Kerby Anderson
If you spend any time viewing social media, you have probably seen a few clips from notable experts on the dangers of alcohol. We know so much more about its dangers than we did just a few decades ago.
Professor Jordan Peterson warns that “alcohol is an extraordinarily pernicious drug.” He understands why people would use it because of its anxiety reducing properties. But he argues that alcohol is a really bad drug. He says, “50 percent of murders take place in an alcohol-fueled environment, either the victim or the perpetrator or both are drunk. It’s almost the sole cause of domestic abuse. It’s almost the sole cause of so-called date rape.”
He also adds that “it’s the only drug we know that actually makes people more aggressive.  Alcohol can turn perfectly good people into impulsive and dim-witted monsters.”
Dr. Daniel Amen, MD explains that he started looking at the brain in 1991. He found that people who drink every day have a smaller brain and when it comes to the brain, size matters. He reports that “people who drink every day have more disrupted white matter in the brain. The white matter brain cells are the communication network. It’s the highways. People who drink, even a little bit, have more disrupted communication networks.”
He also points to the fact that “the American Cancer Society came out last year and said you shouldn’t drink because any alcohol is associated with an increased risk of seven different kinds of cancer.”
Six years ago, I did a commentary on alcohol consumption based on a study in the journal Lancet that concluded there was no safe level of alcohol consumption. Each year we seem to be learning even more about the dangers of alcohol.

Kerby Anderson

Warner Wallace has a new book out with the title, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life. Although he is known as a cold-case homicide detective, he is best known in Christian circles as an apologist.

The title of his book might be a bit deceiving. He uses the crime scenes he investigated over the years to point to life principles that lead to human flourishing. The fifteen chapters discuss wisdom, friendships, marriage, humility, contentment, purpose, justice, grace, guilt, and shame. It also includes a chapter on the importance of fathers. Each chapter documents an important principle from his experience and is validated by secular studies. He then ends by showing that each of these are what the Bible claims allow humans to thrive.
You can buy the book (published by Zondervan) in a bookstore. But everything else you might want (like a video series on the book) is free on his website. When he was on my radio program last week, he said he wanted to make sure that most of the material Christians might want to use did not cost anything. The book could certainly be used by an individual, but it would be much more effective as a group study. He has provided all you need to get started.
Each of the chapters looks at the evidence. He then provides pictures and diagrams that help clarify some of the life principles. Finally, he provides some concrete suggestions on how to alter your life course to incorporate these principles into your life.
He ends by noting that cultures that aim at human flourishing hit the bull’s-eye called Christianity every time. Once again, we see that the Bible offers wisdom from above.