I know the Lord is longsuffering. And I am extremely thankful, because I seem to be a slow learner.
Hopefully, He doesn't consider that I am being disrespectful to think that He may also have a sense of humor. Does He laugh at my silly behavior the way a father quietly chuckles over his young child's serious-yet-amusing attempts at acting "grown up"?
Today, I received in the mail
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a letter.
But not just any letter. It happened to be from the organization of a "Reverend Ike" whose "church ministry" is for people of "all faiths, ages, races and income levels". The letter assures me that if I only have the "right relationships", I can have health, healing, love, joy, success, prosperity, good fortune and more money! He writes that "no matter what form [my] needs and wants take, God has the power to provide them--and [I] have the right to receive them!"
Apparently he is has received a message that I (and probably 10,000 other people who received the letter) have some things on my mind which are bothering me--and they need to be stopped immediately! Oh, and there are money, help and "new blessings" that are waiting for me!
How's that for a nice, personalized note of concern? He even sent me a little paper "miracle cross" (because, he says, that the Bible teaches that the cross is the power of God) that I can borrow for one night and send back in the morning (with my $20 "faith and love donation" wrapped around it). The warning to not delay is quite stern as I may be robbing someone else of his/her answered need-and robbing myself of the chance to "get blessed".
In order to be able to "cash in" on this great (yet apparently limited) deal, I just need to fill out a short questionnaire and send it back with the paper cross and my $20 (or more)!
WHAT A BARGAIN!
Why am I sharing this bit of information?
Well, it was too good NOT to!
I didn't see this letter until today. We've gotten maybe a half-dozen of this sort of thing during 16 years of marriage. It came from across the country, so had to have been mailed the day before yesterday, at least. My "false teacher" rant was yesterday.
I can't help wondering if God has a sense of humor because the timing could not have been more perfect. Perhaps He was saying: "Okay, slow learner--it's time for the remedial class: THIS is what a false teacher looks like! Now, simmer down and just do what you know is right!"
A similar "coincidence" occurred when I was thinking about Peter's warning concerning false teachers who "creep into houses" and trap "silly women". I had to toss that experience into my original post on this subject because I was amazed at the promptness of His supplying of an object lesson!
6 comments:
Wow, what timing. I didn't know Reverend Ike's ministry was still around. Yes, that is a classic false teacher.
Did you send 20$? Don't miss your opportunity to get blessings. lol
Well, I finally managed to get back on your site. My internet is messing up. I called them the other day and they had Joel unplug and replug some stuff, but it didn't help. Now, I found that I could go to my "favorites" section and click on my favorite sites and it takes me right there. Oh, frustration!
Oh, btw, that goofy-looking guy that I put on my last post is not my son. I got that picture from Google Image Search under "blogging." I republished the post putting a picture of my son on the very top! They do look kind of similar, though.
Oh Heather, that's funny! God surely does know what we need :0)
I was going to say that at least it's easy to identify and avoid false teachers as obvious as "Reverend Ike" (I'd never heard of him), but then... somebody must be sending him twenty bucks.
Very sad.
Keep the faith,
Julie
I had never heard of Rev Ike before, but I guess he's been around a while.
Jesus did warn us that it is impossible to serve both God and mammon.
I really don't have a problem identifying this type of guy as a false teacher-- the flashy "healers", "signs and miracles" or "get rich quick and enjoy your best life now" sorts are no brainers for me. Also, the new "emergent" types that have specifically denied aspects of the Bible being God's Word or that Jesus was not really God or isn't planning on literally returning to earth etC.
With me, the trouble begins when I get hold of something that starts out with the verses where Jesus warns that in the last days, the lies will be so convincing that even the elect might be fooled "if it were possible" then goes on to list obvious false teachers and adds in others whom I personally consider solid (although human) men of God.
Then, the author will go on to point to the "narrow gate, narrow path" passage and shovels out a bunch of not readily obvious "dirt" (supposed tricky teachings or heretical alliances etc) on the men who's teaching has been used to impact my walk with the Lord.
According to some internet authors, the pool of true believers is even smaller than I ever imagined and only includes a tiny handful of people who agree with the particular understandings of THAT teacher who claims to see the "truth" about one or another allegedly heretical teacher. The claim usually is backed by the idea that only those who love the truth will be able to accept the "hard teaching" about these well-known (and respected) men. Oh, and the majority of modern Christians have totally been blinded to these truths because we want to believe lies rather than God's Word.
Those sorts of things automatically prompt me to start questioning whether I am even saved and am being fooled into being one of the many who are actually on the broad path to destruction.
I just need to remember to only trust the Lord instead of my own wishy-washy "instincts" or someone else's say-so.
Heather
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