Scripture
People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.
~I Timothy 6:9-10, CEV
Quote
Gambling is the child of Avarice, the brother of Iniquity [perversion], and the father of Mischief.
~George Washington

I’m not sorry about telling the truth, I am sorry that the truth is not understood. By the way, I’m not trying to win friends or influence people either. I’m not making excuses for anyone, not even my own flesh and blood. If my mother took part in one of these things, I would rebuke her. I know how your rationalize: “There is no verse in the bible that says, ‘THOU SHALT NOT GAMBLE.” It would matter if there was: the bible does say very clearly, “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.” If you aren’t going to keep that one, you wouldn’t keep a prohibition to gamble. You do it because you give in to that greedy little person inside you. He is inside us all but the way to defeat him is to give not gamble.
One other thing: MONEY is not your problem and it will not fix your problems. Have all the lotterys helped public education? NO! The problem in education is not money, it is leadership and we don’t have any at the top. It is not the teachers at fault, it is the folks in Washington who have taken God out of the class room and salt out of the lunch room. Money will not fix this problem. It is not the solution to any problem. We keep throwing billion at it and it is worse instead of better.
Yesterday did not start well with me. I was devastated to hear the news about Olivia Alred. My heart and deepest sympathy go out to Jonathan and Emily, Teresa and Tony, Tammy and Danny. It stayed on my mind throughout the day. I am praying for this family but I want to do more. This truly puts me at a loss for words.