I was looking at what was hot on the front page of wordpress today and noticed a post on entertainment in which a pastor got a lottery ticket and won 4 dollars, then posted it on his blog for his church members to see. Here is the site if you want to see.
Now I got to thinking a little bit, and thought why would a guy like this who is supposed to be an example to his flock put something up like this? Isn’t the love of money the root of evil? Well I am not saying the man loves money. But because there are people that have gambling problems, and maybe very well some of the people that go to his church, wouldn’t it make sense that he would be wise to abstain from doing something like this in order not to stumble someone?
I guess this just goes to show what this world has come to. Instead of being an example and maybe even not putting that up on a blog which is supposed to be about God, he is talking about gambling. But then again I just remembered that a lot of churches use gambling as a way to bring in revenue with bingo. They have to try to make it fun and playful at church because the lack of respect and love for wanting to be there is gone from people now.
Hey Barry. Thanks for checking out the blog.
I think I might owe you an apology. My post was not intended to lead people astray or promote gambling. My blog is simply set up to share my life. The good, the bad and the ugly.
As stated in the post the lottery ticket was given to me as a birthday gift. A gag gift at that. A dollar ticket.
While I certainly don’t think playing the lottery on the basis of hoping to cash in is a good idea or even a Godly idea, I’m not totally opposed to the person who may want to play for entertainment from time to time. Having said that, I think there are so many more effective ways to invest the resources God has blessed us with.
The post had no agenda or even real point. Just sharing a fun snapshot from my day. In fairness, I think the majority of my post do have a central theme of trying to encourage people to live a life that is fully devoted to Christ. Again, I do apologize if it offended you and I will continue to be more conscious of how my post influence people.
This is my first time on your blog but I enjoyed looking around and reading a few of your other post. You have a great gift for writing.
In Christ,
Pete
Comment by Pete Wilson — July 9, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
[...] to follow up to my post yesterday regarding hitting the lottery jack-pot. It seems that at least one blogger out there felt as if I was out of line by promoting gambling, and leading people [...]
Pingback by A Follow Up to the Lottery Post « Without Wax — July 9, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
Hey Barry,
Let me say this bro…I do not know Pete personally, but I know him through his blog and have connected with people from his church and staff. You have him all wrong. The internet is not a place to bash a fellow brother and I don’t think you would find the Christ that we are supposed to be serving condoning your post. I am sure you are a very godly man with great intentions. I know Pete’s heart is to love Jesus and to point people to Him. We, the body of Christ, are supposed to be united, and all this post does is divide. Satan loves this stuff! Its tough enough for Christians to stand strong and hold firm against all that Satan is throwing at us, but to have to defend and take time to deal with critics within our own family is not healthy. We will never fully agree with everyone in the family. Never! Paul says in Philippians 1 even if someone is preaching the Gospel with false motives, he would rejoice because Jesus is being preached! Pete’s motives are not wrong and I believe they are pure, and if Paul did not bash another believer, why should you?
By the way…I like your pen header, very cool graphic.
Nick
Comment by ncarnes — July 9, 2008 @ 8:14 pm
Barry,
Pete is one of the best examples of what a pastor should be. Real. He makes real mistakes, lives a real life in a real world and never pretends to be something he is not. Pete’s church isn’t even where I attend but I stop by now and then with friends and I can safely say he is genuine. His church is cool.
I think if you read through his blog more, you would see that he is the guy next door and writes about it which is what most of us who read his blog love. It is not all “churchee” and neither are his attenders and readers.
Pete wasn’t promoting gambling and none of us regulars even thought it. In fact, we all got a big laugh out of his major winnings.
Pete is one of the cool pastors out there who get the real world…..hopefully one day you can find something in his blog you can relate back to your own.
Nice site..interesting reads.
Comment by Joseph — July 9, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
Blog-hopped around wordpress and saw this post–my first time here too! But the title of the post caught my attention and thought it worth the click. I was a bit turned off by a pastor talking a bit glibly about winning in the lottery, too. But I’m thankful that he wrote a note to clarify and apologize; I think it was humble to do so and I’m blessed
I guess we really have to watch our walk (and talk) and always be mindful of how it might affect others, and by God’s grace not be a stumbling block whether or not we intended it. 
That’s just my two cents’ worth. 
Comment by molly — July 10, 2008 @ 5:14 am
Sir,
As a member of the church that Pete pastors, I can say that I have been nothing but encouraged by Pete and his love for our Lord. I am not going to be one to throw a stone, but I think it a little unfair of you to read one blog and assume that Pete is “leading his flock” astray. He didn’t encourage going out and buying lottery tickets… he said he received a “winning” ticket as a gift. I have been in church many times where Pete has taught about honoring our God with HIS (God’s) money that he trusts us with. I would encourage you to go back and read Pete’s blogs… I would venture to say that he is nothing but authentic and open about his walk with Christ, and truly desires to lift people up and be encouraging to all who reads.
I agree that no one should encourage gambling or other bad habits, but I don’t think that’s what Pete intended.
Your sister,
Rachel
Comment by Rachel — July 10, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
I read Pete’s blog about C.C. Deville becoming a Christian and how he was invited to be his pastor. Then I read around some more and read his blog on the lottery ticket response. He mad an apology on his blog, not sure if you read that, but then I read back to the blog he posted that you originally blogged about. Clearly he is not promoting gambling, I don’t imagine that someone suddenly read his blog and thought, “Hey, a pastor can gamble, so can I.” Like he said, it was just a snippet of life. Nothing to get all riled up about.
Then I read around the rest of your blogs. It seems that everything you say is negative. I want to understand what you are about, but by your blog it seems that you look for things that someone is doing wrong and then write about it. I don’t understand your judgment of others and think that what you are doing is ok.
Don’t take my comment as someone who is angry, just someone who is trying to understand how people think.
BTW, I think your page design is cool.
Comment by Erik w/a "k" — July 12, 2008 @ 7:23 pm