Let's go to Nick in Phoenix.

Good to talk to you.

I had a question with my wife.

We had a spousal disagreement regarding gambling,

specifically the state lottery that we have here.

She bought a lottery ticket, and she thought it was all innocent and fun.

And I was raised in Christianity.

We're not allowed to gamble.

And she asked me to specifically look for something in scripture that says that Christians aren't supposed to gamble.

And so I dove into the New Testament where Jesus walked into the temple and overturned tables because there was money exchangers.

But it wasn't specific on gambling.

And so I think it's wrong as a Christian to gamble, but she does not.

So what's your take on that?

Well, I kind of am somewhere between the two of you.

There is nothing in scripture that talks about gambling per se.

We do know from St. Paul, this is in 1 Timothy chapterothy chapter six verse 10 that the love of money is the root

of all evils so we could extrapolate from that that if somebody has created a false god out of winnings

you know money that he might accumulate through gambling that could be sinful's true. I would also argue that gambling would

indeed be sinful if whoever's doing the gambling doesn't have the money available for gambling.

And for example, maybe the family becomes destitute because dad has gambled all the money away.

He's got a gambling habit and he thinks he's going to hit it big and they can't pay their mortgage. They're in some way now deprived of the money that they need to live month to month because of a gambling habit. That would certainly be seriously sinful if you ask me. On the other hand, though, Nick, I would make the case that gambling itself is not

inherently evil, and I would maybe liken it to drinking alcohol. The Bible is filled with

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