The Lottery: "You Owe It To Yourself"

 

Neal Pollard

The Powerball jackpot is up to half a billion dollars and those inclined to participate will have until 7:30 PM tonight to buy a chance at this record-setting lottery payout.  The odds of winning are 1 in 175 million. Denise Dillon, a Fox reporter from Atlanta, says that you have a greater chance of getting hit by a coconut, having identical quadruplets, opening a four-number combination lock on the first try, becoming president of the United States, and several other highly unlikely events.  The Las Vegas Sun adds to that picking a perfect NCAA bracket and being attacked by a shark.  You will more likely die from contact with a venomous animal or plant, die from a mountain lion attack in California, contract mad cow disease, die from contact with hot tap water, or become canonized by the Catholic Church than win this lottery (information via nsc.org, lasvegassun.com, usatoday.com, and myfoxatlanta.com).

In a radio interview, however, one man said, "You owe it to yourself to" get in on this action.  While I believe a strong ethical case can be made to show that gambling is inappropriate, consider the mentality of this man as the underlying problem of which gambling and the lottery are but a symptom.  Buying a ticket may give a person a temporary feeling of hope and euphoria, but they are investing in the wrong place in order to get that feeling.  Though a relatively small percentage will claim that buying lottery tickets is harmless fun, a form of entertainment from which they expect no "payoff," and no different than buying a movie ticket or ticket to a ball game, most who buy really want to win.  Statistics say that the largest percentage of patrons of gambling games like the lottery are society's poorest.  About 10 years ago, Emily Oster, then a student at Harvard, wrote her Senior Honors Thesis on the theme, "Dreaming Big: Why Do People Play the Powerball?"  The thesis has been picked up by financial blogs and magazines and shared by other elite universities like Dartsmouth. She found "that the poorest zip codes purchase more tickets at the lowest levels. However, at the highest jackpots the sales are about the same (slightly over $16 per capita in the poorest zip codes and around $17 per capita in the richest)" (Oster 40).  Statistics assert that America's poor spend anywhere from 3%-9% of their income on lottery tickets.

Paul wrote, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17).  Does that mean that lower income or middle income people can fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches?  Of course not!  Job disclaimed with horror the idea that he might put his confidence and trust in gold (31:24).  The warning of Scripture seems to be against putting your hope and trust in the monetary.

We do owe ourselves something very vital.  We owe it to ourselves to build a relationship with God, to trust Him and hope in Him.  We owe it to ourselves to invest in that heavenly land where we will realize a return the likes of which earth cannot reproduce.  That means laying up treasure in heaven (cf. Mat. 6:19-21).  Let's make sure we do that!

Thirsty and Stranded at Sea

 

In 2005, Troy Driscoll and Josh Long paddled out from the Sullivans Islands in South Carolina for a fun day of fishing.  They were looking for a good place to fish when they were caught in a riptide and pulled out to sea.  They did what they could to escape but were unsuccessful.  Soon, land was out of sight and they spent the night trying to keep warm while battling the waves and remaining wet.  The next day was blistering hot, so they jumped in the water to cool off, but this soon attracted sharks.  As thirst began to set in, it became almost unbearable to be surrounded by so much water but not be able to drink any of it.  Josh spoke about how the water was so clean and clear that it reminded them of blue Gatorade.  At one point Troy begged and pleaded for Josh to let him drink some of the water, but Josh simply replied, “If you drink it, you'll die."  The Coast Guard searched the ocean for days through helicopters, airplanes, and recreational boaters.  The boys had drifted 111 miles from where they originally pushed off.  After 6 days at sea without supplies, two fishermen finally spotted the boys in the distant water and they were rescued (People Magazine).

How ironic it must have been to be surrounded by water but not be able to drink any of it.  Many times people stranded at sea have resulted to drinking seawater and paid the consequences.  The negative effects of drinking seawater are well documented.  Some of these effects include (1) dehydration and excessive thirst, (2) a spike in blood pressure, (3) physical problems like headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, (4) brain damage and (5) death.  Drinking seawater is never a safe option to quench thirst.

The similarities between our world and the sea are uncanny.  Everyone needs both physical and spiritual water to survive.  Unfortunately, our culture only offers spiritual salt water.  While this water looks clear and clean, the result is spiritual death.  It is ironic we life in a time of unparalleled technology, information, and knowledge, and yet the true, fresh, water of life remains elusive to the vast majority.  So, wow can we receive this water?  The Samaritan woman in John 4 asked the same question!  Notice Jesus’ response in vs. 13-14, “Everyone who drinks of this water [physical water] will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

When we become a Christian and live a life in service to the Lord, we receive the only water that can quench our spiritual thirst.  We live in a salty sea of sin and corruption.  Josh’s blunt words, “If you drink it, you'll die," apply to our situation as well.  Are you thirsty?  Come to Jesus for a safe, cool, clear, refreshing glass of spiritual water (John 7:37-38; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).

Who Determines Truth?

Neal Pollard

"Truth" is an important Bible word, being found 189 times in the Old and New Testaments.  It is an important Bible word because of what it is.  Many have walked in old Pilate's shoes, asking, "What is truth?" (John 18:38).  Jesus' prayer concisely answered that question, even before Pilate uttered it.  The Lord said that God's Word is truth (John 17:17). Yet, we can easily find ourselves substituting that for something or someone else.  Notice the following.

