I’m practicing what my blog title will be tomorrow…
Well at lunch today I’ve picked up my Powerball ticket and damn if it doesn’t smells like a hot one!
200 million and above is the only time I get interested in playing the silly thing and I really couldn’t think of a better way to waste five bucks, yes aside from in the collection plate... This jackpot is 340 million! I saw that if you were to take the lump sum, after taxes it would be $160 million in one check! Not bad really. I can’t remember how it breaks down if you take the winnings over a number of years but the payout is 20 years.
So if lady luck shines on the Mullins family tonight I would like to choose a second option for getting together in March, perhaps it might be nice to hang out on our newly purchased private island or our mountain villa in Hawaii. Air and travel expenses will of course be taken care of.
Hitting the jackpot is a 1 in 146,107,962 odds.
But if you’re interested in following along here are my numbers.
(isn’t it a wonderful guilty pleasure…)
1, 18, 33, 35, 43 & 26
8, 12, 15, 33, 47, & 23
3, 10, 29, 43, 54, & 18
2, 11, 12, 26, 53, & 8
7, 17, 31, 39, 45, & 13
So, not that anyone is a sinner like me, but if you were given a massive sum of money what would you do.
First and foremost I’d set up untouchable accounts for a number of my immediate family. All they could do it remove a percentage of money every month ensuring they could not cash out their funds completely and pay off a large chunk of any debts.
My boys would be trust fund kids, collecting interest on accounts allowing a small cash out once they had their degrees. They would also have to have and keep some sort of job.
I would travel the world. I would also set up funds to assist Christian missions across the globe. I would also sickly enough film documentaries about those missionaries and make TV shows. I’m sure Jules would travel with me if only to check out local spas across the globe.
I’d throw a few humdingers and try to make my friends happy too. I’d like to payoff the loan on the church building but who knows if they would take sinners money.
48 comments:
i tell ya, i am not saying i wouldnt take any gifts you have coming to me, but if i were to buy a lottery ticket, id be afriad that I would win. I cant imagine the guilt id feel.
I played poker a few weeks ago. I had 4 one dollar bills in my pocket and thats how much the guys were charging to play. 1st place took home 12 bucks, second place got their 4 bucks back. They do this so people dont go "all in" all the time as they do when you arent playing with real money.
I lost and felt very guilty about wasting money that the Lord gave me, despite it being 4 bucks.
I would be very wary my friend in this lottery stuff. Thats Gods money, not yours.
Dont mean to preach, we all sin, but I'll sleep better at night knowing I rebuked a brother.
Also, I got some money through ill-gotten gains... with some of that money, I bought the corvette... the corvette cost me in repairs and damages the amount I got through ways the Lord wouldnt be proud of. To this day I am convinced God was taking that money right back from me, and I know, to this day, that he will do it again. So since then I dont mess around with money too much.
That's interesting.
I don't know entirely how I feel about the lottery except that I always thought (no offense Mullins) it's just a tax on poor and stupid people.
I don't play, but my wife got a degree because of the one in Georgia.
In any case, I think if God wants me to have gobs of cash, He'll let me earn it somehow. A nice book and movie deal would work for me!
i have always said (wuite a jump from my first post) that if i hit it big, i would buy about 100 acrea (or more) and build 6 homes on it. Each home would be furnished for me and my 5 best-friend families (you guys of course) sitting on 10 acres or so each. There would be a big pond for fishing, and maybe toss in about $200,000 per household so yal can quit your jobs and live there till you get settled in.
I would have my friends around me, and I woulf be able to fish all i want, and live ona nice peice of land. Heck, it I have any left over, lets get a plane and travel together...
commune of sorts...
Or ill give it all to mullins and let him buy out the GOAO (gay owned and operated) scripps and let him call the shots
LOL!
Good call, Jamison.
I'd move out there with you, pal! We could fish all day.
The lottery is totally supported by dumb and poor people but with a shot at 340 million I’ll take the at least one of those titles happily. To me it’s just a game. BTW as you mentioned your wife has a lot of those dumb and stupid people to thank for her education, let’s here it for the ignorant masses!
