up, girls and boys. Not for me. Then the next one is brandy the brandy glass and that's only one and a half ounces along with the whiskey and stuff like that that's 40 alcohol and there are people who drink that

stuff all the time and think well i can have one glass no you're gonna find out no you can't you can't just drink one glass because you're going to find out that it's sin. It's not good. So now we're going to go where I left off, which is your blood alcohol concentration. Okay? Now, this is differing degrees by however size you are females obviously can drink less than men do because of our mass weight our mass body content guys are bigger they're taller so a lot of times they can drink more than a female can simply because of their their body mass But still, you're going to find out they can't drink that much more without it going into the buzz level.

So if you drink, and this would fall under the alcohol level, okay, 5% things like this. You're going to see this. So I'm going to put both of the graphs together, and then you're going to see what we're going to in a minute. But we're going to see this so I'm going to put both of the graphs together and then you're going to see what we're going to in a minute but we're going to break this down first if you drink 0.01 to 0.05 alcohol you're relaxed you have a slight buzz and you're less inhibited and alert and you're looking at this graph with me right now so you can clearly see what I'm talking about these are not my statistics this isn't my graph this is what this is what

everybody goes by okay zero point six to point one zero point ten you're emotionally you're emotional numb numb, sleepy, reduced memory and coordination. You are completely drunk at this level. Before that, you're less inhibited and slightly buzzed and you have a slight buzz. In my opinion, I mean, I wouldn't risk it, but in my opinion, that's when you become intoxicated at the 0.1 to 0.5 level. But let's say you're not, okay?

I wouldn't risk it because I don't know what God says in his prerequisites as far as what drunkenness is considered. But in my opinion, you get a buzz, you're altered. So that's where I would say it begins point 11 to point 20 your mood shifts you have mania and appropriate behavior so that's when you start sleeping around or doing things like I did which was always a wild scene not necessarily sleeping around but it was a wild scene I was out of control I was probably at the 0.11 0.20 at that point but I exceeded that guys because I just went straight to unconscious 0.31 to 0.40 let's just skip 21 to 30 I went straight to 31 40 almost every time I would commit myself not to do that but somehow it happened so point 21 to

point 30 is that this was me too aggression depression and bear vision and reasoning oh my gosh been there many times not. In my early 20s. Some of you can relate. Oh, my gosh. Then there's.31 to.40, unconsciousness or comma. Woo-hoo, that's me. .41 and over, potentially fatal. I never reached that point.

Never was me. So let's see how many drinks it takes to get a buzz, which is, in my opinion, again, can consider drunk. Let's look at this next graph. Now this graph shows the female and it shows the male, okay? Now anywhere that you see it in white, if you look over to, let me how you're going to look at it it should be on your right hand side okay impairment begins is the white section okay

so the light pink says driving and the dark blue for men okay white for both sexes is saying that impairment begins okay and then you have the white the light blue and the and the dark blue for men okay white for both sexes is saying that impairment begins, okay? For the ladies, driving skills are significantly affected under light pink. And then where it's dark red and dark blue is legally intoxicated criminal penalties okay so if you get to the

dark red or the dark blue that means you can get arrested for driving okay and you're gonna find out it ain't very long you can't drink very much okay you just can't and if if it's considered legally intoxicated then let's just stick with that's the time that that you can be considered drunk under bible's terms not under my terms which i think a buzz is but let's just go with the rule of law you're considered intoxicated at the dark red or the dark blue, okay? Look at that. You're only at two drinks, and in some cases, not even two drinks, especially depending on your weight. So if you're a lady and you're 90 to 100 pounds, you are buzzed at.55 which is a can of beer okay so one can of beer and you're 100 pounds

but if you're 140 pounds at the second can of beer you're over a buzz okay if you are 90 100 and 120 pounds and you drink that second can of beer you are legally intoxicated and how many people drink more than two a lot so by your third can of beer if you're up to 180 pounds and you're a female you're legally drunk okay so there's no one that should be drinking two cans of beer nobody because except unless you're 220 to 240 pounds on the second can of beer because those are the only ones that you're still your your impairment begins everybody else is buzzed or drunk or considered legally intoxicated. Okay, so everybody that says, I can just have one.

