News-Record.com

I always planned, when I was a believer, to donate a tithe to my church, had I won the lottery. After all, the Bible says that God speaks through random events, and winning the lottery would have meant that God specifically wanted me to have and be steward of the money.

Now, I defy you to find a single church that would turn away a winner of a $200 million Powerball jackpot who wanted to hand over 10% of his winnings. Won't happen. Nuh-uh.

Since a tithe is a tenth of ALL that one has, it would be nice if a church going lottery tithe any lottery winnings. That would be a start on truly tithing!

Uh, Darryl... did your typing run amok just then? Cause that sentence is sort of hard for me to parse...

nemo, what I meant was that should a church-going person played AND won the lottery, it would be nice for same to actually pay a tithe for a change. You see, a tithe is a tenth of ALL that one has.

And as for the lottery being evil, reminds me of what the infamous Jerry Fallwell said when Virginia began its lotter. It was something to the effect of; the devil's had the money long enough, it's about time God got a chance at it!

Shalom

"nemo, what I meant was that should a church-going person played AND won the lottery, it would be nice for same to actually pay a tithe for a change."

I thought that was probably what you meant. It's just that you sort of dropped a key word or two and made your sentence next to unreadable. No worries though. As they say in Hawaii, it's all good.

Besides certain allusions to casting lots, the biblical principle is that a person work at a good, decent and socially productive job for his/her money. Putting hard-earned money into a chance device is not being a good stewrd of one's assets. But, of course, the stock market is sometimes pretty close to the lottery. The lottery hits the poor and lower income folks hardest. It's a big money scam, exploiting those who can least afford it. I'm for letting the people do with their moeny what they wish; but it cannot be called spiritually responsible.

Where did "spiritual responsible" come from?

I have not discernced that from any post.

Would you offer clarity on that comment?

Shalom

I wonder if Nikos is coming from the same sort of place as the pastors that Nancy interviewed on the lottery. I recall the comments that playing the lottery is a sin because no one really owns the money they have... it all belongs to God. So all money matters have (it would seem) a "spiritual" vector.

Which sort of supports my guess that what really ticks off a lot of church leaders is that widows' mites that used to go into church coffers are now going to buy lottery tickets. I imagine there are some churches where the lottery makes a big bite out of the ol' budget.

I am from the UK - saw this on the net;

Woman wins lottery, leaves town without tithing

HOBOKEN — Martha Givens, a faithful member of Walnut Methodist Church, won the $89 million New Jersey state lottery Tuesday, then left town, surprising her longtime pastor, Duane Marshall.
"I guess the right words would be 'deeply disappointed,'" Marshall said. Immediately after the news of Givens' winning broke, he and the board had hired an architectural firm to build a new, multi-million dollar youth center. As a church of 124, the youth center couldn't be built without Givens' tithe from the lottery winnings.
"They were rubbing their hands together with glee in that room," said a dissenting board member. "Martha's been so consistent through the years, they felt this was money in the bank. I warned them she might turn tail. Eighty-nine million is a lot of money."
Family members were keeping mum about Givens' whereabouts, though one self-described "black sheep" cousin said the grandmother of two was "somewhere in the Caribbean, dancing, hitting the senior singles bars and doing all sorts of things Methodists don't normally do." She was uncertain if and when Givens would return. A sign in Givens' lawn indicated the house is for sale, and her front door was covered with "please call me" notes from old friends and acquaintances.
But Marshall hasn't given up hope.
"Martha, if you read this, we'll take five percent, one percent, whatever you'll give," he said. "The Martha Givens Youth Center won't be a reality without you." •