Like I said I don’t even think about it unless it gets to some absurd amount, it’s just the idea that’s fun to play with. When I was younger 32 was really old but I wouldn’t have cared because I would have circumnavigated the globe a few times already, climbed atop mountains and deep into them, rafted down the worlds most famous rivers, drank glacier water and danced with naked island women. I’m 32 and I’ve climbed atop and into a few mountains, only traveled ¼ of the globe, traveled down too few rivers and only dreamed about dancing with naked island women. It’s pretending.
The idea is more like Jamison’s second post. I really don’t care how you got the money, say a rich uncle you never knew died and left you $160 million after taxes. What would you do?
I appreciate the rebuke JB, if I win I’ll give you $100 for each vowel.
vowels go for $250 on wheel of fortune you cheap-oh! $200 at least...
$200 it is. I figure we'll be using $20 to light our stogies.
I have no idea what I'd do with that kind of money.
The part of me that is actually naive enough to believe I'd be altruistic says I'd give the money away to the church and missionaries and little crippled kids and old, sick people.
But, the fact is, I'd probably be miserable and weak and horde it all and lose everyone I ever loved or cared for because of it.
I know this is a demented and pessimistic view, but I take the line that if God wants me to have lots of cash, I'll earn it and I will value the good uses of it because I know its worth.
In that instance, I probably would donate. I'd be a true philanthropist because:
True
Retrospect
Avasts
Philanthropicism
TRAP is such an insde joke, i think only me and you, Sip, get it... nice placement though.
Geez Sipper, can't you even enjoy pretending...
You see it's an activity where you make stuff up that's too fanciful and beyond the scope of reality. To represent fictitiously in play; make believe.
Pretending doesn't have a moral guideline it's a fantasy i.e. not real.
HAHA...yeah, I've used it before in here. We had to explain it then.
Didn't mean to be a downer, btw.
I'm all about having sosme extra dough. But, having lots doesn't guarantee happiness.
I'm not sure how accurate this is and maybe it's just a way for folks to make themselves feel better, but I've always heard that lottery winners usually wind up miserable and brokeer than they were to begin with.
I'd like to find some true stats on that.
Side-story:
A couple of years back, a guy from my hometown who worked for the railroad company got injured badly in a work incident. He and his wife sued for millions and built this really nice palace in Luverne.
Only thing was, the guy was paralyzed at that point. You know the guy would have rather have his health...
BTW, about a year after that, the guy died in a freak accident while he was being hoisted into his bed with one of those invalid cranes. Seems a little suspicious to me...
OK, I'd buy up all of the Sipper land from my relatives and reconsolidate it. Then, I'd place a life-estate that encompassed the next 5 generations of Sippers.
I'd give 15% to the church. 8% to Dalraida and 7% to my Dad's congregation.
I'd hook up all my friends (as Jamison would) and pay off all my family's debts.
I'd travel around the world in my huge yacht and try to set up churches along the way.
Finally, I'd write books. I'd write hundreds of books. All the ideas I have jotted down on post-its and napkins would have a home.
Sipper that's my boy! Good job, that wasn't too hard, was it?
See playing pretend is fun isn't it.
I'd like to take care of my friends too.
I saw a show recently where a guy won some 200 million and had his accounts set up to where if he went and dropped 40K he knew he had to wait some four days until the interest recouped that cost to go blow another 40K. Wow, what a strange life.
As for the happiness, it has to be found on the inside first. You're right no amount of money can buy that.
Here is a thought. If money weren't an object what hobby would you start. Sure you can go the route of Jay Leno and buy cars or buy china patterns, what ever.
I've always had a strange fascination with autographs. I painted a guys house who was a doctor in OR and he had the most amazing collection of autographs I've ever seen. Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Chuck Yeager, George Washington, Albert Einstein and tons of other historical types. Ever since then I've been hooked and slowly trying to display the small collection I've got. So Far Harrison Ford is the only piece I've got up. I've got Mel Brooks, Lyle Lovett, Bruce Hornsby, Bela Fleck (2, one including the fleck tones), Allison Krause, and one that has both Michael Jordon and Magic Johnson though I need to have it authenticated. There are a few more floating around from concerts and stuff but those are the really cool ones. Oh yeah and two from Chuck Jones one is on the tongue of one of my clown shoes while the other is on a sweat shirt from Baraboo, WI where I met him.
