I owed $175 for books, of which I had about four dollars. It was Saturday evening. School started on Monday. What was I going to do?
Thankfully, I had been watching a good amount of health and wealth teachers that taught me to plant my seeds of faith. If I would put God to the test then he would certainly bless me. I only needed to believe.
I was very new and immature in the faith. I wasn’t even very good at the whole health, wealth, and prosperity thing. So I wondered what would happen if I took my four bucks, used some faith, and tried turning that into $175 bucks.
I got all prayed up, and nervously ventured to the local gas station. “Four lottery tickets please,” I confidently told the cashier. She pulled off the four tickets and I took them to my car, knowing in faith that I would be back in a few minutes to claim my jackpot.
First ticket. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch…nothing.
Oh, well. God is testing my faith. Ticket two. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch…still nothing.
Third ticket. This time I scratch off the winning amount side first. There are sweet prizes to be had. Surely, this is the winning ticket. My scratching routine reveals the same as the first three…a big fat nothing.
Last ticket. I nervously scratch it off, feeling a bit like a fool. I didn’t really feel like the Lord let me down. I just figured (rightly) that I was being an idiot. This one, though, was a winner. Free Ticket.
That God sure is a trickster. He really ran me through the ringer. So, I jaunted back into the store and claimed my ticket. Which I knew would give me a huge blessing once I unveiled it’s tender mercies. I couldn’t wait to get it back to the car. I scratched it off at the register. And to my shock it revealed that I had won…
NOTHING. A big fat zero. Now I had no money even to eat lunch.
The next morning I went to church, still smarting from my painful demise the night before. I sat towards the middle of our small church singing worship songs. I still had no idea how I was going to get books. Or what I would eat the next day. I figured that I would have to get by until my next paycheck when I could buy books.
I don’t remember the song that we were singing, but my worship was interrupted by a somewhat shy man that tapped me on the shoulder. With tears in his eyes he informed me that the Lord had moved in his heart to give me a check.
I thought maybe it would be $50 bucks. Maybe that’ll buy me food for the week. I looked down and noticed a two and a zero. “Twenty bucks”, I thought. Then I glanced again. It was $200. This would pay for my books and my lunch.
I wept.
You see I didn’t put one dime in the offering plate that morning. I couldn’t. I had blown it on lottery tickets. I was “trusting” God but in a way strikingly similar to the Israelites of old. It was as if I went to Assyria and Egypt to play the role of God’s little helpers. I had betrayed the Lord.
But I still had a $200 check in my hands and a lesson that I will never forget. Yahweh is faithful to His people. Not because I was faithful, but just because He is. I haven’t bought a lottery ticket since that day. I don’t need it. My God supplies all my needs. The Lord will provide.
9-7 last week. I should have gotten that Lions upset over the Texans. I did pick the Browns win over the Steelers but it was more of a faux-Steelers team with no Big Ben. Not so hot on my other picks either. Lance Dunbar was only 92 yards away from 100. This is week 13 which is the last week for many fantasy football leagues. Our 20 team league has 8 teams vying for 4 open slots. I could squeak in after an abysmal start but I don’t think it is going to happen. Here are my week 13 picks:
In recent days the Discovery Channel has honed in on a few of the worlds most dangerous jobs; namely loggers and deep sea fishermen. These jobs are arduous and hazardous. According to Paul Tripp one other “job” that ought to be put on the list is pastoral ministry. In his book, 
I have been reading 
What was seldom addressed in these conferences was my heart. Oh, there was the obligatory session on making Jesus central in your marriage. But this was usually nothing more than a well meaning attempt to share the gospel with unbelievers. As the conferences progressed it seemed as if the gospel was left behind and we went forward into the really practical stuff. Most of this advice was nothing more than Christianized psychology or sociology class. All of the advice could have just as easily been taught in a secular setting minus the Bible verses. 
Last night my shipment of new power tools and power saws arrived*. 
I am almost finished reading Paul Tripp’s book 
No video games. No lights. No radio. No computer. No internet. No power saws. Nothing. 
Early on in my ministry (both writing and in the local church) I felt the need to respond to every criticism. Now I do not. Awhile back I spent some time thinking through how to determine whether or not to respond to a critique. Mostly, this is dealing with online discussions but it has application with a few minor tweaks to local church ministry as well. These three categories have helped me, perhaps they will help you as well.
it was quite glorious. When our hour was up I wanted to plead for another fifteen minutes. 
someone’s garbage can.
When I left my dorm room I looked pretty fly in my black shirt and Levi’s. However, by the time that I got to the bowling alley and found myself under the hateful glare of those black lights I had somehow developed a horrible case of psoriasis, spilled bleach on my pants, and had a stain on my shirt that looked like Gary Coleman leg wrestling an ostrich. 
That is why you need to have a season where everyone gets on the same page as to what family ministry actually consists of. The most helpful book for doing this is 
able to do whatever they wanted to do and it seemed they were able to do it without even a tinge of guilt. Not me. I had what seemed like an angry bear of conviction that would pummel my soul and emotions whenever I would engage in sinful activities. My prayer in that day was that the Lord would simply leave me alone and let me do what I wanted to do without feeling so badly. 
I have also received marital help, assistance in dealing with issues of shame and abuse, training in counseling others, and much more. 