Well, depending on your weight, no, you can't. And you definitely can't drink more than a can of beer. Because a glass of wine, a glass of wine on the second row, unless you're a little bit of a chunky monkey, you're in big trouble. You're in big trouble because a glass of wine can go anywhere from, let's look, well, a malt liquor is seven. So a glass of wine, depending on what it is,

can be 12%. You're in trouble. Like you can't even, people drink more than one glass of wine and if you look at that chart one glass of wine is 12 percent 12 to 17 percent you can't even you can't even drink one glass of wine a whole glass in cases, depending on your weight. It's not possible. Everybody needs to take a snapshot of this. If you're a drinker, you need to take a snapshot of this. Because people don't understand it. Men, they can get away with a little bit more, but not by much,

before they're illegally intoxicated. Even they can't drink two cans of beer in some cases. Nothing more than two cans of beer. Women can't exceed one can of beer. And then in some cases, they can't even drink one glass of wine, a whole glass of wine. So it's not good. Not good at all.

And I'm sure there are some shocked people right now on, they just didn't understand. Like, I'm not kidding when I say you should take a snapshot of the graph. You should really take a snapshot of it. Because I don't think you can drink as much as you think you can drink. And I don't think that you understand the alcohol level of in the bible is not the same alcohol level of drinks today and we're going to get into that right now what are you guys laughing at oh a snapshot oh a screenshot No, listen. Snapshot, screenshot. Take your little phone, put it up, like take your phone and... Yeah, if you're on your phone, you can screenshot it. That's true.

Ty is on it. Huh? No, I wasn't thinking they were. No, you're sweet. That's not what I was thinking. I was using the wrong term. Yeah. I didn't know they were watching on their phone.

Yeah, I was figuring they might be watching on their phone. It's all the same to me. I'm used to cameras. Even my phone being a camera, I use it as a snapshot. I'm an old-fashioned girl. Yeah, it's all good. It's all good, girl. Let's look at the alcohol content in wine in biblical times.

So in 500 A.D., they started distilling alcohol. It's the process of distilling, and it didn't start until 500 A.D. So I don't even understand what all that pertains to but the old wine of biblical times did it could be fermented or unfermented. Unfermented would be like crushed grapes that never fermented. They would put in the new wine skins and people drank it almost immediately which would be like drinking grape wine skins. And people drank it almost immediately. Which would be like drinking grape juice today. Which is so yummy and so good.

And that's what. A lot of people. You know. Biblical times. When Jesus turned the water into wine. They were drinking real grape juice. That's why people were like. You saved the best for now.

Because it was a raw grape juice. There was no fermentation, which makes it taste a little gross. So when they went to this 500, when they started distilling in biblical times, when they started distilling the wine, what that meant is they would do three to one, 3% water to 1% alcohol. And it could go as high as 20% water to 1% alcohol. They totally, they watered down this grape juice. They watered it down so very, very much.

So which made, when it became alcohol and it fermented in the New Testament, percentage of blood alcohol concentration was 2.75 to 3 percent so it was half of what or almost half of what a a can of beer was okay that's if it got to the fermentation because of the dilution, how much it was diluted. So how that worked is you could drink more of it. Our cough syrup has as much alcohol in it as what a glass of wine was back in that time. Yeah, cough syrup. In some cases, depending on the cough syrup, it has as much, if not more. And like those kombucha drinks, they can ferment. It's the same thing.

That's basic kombucha is a watered-down with different juices in it and that can ferment and that can have a higher content right so we're going to take a look at the alcohol chart again so we can see what 2.75 and 3.0 percent really is so let's think about this so in bible times that can of beer um if it's two and a half you could actually uh that can of beer is five percent so if it's two and a half to three it's it's way far less alcohol content than that one can of beer it's half of what that can of beer is. And so they could drink more of the wine than, but do you think that they actually sat down like we do today and just drank one glass after another glass after another glass? Maybe they did.

Maybe they did, but I highly doubt it. They definitely, you know know you look at the whiskey and the in it in you were like considered like a low life if you got drunk i mean you were warned against it but the what like they made they talked so bad about jesus um because he because of wine and things like that um because it was thought of so low they tried to use that against him but it wasn't even true so I'm just saying to you that how do I want to say this so that it's not what was the what was the word that they used in Bible debauchery is that the one that they used what is the word

that they used against Jesus because they said because of the wine I believe it was I believe it's debauchery there There's so many, because of King James Version, NIV and stuff like that, that I sometimes, because I read all three of them, and they sometimes change the terms. But literally, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, they talk so badly about him because he did eat with the sinners, but he did drink wine. But the wine that he drank, yes, you could get drunk off of it, but it was so low to be a drinker that we today think of it so great. We hang on to it. We want

to drink. Back in biblical times, biblical times it was not thought of you were not thought of highly if you were getting drunk you were actually thought of poor poorly if you did and so um that's why they tried to use it against tried to use it against jesus um so again we're gonna i i have these two charts they're one on top of the other right now, so you can clearly see the amount of alcohol level in each drink and then the weight. You need to look at how much do you weigh if you're a drinker. Let's look at this right now while you're looking at this chart.

