Stories & Stats On Alcohol

STORIES & STATS ON ALCOHOL

A pastor was preaching on alcohol one Sunday, and to finish up his sermon with some passion he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I would throw it into the river!" Then with a little more passion and fire he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world I would throw it into the river!" Finally really fired up with a fist shaking in the air he yelled, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world I would throw it into the river!" With that he sat down and the the music director came up on to stage to close the service with a song. When the director saw what they were singing he laughed to himself and then said to the congregation, "Please turn to hymn #365, ’Shall We Gather At The River.’"

Beer has been around a long time-Genesis 9-Noah made, drank and got drunk on his own wine. Until Prohibition many churches used wine for communion. Thomas Welch, dentist and Wesleyan, created grape juice as an alternative to wine for communion. His son would later start Welch’s juice company...

After the lifting of Prohibition, alcohol became a major problem in the United States. The American Medical Society classifies alcohol as an "addictive drug," yet it is readily available and heavily advertised (Best Super Bowl Ads)

61% Americans drink. 10% adult drinkers are alcoholic (10 mil). 60-100 billion is spent each year by gov’t to educate and help with alcohol related problems. 50% of all traffic fatalities and 33% injuries are because of alcohol. Today it is the leading cause of death of youth between 14 and 17 years of age. 21,634 alcohol induced deaths in 2005. Same year, 12,928 alcoholic liver disease deaths.

Some have a belief that wine is "good for you"- same anti-oxidants in grape juice as there are in wine. Some say, "It doesn’t effect me." 200-pound man, after one drink has .02 alcohol level. The liver only metabolizes one drink an hour. .08 is legal limit over 21. With two drinks, a 200-pound man will be at .05-.06: a feeling of warmth, relaxation, mild sedation, exaggeration of emotion and behavior, decrease reaction time; impaired judgment about continued drinking. Whiskey= feeling of warmth but actually thinning of your blood and making you colder. Some believe shots are okay because they’re smaller- 1 shot = 1 12oz. beer. This is not a basis for if drinking is right or wrong-- these are just scientific facts.

(SOURCE: from a sermon by Ryan Akers, "What’s the Big Deal About Alcohol Anyways?" SermonCentral.com, 7/1/08)