An Email Scammer Called Me Today!

Longtime readers of this blog will remember that I write back to those email spammers/scammers who are kind enough to use a valid return email address.  I have written a short note that I have saved as "autotext" in Outlook so I only need push a few keys to insert it in a reply:

Due to the 99% chance that you are engaging in criminal activity (theft), we have no desire to do business with you. However, I do desire that God bless you. If you are indeed, as I suspect, a thief and a liar, please, give up your wickedness. Jesus will take away your bad heart and give you a new, good heart if you will allow Him. Please read a Bible and find Jesus before it is too late. All thieves and liars will go to hell. (Revelation 21:8). I don’t want that to happen to you.

I've had a few of them write back, admitting that they are fraudsters and describing a bit of the genuine hardships of living in Nigeria.

Today though, I actually had one call me on the phone!

I'd received this email on Thursday (and replied the same day):

From: Toner Needed [mailto:worldlinkcentral@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 8:13 PM
Subject: Attention Purchasing - Joseph Taylor

Greetings,

Kindly advise if you could supply us the items mentioned below.

1.HP CC530A Black Toner (OEM)......5 pcs

2. Usb drives 4gB Memory capacity.....50 pcs

3. Packaging/masking tape...1.1/2 x 60 YRDS..........500 rolls

Sincerely,
Joseph Taylor

Worldlink Central
1012 West Beverly Blvd., Unit 990
Montebello, CA 90640

562.215.4843 Phone
562.443.1367 Cell
206.350.5967 Fax

This email has a number of marks of fraud. (If you don't see them, it's because you've not had the joy of running an ecommerce site for very long!  For more on recognizing scam emails, you can check out sites like ScamDex.com.)  Amazingly that didn't stop the author from calling me and expressing his anger that I had "falsely" accused him of being a scammer.  Even more surprisingly, he spoke perfect English without an accent! 

After his call, I checked him out more thoroughly and found even more evidence that he is indeed a scammer.


Which raises the question: how could a thief be so brazen?  No, I'm not using this as a lead-in to a conversation about politicians.  Actually I want to talk about your heart and my heart!

When I talk with someone like "Joseph" my first reaction is to think, "Oh, what a terrible person.  I'm glad I'm not like him!"  But is that really true?  What is the real difference between Joseph's heart and mine?  He steals.  I have stolen.  He lies.  I have lied.  He pretends to be something he's not.  I've been a hypocrite too.  He's hurting people.  I've hurt people too.  The only remaining reason why Joseph seems worse than us is because he refused to admit his guilt when confronted with the truth.  But is confession after confrontation necessarily a virtue?  Admission of guilt can be a face-saving technique rather than a sign of genuine repentance.

So the only difference between Joseph's heart and Daniel's heart is that Jesus has captured mine, and is washing it clean with His blood, giving me new desires, desires to love God and love my neighbor.  Lord Jesus, please do this in Joseph's heart too!

Why November Won't Stop Obamacare

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.
Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

The above two quotes (original sources unknown) have been popular among conservatives since the 1950s.  Obviously foreseeing a nation's decline and avoiding it are two different things.

I think that the Democrats have overplayed their hand.  The 2010 elections will probably be a repeat of the 1994 elections.  But I doubt our president's health plan will be repealed.  The Republicans have not repealed Social Security or Medicare, so why do they think they'll repeal "Obamacare"?  In another 20 years the voters will be so hooked on government health care that any talk of privatizing it will be quickly quashed. President Obama may even win reelection in 2012 (as Clinton did in 1996) if he manages his political capital more wisely from now on.

We are quickly entering the "dependence" stage of decline.  Ironically, our "dependence" is (ultimately) a result of our attempts to become independent from God.  When we shake off the yoke of Jesus, we find ourselves in the yoke of sin.  But the yoke of sin is not "easy" and "light" like Jesus' is.  (Matthew 11:28-30).  As we refuse to bow to Jesus as Lord, we may find that Caesar (our government) becomes increasingly intrusive.

The Beauty of Mennonite Singing

I've only heard Mennonites sing in person on two occasions, and both times, it was unforgettable.  They are wrong in insisting that God should not be worshiped with musical instruments, but their error has had a happy result.  They have become near expert in singing in harmony.  The only word that I know to describe it is "stunning".

For many reasons I could never be a Mennonite theologically, but I must say that you have never heard singing until you have heard Mennonites sing.  But the true sound of their singing seems to be difficult to capture adequately in a recording (perhaps because it is so multi-dimensional, like the difference between hearing an orchestra in person and on CD). The recordings uploaded by S. E. Samonte have come close to recapturing the sounds I remember.  Here's Rock of Ages for your worship.

Jonathan Edwards on the Use of Food for God’s Sake

I found this section in John Piper's book, Desiring God, very insightful and practical:

Sereno Dwight tells us that Jonathan Edwards “carefully observed the effects of the different sorts of food, and selected those which best suited his constitution, and rendered him most fit for mental labor.” Thus he abstained from every quantity and kind of food that made him sick or sleepy. Edwards had set his pattern when he was twenty-one years old when he wrote in his diary, “By a sparingness in diet, and eating as much as may be what is light and easy of digestion, I shall doubtless be able to think more clearly, and shall gain time; 1. By lengthening out my life; 2. Shall need less time for digestion, after meals; 3. Shall be able to study more closely, without injury to my health; 4. Shall need less time for sleep; 5. Shall more seldom be troubled with the head-ache.” Hence he was “resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.”

I'm Now Officially... a Servant!

On Sunday our church installed two elders and two deacons. I am one of the deacons. Here is a picture of the members laying their hands on me and praying for me.

The title "deacon" is simply a transliteration of the Greek word "diakonos", which means "servant". In the New Testament use of the word, deacons are men who serve the elders (pastors) by serving the congregation's physical needs. This frees the elders to devote themselves to their primary calling, "the ministry of the Word and prayer" (Acts 6:2-4).

I'm grateful to the Lord Jesus for the opportunity to serve His bride, and for His own example of servanthood.

Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant {diakonos}, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve {diakoneo}, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28, NASB)

If You Think Your Job is Hard...

... this brickyard worker in Bangladesh will inspire you to bloom where God has planted you.

An Encouragement to Memorize Scripture... from a 2 Year Old!

This is precious. Check out Doug Phillips' blog for more great stuff!

This Two Year Old Is Oh So Close To Knowing Her Scripture Verse from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.