Im not good at this game. I have no idea what I would do. I can't fathom that kind of cash.
Sure, I'd hook up my family and my friends. I'd give to churches and mission programs. I'd travel like a mofo son of a ho. I'd find some place warm, and wet and drink margaritas until I drowned.
I don't play the lottery, not because I find it wrong, but it just seems silly. Mullins, next time you get a hankering send me the ten bucks and I'll give you the same result as you get from the lottery.
So god is mad when you blow a couple of bucks on a poker game or the lottery, but not when you play Duke Nukem at the local arcade?
Proverbs says to honro the Lord with the stuff you have.
Duke nuke'em nor the lottery probably neither give God a bunch of glory and honor... the simplest answer is what does the Bible say, cuz it aint gonna mention a lottery or video games.
Didja win, Mullins?!?!
Odds are, probably not.
Y'all ever heard of the Urim and Thummim? They were a set of instruments the priest in the OT used to query God on matters.
It's funny because they seem to be something like dice. The priest would ask God a question and roll the dice and get the answer.
I just thought it was funny that they sort of played craps with Yahweh. Of course, it was for communication with the Great I AM, not gambling.
So I’m five dollars less rich than I was last night…
God has blessed me with a good job, home, family and decent enough friends too. I never expected to win but I think playing with the idea is fun.
I will tell you this; one person in Oregon has won the jackpot. 340 million or 160M post taxes in a lump sum. I’m sure his friends razzed him and have now simultaneously dumped their pants in amazement. I mean that’s the thing someone has to win.
It’s ridicules, silly, and near impossible to win but someone always does. The next jackpot is 15M. I’ll continue passing until is reaches around 200M again then I’ll start adding to the pot.
Why is it so hard to imagine winning that much money? I guess I exercise my imagination more than you yahoo’s.
We're Houyhnhnms, man.
Anyway, I wanna see what that Yahoo in Oregon does now...
one of the statements you hear from most family and freinds of big lottery winners is "I wish he had never won" because it changes people.
im sure winners in the past were like us... saying they woudlnt change, but they did for the worse.
If I had a lot of money, I'd get out of debt, buy a house, and buy as many sandwiches from school as I wanted.
I'd go on a shopping spree in the Kaplan catalog, I'd pay of everyone I love's morgages (including all of you) and maybe give everyone a mil to play around with.
I'd give it to Neurofibromatosis research.
I'd give it to church, Coastal, and Faulker.
And I'd let Charlie do whatever he wanted. He could start his own comic business. He'd probably call it Midnight Cafe Comics.
And I'd go to Greece, which I'm really thinking about taking out an extra student loan so I can go in May anyway.
I don't really think I'd change much, though. If anything, it would be better, because I wouldn't stress out about not being able to pay for things.
Be careful with the debt, Di.
Not trying to run your finances, but be careful. School debt can really bit you in the rear later on.
Greece would be cool, but being able to make more than your minimum payments is much better.
We can allready hardly afford minimum payments...
sigh
You're right....
*pouts*
Sorry, Di.
I get tired of my daily dose of reality, too.
Had to take my truck to the shop today. I'm getting the brakes fixed and I have a bad heater core which can be very expensive. Will need new tires soon.
It's always something, but God allows us to afford it all, somehow.
Hang in there. Y'all will get to the financial Shangri La one day...or is it Xanadu?
dont give any to faulkner... a school named after a man who stood by his grandson as he sued the elders of a sound church doesnt deserve your money... in my opinion
Well, it's not the school's fault.
I do wish Faulkner were named differently, though.
That guy was TOTALLY off-base. At least the matter is closed now.
To tell the truth, I don't think it's ever a good idea to name things after people.
Like with Faulkner, people probably hold back suspport from the school for the same reason you do, Jamison. It's all because it was named after some fallable guy who gave lots of money and did something to bring reproach on his name, thus bringing reproach on anything else that bears his name.
Just think, had AP been name BT Press, they'd be under already.
