A Redeeming Moment

A man at the poker table took a big loss. His stack of chips was quite low. But a few hands later, he went all-in and won. He more than doubled up.

"Redemption," he said with a sigh and a smile.

"Jesus Christ is my redemption," we said quietly in response.

We're not sure if anyone caught what we said. But do you catch it? What sort of redemption are we talking about?

"Redemption" is a big religious-sounding word. But it's an important word, that's all over the Bible in various forms....

Therefore, say to the Israelites: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment." - Exodus 6:6

The classic movie The Ten Commandments isn't 100-percent Biblical, but it told an ancient story of Israel coming out of Egypt. The nation was "redeemed" from slavery, with the goal of becoming servants of God. And yet the Bible also says....

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. - Psalm 130:7-8

Huh - redemption again? Yes, because this isn't from physical bondage. This is spiritual - about being redeemed from sin. And it's not only Israel that needs it:

...For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. - Romans 3:23-24

We all need to be redeemed from sin. If we aren't, we're doomed to eternal death (Hosea 13:14). But Jesus came to Earth to change all that....

When Jesus came.... he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. - Hebrews 9:11-12

If we might go deeper for a moment: we heard a preacher say recently that God the Father is "the redeemer", with Jesus the Son being "the redemption." And yet....

...Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. - Isaiah 60:16

Both "God" and Jesus Christ are described as "Savior" in the New Testament. So why can't they both be considered "Redeemer" as well? (Remember, Jesus was God who became flesh.)

Parsing of words aside, you can be redeemed from the death penalty through Jesus Christ. Will you accept Him, and take Him up on that great offer?

Games Back On?

Did you hear about the recent charity poker tournament in Wichita?

If you didn't, that may have been by design. When we spent a Monday night at Yvie's a couple of weeks ago, the Tournament Director referred to an approaching weekend charity event with a buy-in.
We didn't ask about it further, to avoid the appearance of prying. But we thought that sort of thing had been stopped by the local police a year ago.

On top of that, the old Arrowhead Poker has reopened as a private club. Its Facebook page says:

Winners Game Room is a private social club where patrons can enjoy a variety of games, billiards, and entertainment in an alcohol-free setting. Memberships are $10 per day. You can also buy a 20-visit pass for just $100.

A video clip posted by the owner in February indicates the "games" include poker. It didn't show any billiard tables.

So what happened here? Is a private club format legal, while the old "chair rental" approach was not? We admittedly don't know the law on such things. But we found what the Bible may say about it - and in rather grotesque terms:

As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. - Proverbs 26:11

In other words, some habits can be hard to break. People who want to get drunk or smoke marijuana will find ways to feed their "needs." Some poker players can be the same way - except poker players have other options. They can go to a casino for tournaments and cash games. They can play online for free. Why do something that risks getting in trouble with the law all over again?

Rather than return to questionable practices, the Bible recommends a different "rate of return"....

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! - Hosea  14:1

You may have wandered away from God and not even realized it. Maybe not by playing poker, but by doing other things that violate His laws.

The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Return to me," declares the Lord Almighty, "and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. - Zechariah 1:2-3

Making that return isn't always easy. It can mean admitting you're wrong, and asking God for mercy. But the good news is....

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - I John 1:9

That process starts by examining yourself and your life carefully. Are there areas where you've wandered off God's course? It's something we're personally doing right now, so you can do it as well. It could be the best move you've ever made - well, this side of going all-in with pocket Aces.

Poker Day 432: The Return of the King

This time there was no trouble getting a seat at the table.  We offered our $20 today, and sat down to play at Arrowhead Poker.--even showing up an hour early, because the website indicated Sunday tournaments now begin at 12 noon.  (It was fixed after we pointed that out.)  Could we take advantage of players distracted by a room filled with pro football games?

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: A-K offsuit

We captured a couple of early pots, including two hearts which became a flush that an opponent never saw coming.  But several promising pre-flop hands have missed the flop, so we need to win another hand fairly quickly.  Sitting in the Small Blind at a table of six, no one raises before us - so we dial it up to 2,500.  Only one player dares to call us.

ON THE FLOP: 3-10-5

An ordinary flop at best.  But we're first to act, and see a need to look strong.  So we make a continuation bet of 1,500.  Our opponent calls.

ON THE TURN: 5

The board pairs, but we doubt that changes anything for our opponent.  We check to make sure.  He checks as well.

ON THE RIVER: K

Now that's what we needed!  We make a "go-ahead, call me" bet of 3,000.  But after thinking it over, our opponent folds.

"I figured you had a King," he says.  We respond by saying half-jokingly he "had me figured out."  But the river was a fountain of blessing for us, as we gain several thousand chips.

