Beware Of The Scam – Make Sure You Get The Real Deal, In Jesus!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.’ (2 Peter 2:1); ‘(3) For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (4) They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.’ (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
One evening a couple of years ago, we were going to church for Life Group, we received a call from a ‘John Miller of Publishers Clearing House (PCH)’ who told us they would be coming to our house that evening to give us a check for $7.5 million dollars and Mercedes Benz E-Class.
At first, the thought was ‘is this for real?’, then I came quickly to the conclusion that it was likely a scam, as 1) John Miller had an India accent; 2) no organization would be giving away Mercedes-Benz E-class cars (a Kia or Toyota would have been more believable); 3) Mr. Miller did not have our address handy, only that ‘it was on-file’; 4) PCH as we looked up does not make phone calls to announce they are coming with a check; 5) PCH does not announce they will accompany you to the bank to deposit said check; and 6) PCH is not out of Lady Lake, FL with a 352 area code number.
Mr. Miller wanted us to turn around and go straight home to ‘meet him’, which I said no to, as if it was PCH I’m sure they could hold onto the check for another 24 hours and (not telling Mr. Miller this part) I have a Life Group class to lead. Of course, we did not see the Prize Patrol coming to our door that Monday or the following Tuesday (which we would be aware of as our peephole camera would have recorded the event for that moment when some B-list celebrity came to our door to hand us that check).
Unfortunately, as with many of the calls we get these days, many of them are scams. Amazon calls us to say we have an $899.99 item on our account we need to pay for (but we don’t have an Amazon account); Regions Bank says our checking account is on hold and we need to verify it with them (but we don’t have a Regions back account); Social Security is sending FBI agents to arrest me for IRS violations unless I pay the fines ASAP (this one always gives me a chuckle as the US Government is not that coordinated to have 3 agencies work in such unison). These ‘phishing’ expeditions often have folks pretending to be legitimate, in order to illegitimately get us to give them our money.
It is also unfortunate there are ‘Christian’ organizations that are not Christian. If a ‘pastor’ asks for $65 million to be raised so he can have a private jet to ‘spread the Word’, he is most likely not a Christian, or at least not a good representative of the Faith. I get e-mails from a ‘budget’ airline that operates locally, offering sub-$100 flights; $65 million would buy a seat on a lot of their flights and give the ‘pastor’ the opportunity to share the Gospel with passengers he is flying with as well as the crewmembers, and one does not have to pay for upkeep and parking of a jet.
Another one is ‘holy healing water vials’ or a ‘healing towel’, on sale for $19.99 – with a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) free deal if you buy today! While I do believe one can pray directly to Jesus and be healed with Faith, I’m not so sure wiping down with a healing towel or drinking a vial of holy healing water will indeed induce healing. Several ‘Christian’ music artists have turned away from Christ after 20 years of making money from Christians, after determining they were wrong and really don’t believe that Jesus exists even after singing decades about having faith in Jesus.
The reason why scammers and ‘Christian’ charlatans exist; people desire things to be as they want them to be. I would venture to say that almost everyone would want to be healthy, wealthy, intelligent, built like an Adonis (males) or like an Aphrodite (females), be loved by all, and of course when death comes (at age 150, while still built like Adonis or Aphrodite but with dyed hair) go directly into their version of ‘heaven’, as it should be one big everlasting party.
This is why there is money to be made by those offering weight loss programs, lotteries, ‘brain power’ drugs and methodologies, and access to input on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and others. People have these inner desires, and there are those who prey upon them. This goes along with those weight loss programs that never seem to work, or the lotteries that never seem to pay out, or the social media wannabes that go bust are those that seek an easy path to gain eternal life in a ‘heaven’ that is more like a ‘Saturday Night Fever’ disco that lasts for eons.
Unfortunately, the Truth is one must put some effort to lose weight (like working outside in the middle of a Florida summer day, or taking walks), save money over a prolonged period to accumulate wealth (monthly stipends into a savings account or 401K plan for several decades), and lifting weights and exercise daily to at least be able to fit into sizes below XXXL, let alone getting ripped abs. There has to be some effort away from what we want to do (be a couch potato and have everything handed to us) and do what we must do, to go to work or to upkeep our homes as well as ourselves.
The same goes for our Spiritual fitness and well-being. There are many false pastors who say that you only need to ‘love Jesus, and buy my books so all obstacles will go away’, or attract people with ‘don’t worry, Hell’s a myth – come where you don’t have to worry about Hell and go straight to Heaven, if you’re a good person (and give ½ your paycheck to my slush fund, er, ministry). They tell people what the people want to hear, but not what they need to hear.
Spiritual fitness takes effort; effort to understand that the Christian walk is not easy, but it is the correct path to proper Spiritual salvation. There is no other way to Heaven except to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord (John 14:6); Heaven will not be an earthly party scene, but it will be forever worshipping God in peace and harmony, for those would made the effort to walk in true Christian Faith, not seeking earthly gain, but all for the gain of the cause of Jesus and His Gospel. There is a place called Hell, for those who choose to forego the Proper Path in Christ’s strength; instead trusting to walk in their own strength.
Don’t fall for the scams! Be discreet and pray for discernment; God will ‘turn on the light’ for you to walk the proper Path. It will not be easy, nor will it always bring quick riches or immediate blessings of an earthly nature (it could, but it is likely it will not). But you will tune in to blessings that God provides His people; Love, Hope, and Faith, and you’ll find these are the things you truly desire!
