Don't Get Ripped Off
Recently, some friends at Hope shared that they had received an email that looked a lot like it came from me. In the email, they were urgently asked to purchase gift cards and forward the gift card numbers (security codes and all) to me. At first glance, the email looked like it was from me – the name on the top (by the email address) and the bottom was spelled correctly. The body of the email included something that I found interesting. The person masquerading as me said, “You can keep one of the cards for yourself.” Now wasn’t it generous of “fake me” to say that?
It saddens me that thieves try to get away with things like this. Can you imagine dropping your car off at a place with a valet, and when you pick it up, they tell you that to have your car back and get your keys, you have to pay the full price of your car? You would scoff at it because they offer to sell you what you already possess. There is a reason why every other commercial you see these days is for some sort of gambling. In 2022, Americans gambled away over $54.9 billion . In other words, people took money – a lot of money – and gave it away so that they could try to get more money. I am sure that makes sense to someone, but it does not make sense to me.
In 2023, Americans lost over $10 billion to scams like the fake email I mentioned above. Tragically, scams like this work. At a previous church where I served, a man walked into the church in tears and asked to speak with me. He shared with me, “so that I could warn others” about the thousands of dollars he gave online to someone who turned out to be a thief. It saddened me to learn that a scammer succeeded in playing off his generosity and stole so much from him.
This is also a tactic of our spiritual enemy. The devil loves to offer to sell us what we already possess. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11), he offered Jesus glory, food, security, and even supernatural authority. The deceiver said to Jesus, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (Matt 4:9) The devil was trying to offer Jesus something that He already had in abundance.
Thankfully, Jesus modeled for us a wonderful way to deal with this type of manipulation. He said to the tempter, “Be gone, Satan!” (Matt 4:10) The name that Jesus used here for His tempter was not particularly flattering – the word satan means liar or accuser. Jesus understood confidently that Satan had nothing to offer Him. He told Satan to take off and that is exactly what he did.
Brothers and sisters, I pray that we all remember what we already have in Christ, and in that process protect ourselves from allowing our enemies to sell us what we already possess!
Expectantly!
Shawn Brennan
P.S. We are working hard to update our website at Hope and would appreciate your help. If you have photos taken at Hope Church events or in our beautiful Brunswick community, and are willing to share them with us, please drop them here public-uploads. Thank you!
