Proverbs 23:4, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.”
All the newsmedia has been talking about is the rising Powerball
lottery “jackpot.” Last I heard a couple days ago, it was at $1,600,000,000.
Americans are all falling over each other to buy lottery tickets. I heard a
lottery representative in Texas say that they're selling 1.3 million tickets
per minute!!! I heard today that some unidentified person in California has
the winning ticket. Big deal, who cares! The popular slogan is, “You can't win
if you don't play!” Yeah, and “You cannot lose if you don't play” either. I've
never bought a lottery ticket in my life, and don't plan to buy one either.
The lottery is a tax on the foolish! It is blood money, taking food out of
children's mouths.
Not too long ago, the lottery committee changed their rules, making it harder to win, upping the ante. Of course they did, because it means hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars more in tax-revenues for the greedy state governments. I'm glad that Hawaii, Utah and Alaska outlaw lottery gambling. And that's what it is... GAMBLING!!!
The Bible condemns ill-gotten gain, which includes gambling...
Proverbs 13:11, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.”
The Bible warns against covetousness...
Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Proverbs 23:5, “Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 5:10, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.”
People are so foolish. Folks, it's just money, a piece of paper with some numbers on it! When we all die, we cannot take one penny with us into eternity! 1st Timothy 6:7, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” I feel sorry for people who spend all their time trying to make money. I feel sorry for people who try their hand at the Stock Market (a proven insider scam), consumed with the emotions of fear and greed, miserable in life. There is a better way my friend. It is called serving God. There is no joy, satisfaction and peace in this world like serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And contrawise, there is no joy, peace or satisfaction living for pleasure, fun, materialism or wealth.
The Lord Himself encouraged us to lay up for OURSELVES treasures in Heaven. Matthew 6:19-20, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Here on earth we are commanded to live for OTHERS in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:4-5); but we are doing so to lay up for OURSELVES treasures in Heaven. There is a selfish motive behind the Christian life. This is OK. We pray selfishly, because we want God to grant our request or requests (Philippians 4:6). I work relentlessly on my websites, which is the ministry which the Lord has entrusted to me, because I am anticipating rewards in Heaven. 1st Corinthians 3:8, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own REWARD according to his own labour.”
I have been persecuted much for my Christian faith over the years, for which persecution the Lord promises us “GREAT REWARDS” ...
Luke 6:21-24, “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.”
Did you get that? The Bible says to rejoice, even leaping up and down in joy, when people hate your guts because you preach and serve Jesus Christ. I love that! Jesus said to leap up and down for joy when people cast out your name as evil and speak evil against you, for His name's sake. I'm jumping up and down right now!!! Just kidding. My neck won't let me do that, but I'm leaping in my heart for joy! A lot of people say some really horrible things about me on the internet, which they would never say if it weren't for my online ministry for the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus tells me to rejoice and leap for joy! If you are a Christian, the whole world is waiting for you to fall. Job 16:9, “He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.” Psalms 37:12, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.”
People tend to condemn the righteous, while giving a pass to the wicked. Kindly, the guitar player for Journey ran off on his wife in adultery, but you won't read about that on Wikipedia. The singer for Boston put a hidden camera in his girlfriend's sister's bedroom, which when caught commit suicide, but you won't read about that on Wikipedia. The guitarist for The Who got busted by Scotland Yard police with 7,000 images of child porn images on his personal computer, but you won't read about that on Wikipedia. But Pastor Jack Hyles, who spent his life serving Jesus Christ, is wrongly portrayed as an adulterer on Wikipedia, and a horrible human being, for having a curtain instead of a solid door between his office and his secretary's office. This wicked world is sicko, insane and hypocritical!!!
Frankly, I don't think Wikipedia ought to allow any negative information about people to be posted in their database. I'm not condemning any of the men I mentioned, God forbid. I am a sinner just like anybody else (Romans 3:10-23). My point is simply that worldly entertainers are given a break by the ungodly world, but preachers are roasted. Why the unfairness? Why the double standard? Why criticize the preacher for unfounded allegations, while remaining silent about factual sins of musicians and singers? I certainly don't think we ought to criticize anybody for their personal sins, but all the more we ought not criticize the preacher based upon mere allegations that are nothing more than hearsay. And may I say, if you are a Christian and people aren't persecuting you, you need to get right with God and start living godly in Christ Jesus (2nd Timothy 3:12). Wicked people attack godly preachers in an attempt to ruin their name, destroy their testimony, and discredit their ministry—all in an attempt to undermine the preacher's message of truth that offends false prophets, unbelievers and unrepentant sinners! I thank God for faithful men of God, who uncompromisingly preach the Words of God without apology!!!
