What’s wrong with wanting to win 650 million pesos?

“Grand Lotto jackpot reaches P650 M for today's draw”.  This was the headline of an article in the Philippine Star website.  No need to read the rest of the article, that headline is enough to get people to start coming up with their own set of number combinations, save up for their bets, and go straight to the Lotto stations, and wait anxiously (or peacefully) for the results.  And, if they’re lucky enough they may either be the sole winner, or one of the winners of 650 million pesos!

Wow, imagine what 650 million pesos can do!  You’ll be an instant millionaire.  You can pay all your bills, take care of the tuition fees of your children until college, buy new things, have the latest gadgets, new car, everything we want right in the palm of our hands!  Wow!  Hey, I have to confess, when I read the headline my imagination started running wild!

So, what’s wrong with wanting to win 650 million pesos?  What’s wrong with investing a few pesos in buying a ticket and hoping to get some winnings?  I know that this is a question that is bothering a lot of Christians today who believe, or who have been taught but don’t believe, that gambling is a sin.  Is it wrong for a Christian to buy a lotto ticket and hope they win?  The usual excuse is – anyway if I win I can tithe to the church, we can build a building, and get everything we want for the church! (As if building the church is about having a building and having hi-tech equipment and materials).

First, and foremost, have you ever noticed where the focus is when it comes to winning the lotto jackpot?  It’s in the jackpot, in the winning, in everything that we could do if we had all that money!  Where is God in all this?  He’s in the background.  He’s the one the better prays to hoping that God would allow him to win.  And when He doesn’t our hearts silently complain that He’s unfair, wondering why He would allow an unbeliever to win instead of His child!  That’s not trust. That’s not dependence.  That’s using God to get what you want.  That’s thinking that God is someone who is sitting on the throne and deciding whether or not He will give you the winnings, or give it to someone else.  That’s not God – at least not the God of the Bible.

Allow me to share some passages of Scripture which will show us the danger of being attracted to riches:

1 Timothy 6:9-10 (NIV)
9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

That’s what it is, plain and simple – a love of money.  Someone who wants to get rich falls into many temptations and traps that get him into trouble eventually.  A Christian who wants to get rich falls into temptations also, the simplest being the temptation to pray only to get rich, and nothing else.  There’s no desire to serve in the church, no desire to give to missions, no desire to be part of God’s plan for His church, His kingdom.  All he thinks of is getting rich.  And he uses God in the process.  Sad.

Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

If we think our life now is so tiring and unfulfilling because we don’t have a lot of money, then we’ve missed the whole point of the Christian life.  Life, true life, has never been about the abundance of our possessions.  A Christian’s life is centered, and founded, on Christ and His Word.  This is what gives him life.

Sometimes we don’t realize how strong greed can be, and how it can control our decisions and desires.  In another verse greed is considered idolatry – something people worship.  Colossians 3:5 (NIV) 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Are we committing idolatry without realizing it?

Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV)
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Restraint.  There are people who will wear themselves out just to get rich.  They will spend their strength on work, their business (or monkey-business), in corruption, immorality, crime, etc., just to get rich.  Lining up in lotto stations is included.

Where should a Christian be spending his/her strength on?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

What race are we running?  What prize are we longing for?  The more important question will be – what prize does God want us to be running for?  It’s the prize of eternal life, living forever with Him.  We forget that our life here is just temporary, and we should be preparing for our eternity with God.

Is life about having a lot of money?  Is it about living a life of comfort?  Or is it about a life of contentment?

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Maybe it’s about enjoying what we have, and not about complaining about what we don’t have. Maybe it’s not about hoping our children study in expensive schools, but in their learning even in schools that are not that expensive and even “unknown”.  Maybe it’s about having just the essentials in life, and being content with it.  Life is about trusting in God, that He will never forsake us or leave us, and He will provide for all that we need, and that He has our future in His hands.  Our life is about knowing God, that He is with us, that He is faithful, that He is our Shepherd, and that goodness and love will follow us all the days of our life – no matter how much money we have.

