Lessons from Las Vegas

Bertha Jones was a middle-aged woman who had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. During that experience she saw God and asked if this was the end of the road for her. God said no and explained that she had another thirty years to live.

Upon her recovery she figured if she had thirty to forty more years, she might as well stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, tummy tuck, hair transplant and coloring, and a nose job.

After her hospital stay, she walked out of the front door and was killed by a delivery truck. When she arrived in front of God, she asked, “I thought you said I had another thirty to forty years left?”

God replied, “Sorry, Bertha, I didn’t recognize you.”

We aren’t guaranteed time here on earth. God is the one who numbers our days. Living can be difficult at times, but at other times we experience fun and excitement.

I spent last week with my Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, and Wife is Las Vegas. Kristen was going to a conference and the rest of us decided to join her. We had a nice time.

Dinner at Gordon Ramsay

Donny Osmond

I walked up and down the main drag at least 5 times.

We laughed at lot and just had a fun time.

White Castle.

Flying to Vegas I thought I would be looking for lessons from Vegas to share with you today. There were LOTS of lessons I could share, but I narrowed them down to three things:

YOLO

You only live once. That seems to be a popular saying in Las Vegas. In fact, I think it’s a phrase that gets used as an excuse to do all sorts of crazy things. As believers, we might not use that phrase to satisfy sinful desires, but we can learn something from that phrase.

Let’s do an experiment. Everyone lift you your hand.

Keep your hand up if you had a grandfather. EVERYONE should keep their hand up because you wouldn’t be alive without a grandfather!

Keep your hand up if you know your grand fathers name.

Now, think about your great grandfather. Keep your hand up in you know his name.

Great great grandfather, do you know his name?

Here’s the thing about living on earth. It’s not permanent. None of us are going to spend eternity on this planet. And once we die, whether we like it or not, we WILL eventually be forgotten. Just as our ancestors are gone and forgotten, we will be too.

James 4:14 CEV

14 What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.

Just as the fog lifts on a cool morning, so will our life lift from this world and land in the pages of history.

This is not a sad truth. It’s just THE truth. We have a short while to live on earth and then time slowly erases the memory of who we were.

If this is true, then let me ask you a question, how are you living?

One thing about people in Vegas. They are not living for tomorrow. They are putting it all on red. They are risking their future on a moment of chance. Can we learn something from this?

I think so. YOLO means that we should push our chips all in. Maybe don‘T be so afraid to take risks for the Lord. Step out in faith to see what could happen.

I really think the strategy of the enemy is to get us stuck in the cycle of time. If we don’t realize that time is trying to hold us captive, then we really aren’t living life to the fullest.

How do we break free from this attack of time on our lives? How do we implement a YOLO mentality?

Ephesians 6:11–13 CEV

11 Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. 12 We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. 13 So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.

We have truth, faith, salvation, righteousness of Christ, peace, the word of God.

Paul wrote to believers to encourage them to join the battle. YOLO! Here’s the deal, when Paul wrote these encouraging words, he was in chains.

Fear should never stop us from living in a radical way for Jesus. Just as the people in Vegas are putting it all on the line, we should too!

Christ is with us, and He wants to shine through our lives.

Ephesians 3:20 CEV

20 I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.

If we only live once, I think God wants us to live a life through His mighty power. It’s not enough to have a comfortable retirement or cushy lifestyle. We’ve got to be willing to get out there and make a difference.

Legacy is the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life.

Legacy is accomplished when we pour ourselves into other people.

*Children’s church will change the future.*

What else did I learn in Vegas?

The Show Always Gets Canceled

Kristen was at a conference where she got to hear from different speakers who’ve been successful in the area of learning and development. For some reason, Phil Rosenthal was a keynote speaker.

Phil Rosenthal

He was the creator of the show, “Everybody loves Raymond”, and many other shows and projects. He said something that Kristen shared with me.

“Make the show you want, because it’s going to get cancelled eventually”

I think that’s a really interesting way to view life. People have all sorts of ideas about how we are supposed to live.

God gives each of us dreams. That’s kind of how He works. But not everyone likes the dreams we have been given. Some people are dream crushers. They love to tell others that they can never accomplish their dreams and they give a big long list of reason why those dreams can’t be done. And if that doesn’t kill your dream, they might even physically try to stop you!

We went to one show while we were there. It was the Donny Osmond show. If you don’t know much about Donny Osmond, then you’re just like Kris and I were before his show. We knew his name, but not much else.

