Eastland eBulletin 8.13.06

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Potpourri
. Remember the kid's bulletin in the foyer.
. Today's speaker is Reggie Robarts.
. The monthly children's singing will be this afternoon at 4:25.
. Several schools start this week. Remember the young people as they begin
their annual return. Some will be away in college. Keep all of them in your
prayers.

August Duties
. Transportation: Gorick, Crowder
. Lord's Supper: C & M Wilson
. Meals: A Sutton, K Mindel, N Pardue
. Deacon: J Gorick
. Ushers: E Shields
. Sound: J Price

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Keeping The Faith
By Chaplain (Capt.) Dave Jacob

Tragedy often whacks us upside the head at a time we are least expecting it.

I heard this week that another Soldier lost his life from a roadside bomb in
Iraq. This death hit too close to home. He was the husband of one of our UMT
secretaries in Germany. This couple attended our Lutheran chapel service in
Vilseck, Germany.

Whether it is the unexpected death of a loved one, bad news from the doctor,
problems from the spouse or your children, financial troubles, or simply an
uncertain future, situations occur in life that sometimes rob us of hope. If
not, at least at times in all of our lives, events happen which stop us and
give us pause to wonder what is going on.

Let's look at a helpful and reassuring passage from Romans that helps us
through these times. Paul says in Romans 8:28, "We know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His
purpose."

Notice first what it does not say. It doesn't say, "All things work out the
way I want them to." We would like that, but that's not what it says.

It does not say, "All things have a happy ending on earth." All things do
not have a happy ending on earth. Life teaches us that not every patient
gets well, that not every couple that gets married lives happily ever after.
All children don't get straight A's and become captain of the football team.
But, this verse says, "in all things God works for the good" What that means
is we don't wish, we don't imagine, we don't desire, and we don't have false
hope. It just says, "We know." It is a certainty. We are confident of
whatever comes after this is in God's hands.

We can know this, because "God works" there is a grand master designer of
the universe. And there is a plan that is in action and history is His
story. There is no such thing as fate. There is no such thing as chance.
There is no such thing as luck - good or bad. There is a master designer.

We make mistakes for sure. We make many mistakes. But God never makes
mistakes. "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love Him." What does that include? Does that include illness? Yes. Does that
include unemployment? Certainly. Does it include divorce? Does it include a
miscarriage? Does it include failure? Does it include freak accidents? Does
it include the stupid decisions that I make and the mistakes I bring upon
myself? Yes! Absolutely, yes!

Everything fits into God's plan. The good, the bad, the indifferent - the
things that I do and the things I don't do. The things that I control, or
the things I don't control. All things work together for good.

Rick Warren (Saddleback Church in California) illustrates how this works in
our lives. He said, "When you're baking a cake you've got to have some flour
and some raw eggs and some Crisco and some sugar and some salt and some
vanilla. Any of those things by themselves don't really taste good. Have you
ever tasted flour? Crisco? Maybe the sugar you might say is okay. But none
of those things on their own taste good. There are a lot of things in your
life that are difficult to swallow. They're bitter going down and you choke
on them. Why is that happening?"

Not all things in your life are good but they all work together for good.
When those elements are put together - just like the elements of the cake
are put together - it produces a cake and the cake is very good. God wants
to bake the cake in your life, and He wants to take the elements in your
life, even the things that are distasteful, bitter, and He wants to work
them together.

In the end, those ingredients in the cake recipe do work together and give a
good-tasting product. When we have a relationship with God, which for those
of us who are Christian means a relationship with Jesus, we can be fully
assured the tough times in life are in God's hands, working together to make
something good in us.

>From The Turret Online (Submitted by Rusty Smith)

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Honor Among Thieves?
By Cloyce Sutton II

To gamble away a large sum of money to a casino is legal, and, as the ads
say, is "only a game." To take away a large sum of money from a casino is
apparently not a good thing, and may even be illegal.

Over a two-day period in July, Caesars Indiana casino lost almost half a
million dollars because a slot machine of theirs was incorrectly set, and
gave credits to the bettors, instead of taking their money. The
Courier-Journal reported ("Gamblers Cash In On Caesars Error", August 4,
2006) that the incident required an investigation involving the casino, the
Indiana Gaming Commission and Indiana State Police. While no criminal
behavior is suspected, one technician was suspended, and the Casino may
still face fines, and will certainly have to assess their flawed procedures.

The couple that alerted the casino to the problem was called "honest". The
wife said she would have felt guilty had she not reported the problem, but
also admitted being aware of the casino's cameras. This apparently did not
stop other gamblers from taking advantage.

I am confused. Please help me with the morality of this gaming dilemma.

If I go to a casino, and gamble away half a million dollars over a weekend,
that's OK. Even if my gambling strategy is flawed, they will not stop me.
They will not alert the Gaming Commission. They will probably throw in a
T-shirt and free buffet. And, they will remind me, "It's only a game."

But if I go to a casino, and it has a flawed machine, and it gives me half a
million dollars, I have a "moral" obligation to report that? That is grounds
for an investigation? That is a bad thing?

The "gaming industry" (a euphemism for gambling, greed, and stupidity) is
about money. Patrons expect that casinos will take their money. Not only are
the odds against patrons; the casinos can change the odds if they lose
money.

This amounts to legalized, unilateral theft. What does this say about
citizens and officials who permit and encourage it?

If this is "just a game", let's quit!

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