In any case, I don't think anything should be named after a person. Excepting the church, that is.
that man is still alive and still gives money to the school.
If Anna Nicole Smith offered Faulkner more money than J. Faulkner does, then the powers-that-be at that school would change the name so fast that you'd be looking at Stupid-Drunk-Blonde University
"Duke nuke'em nor the lottery probably neither give God a bunch of glory and honor... the simplest answer is what does the Bible say, cuz it aint gonna mention a lottery or video games."
Yet a whole bunch of people we all know would say to buy lottery tickets is a SIN, but playing duke nukem all day is ok.
Yet,if this post was about Mullins spending 10 bucks at the arcade he would not have faced your "rebuke"
"one of the statements you hear from most family and freinds of big lottery winners is "I wish he had never won" because it changes people."
No doubt that several million dollars changes people, and the people around you. But though I've heard this said alot that the winners say this kind of thing, I've never actually heard the winners say this. Did that make sense? Like you always hear that lottery winners wind up unhappy, but I've never really seen any stats on it.
However, Diana, school loans are way better than any other debt. Mine just dropped to like 4% where the credit card stays set at 9.9%
Sipper is right in that debt is bad. But you've got to look at your whole financial picture. A little debt helps build credit.
But if I was recommending, I'd say wait a few years, get out of school and save enough money for the trip.
Ah come now Jamison. It's not the schools fault Jimmy hasn't lived up to the name.
I'm not sure I would ever donate to Faulkner, heck I'm still paying them on a monthly basis for my education. But I wouldn't say deny them the $$ because their namesake turned out to be not such a great name afterall.
I'm pretty sure most folks look at several different verses that talk about "honoring God with your possessions".
We own nothing. God dives us everything. We are to be good stewards. If we are good stewards, God will bless us.
I personally think playing the lottery is poor stewardship. I think any game where people risk money on a chance is poor stewardship.
Entertainment is different. People pay for movies, video games, and other entertainment all the time. It's a way to unwind and even spend time enjoying something with those we love.
But, throwing money away on a chance doesn't honor God. It's also been proven to be addictive.
It just seems like something risky in many ways. So, I don't touch it.
Perhaps the lottery is a way of saying "God, you gave me the ability to work and earn money, but what you have given me is not enough, I want ore and am willing to blow the money you gave me because I WANT MORE!"
I don't know, but thats how it feels (not picking on Mullins here of course, he just got thie discussion going).
Whereas, perhaps, playing an arcade game for a few quarters is no more of a sin than paying $35 a month for cable TV. Both are used for unwinding and relaxing but neither promise a chance to get money-for-nothing, that you think you deserve more than God thinks you need. God knows our needs and will give us all that we need. To tell him otherwise is, perhaps, wrong. But this can be done in many ways other than a lottery.
I certainly dont have the answers and no one here really does. I just know the Bible said "Honor God with your possessions". If in your heart, you feel that lottery tickets honor God and video games do not, then so be it. You are right with God (according to your heart). Me? I'd feel bad about the lottery tickets, but not so bad about the arcade... but will accept any rebuke you guys throw my way, if it it honest, (s'what christians are supposed to do to each other you know...)
I didnt know they had an arcade version of Duke Nuke 'em...?
If arcades are sinful, here is what else is sinful:
-My trip to Disney World (paid alot of money and came back without that money)
-Fishing (spent money on lures and poles and reels, now, I dont have that money)
-buying a mandolin to play (I earn no money from it, much like an arcade game)
-swimming pools
-cable, as mentioned before
-internet at home
-TVs
-Radios
-CDs
-DVDs
etc...
If lottery tickets are okay, here is what else is okay:
-Poker tables
-Roulette tables
-Horse and dog races
-Betting on games in an office pool
-slot machines
-casinos
I am not trying to be holier than thou. You see, if we went on vacation somewhere, and there was a casion, sure Id pull a few slots or play a few poker machines. If I won some cahs, yeah, I'd keep it or buy is some drinks with it. But if we are going to sit here and pretend that none of that is perhaps wrong in the eyes of God is foolish.