The culture cannot be the standard of truth.  Not only does their standard constantly change, its basis for what is considered truth is skewed and self-determined.  In other words, a worldly approach to "truth" more often than not coincidentally coincides with what people want to do.  Many times, the world gets it exactly backward.  As Isaiah put it, the world using its own wisdom calls evil good and good evil (5:20).  By its own standards, the world does not come to even know God (1 Cor. 1:21).  1 John 2:16 thoroughly dismisses the idea of one's worldly contemporaries being the standard of truth.

The religious world cannot be the standard of truth.  In far too many areas, individual religious groups, denominations, have invented their own doctrines.  They, too, can form their teaching and convictions based upon the strong pressures of culture.   They can reform and reshape their beliefs to accommodate people's circumstances.  For any number of reasons, the religious world veers left or right of biblical center (cf. Deut. 5:32; Prov. 4:27).

The Lord's church cannot be the standard of truth.  Opinions, traditions or customs, and preferences cannot be passed off as synonymous with or equal to truth.  A congregation of God's people, well-intended or not, can depart from the truth.  We cannot blindly follow even these away from truth.

A particular school, preacher, periodical, etc., cannot be the standard of truth.  We can admire colleges and training schools for their work, teachers, and graduates, but this confidence must always remain conditional.  As we remember that one can veer from truth by binding or loosing, we must always measure what is promoted as truth with God's divine standard.  What is true of institutions is equally true of individuals. Even if someone speaks passionately, with conviction, and without hesitation or reservation, our job is to compare their message with God's (cf. Acts 17:11).  We can easily confuse charisma and chemistry with truth, but there is no inherent connection.

You and I cannot be the standard of truth. All of us have scruples, consciences, preferences, proclivities, likes, and dislikes.  We may feel quite strongly about them.  But, we cannot make ourselves the standard of truth on any biblical matter.  

There is but one right standard and that is scripture.  Yes, there is the matter of proper interpretation and recognizing there can be improper interpretation.  On some matters, scripture may not be as definitive as we want or even initially think.  Yet, regarding anything that would effect our salvation, God has a clear, understandable "position" stated forth in Scripture (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3).  What He says on the matter is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Accept no substitutes for this!

WE THANK YOU, GOD

Neal Pollard

To Pause And Ponder Takes No Time

Yet It Changes Our Frame Of Reference.

Considering All Your Bounty Sublime

We Are Full Of Awe And Deference.

Thank You, God, For All Your Gifts

Each Day You Pour On Our Heads

Your Oil Of Favor. Our Spirit Lifts

Full Gratitude For All Your Loving Hand Sheds.

Our Very Minds, So Full And Keen

Testify Of Your Power And Grace

Our Hearts, Our Hands, Prove You Have Been

So Mindful Of Your Weak And Fallen Race.

We Lift That Mental Eye To Calvary

And See Your Son Hung On A Cross

With Tear-Filled Eyes, Your Greatest Gift We See

How Much We Gained By What He Lost.

Wherever And However We Look At Life

We See How Blessed You've Made Us All

Indebted, Through Victory Or Struggle And Strife

We Thank Your Blessings, Both Big And Small.

What DO You Have?

Neal Pollard

Most of us could have a little more financial security.  Most of us are not driving the car of our dreams, living in the house of our dreams, or going on the vacation of our dreams.  We have relationship problems, work-related problems, health problems, and miscellaneous problems.  We've been hurt, disappointed, betrayed, and mistreated. We stress, worry, and fret about our country, children, parents, job, past, present, and future.  It's not heaven here, so there is plenty that is lacking if we're looking.

But, what do you have? People can complain under the most ideal circumstances.  It takes no talent or self-discipline.  James reminds us where every good and perfect gift originates (1:17).  Jesus says our gifts can be "running over" (Lk. 6:38), and how often they are!

Do you have breath today?  Do you have eyes to see God's beauty?  Do you have the blessing of hearing, able to detect laughter and chatter?  Do you have warmth from the cold, food for the stomach, refreshing water or even coffee or tea?  Do you have family around or near, if only in your heart? Do you have friends you can count on when you need them? Do you have those to love and those who love you? Do you have sunlight and stars? Do you have a great many conveniences that billions around the world would deem luxuries (like this computer)? Do you have a stove, refrigerator, microwave, toaster, blender, table, chairs, bed, couch, and running water?  Do you have the wherewithal to take a hot shower? Do you have a toothbrush? Do you have transportation to get where you need (or want) to be, right at your disposal?  Do you have music appreciation? Do you have pleasant memories? Do you have a bed upon which to lie each night? Do you have public services--police, fire and rescue, hospitals and doctors? Do you have freedom of choice and freedom from persecution?  Do you have a church home? Do you have a God of infinite power and care, a Spirit who guided men to reveal God's perfect and complete written will, and a Savior who loved you enough to give up His life for you?

If you do, and many of you do, you have a head-start on counting your blessings.  If you concentrate, you can easily quadruple the list above in nearly no time at all.  Perhaps we all need to practice more grateful thinking and remember what all we do have!