Online Gambling - a Risk to Your Health

 

Column "From the Minister's Study" in The Citizen, September 25 2026, by Ernest Dow (Retired Pastor) Huron Chapel EMC, Auburn ON        

Over the decades, gambling in Ontario has exploded like pornography: you used to have to know where to go in order to find it – but now it’s practically in your face. This dramatic increase in availability brings with it a rising toll in damage to personal health and wellbeing, accompanied by a crippling societal cost. What’s at stake fundamentally? One’s trust in God to provide our needs when we cooperate with His ways. 

        For a week this past August, my extended family assembled in Whistler for our annual get-together. Certain individuals are big fans of board games, so each night after the grandchildren had gone to bed, their parents could usually be found gathered around a table enjoying a board game. The roll of the dice or shuffle of cards introduced an element of risk and excitement. However, even though there were winners and losers, no money changed hands; it was all a fun exercise in skill and strategic decision-making giving fluid changes in circumstances and opportunities.

A recent study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) however has sounded an alarming increase in Emergency Department visits among young adults, particularly males aged 10-44. It used to be you had to go to a racetrack or find a backroom poker game to participate in gambling. In 1992 Ontario passed the Gaming Control Act; Casino Windsor opened in 1994. From 2012-2022 the rate of Emergency Department visits due to a gambling disorder remained relatively stable. However in August 2021 our federal government legalized single-event sports betting; in April 2022 Ontario expanded legality to regulated commercial online casinos and sports betting platforms.

Since then, online gambling has exploded: over 80 privately operated legal gaming and betting sites have been licensed; in 2023-24, these hosted over 2 million active player accounts, garnering $63 billion a year in wagers. (Have you noticed how many advertisements there are for gaming platforms these days?)

In these few short years (2022-2025), the ICES study found a dramatic increase in Emergency Department visits attributed to a gambling disorder: among males aged 30 to 44, the rate more than doubled (116% higher), while among males aged 10-29, the rate was a whopping 154 percent higher!

The cost of gambling extends far beyond just hospital visits. The study notes: “Clinically, gambling disorders are associated with a greater risk of anxiety and mood disorders, substance use disorders, increased suicidality, increased blood pressure, and premature mortality. Gambling also results in substantial social harms, including family conflict, intimate-partner violence, criminal activity, housing instability, and reduced educational or occupational participation.”

What’s wrong with gambling ‘in principle’ from a Biblical point of view? There was no online gaming in Bible times. Lots were cast in the Old Testament as a means of making major decisions. If it is not explicitly forbidden, what Biblical principles should help inform our views about this new temptation?

Chiefly, God asks that we trust Him rather than anything else; we are to have ‘no other gods’ before Him, no ‘idols’ (Exodus 20:2f). Trusting Him for everything precludes stealing or coveting anything that is our neighbour’s (Exodus 20:15,17). Jesus cautioned His followers, “Be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

Our Creator’s prior claim on our allegiance and affection precludes developing an attraction to money. Repeatedly Scripture warns us against the love of money; love of it is “a root of all sorts of evil” (1Timothy 6:10). Jesus had a lot to say about money; He warned His followers quite bluntly, “You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Gambling is associated with greediness, being dissatisfied – and sloth or laziness, wanting something without having to work for it. There’s something deceptive about get-rich-quick schemes. The book of Proverbs warns, “Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household;” whereas, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” (Prov. 15:27; 13:11)

The so-called “winner” in gambling is in a way stealing from others in that they are taking what is someone else’s without having worked to earn it. The Apostle Paul points to the more just and fair way to earn income: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28) The Christian’s life is to be a ‘net positive’ in society, producing something tangible to supply others’ needs.

Fundamentally, God’s will for us is the freedom rooted in contentment, trusting in Him for our provision, honestly earned through daily work by means of the gifts and abilities He has provided for us to steward well. The author of Hebrews ties together this root issue of trusting in our faithful God rather than hankering after money: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

Oscar Wilde quipped, “Horse sense is what keeps horses from betting on what people will do.” May the Lord grant us each good sense to avoid gambling in all its forms – it’s a bad bet, at any cost.

What’s in a Name?

