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04/15/2003 Entry: "Spam for the Lord"
Like every other user of the internet who hasn't been over careful with his email address, every day I get quantities of spam. Often it comes from kind people in Africa who wan to share their millions with me. Sometimes it offers the opportunity to augment my anatomy or fulfill some fantasy I didn't know I had. Most days there is some wonderful new way to get millions of visitors to my website. Spam has become a fact of internet life, and I don't suppose it'll be going away anytime soon.
But there are times when I don't know whether to laugh out loud, or put my fist through the monitor. Today I had a little note from The Crown Flag Commission which offers to provide me with THE MAJESTIC NEW EMBLEM FOR THE CHURCH OF THE 21st CENTURY, a smart gold crown on a red background -- much more noble than the stupid fish that Christians have been using for the last little while. Apparently It was imparted to some ministers during an awesome time of prayer so I'd better hurry along and get one. Sadly, I haven't been able to find out where the proceeds from sales will go, but I'm sure it's a worthy cause. Especially as
Every flag that is issued by The Crown Flag Commission is prayed on, and a blessing conferred upon it, so that even if it is not flown, it may be used by the individual during their prayer time, or draped upon their bed as they sleep, or knelt upon as they intercede
Lord, give me strength...
Replies:
I skimmed through the thread you posted Irene - I found it a bit scary too.
Posted by Richard @ 04/15/2003 11:38 PM CST
I have been spammed with an invitation to a "new online ministry forum". It looked legit, didn't seem like a gimmick, but however well-intentioned the siteowner was in trying to set up a new type of ministry, it still didn't justify the spamming.
I have also been subscribed to Christian mailing lists without my knowledge or consent. This happened when I was active on one of the Christian messageboards/forums. The guy who set up the mailing list and 'harvested' our email addresses was one of the messageboard participants. When another member confronted him, he replied:
"You call picking up the e-mail addresses by a member of the body of Christ to minister to other members of the body of Christ as spamming or unsolicited mails. I just sent an invitation to some people of God. They can just decline it, if they do not want to join my e-mail ministry. I am only promoting the gospel of my Lord. I am not marketing for some commercial organisation... When anti-christ appears, he will not merely send an invitation to us but will force his way into our e-mails like a thief. When the Lord commanded me to "feed my sheep" (John 21:15), I indeed looked for His sheep in the body of Christ, especially my dear brethren and sisters of [the forum] whom I love in the Lord... My desire to communicate to the Lord's sheep through e-mails to have fellowship with them should not be construed as spamming... The words such "spamming", "unsolicited mails" are peculiar to the electronic communication, and have no place in evangelism and Christian missionary work. As soldiers of Christ, we have to smuggle Bibles or God's word into those areas where the law of the land prohibits propagation of the gospel... Picking up a few e-mail addresses for communication with the people of God is not an offense by a soldier of Christ. The Lord has set an open door to His people through this internet ministry. And we should take full advantage of this open door.
"We preach the gospel to the people who do not want to hear the gospel. To them, it is an unsolicited message. We preach the truth to those who do not want to hear the truth. To the hearers, it is an unsolicited message. Should we then keep quiet, and not preach the glorious gospel? As such, the so-called terminology 'unsolicited', be it an e-mail message or a letter conveying God's message to others is not relevant to the evangelists or the ministers of God."
I admit, the tone of the post scared me a little. I was even more shocked when other members jumped down the throats of those who had accused this person of spamming. The whole thread is here, if you are interested.
Posted by irene @ 04/15/2003 07:11 PM CST
Richard, I can relate to all you wrote about. I get the same offers to help launder millions of dollars from some African folks, enhance everything that should be enhanced, etc.. The nice thing about spam is that it can be deleted pretty quickly and is a lot easier to deal with than phone solicitors.
I'm going to go visit the "Crown Flag" site after writing this because I thought that most of our Christian symbols are getting a little tired after 2000 years, so looking for new options is always a walk on the weird side. This crown flag offer reminds me of a mailing I received while living in a poor neighborhood in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1981. A minister from some Church of God of the Supernatural Enlightenment (or something like that) had targeted our section of town with this mailing that included an offer to receive a vial of holy oil that he had personally prayed (preyed) over. If I would send him a contribution, I would receive this vial of holy oil that would guarantee financial success, a big house, new car, etc.. (All of the things that many of the folks in my neighborhood did not currently have.) I felt the same kind of feelings: should I laugh or should I find a way to put this "preacher" out of business. I chose to laugh, but it is sad to see how many people fall for this kind of "prosperity theology" and "lucky charm" kind of religion perpetrated by people disguised as representatives of God. I guess that just begs for us to be even more authentic in our walks with Christ, paying attention to consistency and good theology.
Ivan
Posted by Ivan The Crank @ 04/15/2003 06:39 PM CST
