entering competitions and lotto

[Goodbook]

That's a good idea. I'm doing that too.
One personal, one for entering competitions/non personal, one family one.
Had a work one when I worked and used it only for work, but got annoyed when a friend started emailing personal stuff to my work, when I told her not to. I would get in trouble if I used it for that purpose.

I think of entering lotto as gambling, it's just as bad as using a credit card to donate to charity. It's throwing money you don't have away in order to win more money.

 

[quietpraiyze]

I don't know if this helps....​

I was one of those people who got hooked by one of those just doing marketing. When I told a friend “I won! I won!” he then informed me that everyone won! I felt so stupid. So that stopped me cold from that kind of stuff until one day in a neighborhood store they were having a contest. After I paid for my stuff they started encouraging me to enter the contest. I kept resisting and they kept insisting. The contest was to guess how many candy corn was in the jar. Well the strange thing is I had been eating candy corn, counting the pieces in my hand. So I relented and took a guess and forgot about it. Well I think about maybe a week later, I get a call from them telling me that I won and to come claim my prize. I was thinking it was probably some cheesy prize but I'd go claim it anyways. So I go and claim my prize. They say how they were floored by my guess because I had only missed it by two. They then come out with the prize. The prize was a Rival double grill! The thing is that I had been thinking about buying a George Foreman Grill but nobody but God knew that. the Rival was actually better because it had removeable plates!​

So my faith was restored in contest . For me it's a form of entertainment. If it's something that requires money and I'm okay with it all the way around then sure but that's not often. I think “lotto” is a class issue. Poor people shouldn't play lotto but it's fine for middle class/upper class to play the “Stock Market”. People have lost their life savings, pensions, retirement, etc. in the stock market and some of them were older adults. Personally I see no difference when you can indulge in both and lose your shirt. I think it's one of those things that comes down to your own conviction. Although I do remember a local winner saying on the news that someone in her family told her “you can't win unless your in”. She didn't play Mega Ball or lotto or any of that stuff. It was just one of those unusually large “pots” being announced all over the place. So she entered and ended up winning. So you just never know....​

 

[Ubuntu]

I don't think we ought to gamble or use or money on games such as lotto... The prices for those who win are funded by the money of all those who lose, and I think randomness is a very unfair way to distribute wealth. I don't think I would feel good being a millionaire if I knew that my fortune came from the pockets of people who perhaps don't have that much money themselves, and who hope that lotteries might be a way out of their poverty.

I don't have any difficulties when it comes to grants or applying for jobs, I don't think its fair to compare them to lotteries. Competitions, well, that's a grey area, I would not judge a person entering a competition as long as participating in them doesn't become an obsession, but yeah, they are usually more about marketing a product than anything else.

Oh, and I think "playing" the stock market in many instances can be compared to gambling for people who have too much money on their hands. If you have more money than you need, why not invest your money in the cause of God? That's the best investment we can make, because the gold of this world will rust, but people that come to heaven through our efforts will shine as diamonds throughout eternity!

 

[Goodbook]

lol! What a cool story quietpraiyize.

Hmm with stocks I kind of think that's a rich man's lotto. I've never played that either but I do remember learning about how to do it in maths class at school. I guess if I were really mathematical I could calculate all the probabilities of winning. But I guess that spoils the whole thing for everyone if I just told them..well you have one chance in 4 million if everyone in NZ bought a lotto ticket...ok maybe 2 million since half the people couldn't afford it. And all the money you win would be coming out of someone else's pockets who didn't win.

God doesn't randomly assign numbers does He? This is kind of more theological, but you could argue the Calvinists think this way..but even if he does He already knows the outcome. So we can't really do anything about it. When David tried to count everyone God didn't like that. Random question..why is the book of Numbers called that?

 

[Goodbook]

this is an old thread but thought I would revive it because a friend of mums shared that she won a trip to Rarotonga the other day, her and her husband had entered a competition in a travel expo (they had already bought a trip to the UK) and they got picked.

sigh. I took mum to the same expo but didn't enter anything, and therefore didn't win. She didn't want me to enter anything. And I would love to go to Cook Islands as a friend also wants to go as her mum is from there.

