THE GULLIBILITY FACTOR
Have you ever heard any of the crazy 'Christian' stories being passed around out there? They are stories that cannot be verified yet people tend to believe them without any evidence. These stories pass from person to person like a juicy piece of gossip.
For some reasons Christians are very susceptible to these type of stories. They certainly will not go away and new stories can be expected on almost a monthly basis.
Here are a few examples of these stories:
RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING
- The lady lawyer, Madelyn O'Hare, is on a crusade to remove all Christian broadcasting from the airwaves. She is the lady who got a law passed to remove prayer from the public school system. Now she is actively working to remove Christian broadcasting from TV and radio. After this 'shocking' story people are shown addresses to various government agencies to send in letters of concern and petitions. The sad thing is the above is not true at all. Thousands of the gullible wrote the government with letters and petitions. I'm sure the government workers sat around wondering what those crazy people are so worked up about since they know the story is all a fairy tale. From time to time this story is revived and thousands more letters and petitions are generated.
BOYCOTT story: - Here is another one. This one is over 20 years old but I've still seen it circulating even today. It has to do with the company Proctor and Gamble. The claim is made that they are a Satanist company and their logo with an old man and 13 stars prove this. The story goes on to say that the president and CEO (his name is not given) was on a talk show. I've heard Mike Douglas talk show but the name of the talk show may vary from story to story. Anyway the claim is made that the CEO admitted their company follows Satan and a certain percentage of their profits go into supporting Satanism. The story ends with a strong call to boycott all the company's products and a product list is given. Christians are told that by purchasing these products they are supporting Satanism. This is a story that cannot be proven. The exact name and date of the talk show is not given. Of course it can't because it never happened! Also the name of the CEO is never given either. It is written in a very convincing manner and the gullible make copies of the warning and post it online or hand it out to their friends. Again Christians are made to look the fool as they jump after this lying story that has no truth in it. It was probably written by a competitor of Proctor and Gamble and is just part of a cut-throat marketing ploy.
LISTENING TO PEOPLE IN HELL
- This one can be found on the internet. I even heard the real audio clip. Here is the story. Some people drilled a hole in Siberia looking for oil. They found a very hot open space deep in the ground. When they dropped down a microphone the screams of the lost could be heard. The story says they found hell and could even hear the screams of millions of lost men and women. I listened to the 30 seconds of people screaming. This story can be found on the net as people try to show others that hell is real. There are some problems though. First when a person dies their soul and spirit leave their body. They are then in the spirit world. Now being alive I'm not in the spiritual world. An angel or a demon could be right beside me screaming their heads off and I couldn't hear a thing. You see our five senses cannot detect sounds from the spirit world. Yet somehow these people dropped a microphone down a deep hole and could hear the cries of spiritual beings (dead humans) in torment. What kind of microphone did they use? Does Radio Shack have one that can pick up sounds from the spirit world? Are you beginning to see how foolish this story sounds? Plus if you read the Bible you will notice that currently no one is in hell, the lake of fire. When Jesus returns the Anti-Christ and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire where they will be in torment for 1000 years. Then at the end of the millennial kingdom there is the great White Throne judgment. At this point all the lost are judged and thrown into hell, the lake of fire. My point is this: Currently there is no one in hell! ... So, how can a microphone pick up spiritual cries of torment... and how can people be heard in hell when currently no one is in hell? Chalk another one up to the rumour mill and the gullibility factor.
THE BEAST COMPUTER:
This was a big story back in the 70's and 80's. It goes like this. There is a super computer somewhere in Brussels called 'The Beast'. This computer is so powerful it can easily store all the names of everyone on earth. Today this story really doesn't mean much. With the explosion of knowledge we now have computers and databases that can easily perform that task. The question is not really 'how' to do it.. but when. Once the Antichrist rises to power he will have all the computer power necessary to implement his mark of the beast system. But people used to hear the story of the mythical 'beast' computer and then say hmmmmmmmmmmm. We really must be close!
CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN USA
Some are claiming that there have been concentration camps setup in the USA. These camps will be used to hold and exterminate Christians once the New World Order is implemented. You've heard of the Jewish holocaust during WWII, well, 'they' are getting ready for the 'Christian' holocaust very soon. 'They' have been building these camps as part of their goals. Beware because soon 'they' are coming to 'get' the Christians! They have already got black helicopters and special UN troops ready to do the dirty work! Along with this story is black train boxcars with shackles on the walls which will transport the 'Christian' prisoners to their final destination at the camps. For death de-capitation will be the favored choice of execution. This way organs may be harvested for those who need transplants. Besides, as a rule, Christians are clean living people and probably have very healthy organs. Ooooooh... that's a scary story and can be found in different versions floating around today!
DISAPEARING ANGELS
I heard this type of story years ago. A Christian couple would be driving their car on a trip in some isolated part of the country. They would see a hitch-hiker and stop to pick him up. This person sits in the back seat and says in a very serious way:'Jesus is coming back soon.' The Christian couple would then say: 'Yes, we agree. We believe Jesus is coming back soon too!' At that point their guest would say: 'No, you don't understand. I said, JESUS IS COMING BACK VERY SOON!' At this point he would disappear from the car. He would just vanish. Well the Christian couple would certainly think this is strange. It must be an angel sent from God with a message. There just isn't any other possibility. They decide to report this incident to the police. When they do the police say.. 'that's strange, I've had several other persons come here with a similar story!' That's another eerie one folks.... anyone for the twilight zone of Christianity!
Tickle, tickle.... what's that!... sounds like my ear is being tickled by all these stories!... Yet they are believed by many as easily as people believe the latest gossip. Some people even take action on a 'story' as it is being passed around. Many have signed petitions and mailed them to the government concerning rumors of atheists getting evil laws passed. The end result is people who listen and take action on these 'stories' make Christians look like quite a foolish bunch of people.
Many times these stories can produce fear and paranoia as opposed to faith. I remember a person who was heavily into the Catholic conspiracy stories. It went something like this. The black pope is the person who really has the power in the Catholic system. Under him are loyal Jesuits that do all kinds of evil things from infiltrating churches to killing troublesome people. The Catholic church is the root of all evil on the earth. All cults and deceptions have been created by the Catholic church according to this set of stories. The deeper this person got into all these scary and undocumented stories the more fearful she became. Once she was even convinced her house was being watched. It had to be the Jesuits - those pesky fellows. She was in the 'know' and 'they' must have found out and they were 'watching' her. She acted like a 'fearful' person. Now, what is the opposite of faith....? Fear!
People need to be really careful as to what they believe. We have the Word of God which is our shield of faith and protects us from the firey darts of the devil. Our job here on earth is to mature in Christ and to share the Gospel to the lost. We need to watch being side-tracked by foolish undocumented stories. Christians live on earth and serve God. When we die we go home to heaven which is our hope in this life.
What does the Bible say about believing all kinds of crazy stories:
Prov 14
15: The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well
to his going.
Don't act like a 'simple minded' person who just blindly accepts every rumor and story that comes around. Ask for some documentation or some facts. Some of these 'religious' stories are really crazy and when in doubt... don't believe it. For example, the Proctor and Gamble story is believed with no facts. Why not demand the exact date and time of the talk show. Ask for articles that made the newspaper as any CEO of a huge company that goes on TV and claims his company is into Satanism, will make the news. Don't just believe every word of these stories and become 'simple' like the above verse warns. The Bible says we are to test all things. This would include doctrines, teachings, and any stories we may hear. There are some crazy 'religious' stories out there with little or no proof behind them, so be very careful as to what you believe!
1 Thes:5
21: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Click YOUR back button.... or click here:... Return