Trust in the Lord with all your heart?

wise seeker

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5-6

Go from the presence of a foolish man, When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge. Proverbs 14:7

There are quite a few religious foolish ones in America who believe that the possession of great wealth is a sign of spirituality although none of them can prove that any of the first twelve disciples of Jesus were men of great wealth who didn’t have to work for a living. It’s a definite fact that Judas didn’t feel he had enough wealth and had to steal from the common purse and women had to support the ministry of Jesus. Obviously the disciples of Jesus didn’t drive around in luxury cars and owned million dollar mansions? But God’s word is unchanging:

Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. Psalm 112:1-3

Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool. Proverbs 17:10

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. Proverbs 17:24

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1

Those who are wise and seek the Lord and the wisdom and riches that He gives and not just money for a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold. But blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

One day I had encountered two successful businessmen who listening to two unsuccessful ones talking about how they were going to make a lot of money. Ten years later the unsuccessful foolish ones were still as poor as they were before because all their words were talk and no action. Yes, fools spout out a lot of dead and empty words and we are to go from the presence of a foolish man, when we do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge even if he is a pastor or a preacher.

Some of the dumbest things I have heard in life come from the lips of preachers who have taught the suffering and poverty are the will of God and richest and prosperity are from the devil. Others such as Dr. Henry J. Lyons who espoused once saved always saved and lived a life that showed him to be a son of hell and not the son of God. But God’s word is unchanging:

"But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:24-26

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also." And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Luke 11:42-48

"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." Luke 11:52

Jesus unlike some preacher we know was not a bootlicker but a man’s man who spoke the truth even if the fools didn’t like it. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona defrauded over 13,000 investors, mostly Baptists, of more than $500 million worth of securities. The foundation was associated with the Arizona Baptist Convention, and many of its promoters were Baptist pastors who encouraged their congregations to invest from their life savings. They promised a high return on their investments with the Foundation's profits going to build new churches and to fund Baptist supported charities. The foundation declared bankruptcy, leaving its investors, many of them elderly, without their life savings.

The foundation was accused of fraud and in some cases with illegal and unwise handling of the investments. Bill Crotts, past president of the foundation, called the attacks as from Satan, 'our spiritual enemy.'

The question is, who is the Satan? The foundation didn’t have to look any further than itself. The local Baptist churches that promoted the investments need to look at themselves. One investor said, 'What's bothering me, really, I am deafened by the silence from the pulpits of Southern Baptist churches in the state of Arizona.' Maybe the church members need to speak out forcefully and take action to help their own members. It's difficult to understand their reticence. It's like sweeping dirt under a rug. The dirt remains, and the silence is deafening. (Charles Rice Scottsdale) But God’s word is unchanging:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:15-20

The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention established the Foundation in 1948 for the purpose of raising and managing endowment funds to further Southern Baptist causes did not help the causes of those who supported it. Court documents alleged that the Foundation, an independent agency with trustees elected by the state convention, grew rapidly in the 1980s by offering individual investors a high rate of return and promising that part of the earnings would be used for church work. The Foundation invested heavily in real estate, including some outside the United States. When property values declined, officers allegedly set up a web of about 140 subsidiaries to hide losses through paper transactions that artificially inflated the value of its holdings.

The Foundation allegedly continued to solicit new investors, operating a Ponzi scheme in which funds from new investors were used to pay off old investors. Lawsuits further allege that Arthur Andersen ignored red flags and continued to give the Foundation clean audits, in effect aiding and abetting the fraud.
The Baptist Foundation of Arizona, founded by the Southern Baptist Convention also used Southern Baptist pastors and former pastors as sales representatives to rob 13,000 mostly elderly Christians by promising high returns, the security of church backing, and the chance to help Baptist charities. It was nothing but a fraud and a big Ponzi Scheme.

