I am glad God used Harper in your life. He most certainly did in mine. God uses truth no matter where it resides, thanks for stopping by and thanks for the blessing and kind words.

May God bless you too,
Will

Rom 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

It is great to use this verse in this case because it speaks of meat, and marijuana users are always quoting Gen 1:29 as justification for marijuana use. If you say, “Look, it says ‘for meat’”, then they reply that they could bake it into brownies. :(

But Rom 14:17 clearly shuts that door that no man may open it! :) It puts down the FALSE idea that marijuana somehow amplifies true spiritual experience.

Christians who look unto Jesus and therefore walk in the Spirit know that marijuana high, or any drug high, is a counterfeit to true spiritual experience and is not of the Spirit at all but is of the flesh.

As for Ben Harper, I just received one of his videos on yt and really enjoyed it but also I could see some troubling hints that maybe he doesn’t really trust Jesus (have faith) but is trying to ‘do it’ himself. Works-righteousness, of which this is a form, is a sure way to go to hell, and you are right, it is quite possible that Ben Harper is lost. I would like to say that even before I was born again, when I was living in deplorable sin, I used to listen to Ben Harper and really liked him, whereas there was a lot of wicked music I didn’t like. I almost want to say that God used Ben Harper as part of a long process of drawing me to Himself, but I know many things that God used to do this, including pseudepigrapha like the Book of Enoch. Today, as a Christian, I would not endorse it and I do not believe it is inerrant. yet still, I believe God used it. This is the way I look at Harper’s lyrics. God knows them that are His, and it is clear that you are doing a great job here, since this topic has been a wonderful platform for you to preach the Gospel and teach the truth. It doesn’t matter if people don’t see that, of course, the LORD does.

:) God bless you!

Jonathan

However, I think the marijuana/alcohol debate is rather confusing, primarily because alcohol itself is a mind-altering drug. Now, while I myself have never smoked marijuana, I have many friends who do. My friends who smoke don’t get violent or lose their minds. I also have both participated and witnessed acts of drunkenness in regards to alcohol. Alcohol typically yields much more violence, loss of control, and sinful situations than marijuana from what I have witnessed.

I think your argument from 1 Corinthians is spot on, but I do disagree with your assessment of marijuana users becoming enslaved by it.

One difference with Marijuana is that illegal in the United States at least. Christians in this country definitely shouldn’t use it for that reason alone. Since it is not lawful then Christians as a public testimony should abstain from using it.

Second, the Bible depending on your translation refers to any mood altering drug as sorcery/witchcraft etc. It was strictly prohibited. Both Testaments make the argument that a person of God should not be defined by the use of drugs. The New Testament even ends with warnings about ungodliness. See Revelation 21:8 which is a warning in the Greek that those that practice ‘pharmakeia’ (Word 5331 in Strongs) will not take part in the Kingdom of God. The word pharmakeia means drugs, which includes non-medical Marijuana users. “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers “from the word pharmakeia”, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Each of these find their identity in their particular sin. They in effect are shaped in the image of their sin.

The drinking wine that Jesus drank daily was never to the point of uncontrollable intoxication. It was not what we would consider as a strong drink. The question of the use of any substance for the Christian is 1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful to me but I will not be enslaved by anything.” More often than not those who smoke Marijuana are being controlled by it. It is part of their identity. Hope this helps.

Do you have a problem with Christians passing any form of judgment on someone’s words?

Jesus in the 1st NT book, the Bereans, Paul, author of Hebrews, John, and Jesus in the last NT book (Matthew 7:15-20; Acts 17:10-11; 1 Corinthians 14:29; Titus 1:10-16; 3:10; Hebrews 13:7; 1 John 4:1; Revelation 2:20-24) tells us to search out what people say. Peter and John both told the Jewish leaders to judge what they were saying to see if it was true or not according to God’s Word (Acts 4:19). Paul tells the Corinthians to judge what he was saying is in line with Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:15). That is all I am trying to do.

It appears to me that you think this is problematic. What is the problem that you are seeing in this?

I don’t get online much right now. Life has been really busy. Saw your comments/replies and wanted to reply. One is in a post below about marijuana use. I am glad you are studying the Scripture. Keep studying. I would suggest maybe a better English translation such as the ESV, NASB, or RSV.

Just wanted to address the KJV translation of Psalm 68:4. The word is very erroneously translated JAH. English is a West Germanic language and early Bible translations (such as the 1611 KJV) borrowed and were influenced highly by German. German has no Y sound. They substitue a J sound. So Jehovah and Jah are not biblical words in the original languages. A lot of cultic groups have deceived many people by claiming these names are the true names of God. If you want I can go in to the Hebrew a bit for you on that but a better translation is:

“his name is the Lord”

It is used to describe who this awesome God is that we should be singing praises to.