I was just doing some research on winning lotteries.
Seems that you have a 1 in 13,983,816 million chance at winning the lotto 649. That's like if you buy 1 ticket per week you can expect to win the top prize, on average, once during the next 268,920 years.
In other Odd information, the odds of;
Dying from flesh-eating bacteria disease is 1 in 1 million
Being struck by lightening is 1 in 240,000
Being killed by a venomous bite or sting is 1 in 160,000
Dying from falling down stairs or steps is 1 in 6,330
I really like my odds with the stairs! Who'll bet me a fiver on that?
via
Update: No sooner had I posted this when I received an email directing me to this news item:
Lottery win
A Saskatoon couple has waited nine months to collect a $10-million Super 7 lottery jackpot.
Lavern and Deb Arndt say they needed time to consider how their lives would change as a result of the win.
The couple say they also wanted to be able to let the people closest to them know about the win before claiming the prize.
Officials say the Arndts, who are in their early 40s, don't want to be interviewed about their big win.
The kicker? I'm told they attend the Covenant church in the city!
Good grief, I'm here preparing a talk on the stewardship of wealth, with illustrations that indicate the very poor odds of winning 649, and I get an email with news that someone we know of, has succeeded at it.
Que the Twilight Zone music please somebody.
I gotta rethink this.
...does it make it ok if they Tithe %10 ???
Oh the irony!...Oh the humanity!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Had a good chuckle.
Incidentally, I know someone whose wife used to buy lottery tickets on a weekly basis. She always used the same numbers (kids' birthdays). One day on the way to work she heard the unofficial (?) lottery numbers on the radio. She was so shocked to hear her own numbers she had to pull over to collect herself. She went to work, ready to quit, and showed one of her co-workers her ticket. The co-worker immediately pointed out that it was the previous week's ticket! She had forgotten to buy a ticket this particular week! Needless to say she never played the lottery again.
ReplyDeleteThis is not an urban myth, by the way. I told this story essentially as told to me by her husband.
Crazy stuff.
I know some churches that would NEVER accept tithe earned from the *gasp* LOTTO! But you're not like that, are you? :)
ReplyDeleteHey there webmeister and fellow board member,
ReplyDelete10% of 10 million could go a long way towards stuff (you know what I am talking about). I wonder how we would handle a $1 million gift as a result of the *gasp* lottery. If it came up as an issue in our board meetings, I think I would have to duct tape my mouth shut. What would YOU do?
If you don't use the sermon, pass it on to some of our other conference pastors. Sounds like a great sermon...