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Drinking alcohol can increase the risk of cancer, car accident, traffic unsafely, stress, liver cirrhosis and violence. Also, drinking alcohol is risky for pregnant women.

The first religious drinking law was passed in New York in 1697, and it ordered all public drinking areas be closed on Sunday.

By the late 1820′s, complete restraint from all alcoholic drinks was a key rule of nearly all of the evangelical churches. During this time, people disputed that alcohol was an implement of Satan, and the drink soon named as “demon rum” and “Lucifer Liquids”. The churches had a larger effect when they tried to affect behavior to reduce demand for alcohol rather than trying to limit supply of alcohol. Some people thought that no one should drink. Command was revolving into Prohibition and this got the churches into politics.

Throughout the history of mankind, there are many victims of drinking alcohol.

The First Glass of Wine in the Bible:

According to the Bible, the first victim of drinking alcohol was Noah and his grandson, Canaan, the son of Ham, the son of Noah.

The Bible declares that Noah was “Perfect”

Genesis 6:9

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 7:1

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

In seven different versions as Perfect while in the other versions it is translated as: Blameless, Good man, without blame and “lived right and obeyed God.”

The “Perfect, just and righteous” Noah as the Bible said plants a vineyard, gets drunk, and lies around naked in his tent. His son, Ham, happens to see his father in this condition. When Noah awoke and heard “what his young son had done unto him” (what did he do besides look at him?), he curses not Ham, who “saw the nakedness of his father,” but Ham’s son, Canaan. “A servant of servants shall he (Canaan) be unto his brethren.” This is a typical case of biblical injustice, and is one of many Bible passages that have been used to justify slavery.

Now have a look at Genesis 9:

1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

8And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

9And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

11And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

19These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

28And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Traditionally, it is held that Ham was one of the sons of Noah who moved into Africa and parts of the Middle East, and was the forefather of the nations there. The Bible presents Egypt as “the land of Ham” (in Psalms 78:51; 105:23, 27; 106:22).

According to Genesis 9:20–25, Noah began to raise grapes after the flood, and became drunk one day. While drunk, he lay naked in his tent. Ham saw his father naked, and told his brothers Shem and Japheth about it. Shem and Japheth went into the tent with their faces away from him, and covered him. When Noah awoke, he realized what had had been done to him, and cursed Canaan, son of Ham, to be the “servant of servants” of Shem and Japheth.

Nevertheless, Genesis 9 denies the basic Human Rights because:

1- slavery is immoral and wicked.

2- cursing all of an individual’s descendents into perpetual slavery because of an inappropriate act by an ancestor is immoral.

3- laying a curse on the son of the person who committed the act is immoral and dishonest.

The extent of the outcome of this passage is horrible.

This passage:

1- Religiously justify the shameful phenomenon of Racism; and the creation of the “Hamitic” ethno-linguistic group during the European exploration of Africa.

2- Religiously justify the shameful phenomenon of color discrimination

3- Religiously justify the shameful phenomenon of slavery of the Africans and emphasizes Biblical justification for slavery.

4- Religiously justify the shameful phenomenon of Israel-Palestinian conflicts, because Canaan is the father of the Palestinians.

Christians traditionally believed that Canaan had settled in Africa. The dark skin of Africans became associated with this “curse of Ham.” Thus slavery of Africans became religiously justifiable.

But in ancient times, cursing a whole race into slavery was considered acceptable because it was in the Bible. The American slave owner felt that he was carrying out God’s plan by buying and using slaves.

Unfortunately, many millions of innocent people had been kill
ed, slaved and abused because of the Biblical passage of Genesis 9.

The First Glass of Wine in the Quran:

What the Quran says about the First Glass of Wine?

The Quran absolutely denies this story of Genesis 9.

This topic has many important aspects that are important to mankind e.g. Human Rights, Racism, Color discrimination, Humanity, Politics etc., that is why, it deserves a separate article.

Back to the main topic of my series of articles (1- 55); this is my question to you smart readers: “Is the Quran quoted from the Bible “? In respect to the topic of the First Glass of Wine; I recommend reading my next article about Noah.