How much you weigh, pick the drink of your choice that you stick to if it's wine look at the wine content okay if it's 12 ounces think about how many glasses of wine you drink and then look at if you're a female look at how much you weigh and look at how much you can actually drink we can sit before you're considered legally drunk in the eyes of the law legally drunk not based on me being thinking that legally drunk is buzzed look at all of that if you're a male do the same thing and then you need to seriously evaluate whether or not you should be drinking and to the level that you drink and then if it's considered legally drunk and you do this on a consistent basis then you need to figure out whether you're saved or not you need to figure out whether or not you need to repent drop the bottle or the can

and not drink anymore it says do not place yourself in temptation into temptation if you are someone that can't stop at one and maybe one is even too far for you, then you might not need to drink. You might need to just walk away from it and not do it anymore. And as far as for the Christians who say that they love that they can drink because they love the fact that Paul told Timothy to drink a glass of wine. Let's look at why that was. Let's look at 1 Timothy 5.23.

It says, No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. He was sick. Infirmity means sick. And so what was happening is Timothy only drank water. That's all he was drinking. But where he was at in that particular location, the water was making him sick. So what he was told is put a little wine with your water. Don't just drink that so that your stomach can get a reprieve

from being sick. Okay. He was not telling him to drink wine because it's okay. Which he was saying you can drink wine because it's okay. But only because the water was making him sick and he wasn't telling him to drink wine so he got drunk. The water, the wine was probably three to one to twenty to one and so he wasn't gonna get drunk off of the wine it was just giving his stomach a little bit of a reprieve from being sick from just drinking only that water because there's like we go to Mexico right when you go to Mexico you don't drink the water okay because it's gonna make you sick that's what was happening to Timothy where he was at that water was making him sick so he's saying just drink a little wine to to take away the sickness from your stomach but

people want to use that scripture so it gives him permission to drink wine or drink beer or whatever you need to study scriptures out he wasn't giving him permission to drink so that he could get a buzz or that you know so he could drink a glass of wine every night if you're drinking that glass of wine and you weigh a certain amount of if your weight is a certain amount and it's giving you a buzz you shouldn't be drinking you shouldn't be drinking and most people the reason they drink a glass of wine or or a can of beer is it relaxes them everybody that I've ever not everybody but almost everybody that I've ever talked to that loves their glass of wine they say it relaxes me okay if you need a glass of wine to relax you then you need to look at yourself scripturally and find out if you have a problem. It's a form of intoxication. It's not good. It is not good. You need to figure out whether or not

you have a problem. Let's see. At the end of the day, you know why you drink. You need to be honest with yourself why you're drinking. God knows your heart. God knows why you're drinking. You will be held accountable. It's just like every word that we say will be held accountable for every word that we say. Well, every drink that you take, you'll be held accountable for it and the reason why and how far that takes you as far as intoxication is concerned. But you need to be honest with yourself

because some people that I'm talking to, it's heaven and hell for you. It really is. It's heaven and hell. And it's that serious. And you need to take it that serious. Nothing in this world, no person, no drink, no thing is worth your eternity in hell. It's not. It's not.

It's that serious. And people will go, you're making a big deal out of it. This is a lot of drama over nothing. We'll see. We'll see. Not worth it to me. There is not one thing on this earth, not one thing on this earth, which is worth my eternity.

I always self, well, I would say almost always I am self-evaluating myself. And there's reasons for that. Because I want to get further along in what God has called me to do, and I don't want anything to hinder that. My anointing, nothing. So if it's words that I speak, if it's an attitude that I carry, if it's an addiction or something that like, even with coffee, you have to be careful with coffee.

Like not that coffee's a sin, but you should rely on nothing. Nothing ever should be something that you have to have every single day. Because if you don't, like you should be able to function because God is more than enough. There's not one thing on this earth that you need more than him that sustains you. Okay? So always keep everything in perspective and everything with an ebb and a flow. But alcohol, nobody, nobody needs it. Nobody should be drinking it.