The Devil is unreasonable! Please listen to Brother Lester Roloff's sermon, The Unreasonable Man (MP3). There's nothing that the Devil can offer me that's worth the eternal rewards waiting for those believers who serve God. The covetous world can have their lottery winnings. My “jackpot” is waiting in Heaven. You know, God only asks for a tithe from each Christian, but the Devil demands ALL (everything). The Devil is not reasonable! While homeless people survive on streets across America, BILLIONS of state lottery dollars never help a single one of them. Where does all that money get squandered? It sure doesn't go to help the poor, evidenced by th epidemic of homeless and poor people across the United States. We ought to be honest and change the motto on our U.S. currency to read, “IN GREED WE TRUST!” It is sinful and shameful that the states have resorted to legalized gambling to gain money. It is a irrefutably a form of voluntary over-taxation. ...
“There never was gambler who made an honest living, you know that. Every gambler's a crook—he's dishonest—he's a thief! And he's nervous, and a man that's upset. Yet people across America... you take these bingos games—it's gambling!”
SOURCE: Brother Lester Roloff, a quote from the classic sermon, “The Unreasonable Man.”
My friend, what are you living for? What are you laboring for? Here's a great MP3 sermon by Brother Lester Roloff titled, “What Are You Laboring For?” I rejoice that I am living for eternal things. I decided years ago, after a series of substantial losses in my life, to forsake trying to “get ahead” in this temporal life. Many people spend the first half of their life acquiring riches, and then spend the last half of their life losing them. I decided, and I have never for one second regretted my decision, to commit the remainder of my earthly life to soul-winning, contending for the Christian faith, preaching the truth, helping the poor and needy in Jesus' name, and let Jesus live through me (Galatians 2:20) to help OTHERS (Philippians 2:4-5). God has done so much for us, but we do so little for Him. ...
“The average person lives a lifetime gaining he cannot keep, and in his gaining what he cannot keep, he loses the only thing worth keeping! Can you imagine the foolishness and the stupidity of human beings, that do not gain grave spiritual truths in their minds?”
SOURCE: Brother Lester Roloff, a quote from the classic sermon, “What Are You Gonna Do?”
I don't know about you, but I love serving Jesus! I'm far from perfect, but I serve a perfect risen Savior! Every war was started by the Devil. The Devil is unreasonable in his religion. He'll tell you to join the church and get religion, but you'll go straight to Hell when you die. Oh my friend, the greatest truth I've ever heard is from John 3:16...
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for us woefully wicked sinners. That just doesn't make any sense, does it? Ah, but God did it, because He unconditionally loves us. God doesn't accept any man as being justified by his own goodness, nor turning away from sins; but rather, God only accepts us by faith in the death of His Son on the cross for our sins, and His burial, and His bodily resurrection the third day. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven!!!
Oh friend, what will all the wealth in this world matter if you miss eternal life? I guarantee you that if someone burning in Hell this moment could, they'd give a million lifetimes just for a second chance. You have that chance!!! Everyone is going into hysteria over the Powerball lottery, but it is just temporal wealth. It's tragic how so many people will sell their souls to commit all manner of wickedness, knowing that it will all end the moment they die. Do you know why people sell their souls? It is because they have no faith in the Words of God. They are like a horse wearing blinders, oblivious to eternal things.
Soon, we will all be in eternity, and the Powerball won't matter one bit. Hollywood won't amount to a hill of beans. Actor George Clooney professes to be an agnostic (not sure what to believe), bordering on atheism.[1] Kindly, he'll split Hell wide open when he dies. His present wife is a Muslim, who openly rejects Jesus as the Christ. I don't say that to criticize his wife, God forbid. I'm simply pointing out that they have so much yet so little. George Clooney has a net worth on $180,000,000. What will all that money matter in 100 years when he is with the rich man in Hell (Luke 16:19-31)? It doesn't matter if you have $1,800,000,000,000 dollars (1.8 trillion) or $1.80 when you die, you'd better be born-again in Christ Jesus or you'll go straight to Hell forever to burn!!! When I think of George Clooney's future in eternity, I am saddened. I hope he'll get saved, and I just prayer for him. Albeit, the Bible says rich men rarely come to Jesus Christ. Matthew 19:24,“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
All of the arrogant looks and haughty attitudes of the wicked will be brought low when they enter into eternity, when they fall into God's hands. Isaiah 13:11, “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” All that will matter 100 years from now is whether you died IN THE LORD (Revelation 14:13), or IN YOUR SINS (John 8:24). The choice is yours. And if you are saved, please get busy serving God while you still can. Time is running out! The golden opportunity to serve God, help the poor, contend for the faith, and win the lost won't remain indefinitely. I couldn't care less about the Powerball lottery, or any other get-rich quick scheme. Money should not be held in high-esteem by the Christian believer. Money is a tool, but when it becomes an idol, it is a curse!
