Tobacco

Is the use of tobacco sinful?
Many don't think so, but I do.

Today, in the U.S., tobacco products will kill about 1,200 people. That's around 440,000 deaths every year by tobacco-related diseases in the U.S. alone.
Since 1964, there have been over 12 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S. alone.
If tobacco kills, why do so many people say that the use of it is not sinful? Jesus Himself taught that killing was a sin.
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined.
How can we be magnifying Christ in our body if we are destroying it? It's impossible to do both.
Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Alot of tobacco consumers use the excuse "it's my body, I can do what I want to with it" when they are confronted about their tobacco usage, but NO, it's not your body; Our bodies belong to God.
1 Corinthians 6:19,20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Tobacco products are addictive. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent about $88.2 billion on tobacco products; that's alot of money to spend on a deadly, addictive product that slowly but surely kills your body. Especially when we are "not to be brought under the power of any".
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We need to keep our bodies pure so we can present ourselves acceptable to God. Tobacco surely doesn't help us do that.
Romans 12:1,2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The following are 66 facts about tobacco (mainly cigarettes) taken from www.thetruth.com; This was my main source for my facts about tobacco which I used in my article.

1. "Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke."
2. Every year, tobacco-related disease kills over 178,000 women.
3. 63% of high school smokers say they want to quit.
4. There are 8.5 million people sick with diseases caused by smoking.
5. About 1/3 of youth smokers will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
6. In the U.S., about 440,000 people die a tobacco-related death every year.
7. About 90% of lung cancer deaths among women who continue to smoke are tobacco related.
8. A tobacco company once gave $125,000 worth of food to a charity, according to an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. Then they spent well over $21 million telling people about it. I guess, when you sell a deadly, addictive product, you need all the good PR you can get.
9. Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to be underweight.
10. By the year 2020, tobacco is projected to kill about 10 million people a year worldwide.
11. Carbon monoxide is in tobacco smoke.
12. As late as 1999, tobacco companies placed in-store advertising signage at a child’s eye level.
13. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds.
14. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.
15. Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the number one cause of fire deaths in the U.S.
16. Cigarette companies advertised “light” cigarettes as less harmful to the smoker, although they can deliver the same levels of tar and nicotine.
17. According to one tobacco company VP, in 2001, a company name change could focus attention away from tobacco.
18. Every 8 seconds, someone in the world dies from a smoking-related disease.
19. Every day, cows release methane gas into the air. From you know where. But methane is also found somewhere else. Yesiree, in cigarette smoke.
20. Every day, about 1,500 youth become daily smokers.
21. Every single day, in the U.S., the tobacco industry spends about $42 million on advertising and promotions.
22. Every year, cigarettes leave about 12,000 kids motherless.
23. Every year, cigarettes leave about 31,000 kids fatherless.
24. Every day, about 3,900 youth ages 12 to 17 try a cigarette for the first time.
25. How do infants avoid secondhand smoke? "At some point they begin to crawl." -- Tobacco Executive, 1996
26. Hydrogen cyanide has been used in prison executions. It's also found in cigarettes smoke.
27. There’s hydrogen cyanide in rat poison. The same stuff is in cigarette smoke.
28. In 1974, a tobacco company explored targeting customers as young as 14.
29. In 1984, a tobacco company called young adults “replacement smokers.”
30. In 1986, a tobacco company's ad agency wrote to a newspaper complaining about the placement of their ad next to obituaries. They said: "We feel that this positioning was detrimental to our advertising efforts…"
31. In 1989, millions of cases of imported fruit were banned after a small amount of cyanide was found in just two grapes. There’s 33 times more cyanide in a single cigarette.
32. In 1993, the Supreme Court decided that an inmate could sue a prison claiming that exposure to his cellmate's secondhand smoke could constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
33. In 1995, a major tobacco company decided to boost cigarette sales by targeting homeless people. They called their plan “Project SCUM: Sub Culture Urban Marketing.” A tobacco company once donated 7,000 blankets to homeless shelters in Brooklyn.
34. A Big Tobacco executive once said, under oath, that he believed Gummi Bears were addictive like cigarettes.