If your business, or a department within your business, is suffering from lack of teamwork, it is inevitable that a change is needed for your business to survive and be profitable.

Even though on the outside it may seem that all of the parts are working, it is probably evident to you that it is not working like a well-oiled machine. Companies become stagnant, lack of productivity prevails, employee morale suffers and eventually profits plummet. It’s time for a change!

 But change is often met by employees with great resistance and usually with the mindset that they refuse to change because “everything is working just fine the way it is.” Or is it?

Explaining to your teams that change is something that is needed to help the entire company succeed is usually a difficult task for company leaders. And, if you’re the company owner, it’s sometimes even difficult to get the buy-in from your leaders. Few of us are comfortable when we hear that a change is in our future. We have created our own comfort zones and usually dig our heels in playing the blame game as to why the company is not as successful as it should be.

One of the greatest challenges you can experience as a business leader is having your teams agree that a change is necessary…..each and every person must participate for the change to be effective, complete and whole.

Jerald M. Jellison, Ph.D, points out in his book “Managing The Dynamics Of Change” some very innovative methods for getting team members to understand how allowing change within the work place can easily ramp up employee performance and result in higher morale and ultimately more profits for the company. “If you’ve managed during a merger, downsizing, reorganization, outsourcing, or tried to set up new processes and procedures, you know that the greatest challenge is dealing with the human dimensions of change,” Jellison writes.

Somewhere along the way, teams lose their focus. They lose the meaning of camaraderie and forget how much easier it is to work as a team rather than struggling individually. Teams balk at change because they think it means more work on their individual self. However, they tend to forget that working as a team can be more organized and members can focus on their individual strengths to help the team move forward toward success.

In Jellison’s book, “Managing the Dynamics Of Change” he shows us how change undergoes a 5 stage process by using the J Curve principle:

Stage 1: The Plateau

Stage 2: The Cliff

Stage 3: The Valley

Stage 4: The Ascent

Stage 5: The Mountaintop

 

Most team members fear change because they think since there is a possibility that something can go wrong…..it will definitely go wrong…..that’s part of the change. Things will get worse before it gets better. But, you must go through these steps to get to “The Mountaintop” of a successful business.

In Stage 1 of Change, The Plateau, team members will be made aware that change is inevitable and you are expecting their participation. You can expect much discontent and anguish during this time. But, most of all, because everyone is waiting on the change instead of helping make the change…..nothing new will happen. For a short time, during The Plateau stage, you will find that really nothing seems different. You will see the same bad habits, the same employee cliques, the same lack of enthusiasm for change. Everyone is anticipating and fearful of The Cliff stage but everyone is avoiding being the first one to step off The Cliff!

Stage 2 is where everyone starts to feel the symptoms they had been anticipating and fearing…..The Cliff…..the place where productivity drops, morale seems to bottom out. Everyone is saying “I told you so. This will never work. Look how much worse things are!” Stage 2 is the level where team members start attempting to go back to the old way of doing things because it was easier and seemed to have a pattern of success for them. Old habits die hard and this is the stage you bury those old bad habits. Team members comfort level will drop as they try new processes, work with new tools, report to new supervisors…..this is expected and a component of the process. The stress level seems almost too much to take to your team members. And then, Stage 3 begins to emerge!

In Stage 3 of Change, The Valley, team members begin to notice that even though job performance is still declining, the decline is not as rapid. The changes are still occurring, but everyone is beginning to adapt and the changes don’t seem so prolific…..they are more tolerable of the new change! It is in this stage that team members begin to understand the new programs you’ve initiated, they begin to recognize that the change does not affect their comfort zone as much as they had expected. But most importantly, they realize that the change is really beginning to become easier, employee morale is improving and the team is beginning to work together toward the common goal. “The Valley” stage is where it is vital that you as the leader begin to praise your team. Let them know YOU see a difference and that things will continue to get better and easier. Full participation from the leader is required in this stage to make the team members realize their participation in this stage is beginning to pay off. Keep your team motivated in this stage and you will soon advance to “The Ascent.”