The sad thing is the covetousness of the millions of lottery ticket holders, who couldn't care less about eternal riches. What is one soul worth? As Dr. T.C. Horton of Moody Memorial Church used to say a century ago: One soul saved is worth more than a world of gold! Do you value one soul saved more than winning the Powerball lottery? Most believers would pick the lottery and let the world go to Hell. God will hold us all accountable for the people under our influence, to whom we failed to witness. The Amy Grants and Michael Smiths of the religious world may have earthly riches, but there is a horrible price they will pay in Heaven (if they're allowed into Heaven - Luke 13:23-24), when the blood of millions of their hellbound fans are upon their hands (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11).
I simply wrote this article because the world has its priorities all wrong, and this includes most Christians as well. People fall all over themselves, crying and screaming when they win a large sum of money, while never shedding a single tear or expressing the least amount of emotion concerning the preaching of the Gospel, the saving of souls, and the Kingdom of Heaven. When someone professes faith in Jesus Christ, religious hypocrites accuse them of Easy-Believism! May I say, that is the ONLY way to be saved! Getting saved is easy, and staying saved even easier! (an awesome MP3 sermon by Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold). I cherish the sermons of faithful men of God far more than a billion dollars.
If you offered me $10,000,000 to curse in the Lord's name in a Hollywood movie, I would refuse! That is my final answer! I really mean that. God knows my heart!!! Let Sigourney Weaver, George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne Johnson, Harrison Ford, Matt Damon, and William Shatner curse in the Lord's holy name, but you can count me out! God's last name is not “DAMN!” Deuteronomy 5:11, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” It is a horrible sin to curse in the Lord's name, and even a much worse evil to deliberately do it as part of a movie script to get paid. It is no coincidence that every Hollywood takes God's name in vain, contains sexually immoral scenes and continually includes themes of incest and pedophile.
Have you ever wondered why Hollywood promotes sexually taboo behavior? In his excellent eye-opening book, “Satan: Prince Of This World,” retired Navy Commander William Guy Carr (1895-1959) makes the following shocking revelation about the relationship between Satanism and immoral sex...
“Lust is sexual desire outside the Natural Law of God. Therefore Christ Himself seems to have confirmed that Satan was lustful and is father of the Synagogue of Satan as those who are Satanists teach and believe. Satanists have always used sex-bribery and the depravities and perversions of sex to obtain control of men and women they wished to use to further the secret plans of their diabolical conspiracy. Satanism makes a God of sex. They worship the human body because of its sexual abilities. When men and women prove they are unyielding to all other forms of devilish temptation, they often fall as the result of becoming involved in illicit relationships and perversions. Did not David commit abominable sexual crimes, including incest?” [emphasis added]
SOURCE: Satan: Prince Of This World, by Commander William Guy Carr, p.22
I highly recommend that you read William Guy Carr's numerous books. Satanists teach that Satan had sex with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satanist's entire belief system is rooted in human debasing sex-perversion. Thus, Satanism and sex are inseparable. With this disturbing truth in mind from Cmdr. Carr, it will become obvious to you just how evil and dangerous the sensual, promiscuous and sexualizing music videos of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, and hundreds of other Satanic servants are!
The average preacher doesn't have 10 cents worth of living by faith in his heart, because his heart is not filled with the Words of God. True wealth cannot be calculated in dollars and cents. The measurement of my success in life won't be measured by how many people show up to say goodbye when I die, but how many people are waiting to greet me when I get to Heaven.
Here's a wonderful poem authored by Pastor Danny Castle about the three stages of life; It's called “NO ROOM FOR JESUS” . . .
NO ROOM FOR JESUS...
No room for Jesus when I'm young and free,
No time for the church, or a Bible for me;
No room for Jesus when I'm a grown man,
I'm busy making a living, doing the best I can.No room for Jesus, when I'm old and gray,
I've lived good enough, I'll make it my way;
Now as the time comes to die for me,
only it is now I am beginning to see,
When at Heaven's gates I stand and plea:
What a fool I've been, they'll be no room for me.SOURCE: Pastor Danny Castle; from the awesome sermon titled, Do You Have Room For Jesus?
While everyone these days are infatuated with winning the Powerball lottery so they can retire early, few people are preparing for eternity. This just doesn't make any sense! This earthly life only lasts 70 years or so, but eternity is forever and ever. Think about that! It is strictly a matter of faith. I work as hard as I do in my ministry because I have faith in the Words of God—that everything the Bible says is true. If God said it, that settles it! If you are one of the zealots who gets all excited about the lottery, I would encourage you to revaluate your life's priorities and start thinking about eternity. END
“The worst pervert in America is the Gospel pervert!”
SOURCE: Brother Lester Roloff, from the sermon, “The Gospel Perverts Or Jesus?”