Until the late 1980s, the BFA had been managing church building funds and retirement funds for a few thousand Baptist layman. Profits came from land investments in the red-hot Arizona market. But when property values tanked, the BFA investments did, too. Instead of admitting losses and writing down loans, BFA officials in several cases allegedly cooked up transactions between BFA and shell companies that made it look as if the BFA was still profitable. "It was a big paper charade," charged Assistant State Attorney General Robert Zumoff, reported the Phoenix New Times

The Baptist Foundation of Arizona took in a total of $590 million, using a maze of shell corporations in a Ponzi scheme, before it was shut down in August 1999. Ponzi schemes depend on the solicitation of new investors to pay existing ones.

The Southern Baptist Church allowed the BFA salesmen to Preach the investment stuff from the Pulpit, Many different churches that were supported and financed by the BFA and they told they sheep that they were furthering the CAUSE.
Three people related to the Baptist Foundation pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in May and have agreed to cooperate in an investigation of five others indicted on 32 counts each of theft, fraud and racketeering.

A Phoenix judge had accepted plea bargains from three of eight defendants charged with crimes in the 1999 collapse of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, a subsidiary of the Southern Baptist Convention. They were accused of bilking 13,000 investors -- many elderly and most members of Southern Baptist churches -- of hundreds of millions of dollars in the largest fraud case involving a non-profit organization in U.S. history.

Foundation officials Edgar Kuhn, Donald Deardoff and Jalma Hunsinger had earlier pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors in a case involving five others who claimed innocence reported the Associated Baptist Press.

It’s a fact that the financial crash in 1999 of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, resulted in the largest collapse of a religious financial institution in the nation's history resulted with many elderly sheep robbed, hurt and devastated. For all of its talk of love, compassion and good works the Southern Baptist leadership did very little to change and reverse this tragic situation.

Restoring Our Integrity, a grassroots effort seeking to repay Baptist Foundation of Arizona investors and restore Southern Baptist's integrity, had ceased operations reported the (Southern) Baptist Press on April 18, 2000 as it had very little support from Southern Baptist churches or its members.
Only 66 Arizona Southern Baptist churches and missions, out of about 400 congregations, had pledged to support the ROI plan, said Larry Deskins, pastor of Gateway Fellowship, SBC, Gilbert, Ariz., who had spearheading the ROI effort. Another effort the Jerusalem Fund had only raised $384,918. Although Steve Bass, Arizona Southern Baptist Convention executive director- treasurer, who made a annual salary of $89,937, said the churches' lack of commitment to ROI should not be construed as a lack of concern for BFA investors, although their real deeds spoke louder than their hypocritical words.

The saga of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona showed how their religious leaders did not care about what happened to the sheep. For while a group called "Restoring Our Integrity," composed of local pastors had attempted unsuccessfully to raise money in Arizona and elsewhere for BFA investors, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination of sixteen million members had not been a good Samaritan to help the oldsters who have lost their life savings and were hurting.

It had been all talk and words but no real concrete action and deeds to correct the injustice to the elderly brought about by the Southern Baptist Convention through its support and management of BFA.

But it was the Southern Baptist convention who supported and propagated the support of the $590 million Ponzi scheme that enriched insiders. Private companies controlled by one insider, former BFA director Harold Friend, were paid about $11 million from BFA and its maze of related companies from November 1998 to November 1999,

However Armstrong, a retired Southern Baptist minister, and his wife, Lois, 76, need money from BFA and can't get a penny. He suffers from diabetes, cancer and a liver malady. The Armstrongs sold their Casa Grande home in June and wired the proceeds, about $160,000, to their BFA account. In all, the Armstrongs had entrusted about $460,000 to BFA. Their "investments" amounted to promissory notes. BFA borrowed their money at a high rate, and promised to pay it back , reported the Phoneix News Times.

BFA didn't keep its promises. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, claiming $640 million in debts and $160 million to $200 million in assets. Now the Armstrongs are living in their RV. It is the only home they can afford.

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