Sure, it is probably up to the person. I mean, we can drink a drink and not really be a drunkard, and thats probably okay. We can buy a lottery ticket, and not get hooked on it. But dont we think God wants us to abstain from all kinds of evil? Whether it will get us addicted to it or not? Gambling has evil connected to it, even if buying one lotttery ticket or pulling one slot machine is pure innocence in our eyes.
The movie Doom is out now. The Rock is the main guy. Looks fun!
I think there are many things we are used to and just don't need.
How many people do we knoww who really sacrifice something to give?
I've heard of some people going without cable or some other unnecessary mode of entertainment so they could give more at church.
How many people really do this? Just think how much that extra money means to the tsunami victims or hurricane victims.
Anyway, I think one step up from this is denying ourselves the extra extra things like gambling so we can give more to God for good works.
Is there anything we can sacrifice to give more to God? I know there are many things I could, but we have to be willing. That's hard.
IN truth there is so much that we don’t do in glory to God it’s crazy. Disney is a place that openly supports the homosexual agenda and as I think we all know that ain’t on Gods top ten list of favorites.
For me subjects like this come back to the idea of how I’m letting it affect me and my relationships. I don’t think one beer, lottery ticket, concert, secular event, or what ever is going to muck up my walk with Christ. I’m not going to pursue things that are going to actively derail that walk.
If we’re 100% honoring our God with our lives I suppose we’d all be better off not having these modern lives at all. Off to the convent I guess.
Again this is why I’m much more inclined to enjoy the things of this world rather than flee them because they are just things and do not come near interfering with Christ in my world.
I understand that others do not have this perception that everything around us is comprised of “things” and “stuff”. I do, none of it matters, none of this matters. We have a self imposed perception of “its” importance. I’d like to have a nice car; I don’t need one as much as it might make me feel better. Feel better why: it’s cool, others will like it, it’s a status symbol, it would go really fast, what ever. The fact is that I need a car because it’s a tool for helping me pay the bills for other things I consider and are of actual importance like sheltering, protecting and feeding my family.
God has provided me with abundant blessings.
Here some the Segue to a new post…
If God has provided me with what I need and his will guides my life as I attempt to be a prayerful, respecter of his commandments who’s to say that God isn’t providing me with the opportunity to suddenly gain exorbitant wealth through the lottery?
>It just seems like something risky in >many ways. So, I don't touch it.
I call this Sipper's thesis. I say what many need to understand is that this is a personal choice. And that there is a big difference between this statement and declaring gambling,drinking, whatever as sinful. Declaring laws and dogma and doctrine.
Yes, it's a personal choice, based on the thinking-man's conscience.
If you follow gambling and many other "risky" activities to their logical conclusions, you'll see some pretty messed up things.
So, if it's not necessary, why push it?
But, yes, it's a personal choice.
Refer to Jamisons post including a list of "acceptable" and "unnacceptable" things
What puts any of those things into those categories? Why is spending a load of money on fishing rods ok, but dropping a few on a game of poker ok?
If its a matter of entertainment/relaxation I call that bull. Poker is very fun and entertaining. We all used to play penny poker and had a blast. Should we have used those pennies to better glorify God?
I keep hearing "It doesnt affect my walk with Christ" alot...
some people think that baptism is not essential, and to them, they feel like they are wlaking with Christ.
Some feel that alot of wrong things dont affect thier lives religiously.
The Bible, again, says honor the Lord with your posessions. I am not going to make the Bible complex. It isnt, it is simple. That is what it says.
If you feel like a lottery ticket honros God, that is you. If i feel like paying for cable TV is honoring God, that is me. I am not saying either are right though.
Again, the Bible is simple, no need to have 40 "what if" posts on it.
It gets dangerous when we, as sinner, say that something we do isnt a sin, when in fact, if we search our hearts and search the Bible, it may very well be a sin.
I sin. You all sin. But I dont think we should make excuses for our sins or provide so many what-if statements that we fool ourselves into thinking that what we do is not sin.
This is not even in reference to lottery tickets or gambling.
search the scriptures daily:
1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 13:5; Proverbs 13:11; 23:5; Ecclesiastes 5:10
I honestly dont think it is bad in minimal amounts (like buying 1 lottery ticket a year). Just have to keep up my end of the argument :^)
One of the top 10 reasons I love this blog; Mullins has improved his writting ability. In email early days, he would send me an email and I would need a decoder ring to figure out what he was saying. Now, he writes much more understandably.
