Is gambling a sin?

[RandyWayne]

The only 'sin' is when I stop on 20 with two face cards and the house gets 21..... of course.

Or when my first roll of the dice is 4..... and my second is 7! Argh!

Or when I get *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* ........ and only bet one credit by accident!

[gloryseeker]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

I agree that being in an environment such as that would not be a good thing for a believer. But what about buying a lottery ticket?

I would again say that "gaming" in and of it self is not wrong. I can't find any scriptures that would lead to it. A lottery is just foolishness as an investment.

You even notice that millionaires don't win lotteries? It's always Billy Bob who is unemployed or barely getting by. Why? Because those with money do things that make money...lotteries are for the poverty minded.

[gloryseeker]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

The only 'sin' is when I stop on 20 with two face cards and the house gets 21..... of course.

Or when my first roll of the dice is 4..... and my second is 7! Argh!

Or when I get *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* ........ and only bet one credit by accident!

At least we know that you are unfamiliar with the subject

[deltaguitar]

There is a huge difference in gambling and investing in the stock market. When you buy a mutual fund you are buying a part of the economy and the companies which drive the economy. You are basically financing or buying interest in your fellow man for diversification. Yes there could be volatility but over the long term there is no better investment than our fellow man.

[RandyWayne]

......or so I hear.

[deltaguitar]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

The only 'sin' is when I stop on 20 with two face cards and the house gets 21..... of course.

Or when my first roll of the dice is 4..... and my second is 7! Argh!

Or when I get *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* / *Double Diamond* ........ and only bet one credit by accident!

Or when my flush gets beat by the full house. Yep. That is when it is no fun anymore.

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Falla39

Uncertain riches to me would fall into the catagory of even the stock
market in some cases. Anyone played the stock market lately! Is it not
uncertain!

Primarily what I was thinking about, was many of the pyramid schemes
and the like. I know those who are always "gambling" on the latest net-
working pyramid scheme. The last one I knew about started with a busi-
ness man in a fairly large UPC church and he was supposely and may have
been, connected with the top men in the scheme. It was a sure thing! I
believe many had confidence in those who introduced this scheme, so they
invested. I would have hated to have been the one who introduced it.

To make a long story shorter, it resulted in many good men and women
in the "Church" losing thousands and thousands of dollars. Some had much
of the building of their new church facility depending on these "uncertain"
riches scheme. Many others, pastors and church people alike invested
their hard-earned money into this "sure" opportunity of a lifetime. Some
possibly thought it was possibly a "God-thing" to help His people.

You probably didn't hear about it because I'm pretty sure it was an em-
barrassment to many preachers and church people. The thing fell through
(as they usually do) and somebody reaped a harvest of money that could
possibly have gone to the missions field or for the furtherance of the needs
of their own churches.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/042104.asp

Nuff said!

Falla39

I have seen MANY people (in the church) get suckered into various pyramid schemes and multilevel marketing 'businesses'. It grieves me on many levels to see people so easily influenced by a slick sounding personality to buy into anything he or she says. Also, the trust among church members that is abused in order to propagate these schemes is bothersome also.
Dennis Lee used to go around hitting small farming towns throughout the Midwest, using religion as a selling tool, in order to get people to invest in his Free Energy machines which were always just a few months from being released to society. Start talking about The Lord, and suddenly people reasoning skills go out the window and they will 'buy' whatever is attached to it.

[Falla39]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

I have seen MANY people (in the church) get suckered into various pyramid schemes and multilevel marketing 'businesses'. It grieves me on many levels to see people so easily influenced by a slick sounding personality to buy into anything he or she says. Also, the trust among church members that is abused in order to propagate these schemes is bothersome also.
Dennis Lee used to go around hitting small farming towns throughout the Midwest, using religion as a selling tool, in order to get people to invest in his Free Energy machines which were always just a few months from being released to society. Start talking about The Lord, and suddenly people reasoning skills go out the window and they will 'buy' whatever is attached to it.

You are exactly right, RandyWayne!

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by gloryseeker

I would again say that "gaming" in and of it self is not wrong. I can't find any scriptures that would lead to it. A lottery is just foolishness as an investment.

You even notice that millionaires don't win lotteries? It's always Billy Bob who is unemployed or barely getting by. Why? Because those with money do things that make money...lotteries are for the poverty minded.

I agree, I don't think playing the lottery is the smartest thing around, and I don't do it or have a desire to do it. I just don't understand why it's preached against as sin, when we waste money in so many other ways.

[RandyWayne]

We were just talking at work today about the lottery. One guy said "you can't win unless you play" to which the other immediately added "Oh yes you can, you can win a dollar!".