35. In 2002, U.S. consumers spent about $88.2 billion on tobacco products.
36. In 1985, one tobacco vice president said in reference to smoking-related deaths, “People die in their beds, therefore, should we ban sleep?”
37. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to M
38. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to that of television.
39. In the past, Big Tobacco has compared the addictiveness of cigarettes to coffee.
40. In the U.S., about 50,000 people die each year from secondhand-smoke-related disease.
41. Tobacco kills more Americans than auto accidents, homicide, AIDS, drugs and fires combined.
42. Today, in the U.S., tobacco products will kill about 1,200 people.
43. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and exposure to secondhand smoke in infancy doubles the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
44. More than 85% of the "top 25" films from 1988-1997 contained tobacco use, and 70% of those included brand appearances. Brand appearances were as common in films for teen audiences as for adult audiences and were also present in 20% of those rated for children.
45. Nicotine has been found in the breast milk of smokers.
46. One tobacco company secretly developed a strain of tobacco they named "Y1" that contained 50% more nicotine.
47. In 1994, one tobacco company reported finding “insect infestation” in their cigarettes.
48. In 1989, one tobacco company brainstormed selling its product from ice cream trucks that drive through neighborhoods.
49. In 1989, one tobacco company’s ideas for reaching minority customers included to “be seen as a friend,” “build on black history” and “help them find jobs.” But they thought that this support shouldn’t be seen as “a big white company’s tactic to sell to blacks.”
50. In 1985, a tobacco brainstorming session came up with the idea of reaching their “younger adult smokers” in candy stores.
51. In 1993, one tobacco company executive thought it would be a good idea to have his employees mail "grassroots" complaints to airlines about their smoking bans, pretending to be regular customers.
52. Pee contains urea. So do cigarettes.
53. “Problems with self-esteem” “Has menial boring job” “Emotionally insecure” “Passive-aggressive” “Grooming not a strong priority” “Lacks inner resources” These are all terms taken from Big Tobacco’s files that have been used to describe different groups of potential customers for their deadly, addictive products.
54. Radioactive polonium-210 is found in cigarette smoke.
55. Since 1964, there have been 12 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S.
56. Smoking can lead to cataracts, the number one cause of vision loss in the world.
57. Smoking during pregnancy results in the deaths of about 900 infants every year in the U.S.
58. Sunburns can cause wrinkles; so can cigarettes.
59. Because of the tobacco industry’s products, about 339 people in the U.S. die of lung cancer every day.
60. The impact of nicotine is jacked up because tobacco companies add ammonia to cigarettes.
61. The tobacco industry increased its spending on advertisements and promotions by $2.7 billion between 2002 and 2003.
62. Tobacco companies actually went to court to fight for the right to keep tobacco advertising near high schools. They won. Congrats, Big Tobacco!
63. Tobacco companies have been targeting women with their advertising for the last 70 years.
64. In 1997, one tobacco company CEO said he would probably "instantly" shut his doors if it was proven to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on their website that smoking causes cancer, but they’re still open for business.
65. On its website, one tobacco company lists “cancer services” as one of the community programs they support. Yet they continue to make a product that leads to 339 deaths from lung cancer each day.
66. Soups, cereals and other products we consume have to list ingredients on their labels, but cigarettes, a product that kills a third of its users, are not required to list any of the 599 possible additives.

© 2005 truth

What are your views on tobacco?
Do you think Jesus would use tobacco if He were still on this earth?

Nicholas Stacks

Forsaking The Assembling

Let's say that instead of me going to Wednesday night Bible class, I went to a baseball game because it was the last game of the season.
Did I sin?
If I go to worship on Sunday morning, yet I don't worship on Sunday night.
Did I sin?
According to the Bible, forsaking the assembling is a sin.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Many people try to argue and say "we were only commanded to worship God upon the first day of the week, so as long as I go to one worship service on Sunday, I'm obeying God."
True, we are commanded to worship God upon the first day of the week, but we are also commanded to "seek first the kingdom of God".
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If you choose to do something other than meet with the assembling whenever they assemble, you're not seeking first the kingdom of God, are you?
If you truly want to be there, trust me, you will do everything within your power to be there.

