Tithing Lottery Winnings

That is truely sad.

 

If the pastor of one of the churches knew it was lottery money, would it be right for the pastor to accept it? It is nothing more than a gambling windfall, right?

 

No false advertising at all. The Powerball Lottery has always made it clear that if you win you can be paid in two ways. You can take a lump sum with all taxes paid, as this guy did, or take it as an annuity over thirty years.

 

I thought he was just answering reporter's questions, not sounding off or bragging.

 

The drawback to one person giving that much money would be that others might think they can take some time off of giving. As a pastor, I would take the money for sure. It came from the lottery but it spends like it came from the bank. I would never recommend anyone play the lottery. I think it is unwise stewardship, a poor investment. But if someone wants to give some of it to the church, bring it on. Preferably write a check though ... that much cash makes it hard on the ushers ...

 

I buy a lottery ticket once in a while myself, although I agree with Rush Limbaugh, who calls it a tax on fools.

MR

 

Is there much of a difference between the lottery and the stock market?

I have lost several thousand dollars in my retirement mutual funds this past year

 

I'd like to think the Lord had a special purpose for this gentleman to win the lottery . I grew up near this area and it is very depressed area economically , the gentleman is helping some of his coworkers to return to work and he has spread the money out to three churches "I think " where the poor can be helped , which their are alot of in this area.
The Lord does work in mysterios ways .

Eric

 

Lottery is wicked. Why?

1 Timothy 6:10 "For the LOVEof money is the root pf all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themeselves through with many sorrows."

In fact, I read many cases of many people who won lottery, they ended up mess up in their life. They blew them out. Many of them commited sucide because of money.

Lottery is not from God's Will.

Lottery is mammon - worldly sytem.

Giving money or to help people is more bless from God.

Being to be greedy is a sin.

Honest, I never give ONE penny to buy lottery ticket all my life. I know it is evil.

In Christ
Rev. 22:20 - Amen!

 

My two cents worth. No need for me to repeat Aaron's comments as they are mine to a tee. The lottery is wicked as it is one of the brashest form of covetousness.

Would you excuse a man for holding up a bank just because he gave some to the church? I don't think so. Some of you are thinking, "But that's against the law so it is different." Prostitution is legal in some countries but does that make it okay for Christians?

If your church would knowingly accept a part of someone's lottery winnings, then your church needs to start selling lottery tickets from the pulpit - or - you could move the operation out to the fellowship hall if you feel like God wouldn't like it in the pulpit.

Any church that would accept this kind of money is just as guilty of gambling as the man who purchased the tickets.

Some "big name" boarders are noticeably absent from responding to this post - interesting. Could it be that they don't want to upset other posting friends? Nah..... that couldn't be the case. Several Biblical references have been used here "against" gambling. Would someone like to post a few that condone it?

A friend - Jim

 

I haven't bought a lottery ticket in quite a while just because I never really think about it.

Someone quoted 1 Timothy 6:10 talking about "love of money". The reason a majority works is to gain money. The reason people play the lottery is to gain money. It's what you do with the money that matters.

If I win the lottery and do with the money what I should; tithe, pay bills, etc. Is it wrong? There are no Bible verse that I am aware of that specifically talks about gambling.

I work, with the money I currently make I tithe,
pay bills, and take care of my family. If I have a dollar or two to spend on a lottary ticket after everythingelse is taken care of, is that necessarily wrong.

I love football. What's the difference if I buy a football ticket or a lottery ticket? I can always
watch the game on TV. Is it a sin to buy a football ticket?

Just some thoughts............

 

As I posted on another thread, if I won the lottery, I'd feel morally obligated to give 10% of my winnings.

 

Its too bad he didn't win it in Canada, Canada does not TAX winnings.

 

Can you say "appples and oranges"? I am not condoning playing the lottery but perhaps you can tell me what is wrong with the money.

Why?

How so?

 

Some interesting facts:

Encyclopedia Britannica states that the lottery as we know it, dates back to France of 1400s when towns tried to raise money to fortify defenses. King Francis I of France allowed lotteries to operate from 1520, and the first municipal lottery to offer money as a prize was La Lotto de Firenze (Florence, Italy), in 1530. This idea proved very successful and soon thereafter, other Italian cities followed did the same.

By 1567, Queen Elizabeth I established the first English state lottery with prizes of cash and tangible items. 400,000 tickets were offered for sale. In 1612, a lottery helped to finance the settlement of Jamestown in the New World.

The first lottery in the Colonies began in Massachussetts (1744) because of military debts. The first national lottery was begun by the Continental Congress in 1776 to try to raise funds for the American Revolution. While that did not work well, many smaller public lotteries helped build several American universities like Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, and Columbia. Lotteries also financed the rebuilding of Faneuil Hall in Boston.

By the early 1800s, lotteries were very popular, but abuses by private citizens (side betting and heavy ticket markups) prevented the government from getting the profits, and attempts began to outlaw lotteries. In 1827 postmasters were barred from selling lottery tickets. Most of the states adopted anti-lottery laws, and by 1868, Congress declared it unlawful to use the mail for lotteries. The Supreme Court ruled that lotteries had "a demoralizing influence upon the people."

Hardsheller's note: Brown University began as a Baptist institution!!!!!!!!!

 

Money is money. In and of itself, it has no moral value. I don't condone the lottery because it is poor stewardship of resources. But I don't condone a lot of things.

But I am selling tickets and not recommending them. A lot of things are stupid. If you have salesmen in your church, the likelihood is that some of their money comes from people who buy things they can't afford or don't need. Do you reject their offering because it was received from people who are bad stewards? Of course not.

These comments don't address the lottery in anyway. I am not sure why they are here. I am no friend of the world. However, if someone wins the lottery, then I am not profiting from their loss; I am profiting from their gain.

I do not condone the lottery. If I preached on stewardship and money, I would preach against it because it is unwise use of money. Howver, if someone has the money from winning the lottery, they should be wise stewards of it. However, you must remember that money is money. It is neither good or bad; it can be used for either.

 

In a church of any size, and probably even very small ones, there are business people who take advantage and get as much money as they can get from those they deal with, and shysters who influence potential clients to file exorbitent claims which are settled by defendants who know the expense of fighting it is worth less than a settlement, and doctors who charge obscene fees and order unnecessary tests because health care providers will pay them off... These incomes, some of which come into the church funds, come to a significant extent from hypocrisy, fraud, sharp dealing, or other words for greed. But they are LEGAL. So is a church to do an investigation of how every member obtains income to decide whether their contributions will be accepted?

 

I don't do lottery, but if I did, I would tithe my winnings.

I would tithe in such a way that it would get some of the things we were needing. And, may be the rest would be general budget.