Stage 4 of Change “The Ascent” is when you and your team members begin to experience the pay off. You begin to notice a change for the better. In the J Curve, you begin to start climbing toward the top and everyone begins to notice the successes of the changes you have implemented. As performance improves, employee morale begins to climb the J Curve. You will begin to sense a feeling of teamwork between your employees again. They will begin to realize that the change has actually started to not only make their jobs easier as they work together in a more structured environment, but they will begin to display a sense of pride for their accomplishments. And, as team members begin to enjoy their new found job descriptions, they will also begin to herald the leader for bringing on the change for their successes. In my opinion, the best part of this stage is when the team members begin to promote the change themselves. Now you have a team working together for the success of the changes. Once they hit this level of change, you will begin to notice they will start talking about how beneficial the changes are to the entire team. That’s when you know you’re ready to progress to the next stage: “The Mountaintop.”

“The Mountaintop” is the fifth stage of change…..the pinnacle of success. In Stage 5 the team members will begin to experiment with their own successes and be willing to stretch their imaginations for new ways to make the changes even more abundant. They will rejoice in how easy the changes have made their day-to-day life and wonder why they didn’t do this change earlier. Productivity will begin to surge and team members will be working together as one team with a new sense of excitement for building the company. Just as when you’ve reached the mountain top on a long, rigorous hike, once you make it to the top, nothing is more exhilarating than knowing you accomplished your goal. Stand at the top of the mountain alongside your team members and shout as your successes echo in the valleys below. You’ve earned it!

Change is inevitable in all companies whether it’s due to an economic downturn, company relocation, a new CEO, or a company sellout. But, if you follow the 5 Stages of Change and learn to manage the dynamics of change, as pointed out by Jerald M. Jellison, you will rea
lize that change always has a workable solution. But you, the leader, must be willing to take the most uncomfortable steps and guide your team one step at a time from The Plateau to The Mountaintop.

Many people test their luck in trying to win the lottery but fail to realize the actual odds of trying to win the lotto. Put it this way, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning TWICE in one day, rather than winning the lottery. It is nearly impossible but many people dump thousands and thousands of dollars a year in hopes of becoming a millionaire overnight.

Pick winning lottery numbers is nearly impossible which is why many states have scratch off tickets where you will instantly become a winner in seconds. I have been playing scratch offs for over 25 years. Being a convenience store owner, I saw first hand how many people won scratch off tickets and what method they used to win them. I saw one guy even win ONE MILLION DOLLARS! I could not believe it, he nearly fainted and I thought I was going to have to call the ambulance! I have also been on the opposite end of the spectrum. I have seen people lose thousands and thousands of dollars! Some people thought that buying whole scratch off rolls was the way to go. Each roll costs at least $300, and their return on investment was on average NEGATIVE 120 dollars at least!

That’s right; each time a roll was bought on average they lost nearly 120 dollars. It wasn’t worth it and I highly recommend NOT buying entire scratch off ticket rolls. You don’t need lucky numbers or horrible chances of winning the lottery. If you’re buying the RIGHT scratch offs tickets you should have a 1:3 chance of winning AT LEAST. When buying instant game tickets you need to stick to $2, $5, $10, and $20 tickets. These give you the best chances of winning. Stay CLEAR of $1 tickets. These are for suckers and you will just lose your money consistently instead of winning. You have on average a 1:9 chance to win a FREE TICKET. That is risking $9.00 for the chance to win a $1.00 FREE TICKET. Doesn’t make sense right? Well people spend millions of dollars on 1 dollar tickets every year. It is you’re states money maker and they make the most profits off $1 tickets. The winning tickets are usually bought at the $20.00 level. At this level you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning AT LEAST your money back. If you are using scratch-off techniques of increasing your odds and chances of winning you will turn this 1 in 3 chance into a 1 in 1.5 chance.

There is a lot that goes into choosing winning scratch off tickets. Where you should buy the tickets, the amounts you should pay for each ticket, how many to buy in a row, where to cut your losses, etc…Many people think there is no strategy into buying scratch off tickets. If you think this way you are wrong. There are so many scratch off secrets out there to help you stop wasting your money and start investing it playing the instant lottery games.