Brother Gus Nichols wrote the following concerning the Sunday night absentee's

I love the church Jesus bought
And know that it is right.
I go there Sunday morn,
But not on Sunday night.
I love to sing the songs of God
Such worship must be right.
This I do on Sunday morn,
But not on Sunday night.
I love to hear the gospel, too,
It gives me pure delight.
I hear it Sunday morn,
But not on Sunday night.
God bless our preacher too
And give him power and might,
And put a sinner in my place
On next Sunday night.
I'd go thru mud, even snow--
Do anything that's right
To be at church Sunday morn--
But not on Sunday night.
True, the church can save the world
If its light shines bright,
I help it Sunday morn--
But not on Sunday night.
Yes, all of us must die,
I hope I will be doing right--
So may I die Sunday morning
And not on Sunday night.

If you have this kind of attitude, do you believe you are truly pleasing God?

The Psalmist gives us a great example of how our attitude toward the assembling should be.
Psalms 42:1,2,4 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.>> As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
Psalms 84:1,2,10 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.>> How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

We must give of our own selves to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
We must be wise an redeem the time that we have.
Ephesians 5:15,16 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

There are 168 hours in a week.
If you attend Sunday morning Bible class, Sunday morning worship services, Sunday evening worship services, and mid-week Bible study, you will only be using 4 hours out of your 168-hour week.
Now set aside just 1 hour out of every day of the week (excluding Sunday) to study God's word as we were commanded to in 2 Timothy 2:15
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
That leaves you with 158 hours to do "your thing" during the week.

That's only 10 hours a week guys, 10 HOURS!! We should really be spending more than that with God if we are truly seeking first His kingdom, but 10 hours is a nice start...

What do you think about the assembling of ourselves?
Can you spare 10 hours a week for Him?

Nicholas Stacks

Euthanasia

Euthanasia -- according to Webster -- means "the act of killing individual's that are hopelessly sick or injured for reasons of mercy".

A good example of euthanasia would be Dr. Kevorkian's Death Machine.

We are told by Jesus Christ not to kill
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

I don't see how anyone can ignore the very words of our Lord and Savior.
It's so simple, yet so many people don't understand it.

What do you think about euthanasia?
Would you kill someone out of mercy?

Read it. Study it. Understand it. OBEY IT!

Nicholas Stacks

Dancing

Is dancing sinful?
This is a question which many Christians do not even know the answer to. I'd like to share with you why I think it is a sin.

There are numerous styles and ways to dance, but they all involve lascivious movements.
We are told in Galatians 5:19-21 that lasciviousness is a work of the flesh, and those that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We are to "abstain from such" appearances of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Lasciviousness creates temptation. Temptation creates lust. Lust creates sin. Sin creates damnation.
James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Before you think about going dancing, you should ask yourself some questions... Is dancing done to the glory of God? Would Jesus dance?
Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Some people go dancing, or go to dances just to be with friends in order to "have a good time", but we are told not to follow a multitude to do evil
Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

We are commanded to be an example to others in 1 Timothy 4:12, but what kind of an example are we setting if we just go to a dance/prom (even if we aren't going to dance)?
1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

What do you think about dancing?
Would you do it?

Nicholas Stacks

Abortion

Is abortion a sin?

According to Matthew 5:21 it is...
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Alot of people might think that an unborn child has no spirit, therefore abortion is not killing, but Jeremiah 1:5 proves otherwise...
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
If God "knew him before he was formed in the belly", then an unborn child obviously does have a spirit.

Some people say that because everyone "accepts it", then they can do it, but Exodus 23:2 tells us not to follow evil multitudes...
Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

If I were to kill your unborn child the day before you were going to tell the doctor that you wanted an abortion, I would be charged with murder and sent to prison, but when the doctor kills the child it's just called abortion.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE!?

What do you think about abortion?
Would you say that it's okay to kill your unborn child?

Nicholas Stacks