And it's a poor witness. I've had family members that have been accused of being drunk and they drank one glass of wine in front of unsaved family members. They're a Christian. They had one glass of wine and they were at a party and they got accused of being drunk, which ruined their witness with these unsaved family members. And as much as they tried to argue the point, which this family member would never lie.

So I'm sure they weren't drunk um but because they drank they had they put a glass to their lips with wine in it they had no leg to stand on saying they weren't drunk not one so they ruined their witness over a glass of wine it's not worth it it's crazy it's craziness and that family those family members loved it because now they got something on them and um and it justified them drinking and and and getting drunk so it's never worth it friends it's never worth it so next question is i was hoping you would share your thoughts on prayer structure matthew, 9 through 13 gives us instruction on how to pray. I listened to a teaching that went further and broke it down

into six segments. Always pray to the Father. Glorify God. Prayer should be kingdom-minded. Eyes for eternity. Pray for your personal needs. Pray for forgiveness for you and for others. Pray for protection from spiritual warfare. How important is prayer instruction? And do you have a different insight on how to pray? Well, we're going to look at scripture. And let's look at the scripture that you refer to, which is the Lord's Prayer, which is Matthew 6, 9 through 13. And it says, In this manner, therefore, pray.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day your daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us in temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Most of us know this. We have it memorized. I used to go to a church that that is what we closed out with every single sunday pretty much have that one memorized in my head

we all should have the lord's prayer pretty much memorized in our head oh but um i will tell you that whoever you got that prayer structure from it matches exactly to matthew 6 9 9 through 13 um the only thing i would add is thanking god i thank god like when i'm praying over specifically over things if it's finances if it's um healing or anything like that i begin to thank him for what i already know his promise is that he's that he says it'll come to pass there's certain things that we know that if we pray we believe they'll come to pass and then I begin to thank him for those things because I know that it's already a finished work

I've asked it's a finished work it's going to come to pass if it aligns with his word okay um i would say that you have to be really careful in how you pray i pray to god like i pray to a friend i talk to him like he's my best friend um i talk to him like i talk to heather i talk to tracy i talk to my mom i talk to my daughter I talk to Talia whatever I talk to God to the Holy Spirit to Jesus I talk to them just like a regular conversation I would say some people are very OCD-ish like they have this they compartmentalize everything everything's got a structure right don't be rigid don't feel like there's a perfect everything if you if you don't pray exactly like the lord's prayer you're gonna be fine god knows the heart he looks at it that's all he cares about um when i don't pray lord's prayer style every single time I pray.

When I woke up this morning and before I got out of the bed, I started talking to the Lord. I started speaking to Him. I usually worship Him the very first thing. I start praising Him for who He is. That's usually how my prayer structure starts out, right? And then I just go from there for whatever is on my heart and my mind. But it's like I'm talking to my friend because he is my friend.

I think what happens is when we become rigid or we have this structure of some sort, it's God is here and we're here, right? When in truth, God is here and we're here. he's made it so we're right near him we're together we're one and uh we tend to make it a distant relationship instead of like we're sons and daughters of him jesus is the lover of our soul. He's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. The Holy Spirit, he dwells with us. He is what was sent here for us so that we're not on our own alone.

He's the thing that that Jesus said, if I do not go away, I do not send the comforter. Okay. So it's something that's, that's so, uh, Jesus compares the Holy, the Holy Spirit to something that is, that was better than him so that we would have something that would dwell amongst all of us. Jesus was one being that could only be with a certain group at a time, but the Holy Spirit was with all of us. You think about it before, before, before Jesus came, um, and before the Holy Spirit was here, there was nothing that convicted people. They had a set of rules and guidelines. Like they had, um, you know,

the Levitical priests had rules and regulations. And if you went outside of those rules and regulations, there were sacrifices that needed to be, there were animals that needed to be sacrificed for that sin, right? Now, Jesus comes, he does away with the sacrifices, but the Holy Spirit comes and he convicts, right? There was no conviction before then so we have something far superior through that conviction of the Holy Spirit and that comfort that he provides we can go to to Jesus and we can ask for the forgiveness of our sins the world is a whole different place from the old testament to the new testament

the veil was torn we are close god isn't there's nothing that separates us from him it's like this now and and to live like we're living in the old testament um standards and in terms uh you're you're um hurting yourself you're creating this division that just is unnecessary uh most a lot of doctrines a lot of um um what is it called like if you're a methodist if you're um episcopalian protestant and things like that, a lot of times it's not taught. What is it? Denominations. I said doctrines, but I meant denominations. A lot of denominations cause that make you believe

that there's such a separation between you and God. There's nothing. There's nothing that separates you. You are so close to him, and your prayers can be so intimate and so close. That's really what he wants. That's why he sent Jesus. Besides the forgiveness of sins, he wanted us to have a closeness with him. And the Holy Spirit provides that.