Well, he had quite a career. 65 years in show business, and that dude is still going! So many times people canceled him. He should have been done as a teenager. But he had a dream and he never let go of that dream.

He put on a BIG Vegas show! We loved it and enjoyed his music, dancing, and humor.

One thing we found out was that he played Joseph in the Broadway hit, “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat”, now, I think that was loosely based on the biblical account of Joseph.

Remember, Joseph was given a dream. Let’s take a look:

Genesis 37:5–10 CEV

5 One day, Joseph told his brothers what he had dreamed, and they hated him even more. 6 Joseph said, “Let me tell you about my dream. 7 We were out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers asked, “Do you really think you are going to be king and rule over us?” Now they hated Joseph more than ever because of what he had said about his dream. 9 Joseph later had another dream, and he told his brothers, “Listen to what else I dreamed. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 When he told his father about this dream, his father became angry and said, “What’s that supposed to mean? Are your mother and I and your brothers all going to come and bow down in front of you?”

See, Joseph had a dream that his family didn’t like. You know the story, the brothers sold him to slavery which set off an incredible story in Josephs’ life the ended up placing him in the greatest position in Egypt. His dream was fulfilled, but it was a roller coaster ride getting there.

Do you think Joseph thought the dream was worth the effort? Even though people tried to cancel the dream, in the end, did he think it was all worth it?

We don’t have to wonder. He speaks for himself:

Genesis 45:1–8 CEV

1 Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” 2 Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king’s palace. 3 Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. 4 Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. 5 Don’t worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives. 6 There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. 7 But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. 8 After all, you weren’t really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king’s court and placed me over all Egypt.

God wants us to dream because He wants to place us in key positions to accomplish His will. Joseph had a dream. It seemed to others that the dream was only for him, but it really was for a nation.

What’s interesting about Josephs’ story is that he didn’t live for ever. He’s not still the most powerful man in Egypt today. He’s long gone. His dream was for that time and those people.

Eventually, his show as cancelled.

In Las Vegas, they have the rise and fall of many people how had the dream of making it big. Frank Sinatra had his day. Elvis was big out there for the longest time. And there will be more that will come and go.

Here’s my lesson: our dreams are for now. Our shows will eventually get cancelled, so don’t allow other people to steal your dream! Keep on going.

Here’s the last lesson I’ll give you today:

If you Play their Game, You’ll Lose

Every day I woke up, I had the goal to find a quiet place to read, study, and write. But it actually never happened. What I did do was walk. I estimate that I walked 5 -15 miles on any given day while I was there. I made it a goal to walk into every casino down the strip from the Wynn Hotel all the way down to Mandalay Bay hotel. I think I accomplished my goal.

I would stop and watch people play the games. Some where at the tables playing blackjack, dice, or even War! Most were sitting at machines, feeding the machine money. (they are hunger!)

Now, I know people win from time to time, but I never saw anyone walking out of the casinos with a wheel barrel of money. Most people just looked upset!

Another thing I noticed what how stinking big and nice those hotels were. At the Wynn hotel, one light fixture hanging in a hallway cost $40,000! And there were SO many of those fixtures! Billions and Billions of dollars are being spent there to attract people to come to their casino.

Why would they spend so much? Because they know, if they can get you to play long enough, the odds are in their favor.

In other words, if you play their game, you’ll lose.

This is such an important lesson in the life of a born again believer because so many of us are losing. We are losing in our walk with Christ because we are playing the worlds game.

Our desires can’t be for the things of this world. I’ve already told you two lessons that prove this fact.

YOLO - you can’t take this world with you. And your dreams are for more than just yourself.

If we try to have all the things that the world tells us we need then we are missing God’s plan.

1 John 2:15–17 CEV

15 Don’t love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father. 16 Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father. 17 The world and the desires it causes are disappearing. But if we obey God, we will live forever.

Loving God is the key. That’s how we win!

I’m not saying we can’t enjoy life. In fact, I think God wants us to find joy in life. The question is where and how do we find that joy?

It’s not by acquiring earthly wealth. It’s by living a life set apart for God. Asking the Lord to guide and direct our daily living.

What is someone was depending on your “all in” or “dream”?

Out there in the dessert I can’t help but think about the roadrunner cartoon. I just picture that coyote running all over trying to chase that road runner. He could never get him. I think about that little guy always losing.

Which one are you? Are you chasing something you can never get or are you setting the pace?

I think there are people waiting for you to lead the way.

These are things I learned from Las Vegas