We won another big pot minutes later when two diamonds turned into a flush on the flop.  We checked, and a big better obliged us by wagering 10,000.  We raised all-in to 19,000, and he folded.  From there, we endured to the final table (admittedly on a two-table day) with 35,000 chips.

Once there, a man went all-in across from us.  We saw A-Q, and couldn't resist calling.  But that man had K-K -- and despite the notorious difficulties pocket Kings can bring, we only paired a Queen.  We were eliminated in tenth place.  Out of 12 players, that's not really good -- but a final table is a final table, in our scoring.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The female dealer at our table took a short break, and the poker room manager took her place.  She's "getting the dew off her lily," he said.

"That sounds so Southern," we noted (remember we used to live there).

"More like hillbilly," a man across from us joked.

But we recalled an old Atlanta afternoon newspaper which claimed on the top of Page 1 it "covers Dixie like the dew."  Then we noted: "Now Jesus is the lily of the valley.  The Bible makes that clear."

That comment seemed to stump the table -- and perhaps that's OK, because we couldn't remember exactly where in the Bible that phrase is.  It's in a book you may have never read:

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.  Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens. - Song of Solomon 2:1-2

What does this mean -- and how do we know this refers to Jesus?  After all, it's in a section of the Old Testament.  But by turning to similar-sounding sections of scripture, we can understand this better:

I will heal their waywardness and love them freely.... I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. - Hosea 14:4-5

Who is our ultimate Healer?  None other than God....

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. - Psalm 103:2-3

Jesus did numerous miraculous healings when He walked on Earth.  Several Bible translations indicate Song of Solomon is an exchange of poetic language between a "Beloved" one and a "Lover."

I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies. - Song 6:3

Are you browsing in this world for true love - perhaps for physical or emotional healing?  With apologies to Whitney Houston fans, God offers the greatest love of all....

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

This admittedly is a complex topic.  If you have questions about it, leave a comment and we'll research things further for upcoming posts.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 152 final tables in 432 games (35.2%) - 25 cashes.  Today marked our first final table since mid-June -- but we're still at a 50% final table percentage in 2014 (7/14).

Bent or Bowed?

Our last post mentioned the appearance at an online tournament by a player with the handle "Hellbent." We told that player we'd rather bow toward heaven.

The "H word" (not heaven) doesn't seem to be a shocking expletive today, compared to when we were growing up. We've actually heard a minister or two bring up that player's name during sermons, saying some people are "hell-bent" to do all sorts of bad things.

While that word isn't in the Bible, Hosea 11:7 in the King James Version says this: "My people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him."

"Backsliding" in the NIV is translated, "to turn from me." Turning away from God to your own way of doing things (such as drunken sprees playing poker at bars or casinos) simply asks for trouble -- because Isaiah 55:9 says God's ways are higher than ours.

When the trouble comes (note we didn't say if), it's time to turn back to God -- confessing your sins and mistakes before Him. Isaiah wrote about that, too. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" (Isa. 55:7).

This process is known by the Christian term repentance -- accepting God's rule over your life. Isaiah writes again, in behalf of God: "Before me every knee shall bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength'" (Isa. 45:23-24).

Don't be "hellbent" -- seek Heaven and repent. Such turning to God is time well spent.

The mercy rule

We asked what you thought of Matthew 9:13, where Jesus advises: "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'"

Jesus actually quoted there from the Old Testament book of Hosea (6:6) -- and He used it to explain why He ate with local "sinners" (Matt. 9:11). Jesus added to His statement about mercy: "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

A few churches have started "poker nights" for men, to build bonds of fellowship in a wholesome atmosphere. We think that's a great idea, and wish more churches would do it. But let's face it -- a lot of poker is played in smoky bars, where "sin taxes" are collected from sales of cigarettes and alcohol. The people most likely to gather there are the people Jesus came to call.

(Matthew 9:9-10 shows Jesus met the sinners at the home of a tax collector named Matthew -- one who had recently become a follower of Him. We know of no verse specifically saying Christ went into a bar or nightclub. But we're honestly not sure those things existed 2,000 years ago.)

Our point is this: Jesus was willing to step outside the synagogue walls to meet people who needed Him. The Lord was perfect at all times, yet was willing to sacrifice a little "perfect atmosphere" to interact with the imperfect who needed a Savior.

Eugene Peterson's paraphrase The Message puts the last part of verse 13 this way: "'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." That's what we try to do at poker tables. And in the process, we encourage those who show aspects of godliness. As James 3:17 says, "The wisdom that comes from heaven is.... full of mercy and good fruit...."