Not pushing it. I know my limits. I know I can have a margarita and not beat my wife. I know I can take twenty bucks to the casino and have a nice evening.
Where I get upset is when people tell me that they choose not to do those things, therefore it is evil
Brew, you mentions arcade games are sinful if gambling is sinful (hypothetically). Since you offered both as being sinful in your argument, I went on to say that if arcade games are sinful, then all other forms of entertainment are sinful (being sarcastic of course).
Poker is fun. One of the most fun times I have had were playing texas hold em recently... with fake money. One of the worst times ive ever had was playing texas hold em, with real money.
I am with you Brew, actually. I mean, heck, it is fun, and if you are playing with pennies, big deal right?
But I know we are all just arguing for the sake oarguing, but it does get dangerous when we try to compare two things and call neither sin.
I question myself alot these days... maybe it is wrong of me to buy a new stove. I mean, the one we have works, right? It is just old. Maybe making profit on ebay and not reporting it as income on my taxes is wrong.
Rather than make excuses for everything we do and call none of it sin, we should rather be searching our hearts to see if perhaps many of the things we do glorifies God or not. It doesnt matter if me, Josh, Brew, or Mulls thinks it is okay or thinks it is a sin. We arent making the final cut...
I dont want to say anything you do is evil (However, I would appreciate it if someone did it to me, since christians are supposed to do that for each other in love).
Look, I am sitting next to you at the other one armed bandit, man. Laughing along with you, trust me. In fact, if you run out of quarters and I have more, you can have some of mine!
But who are WE to say that "20 bucks is okay to blow on gambling, God doesnt care"?
is there a possibility that God DOES care? Hey, maybe He doesnt! Maybe He does!
If there is that possibility, should we be so flippant about gambiling 5, 10, or 20 bucks?
In all honesty, I choose not to gamble because it is the most boring, inane thing I've ever tried.
Rachel and I went to a casino in New Orleans once and hated it.
Anyway, I just believe that people have to talk about it and make honest, searching, right decisions.
Does it honor God?
Is it helping people?
Can it cause you or others harm?
Ask these and other simple questions.
If you can HONESTLY answer them in a way to show it's ok to do these things, that's your business.
But, it's so very easy for us to rationalize things, too. That's why you really have to look, learn, listen, and be honest with yourself.
“Can it cause you or others harm?”
I think this is a key point that a lot of these should-I-indulge-or-not ideas come down to. There are many things in the text that says don’t do this, don’t do that. There are other places where an allusion is made to stay away from some things. There are other topics where there is nothing specific mentioned.
Lest we forget that God has given us the ability to make our own decisions and a conscience. I can sit down and have a beer and play a few hands of poker and get up and have had a fun time with no worries.
I have the ability and conscience to realize when to say when, especially as a Christian. There are those who are out there that don’t. As a Christian I don’t want someone I’m with to be tempted into a situation where they don’t have the proper “control” of their urges.
For their sake, while with them, I’ll stay away from the temptation to drink, gamble, play video games (there are actually people with those uncontrollable urges to play those games) or anything else that would be a stumbling block.
When I am not with that person and I have all my faculties I don’t see a problem having some fun refusing to blanket the whole world full of evils just because of a small minority.
I fold... no pun intended...
not because I think your hand is better than mine, I have just run out of chips to bet with. I've put all I know on teh table.
We will let God (the dealer) determine who wins the pot... uhh, the chip pot, not the weed...
>If you feel like a lottery ticket >honros God, that is you. If i feel >like paying for cable TV is honoring >God, that is me.
I wouldn't say any of these give direct honor to God either. I don't think that everything we do has to be a direct worship or honoring of God. We must flee sin, and live a life that is honorable and try our best to do right. But there is a lot of "free time" as well. Time we relax and enjoy the company of others. does it have to be time devoted directly to the Lords work? I don't think so. Does it need to be free from sin? Of course.
Should we do more in the Lord's service? absolutely
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