I know not all who read this will agree with me.  So come up with your own number combination, and line up in the Lotto stations if you want.  But remember, who your God is today in your life is who He will be (or not be) in eternity.  And if He is not your Lord, your Master and the Provider of everything, and if He is not the focus, the center, the very reason we live – well, you may just be spending eternity with someone else. 

Is There Freedom in Facebook for a Christian?

Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

There is nothing as free and as open today as the internet.  I read somewhere that it is the only invention of man that did not come with a manual as to how it is to be used.  Anybody can enter the internet and use it for his or her pleasures, in whatever and however they want to use it.  This is what makes it a dangerous place for Christians.  One place where that danger is very evident is Facebook.

An article recently came out where a Pastor of a church in the United States has commanded his leaders to erase their accounts on facebook because many of their members started having marital troubles.  Why?  Because many spouses were keeping in touch with "former flames", old lovers of the past, and rekindling their feelings for each other.  And there are stories upon stories of how facebook has caused people to commit suicide, criminal acts, and immoral practices.

From my personal point of view I have either been asked to intervene on a number of similar situations, or have needed to counsel people on how they are using facebook.  I have two couple friends whose marriage was rocked because either the husband or wife had a "friend" whom they were too close to, and even having an actual relationship.  And from my vantage point I see a number of my friends, even church members and friends, either falling prey to immoral sites and having malware attack their computers, or actually posting videos, stories or using language that were not fit for someone who calls himself a Christian.

For some reason facebook calls upon people to be FREE.  Free to post what they want, write what they want, use any foul language that they want, make fun of people as they want.  Facebook has become a place where we vent out our anger, our bitterness about other people.  And it has become a place where we advertise and share the lust of our flesh.  This is what makes facebook a danger zone, a mine field, a place where Christians must walk tiptoeing slowly, watching each and every step they make!  Sad to say, many Christians run with the crowd, with the fad, and eventually get caught in the trap set by the devil.

But facebook is not a free zone for Christians.  We don't act "Christian" in the world, and then let ourself loose in facebook as if it gave us permission to be that way.  The words of our Lord commanding us to live a life worthy of His calling are applicable in all areas of our life, including facebook.  Allow me to share some passages of Scripture that should remind us how we should be using facebook:

Are we using facebook "as the Gentiles do", or as a Christian should use it?
Ephesians 4:17 (NIV)
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Ephesians 4:19 (NIV)
19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.


\Who is using facebook - our old self, or our new self?
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What kind of "talk", kind of language do we use, do we type into our profile?  
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Is there any hint, even just a hint, of sexual immorality in what we post or what we "like"?
Ephesians 5:3-4 (NIV)
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

Have we become participants with the deeds of darkness, or are we living as children of light?
Ephesians 5:8-13 (NIV)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)
10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,

Are we being careful about how we live?
Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

If facebook has opened a door for you to be "yourself", and to express whatever you want, however you want, then I'm afraid you have fallen into the trap of Satan, and have destroyed your testimony.  Facebook has fooled us into thinking that whatever we type, whatever we post or "like" cannot be seen by anyone, not even God.  But God does see...everything.
Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So live wisely!  Make facebook your mission field.  Make it a tool for evangelism, for discipleship, for God's Word.  Remember it is much a part of your life as your everyday walk is.  And we will be judged for it.

Bigger circumstance…same God

Some of you will remember I wrote about a prayer I whisper to God every time my kids leave the house to commute for school – I would quote this verse from Psalm 91, known as the “protection psalm”:
Psalms 91:11 (NIV)
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

I would ask the Lord for His protection, that He would command His angels to guard them in all their ways.  An accident can happen while they ride a jeep to school or to the Church’s center.  There are lots of holdups, pickpockets, snatchers and generally “bad” people in the streets today – who doesn’t need God’s protection today?  Ever since my two oldest children started to commute by themselves I learned to quote and claim Psalm 91:11 for them.  It was almost automatic.  And every time they would come back home safely I would bring a prayer of thanks to the Lord.

