15 Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 On account of this, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:15-18 (LSB)
From September 2001 to December 2012 my wife and I lived in the Kansas City area because I was employed by a large hospital management group that was located in Lenexa, Kansas. I was their Senior Database Administrator. In Kansas City, Missouri is a charismatic “church” that calls itself the International House of Prayer. While we lived there that church advertised heavily on TV during the evening news hour….
Some of their commercials were supposed to be humorous like the ones in which a fellow with an Australian accent supposedly stops random people on the street to ask them what their favorite “church” is. Of course, they all say that it’s the church they are advertising. All through the commercials they play the song from this video in the background and, of course, the dude with the cool Aussie accent looks so relevant… In any case, each commercial ends with the line where they give the name of the church then say, “Religion that works!” They have other commercials of course. Some show people running down the aisles of their auditorium or people falling on the floor. Nearly all those commercials say something like, “Come here, because this is where God is.” I noticed later though that they moved to a new level. They had family groups who all stood around smiling and talked about the transforming power they had gone through by being there and finding God’s purpose for their lives as they were put to work serving in that “church.”