I will just have to save money.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

Pro 1:14-16 KJV
(14) Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
(15) My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
(16) For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

the basic concept of the lottery is, through buying tickets, a large number of people pool their money ('let us all have one purse'), and then one of them gets some of it by chance every once in a while. the winner never gets the whole pool; the people who sponsor and run the lottery drain off the largest 'prize' by taking a percentage of every ticket purchase; so they always win, every time a ticket is sold.

wealthy people may play the lottery, but to them it is merely sport, and the ticket cost is a tiny tiny percentage of their wealth; poor people play the lottery to become rich, and their ticket cost is much much greater as a percentage of their wealth (because they have little or no wealth) - therefore, the lottery targets the poor and returns nothing but temporary hope, soon dashed, unless they win some - but the vast majority of poor people pay far more for tickets, over time, than they will ever win; else the lottery would quickly go broke.

'My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path'

the motivation behind surveys, contests, sweepstakes, etc. - where the motivation to participate is the potential to win a prize - is actually to collect personal information from people. you tell them your name and email address, and what your interests and tastes are, and allow them to deposit 'cookies' on your web browser. then, when you go to a site like youtube or free email or discussion forums, these cookies are detected, and targeted advertisements are created and displayed for things you don't need and likely wouldn't buy without being tempted through targeted advertisements. give them your street address, and your junk mail will increase in your mailbox. share your phone number, and more telemarketers call. the motivation for the people who sponsor surveys, contests, sweepstakes, etc. is to get your personal information so that they can barrage you with targeted advertisements to entice you to spend money on things you don't need and likely wouldn't buy without being tempted through targeted advertisements - and it's quite effective.

Mat 6:31-34 KJV
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek ; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
(34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

would God lead someone to play the lottery - to buy the winning ticket? i can't say that's impossible; but He wouldn't lead someone to buy the winning ticket if they were motivated by a desire to be rich for life (instead of advance the Kingdom of God in the earth), as this would feed their flesh instead of their faith, and violate Jesus' instruction to 'seek ye first the kingdom of God'. would satan lead a Christian to buy a the winning lottery ticket? if he knew the riches would destroy them, of course. the majority of big lottery winners eventually end up in greater poverty than they were in before they won.

Gen 26:1 KJV
(1) And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

Gen 26:12-14 KJV
(12) Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
(13) And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
(14) For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

at the time Isaac sowed his crops, there was a great famine in the land; this was because crops were failing. Isaac however was following the Lord's leading, and therefore his crops were successful because only God knew when conditions were right to sow - and his harvest was worth great wealth due to the lack of produce in the land as a result of the famine. this is God's method of increase - similar to how a candle was made - a string is dipped in melted wax and some of the wax sticks to the string; it's allowed to cool and solidify, and dipped again. each time it's dipped, it has more surface area and a greater amount of wax sticks to the candle, until the candle becomes large enough to use. God leads you to prosper in small things first, leading you to sow a portion of your harvest instead of eating it all. when you reap your harvest from your efforts, you have more seed to sow each season; and as you sow more and more each season, the harvest increases each season, producing more seed to sow next season as well as bread to eat, and so on - so that like the candle, you 'wax' greater and greater.

Luk 16:10 KJV
(10) He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

most people, when they begin to prosper, eat the increase in their harvest and sow the same amount year after year, so that their harvest never increases. you get a raise at work, so you trade your car for a more expensive one and increase your car payment, 'eating your increased seed' rather than 'sowing' it.

Pro 20:10 KJV
(10) Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.

would God 'fix' the lottery? that wold make it unjust, so no. satan? only if he could, and he has no power to do so - all he can do is distract and deceive.

nothing is free, except the Love of God; and the only lasting prize is the wisdom of His leading.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Well if gambling is a sin then playing the lottery is. If for some reason people don't think its a sin, then they still need to realize its a waste of money. People probably put hundreds of thousands over time into tickets. You would have a better chance at a slot machine then you would winning the lottery. Though I wouldn't do slot machines either.

 

[Goodbook]

Thats interesting about the candle I didnt think of it that way and wondered about that verse that says Jesus waxed in wisdom. Thank you.

I knew a church lady that was always buying lotto tickets and saying if I won then I could visit her in the gold coast where she was moving to. But I never bought any lotto ticket. Its true the rich just have money to play with and spend it on lotto, but the poor perhaps rely on the slim chance they will win.

As for marketing, yes, I know its a scam, my sister is in marketing and she does all this. Although I did win the ipad I am typing on in a prized draw and very thankful to have it as I wouldnt have bought one myself and they are quite expensive!!!