There was one moment where I said that prayer in a different light.  I remember when my daughter left for Singapore for her On the Job Training.  It was going to be the longest she would be away from the family, on her own, in another country!  Mixed feelings fill your heart as a parent.  You’re so used to being the one taking care of them, at the same time you know that you can only depend on God for their care and protection.  She was leaving for Manila the same day that I and my wife were leaving for Cebu, and they were on the early morning flight and so I could not take her to the airport.  So I dropped her in their school where a bus was waiting for them to take the group of students to the airport.

It was around 4:30 in the morning, we said our goodbyes, hugged each other, and she climbed up the bus.  As she walked away my mind automatically prayed and claimed the promise of the Lord in Psalm 91 - “charge your angels to guard her in all her ways”.  It was then that I realized – she was venturing into a bigger, riskier situation – she wasn’t just riding a jeep, she was going to ride a plane.  She wasn’t just going to be a few minutes away, she was going to another country.  And I wasn’t going to see her physically again until after six months.

But I realized I had the same God, with the same promise – that He would charge His angels concerning her to guard her in all her ways!  And that brought a smile and assurance to my heart.  No matter where my children are, no matter what situation they’re in, God remains the same, His promises are the same!  It was trusting the same God, claiming the same promise, for a greater, more complicated situation – but it brought the same assurance.  Circumstances may change, but our God remains the same, and His promises are effective no matter what we are facing.

I’m reminded of how David had confidence in facing Goliath:
1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NIV)
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

It didn’t matter if it was a lion, a bear, or a 9 foot giant named Goliath, David’s trust was in the same God – the Lord who delivered him from “smaller” situations was the same God who would deliver him from Goliath.

We may be facing different situations, bigger problems, harder trials – but our God does not change, and His promises remain the same.

The LORD IS...

Psalms 145:8-9 (NIV)
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

It is always encouraging to read psalms like this of David proclaiming who his God was.  David had no doubt who his Lord was - He was gracious, compassionate, good to all and had compassion.  This, I'm sure, encourages us, and gives us strength day by day.  But this truth, though easy to proclaim during the "good" times, is surely tested when we go through the storms of life.

How can God be gracious during a time of financial crisis, when any time our home may be foreclosed by the bank, or our creditor may file a case against us!  How compassionate is God when a loved one of ours is sick, and healing seems far away?  How can the Lord be good when bad things are happening.

Just like the rest of us there are times when I find myself in situations like those above.  I remember in one of those moments, coming to God in prayer, pleading to Him - "Lord, please be gracious", "please show your compassion", "be merciful O God" - these were some of the prayers I was crying out to God, hoping that He would bring His answer (or was it my answer I was looking for).

Then, a sudden enlightenment came to my heart.  If my prayer says "Lord please be gracious", then that means at that moment I believed that the Lord was not being gracious.  By saying "Lord please be merciful" that meant that He, at that time, was withholding His mercy.  Is this the case?  Is this what God reveals to us in His word?

David proclaimed "The Lord IS gracious and compassionate".  This was not a proclamation just based on a situation, but a truth being taught to us.  God IS gracious.  God IS compassionate.  God IS good.  The circumstances we are going through do not change who our God is.  It is not like God is gracious at one moment, and then at the next He is not.  It's not that God is merciful in certain situations, and in some He is not.  God IS who He is.  He does not change.
James 1:17 (NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

And so, as lead by the Spirit, my prayer changed.  "Lord", I started saying, "You are gracious, You are merciful, You are compassionate".  And in the circumstance that I was going through I was asking God to open my eyes that I may see who He is, and not focus on what I was going through.

How important it is for us to believe that Our LORD IS..., that He never changes, that He is faithful.  May God reveal who He is always through the circumstance we are going through.