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So if you happened to catch my “Flickr” pictures at all in the past week, you may have noticed I traveled to Las Vegas.  A close friend who I’ve known since college actually earned the trip through his work, for him and one guest.  He asked me if I’d like to be his “plus one”, and that way our wives could hang out for an extended “play-date” while we were gone.  Sure enough, the offer included flight, some great free food, tickets to a great show, staying at the Bellagio – and all under the accountability of a fellow man who wants to honor God and his family.  Yes please. 🙂

It ended up being a great trip, as imagined.  Sure, there were quite a few times where one of us had to briefly explain, “No thanks, I’m not here for ________  (women, gambling, getting drunk, and/or any variation on these).”  Which is why, if asked whether or not Vegas* is a good place to take a vacation, I’d quickly answer “No, don’t go.  There are sooo many better places for your money and time.”

But if the question is: “Someone else is paying for everything, can I enjoy time in Vegas?”, my answer would be “Of course!  Make sure you take your wife or an accountability partner, and have a great time!”

Also, if the question arises – “Is Vegas a good destination for people with kids?”, my answer comes quick as well “No way.  Any references to decency and child-friendliness that exist in Vegas, are simply to trick parents into coming.”  The character dressed in whatever childrens pop-icon might exist that year.  The over-sized 3-d images of circus-themed what-nots.   The festive decor and music being pumped through your eyes and ears above the siren-song of the slot machines.

Which made me wonder – where is “Vegas” in our everyday life?  What have we brought into our home, simply because it comes to us under the guise of “child-friendly”?   One could spend forever making a list of specifics (toys, foods, entertainments, etc.), so think instead of the over-arching veins.  The foundations of Vegas are self-pleasure and the fulfillment of personal desires.  How much of our parenting is spent making our children happy, and how much is spent helping them to move “outside” themselves?

I’m not against giving my kids something to make them smile, but if my primary focus as a parent is to always keep my kids happy, fulfilling their every wish – I’m taking them to Vegas waaay too often.  As parents learn every day – living simply, cultivates a grateful spirit.

*Obviously this doesn’t apply to the entire “Las Vegas”.  I recognize it’s simply a city, with schools, and fire stations, and public playgrounds, etc.  My opinion and responses here are entirely dedicated to “The Strip” that in most minds represents “Las Vegas”.  Sidenote – if you’re ever in Las Vegas, you need to visit Winchells Donuts, located directly across from Mandalay Bay!  Best and freshest donuts in Vegas, and incredible service to dunk them in!!

Anytime a book has promises of “Prosperity, True Love, Miracles, Peace, Ministry, Destiny, Family” along with the phrase “Activating His Ancient Secrets for Success”, you have to know it’s going to be incredibly entertaining.

This book was no exception.

Remember that show “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, where the puppets sat in front of the theater, discussing the finer points of amazing older pieces of cinema?  This is the literary equivalent of many of those fine film classics.

We will skip straight to chapter 3, entitled “Understanding Christian Biology”.  With a title like that, I was a little worried that he might actually talk about how we honor God with our physical bodies.  That he might discuss how we are literally beings who depend upon breathing, and the Spirit of God can literally be involved in becoming a source just like that even now.  Thankfully, he skipped all that theological mumbo-jumbo, and goes right for encouraging statements like:

“Modern science is now proving what God has always said: evil fear is the source of all death in our lives.” p. 46

Amazing.  So glad I’ve read this book, and now understand why people get sick and die is rooted simply in the fact that they are afraid of getting sick and dying.  How foolish of us not to see it before!!

Just in case anyone would not believe the amazing case built up in this chapter, he includes the references and full text of over 103 passages of scripture (in THIS 16-page chapter alone!!).  When you quote that many passages, there’s no denying your knowledge of scripture.

Unfortunately, because quoting 103 passages in one chapter takes up so much space, there is very little he’s able to say from his own wisdom.  That’s probably because he’s read his own chapter 10 entitled, “Understanding the Need for Persistence”.

The final hundred pages or so of the book are called “Affirmations”, which basically stands for “Magic phrases adapted from Bible verses that will make everything in your life better – which is what Jesus wants”.  Mann points out also on page 167…

“The Affirmations take two and a half to four hours to make, depending on how fast you speak and how much you meditate on them as you say them.  The more you can repeat them each day, the better.”

Perhaps as you spend 4 hours a day seeking God’s best prosperity for your life, you’ll be challenged to write a book where most of the content is proof-texting entire Bible passages, and charging people $20 per copy for it…

 (There may be a small amount of sarcasm in this post. I really love the Bible, and believe Jesus has an amazing amount of hope to offer us as New Creations.  I just don’t believe God has locked up ancient secrets and is snickering just beyond the door while most of us ring the bell…and authors like this try to pick the lock.)