Articles
Spiritual Fraudsters
The website for CNN recently posted a story about 56-year-old Glen Burke, whom they dubbed "the million-dollar mail fraudster." It seems Burke had been in the cross hairs of federal agencies for a couple of decades now for less-then-ethical sales pitches that duped people into buying products that were far over-priced, but sold with the promise that it would help them win big prizes [which no one ever won, not surprisingly] and massive profits when they sold these [already over-priced] products. It seems Burke targeted a particular type of consumer who wanted something that was far more valuable than what they were paying for, and the result was always the inverse: they always paid for more than what the product they got was worth.
Burke has been recently hit with a $20 million dollar civil judgment for yet another fraudulent operation, but criminal charges are pending for the way he did it. It seems federal agencies have traced his operation's success to him hiding who he was and what organizations actually got the money through sham companies, non-existent business partners and company executives, and by using some payment processing company based in a foreign country that claimed they didn't know the operation was fraudulent [or, apparently, several other fraudulent companies they served]. Victims never got the income or "prize" promised. Never.
Boy, does this guy sound familiar.
There is another individual who has duped literally billions of people into buying his "goods," promising them big returns on their ‘investment,’ and the chance to win in life. Like this mail fraudster, literally no one ever has — and never will — get the returns he promises; yet people keep believing him, and keep handing over their most valuable asset to him without so much as a blink of an eye. He's that good. [Good at what he does, not actually good; he's the baddest there is or ever was.] He is so good at what he does, he doesn't even really have to try hard anymore because people come to him, looking to hand over their most valuable asset. Like many of this mail fraudster's victims, they are looking for a quick return and want more than what they pay for. [Sadly, they do get more than what they pay for — just not in the way they expected.]
By now, you probably know whom I'm talking about. Maybe you've dealt with him already. [I would say most, if not all, who read this have.] Maybe you made the mistake of believing his sales pitch once or twice [or ten or twenty or a hundred times]. Maybe you remember each time he suckered you into believing him, only to find out, once again, that it was all a lie. Again. You get angry at him for a while, but then he makes the offer again, and you believed him again.
Maybe it's because he presented himself as someone else each time. [You wouldn't fall for the same fraudster over and over, would you?] No matter…the point is, you fell for it again. You thought you wouldn't be ‘that guy’ who would be duped, or at least not more than once. You know, like the old saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me’? Except he did, and more than twice.
Yes, I'm talking about the devil. Satan, Mephistopheles, Lucifer and Beelzebub [those last two, mistakenly], whatever name you use, he's the same being. And Glen Burke is nothing compared to him. The devil is expert at making “himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), or the head of the world's largest religious denominations, or the preacher who stands in your church's pulpit. After all, if the devil would and can do that, “it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:15). And he is SO successful! He had literally millions of people eagerly listening to his lies as he tells them God actually wants you to “run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit” (Jude 1:11), convincing many that God actually "wants you to live in abundance. He wants to give you the desires of your heart…wants to increase you financially" as he appeals to the materialism and greed of eager audiences.
He has his ministers preaching from pulpits [and, of course, to TV audiences worldwide], "If you stay in your faith, you are going to get paid,…I’m living now in my reward." This, from one of his ministers who rakes in millions each year and lives on a piece of property in an exclusive neighborhood with several million-dollar homes on it for her and her family. [And, no, the 'reward' will come after judgment, 2 Cor. 5:10; John 5:28, 29, and not what his earthly ministers think or tell you.] Another minister of his just convinced some of the nation's poorest followers of his to pool their resources so he could buy that $58 million dollar jet he said "God told" him he needed [to 'glorify God,' of course].
And those outside the religious organizations and churches? He's got them, too (1 John 5:19); they are his easiest targets. He's got the vast majority of the world convinced he can give them lasting fame, fortune, and status…for the small price of, well, your soul. And millions — billions — make Faustian deals every days, exchanging their souls for a moment of fleshly pleasure, a little bit more monetary gain, a moment free of pain due to narcotics and/or alcohol, a promotion, a little bit more on the tax refund, a big sales contract, a new car, a music download, or billion other bowls of beans people willingly trade for their spiritual birthright.
Like old Glen Burke, the devil makes you think you're getting the better end of the deal, that he's somehow losing or getting 'taken,' but he's doing it because he cares about you so much and just wants you to be happy! He'll tell you he shouldn't really do it, but you're such a nice guy or such a beautiful, intelligent lady, he just can't help it. Why, he is so bold he even tried to dupe the very Son of God, and he wasn't shy about even quoting Scripture to convince Jesus that he was really making the offer because, you know, God wanted Him to do it and wouldn't let anything bad happen to Him (cf. Matt. 4:1-11).
Let me take this last little bit to stop and tell you plainly: Don't fall for the lies. And all he speaks are lies, because “there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). He and his ministers are spiritual fraudsters! All he can offer are temporary pleasures and eternally-meaningless earthly titles and material possessions that will be burned up in the end (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10-12); he can't offer you anything of value beyond this life because all he can offer you is a place in hell beside him (cf. Matt. 25:41); he is merely interested in taking your soul and taking away any hope of an eternal reward by offering the things of this world, hoping you won't take the time to think about the fact his offerings cannot hold a candle to what God offers. Remember this simple truth: “the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
So next time this master fraudster whispers, "Have I got a deal for you!" tell him you aren't falling for his deals anymore. Tell him you awakened to his deception, where everyone loses: loses trust, loses respectability, loses innocence, loses their jobs, loses their family, and loses their hope because they lose their soul. Tell him you're not buying it anymore because you choose God. —— Steven Harper