 

Column "From the Minister's Study" in The North Huron Citizen (Sept. 11 2026 edition)

There has been a lot of controversy lately over the renaming of a certain Great Lake. The current American President has seen fit to order federal agencies there to no longer refer to said body as “Lake Ontario” – a gesture which some Canadians are prompted to treat with scorn. It seems presumptuous that someone supposes they can simply take a Sharpie and give a different title to a large body of water that straddles an international border – depriving it of a name based on an aboriginal title that predates Confederation or even the Declaration of Independence. We are tempted to respond, “What gives him the right to do that?!”

When we name something, the act of labelling it presupposes authority to do so. When we adopt a cat or dog, we name it. Parents name the children to which they have given birth; we would be offended if the attending nurse, midwife, or physician decided they would name the newborn themselves! Parents may spend long hours poring over books of names trying to decide which moniker would best suit their coming arrival. 

Naming involves a degree of authority. In the Creation story, when God created the animals, He “brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Gen.2:19) This naming symbolizes Adam’s responsibility over, stewardship of and care for, the animals.

Names can have extra significance reflecting an occasion, event, or circumstance. The place-name Babel reflects the “confusion” and scattering which resulted when humans supposed their technology could empower them to build a tower to the heavens – an attractive delusion to which we seem still prone. “Isaac” reflected his aged parents’ laughter at the thought they could conceive when they were already so old – but God was showing He was God of the ‘impossible’.

Names can be symbolic and strangely appropriate given life’s later happenings. Moses, for example, was drawn out of the water of the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter; yet he also became the leader who brought the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, through the Red Sea. Abram’s initial name (meaning ‘exalted father’) was rather a sour joke as the years wore on and he remained childless; but after God’s intervention and change of his name, he more accurately became Abraham, “father of many nations”. Jesus renamed Simon as Peter – perhaps foreseeing his vital role in preaching inaugural sermons for the early church, although Peter’s betrayal of Jesus under pressure showed in his natural state he was anything but ‘rock-like’. Jesus perceived the brothers James and John as having fiery temperaments so “Sons of Thunder” was an apt title.

Some people are said to ‘live up to’ their names; Nabal lived down to his (‘fool’) – risking David’s deadly wrath when he refused to pay the men of David’s roving security service their due.

The name of Jesus is especially significant (“Yahweh saves”). It is a status-name; in connection with Old Testament prophecies, it declares Him to be God, born of a virgin and the promised king of David’s line. It is also a prediction-name, looking forward to what Jesus Himself will do: by His cross and resurrection, Jesus is Himself the fulfilment of what His name declares.

Naming something, as we said earlier, implies a degree of authority, of control over what’s named. In the pagan world, to know a god’s name supposedly conferred some power over that god. In the Bible, God supplies a name by which people may call upon Him, yet it is given in a way that retains a sense of His sovereignty: it is not some magical handle by which we may manipulate a genie at our beck and call. God reveals His name to Moses at the burning bush, back of beyond in the remote wilderness, as Yahweh – from the verb “to be”, perhaps “he is (alive, present, active)” or “he brings into being”. There is a sense of mystery and self-determination in the phrase “I am who I am”. In the immediate context of Exodus, God is revealing Himself to be the God who saves His people and makes good on His previous covenant promises. It is a more personal name than the title “Lord” (resonating with power, control, ‘boss’) or the rather generic “God”. He invites us into intimate relationship with Himself; so the Bible can speak of His people knowing Him by name, believing in His name. We are ‘kept’ in His name, it is a ‘strong tower’ into which we can run. (Jn.17:11; Pr.18:10)

Jesus’ name summarizes all He is and has done. When God makes His glory pass in front of Moses, He declares His name “Yahweh” out loud as a way of encapsulating His goodness, mercy, love, and power (Ex.33:18ff). Jesus’ name has become the customary way for Christians to seal their prayers, appealing to His aforestated promises.

A new name awaits those who trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. When I was young, my parents called me “Ernest”. If I was in trouble, my second name might be added for emphasis (“Ernest Walter!”). In high school, my classmates called me the less formal “Ernie” (although its appeal diminished somewhat with the popularity of the Sesame Street character). In my adult years, I have probably been rather too serious returning to “Ernest” once more. But Scripture promises a new moniker awaits when this earthly realm passes away and we join our Saviour in heaven. “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” (Rev.2:17) That will be our best and dearest name yet!