Gospel Mission welcomes the prospect of an expanded casino on False Creek. The casino will definitely generate new business for us: new people finding themselves caught in their addictions, broke and in debt; and we will welcome them to our rescue mission to hear the Word of God, share a hot meal, and re-connect with Hope that goes beyond the empty promise of easy money through gambling. We find that when people have their backs against the wall and hit rock bottom at the same time, they inevitably turn to Jesus. We have seen that with drug addicts and alcoholics who have come through our doors over the past 82 years, and now we look forward to this new crop for harvest. Further, since we do not ourselves receive money from gambling operations -- including the relatively tiny pot reserved for charities in BC's gaming revenue -- but place our confidence in Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Who Provides, we know we will be there to catch whoever falls. We are, after all, just a stone's throw away from the casino: a six-sided stone, if you catch our drift.
Hands up, all those who caught a bit of sarcasm there ......
In one of its weekly collections of news clips (at least, this was the case the last time I read the magazine), Sports Illustrated would have a kicker called "This Week's Sign That The Apocalypse Is Upon Us"; some weird, usually funny, statement or event that suggests that things are not as they should be.
There are plenty of those around right now, and nowhere near amusing -- the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, for example, is the latest. Add it up with the fires, flooding and tornadoes in Australia, earthquakes in diverse places, vicious and short-notice (if not unpredictable) weather events and all the issues surrounding the Gulf of Mexico oil blowout last year, and an inescapable reality emerges: the signs Jesus foretold of His return are coming to pass.
As the song says, People Get Ready.
But the end-times prophecies are not all bad news -- after all, Jesus' return, and God taking over His Creation, bringing the New Jerusalem and coming to live among His people is good news and to be embraced and welcomed as well as prepared-for. And the Book of Revelation has lots of cause to celebrate.
Take, for example, the current controversy in Vancouver over plans to build a "destination casino" next to BC Place Stadium. There already is a high-end casino there: this would expand it and include a resort hotel and seven restaurants. And the opposition has been swift and loud. Opponents don't want Vancouver to turn into a northern version of Las Vegas and they're not swayed by the proponents' arguments. Health officials have waded into the debate -- coming out against the casino, saying problem gambling is already an epidemic in BC and this will make it worse.
I've blogged before about my views on gambling in general, but I'm noticing something else here, tied to end-times talk. In the past, arguments about the amount of money being generated for health care and community charities have won the day for the gaming proponents; but this time, those points -- along with the repeated assertion that it will "revitalize the area" and "boost Vancouver tourism" -- seem hollow and desperate.
("Boost Vancouver tourism"? In case anyone has missed the past 100 years, Vancouver already has a good tourism industry, with wonderful restaurants, entertainment -- Grammy-award-winning symphony, the Arts Club, the Playhouse, the Jazz Festival, the Yale, Gastown; not to mention natural beauty which you can still see from downtown despite the forest of high-rises. If any place does not need a casino to suck people inside and suck their pockets empty, it's Vancouver.)
You'll find that "something else" in Revelation 17-18, which refers to The Whore of Babylon. I see that as a description of the world economy, where kings and merchants worship and bow down to this gorgeous, jewel-bedecked woman, but when God steps in and exposes her for what she is, the kings and merchants cut and run and try to stay as far away from her burning as possible -- all the while bemoaning her demise.
What I'm seeing with the casino debate is the failure of the "money argument" to sway people in favor of the project, and the increasingly desperate tone that argument is taking. Is the Whore going down? Are people starting to back away? Are merchants starting to wail for her?
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:
in the cup which she hath filled, fill her to the double.
-- Rev. 18:5-6
And the Word of God encourages us to realize that this world economy has oppressed and ignored the people and that we are to ignore and oppress that Whore right back. Could we be seeing this now?
Of course, to close the loop back to the statement at the beginning here, we'll be there to help people: but there are times we kinda wish we didn't have to.
No comments:
Post a Comment