Does Adding ‘Ministry’ Make You Legit? (Get Rich Quick Schemes Still Suck!)
(The following is somewhat of a rant-fest. Proceed with caution.)
A recent commenter has emerged here on ChurchCrunch that is an obviously-strategic spammer of sorts, dropping comments that are contextually accurate but adding her marketing spin and links to various multi-level-marketing sites.
This couldn’t be more lame.
I’m pretty sick of it and have decided to post about it. You’ll find no links to her properties as I desire to give her no link-juice whatsoever nor do I endorse at all this particular person, their product, service, or whatever she’s trying to sell.
You’ve probably seen a billion sites like the one site above. Below you’ll see the same thing except that she’s added “Ministry Marketing” to it:
I spent more time than I should have browsing through her list of sites claiming amazing products (some which are terrible and where the technology is so far behind) and some that have been created by WP-Robot, which is an automated blogging software application using WordPress that is pretty much the worst product ever conceived.
Essentially if you use that product (and other one’s like it) you lose all credibility online.
I hate multi-level-marketing. I hate get rich quick schemes. I hate it when people promote things that distort the Word of God. I hate the health and wealth Gospel, which is no Gospel at all. And I hate it when people ignorantly think that adding “Ministry” to something obviously lame makes it instantly ok and legitimate.
Now, I won’t delete your comments because I’m not about censorship, but please note that your spammy comments aren’t adding to the conversation; they’re polluting it.
[Thx @Gunnard for reviewing this rant before posting.]
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Open Thread: Pets in the Office? 
Amen!
I think I'm allergic to these things. I don't even have to read it to feel like it's a scam. The format alone is says it all. Do they think we are dumb? Most of these people learn this stuff from marketers too. Don't they understand that there are hundreds of scams/get rich quick/drink this concoction and you'll be perfect pitches that utilize the same approach and look just like this? People are on to it yo! Throwing "ministry" on there just takes it to a whole new level of ridiculous.
I'm done. Thanks John.
yeah charlie. you feel me. right on.
Unfortunately John, some people really are more ignorant/susceptible to this than others.
For example, my father in law got suckered into one of these Multi Level Ministry (see what I did there?
) schemes a few weeks ago. It's some scam about feeding the hungry and making money, spun very much towards good hearted people who really don't know any better.
He tried to get my wife into it as well. He thinks it's legit, despite him paying money into it, and not receiving anything back yet…sigh.
My wife pretty much looked at him and asked if he was insane. It's nonsense like this that takes advantage of people who really are trying to do some good…and just don't know any better so the system propagates itself.
/end rant
Ugh…! Sorry to hear that…!Dang.John
For years, I've had a problem with the word "ministry." I was around when the prosperity gospel got going, and while I gleaned some good out of the original teachings, God got my husband and I out of it quickly. I believe there is so much focus on having "ministries" that we lose sight of cleaving to God and finding the life more abundant than the evil in this world. By walking with God on a daily basis, I'll be ready to go through any doors He opens for me. And, that is not a ministry, but an open door.
I also will not participate with anything which takes money away from people in a deceptive way. Actually, I'm not interested in taking away any money from anyone. I refuse to love money and have asked God to help me avoid this trap.
What does a "ministry marketing plan" have to do with making "real money"? Aren't ministries, what's the word, NON-PROFITS?
That just stuck out to me.
And also, I'm not about censorship either, but if comments like that appeared on my blog they'd never make it past moderation. I get enough spam by email.
Maybe I'm nicer.
just kidding.John
I could not agree more… I have tons of these bots hitting my blogs as well – Drives me nutzoid.
They are spam – and personally I think spam is LOW !
agreed.
Boom! Headshot!
HAHAHAAHAH!
A year-and-a-half ago we were trying to raise money for some of our kids programs and a couple guys got involved in a multi-level. They had a bunch of us over to "talk about all of us making more money so we could give to things like the kids area". They brought in their "Area VP" who parked right out front in his Porsche Carrera to tell all of us about it. It was lame. I didn't sign up- don't really know if anyone else did either.
I was in an accountability relationship with one of the guys, and he was asking me to get in- I was researching and talking with my wife about, not really sure which direction to go. He calls me and I miss it. He leaves me a message saying to call him back and then he hung up or so he thought; his bluetooth earpiece malfunctioned and he didn't hang up, and his rant about me not making a decision was recorded. Our accountability relationship ended when I called him back and confronted him about it. We're still friends, but not as close.
Just some advice: if this multi-level-pressure-your-fellow-Body-members-into-joining-thing hits your (small "c") church, Matthew 18 the crap out of it, until it's gone. It has no place in The Body. It will be a snake- and the only way to kill a snake is to cut off the head.
BTW- I asked my friend recently how things were going- if he'd even seen a check yet? I could see the remorse in him when he told me he hadn't.
wow. nick… wow. that actually hits me strongly because i had a similar situation happen with someone i trusted a lot.sorry to hear i wasn't the only one…
…sigh of relief. I love when others rant for me. It makes it easier to let go of things like this. Maybe I should start a ranting service. Ministryrant.com…..just bought it.
puahahaha.
This could be a dual purpose site- if you read it just right, it looks like "Ministry Tyrant".com
LOL!
I couldn't agree more! Here in the middle of Utah, it seems I run into another MLM scheme every week! Even if the product is legit, come on! You can choose a better business model than that?!
doh! there's a lot of it… tons everywhere, you're right!
