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Some casinos now have "digital" blackjack (for lack of better wording) - where the table, cards and good-looking dealer appear on giant TV screens. In a world with computer-driven poker websites, perhaps you can guess where live poker might go next....

Jackpot Digital of Canada has developed "poker tables with virtual cards." Players sit around it to take part in hands, but there's no human dealer present. The "cards" and "chips" are moved around by computer. And if you fold a hand before the flop, your part of the table might bring up other games to play.

For people used to online poker, this probably is a great idea. They could get out of the house for a day of action without leaving their "comfort zone" of experience. The chances for rule violations and misdeals go way down - not to mention the fact that cards can't be marked.

But for others, we can see why this approach seems quite impersonal. For them, part of the poker experience is having camaraderie with dealers. And if hands are disputed, they tend to trust human dealers more than impersonal machines where a "fix" might be in.

Yet in reality, both cases have "human" elements. Someone has to program the virtual table to do what it does, whether it's right or wrong. So in both cases, an old phrase can be true....

...For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

Now hold on here - sin?!?! Why bring that word up in this?

Because in the original Greek of the New Testament, a "sin" can mean making an error - to "miss the mark." And let's be honest: we all make mistakes. Human dealers can fumble and expose a card too soon. Human players can play out of turn, make bad raises - and even spill their drinks on a felt table.

So mistakes and sins still will happen, whether a dealer at the table or a computer under your feet runs the game or not. Our job is to avoid those sins - and that's not easy. But the Bible offers hope along that line:

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. - I John 3:9

Is this for real? Can someone actually stop making mistakes? Some Christian ministers might turn this verse that way, but we think that sets an impossibly high standard for believers. After all....

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. - I John 1:8

The notes of the NLT Study Bible explain it this way: "This does not mean that we live perfect lives.... but that we keep ourselves in a good relationship with God." Another study Bible calls it "a life that is not characterized by sin."

To some extent, poker always will be an "imperfect" game. Poor timing with cards can turn pocket Aces into bad-beat losers to a royal flush. But if we're "born of God" and develop a proper humble relationship with Him, sins and mistakes of a larger nature should go down. Search for the phrase "born again" in this blog for a better understanding of what that's about.