It doesn't fix everything

Discovering A Better Life
P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

It Doesn't Fix Everything
Money fixes things. At least, it fixes some things. It keeps a roof over your head and puts food on the table. It makes possible things such as education, medical care, and travel. If yours is a generous heart, it allows you to grace other people with blessings and opportunities they would miss otherwise. Contrary to the opinion of some, the Bible isn't negative toward wealth and the things it can do. In the very same context where the apostle Paul gives his famous and oft-quoted warning about the love of money being a root of all kinds of evil, he affirms that it is God "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." But money does have its limits. While it has the potential for fixing certain things and providing gratification, it won't fix everything. It can also create a special set of problems unique to substantial wealth. Take Jack Whittaker as an example. Whittaker, 57, burst onstage on Christmas Day 2002. He won the biggest-ever undivided lottery prize when he hit a record $314.9 million Powerball jackpot. Perhaps you saw him on your TV screen. Smiling. Big cowboy hat. Already a successful contractor. Ready now to donate ten percent of his lump sum payout of $113 million after taxes to his church and to help other good causes. However, a picture of the same man two years later hardly looks like the one we saw back then. He looks old. Tired. Battered. And there are reasons for the change. Jack Whittaker has had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from his cars, house, and office. He has pleaded not guilty to assaulting and threatening to kill a bar manager. He has been arrested twice on drunk-driving charges and ordered into rehab by a judge. He faces charges of groping women at a racetrack. Shortly before Christmas, 2003, his 17-year-old granddaughter disappeared. She had been there on the day of his big win. The apple of Whittaker's eye, he was going to make everything possible for her. She said she wanted a car. She wanted to meet her favourite hip-hop star. Life was going to be wonderful! She was found dead - her body wrapped in a tarpaulin outside her boyfriend's house. Press reports say she died of a drug overdose. No wonder Jack Whittaker looks battered and confused. Who wouldn't be? His story isn't so much a warning about quick wealth or the dark side of gambling, but it is simply a tragedy of major proportions. May God help him to get his life back together. Friend, the next time you are tempted to think money would fix everything for you, remember Jack Whittaker. And focus again on what really matters. Have a great day! Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418

It Doesn't Fix Everything

Money fixes things. At least, it fixes some things. It keeps a roof over your head and puts food on the table. It makes possible things such as education, medical care, and travel. If yours is a generous heart, it allows you to grace other people with blessings and opportunities they would miss otherwise.

Contrary to the opinion of some, the Bible isn't negative toward wealth and the things it can do. In the very same context where the apostle Paul gives his famous and oft-quoted warning about the love of money being a root of all kinds of evil, he affirms that it is God "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

But money does have its limits. While it has the potential for fixing certain things and providing gratification, it won't fix everything. It can also create a special set of problems unique to substantial wealth. Take Jack Whittaker as an example.

Whittaker, 57, burst onstage on Christmas Day 2002. He won the biggest-ever undivided lottery prize when he hit a record $314.9 million Powerball jackpot. Perhaps you saw him on your TV screen. Smiling. Big cowboy hat. Already a successful contractor. Ready now to donate ten percent of his lump sum payout of $113 million after taxes to his church and to help other good causes.

However, a picture of the same man two years later hardly looks like the one we saw back then. He looks old. Tired. Battered. And there are reasons for the change.

Jack Whittaker has had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from his cars, house, and office. He has pleaded not guilty to assaulting and threatening to kill a bar manager. He has been arrested twice on drunk-driving charges and ordered into rehab by a judge. He faces charges of groping women at a racetrack.

Shortly before Christmas, 2003, his 17-year-old granddaughter disappeared. She had been there on the day of his big win. The apple of Whittaker's eye, he was going to make everything possible for her. She said she wanted a car. She wanted to meet her favourite hip-hop star. Life was going to be wonderful! She was found dead - her body wrapped in a tarpaulin outside her boyfriend's house. Press reports say she died of a drug overdose.

No wonder Jack Whittaker looks battered and confused. Who wouldn't be? His story isn't so much a warning about quick wealth or the dark side of gambling, but it is simply a tragedy of major proportions. May God help him to get his life back together.

Friend, the next time you are tempted to think money would fix everything for you, remember Jack Whittaker. And focus again on what really matters.

Have a great day!

Email me
or write to me at
P.O Box 1540,
Albany W.A 6331.

Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418