First of all I love your blog. It is awesome to see
you introduce and inform your readers of such great
and powerful technology….for Christians to take advantage of.
I got that Bible app on my I-Phone and love it!!!
Thank you.
Ok..I am the subject of your article above.
May I take a tad bit of space and clarify my heart.
I despise spam and network marketing. Don't even
mention MLM…I've been burned too.
My passion, John,is to see people free physically, spiritually,
and financially to go in the direction God has called them…
FREEDOM…to serve God.
The pages above were to give a way a book
that has helped me and thousands others with online
help from my mentor and Christian brother Stephen
Pierce.
No deceit meant. Sorry if it looks like a get rich quick
deal. Don't believe in that either.
The blogs you referenced is how I distribute my information.
My main site is…well, I won't list it here so you won't think
I'm spamming a response…But at my main site I desire to
provide content and value to share and show how Christians
can harness the power of the internet for promotion and yes,
legitimate ways to earn resources to build the Kingdom of God.
At my main site I also offer businesses, ministers, Christian musicians, Christian
Authors, and ministries a chance to build their own page so they can promote for free
and take advantage of the thousands who visit my site each month.
The passion of my heart is to serve. If you or anyone else cares to
investigate the truth of this passion, I will leave a link from one of the
leaders in Ministry Marketing Online, Pam Perry's Blog Talk
Radio show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ministrymarketingsol...
Once again, this link is NOT mine above.
If you care, I can e-mail you my website….
Thank you brother. Keep up the great work at your blog
here. Peace. And yes, Merry Christmas.
Theresa Croft
Theresa,
I found you via your post on ChurchCrunch. I read the book this afternoon, it has some valid OPINIONS but doesn't work for 99% of the people out there. Since you say you're a Christ follower, I'll cut to the chase:
You're coming across as a scam artist. Your sites are literally thrown up and have absolutely no thought to them. John Saddington outlined it best in his post on Church Crunch regarding those websites. I really hope that you sincerely seek John's forgiveness for your inappropriate posts on Church Crunch- and stop.
Sincerely,
~Nick Shoemaker
Theresa Croft, has been the person the Lord has used to help me promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has provided ways for me to blog as well as show me the advantage of using video to communicate with others. . That is what Theresa helps us to do. Because of my blog I have gotten potential speaking engagments.
I want to share with you the link for the blog that Theresa Croft provided for me. Many people have been blessed by the messages that the Word has given to me to share
.http://revharrietbradley.com/
Theresa's encouragement and teachings about video ministry and Internet marketing helped me to have a video viewed by President Barack Obama. This video was seen at President Obama's first Online Town Hall Meeting in March. There were 102,000 questions submitted. My video played all over the world and was on all the major televison networks. Talk about a "suddenly."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYV5Smer2Y4
I pray that the Lord will continue to anoint you in what He has assigned you to do!
May you experience the best Christmas ever and be showered by the Love of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Harriet Bradley
Anything worth anything is being network marketed, whether you know it or not, even word of mouth is networking.
From King Herrod's networking "Thugs" killing Christians, to the King of Kings himself, dying on a cross for you and me, wow talking about a supernatural networking miracle that's growing stronger and stronger everyday.
2000 years later souls are being harvested. From the shoes on your feet, to the shirt on your back, it's being marketed. If it weren't for marketing, you'd be paying much more for everything. Business owners are network
marketers via people and time leveraging. Truth is, we are all ministers, either for the good, or for evil, because
we ARE giving the message to those we come into contact with whether you like it or not, and guess what? Very
few are scams, very few!! If you don't like the product, don't buy it!! If you want it investigated, then do it!! Business
owners leverage people so that they can generate more income. They are called Entrapreneurs by our government.
Theresa,
I read the book this afternoon, it has some valid OPINIONS but doesn't work for 99% of the people out there. Since you say you're a Christ follower, I'll cut to the chase:
You're coming across as a scam artist. Your sites are literally thrown up and have absolutely no thought to them. John outlined it best in his post regarding those websites. I really hope that you sincerely seek John's forgiveness for your inappropriate posts on Church Crunch- and stop.
Sincerely,
~Nick Shoemaker
See, Kelly, I think you have just underscored John's (and, the others') point. "Anything worth anything is being network marketed" and "we are all ministers." Ergo, network marketers = ministers. Hmmm…can't help disagreeing with that euphamism because I believe they have an entirely different impetus. One wakes up in the morning and says "How can I grow my paycheck today?" and the other wakes up saying "How can I make someone else's life better?" Now you can tell me that the marketer is using the money to build God's Kingdom, and that makes someone else's life better, or, that helping someone grow THEIR paycheck is mercenary, but there is a chasm there.
One only needs to be the target of a network recruiter once in order to see the focus is the pyramid, not the product. To boil it down, network marketers have offended more people than genuine ministers–re-read the rant and comments and you'll see. Business owners don't leverage people, they fill a need in a market by offering something that adds value to someone's life. An ancillary, significant benefit to doing that well is viral growth.
Great post John! I always shake my head in disbelief whenever I see those get rich quick sites. People need to be educated that making money online is a real business whether you do part-time or full-time. That’s why the general public always associate Internet marketing as not being legitimate because of these GRQ sites. Anyway great post again and thanks for sharing.