So talk to him like he's your family. Because he is. He is. He's your dad. The Holy Spirit goes before you. Pray in the spirit because he will talk to he will say things to to to to god that you can't say better than yourself um you have an advocate for yourself so use that don't suffer through this life with just a distance relationship with god but don't

box yourself in so that you know know, a structure, a regiment. That's not good either. The Lord's Prayer was given to us so we have an understanding of what we can pray and how we can pray it. But that is not like the end all, be all. That's the rules that you follow. No, don't. Just have a relationship with God. It says that we're to pray without ceasing, right? Ephesians says to pray without ceasing and to pray in the spirit at all

times. So don't worry about so much about how to do it. Just do it. God knows. He loves, he loves to hear us. He loves to talk to us. He loves when you talk to him. Just, just pray. Worry less about the structure and more about just doing it. If it, it would be great if people just prayed, but most people don't pray. They only pray over their meal. I mean, come on. I mean, it's great that you're grateful for your meal, but God wants so much more than that from each and every single one of us. So I love the question, but if you're a person that's very regimented, very structured, if you're very new in your walk with God and you're trying to figure things out, that's great and all, but just pray. That's all he wants. He wants to hear from you. He wants to love on you. He wants you to love on him.

He wants you to worship him. And then go for that. Just leave it at that. One more question. Why did your parents name you Hope? Which Hope is not a normal name. I don't know if I really loved my name when I was growing up because my sister's name is Faith so you have Hope and Faith and then I have an older sister named Sandy and then I have a

brother named John so uh growing up I was either called Faith Joy or Love and some of them were to be funny and it's just super annoying I'm like just, just call me Hope. I mean, it's not, how many times can you hear, if you call me Faith by accident, I get it, but so many people would, they think they're funny and I'm like, how many times do you think I've heard that joke? It's not funny. I'm not laughing.

I'm 55 now, or almost 55, and it's like, I've heard that, oh no, I am 55 right now. I'm terrible with numbers. I am 55 right now I'm terrible with numbers I am 55 I'll be 56 coming soon yep I'll be 56 very soon it's pretty exciting um so um so how I got named Hope is um my parents got married very young they had my sister sandy and she's three years older than me so they got saved after they had her and once they got saved they started saying well we're gonna everything not everything but when they had important things in their life, they always sought God for them to make sure that they, you know,

they asked God, because names are important. They're super important. And my parents knew that names were super important, so my name was supposed to be Marcella. Marcella. Yep. What is that? Yeah. Well, Marcella. Marcella. Yep. What is that? Yeah.

Well, Marcella is a family name. Well, it's like Norma. Like my mom's name is Norma. My nanny's name was Norma. They're great women, too. My nanny was a phenomenal woman, very strong. My mom, but it's the first daughter that gets named Norma. So my daughter was the first granddaughter of all of my siblings.

And then she's my first daughter. So she was named Norma. So, but I was supposed to be named Marcella and my nickname would have been Teddy, which is two of my, two of my aunts. So I have two aunts named Marcella and both of them went by Teddy. But when they went to go and name me that, they asked God if that should be my name. And so they felt like God was telling them, no, don't name her that. Name her Hope. So I have no middle name at all. They didn't get a middle name. So it's just Hope, period.

Same with my brother john they said that they felt like god told him to name like everybody that's a christian names their kid john there for a while john was like like the ryan of today everybody's name is ryan or something like that right so uh they named my brother john and the same thing happened with my little sister faith they felt like god told them to name faith so my poor sister sandy she's got the normal name and the rest of us there for a while she was thinking about changing her name so she you know like love or joy or something like i don't know remember what she was going to name it but she was thinking about changing her name so it was more fitting with the rest of us but um that's how i got my name yeah parents prayed and listen seriously like you should seriously think about before you name your

child you should seriously think about is that what the name that god has for my baby because names matter names mean something back in biblical times they named their kids specific things because they meant specific things. Look at Jacob. Jacob, right, means to grab the heel. Guess who was grabbing his brother's heel as he came back? Jacob and Esau. Esau came first. Jacob came second.

