Brad,
         I hope that there is nothing wrong with drinking a glass of
wine before or during dinner with my spouse cause, if there is, I"m
sunk!    GRIN!

         The bible study thing is a bit different.  It would depend
on the group.  For example, I wouldn't mind, for myself,  but I know
that there are a lot of tea totalers in our church who would be
offended at not only drinking wine around the bible, but they would
also disagree with my first answer, so, for their sakes, I would
refrain.  When we have our sadar at church, we do serve both wine and
grape juice and I'm totally comfortable, in that context with
drinking a glass of wine in front of those who choose the grape
juice, but that's just me.
         One thing that I just thought of that could make a differnce
for me with when to drink and when to abstain from having a glass of
wine has to do with context.  When I'm having a glass of wine with
Greg, it is usually at the end of the day.  We are just relaxing and
unwinding and being together.  He doesn't have any meetings to rush
off too and we don't have any other responsibilities left but to
enjoy each other and the relationship with the kids.  While I enjoy
bible study, I'm not sure that I would consider it relaxing.  I want
to be alert and ready to learn and grasp what the word has to
offer.  A glass of wine wouldn't be totally bad here, but it could
take the edge off the learning curve.  I've heard of some churches
that have discussion groups after church in which the sermon is
discussed and a glass of sherry may be offered.  It does happen and,
I've heard of this more in churches that are considered more high
church, or litergical, but it does happen.  We don't do it, just in
case you're wondering, but I have talked to some who have
participated in such discussions elsewhere.  When you think about it,
coffee is a drug too and we think nothing of offering it all through
the day, including after church on Sunday mornings.
         Anyway, for me, a drink isn't a sin, but the abuse of
alcohol, as the abuse of food, (see gluttony), is!  Boy, I can't wait
to see what can of worms I've unleashed!
Kathy


At 10:57 PM 12/1/2005, you wrote:
>OK I've got two questions for you to ponder, well actually there are three
>questions. This has nothing to do with our "food" discussion but rather a
>different thing altogether that I'll give clue to in a posting  a little
>down the road. And, please do not feel you need to reply, you don't have
>to, of course you are welcome to, but you don't have to as such can tend to
>be controversial in Christians. Ready? Here we go.
>
>1. Do you think there is anything wrong with sharing a glass of wine with
>your spouse over dinner ?
>
>2. Do you think there is anything wrong with sharing a glass of wine with
>the group before, during or after a Bible study?
>
>3. If the two questions above have two different answers   what justifies
>the difference? If they have the same, what justifies  their similarity?
>
>Brad