Jacob's name means something when God changed Abram's name to Abraham. Abraham means father of many nations. Names matter. If you look at names in the Bible of the different Bible characters, you will find out that they fit their name because names matter. You are your name. So when you name your kids something, I know lots of families who did that. Like Tootie's name, I don't know what Tootie's name means. Tracy's little girl, we, her name's Allison, but we call her Tootie.

What does Tootie mean? Does it mean a fart? I don't know. Tootie, what does it mean? In biblical, you pass gas a lot. That's what that means. She's in the room. But seriously, names mean something.

So we really should concentrate on when we name our kids, make sure their name matches what you believe God has called them to be my name means encourager and I tend to be an encourager I'll knock you down a few notches then I'll carry build you back up I tear you down to build you back up that's the thing but they do matter so think about that before you name your children because it's super important on that note um most important thing that we do in this podcast and i think it's in this room the consensus of this room we would all say the most important thing that matters at the end of the day is where are you going to spend eternity eternity matters a lot of people don't believe in a hell and uh so they believe that everybody

goes to the heaven and everybody doesn't does not go to heaven there is a real hell and the hell is not a place that we want any of our loved ones to go and and um a lot of times we don't even know what hell is like so we don't even know that we don't want to go there. But if any of us studied it out, we'd realize we would start winning the lost like crazy. And I kid you not, we would win the lost like crazy. Because most of us will go through life, and we don't think a lick about our loved ones, our friends, and we know that they're not saved. We don't even pray over their salvations.

We don't even pray that somebody would come across their path to win them. Because we don't, as believers, even know what hell is like. Or I sometimes even wonder if we believe that there is a hell as believers. We act like it doesn't exist because we don't try and win the lost. It definitely exists and it is not going to be a place that we want our worst enemy to go to. So out of everything that anyone does on a day-to-day basis, the most important thing that you can do daily is win the lost. Pray that someone comes across your path so that you can share your faith. And ultimately through sharing your faith, you can win them and save them from what the devil has set for them. So I would say to you,

if you've been saved, that you've walked away, today's your day. If you don't know him and you've never known him, today's your day. Because God sent his son who died on the cross so that you might have eternity. And through that eternity, you would spend it with Jesus, with God, and the Holy Spirit, and with all the rest of us in this room. There's mansions in heaven. There are streets of gold. And hell is the complete opposite of that.

Hell is very real. You will live in shame. You will live in fire. You will live in agony. You'll live in thirst that can never be quenched because you will never see water again. There's a sulfur smell. There are demons. And you will be naked forever and alone.

That's real. That's the truth. And the loved ones that we have that rejected the truth, that's how they spend their lives for the rest of eternity. You do not extinguish in fire. It's internal anguish. That is what it says. And for those of us that are still walking this earth

and have breath going through our lungs, we need to be winning the lost if we are saved to save them from that. But if you are watching and you don't know that you will spend eternity in heaven, then you need to say the sinner's prayer with me right now so that you do know. And then after you do say the sinner's prayer, you need to turn from your wicked ways and you need to start living for him. So let's say this prayer together. Heavenly Father,

I come to you right now. I ask you to be my Lord and Savior. I ask you to help me to turn from the evil ways that I'm living right now the lifestyle that I'm living right now the way of the world everything that is opposite of what your word says help me to repent and go the opposite direction I repent of my ways I ask you to be my Lord and Savior

and I know that when I die I will go to heaven and live with you thank you Lord Jesus for your son dead on the cross for me in Jesus name amen

you are saved as saved as all the rest of us. Now what I tell you to do is find a very good church. Find a church that preaches the gospel, that seeks after righteousness, will teach you holiness, and that will disciple you so that you can win the lost and disciple others because ultimately that's what jesus said we're to do we're to win the lost and disciple and make disciples okay that's what we're to do so if you did that i'm happy please

let us know if you've um saved. Please let us know. Send us an email. Send us, in some way, let us know by contacting the Hope Hotline that you've made that decision. We want to rejoice with you. We want to pray with you. We want to stand in the gap because, listen, every time someone gets saved, Satan comes to snatch it away.

And we want to believe with you that you stick to it and that's it I will talk to you later have a great weekend and I'll see you next Wednesday