God is Not Playing With You

The Appeal and Mechanics of Scam Content

All right, quick video, kind of a different topic, just got some really weird news that hit me just really strongly. And it's not about anything in my personal life or anyone that I know in real life, but I wanted to talk about it.

I don't know, I've been getting some emotional, you know, kind of sad news lately. But one of the things, if you don't know, there's some weird genres of YouTube content that I watch, and I've talked about it a few times, but I watch scammer videos.

And I'm not talking about like those scam busting videos, those are great. Like if you ever watch a guy that calls a scam call center in India and pretends to be like an old lady and just wastes their time and toys with them, you know, for hours on end and records it.

Those are great videos. I love those, but I'm not talking about that. There's also like those documentaries that expose various Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes. I'm not talking about that either. What I'm talking about, and I'm not even talking about MLM, like some of the MLM content out there is really good too, but I put that in a separate category than the kind of scams that I'm talking about.

I'm talking about like pure Ponzi schemes, pure pyramid schemes, where you send someone money and the expectation is that you're gonna get money in return, like you didn't do any work, you didn't sell a product, you didn't do anything.

It's just, you know, a chain letter basically, where you send money and then you get the right to get other people to send money to you. I watch the people who are promoting those kinds of things. I watch their content, like the scammers themselves, I watch their content.

And when I say watch, I don't really watch the videos like intently, I just kind of listen to them, just to hear the tactics, hear how people trick others and how they sell it. And so these are like the lifestyle things, like they put a video of them out in the Caribbean and they're like, oh, I made $10 ,000 this week and all I'm doing is at the pool, you know, hanging out with the love of my life and stuff like that.

The Rise and Fall of a Prominent Scammer

Anyway, there was one person in particular that I've been watching for years. And this is like right around when I started on YouTube that I started watching this guy. And actually I got some tips from him on how to market a YouTube channel and stuff like that.

Anyway, he was a very clean cut guy and he was very good. Like he had a lot of qualities about him that made him trustworthy, that made you want to listen to him. And, you know, he just seemed like an all-American, very clean cut kind of guy.

He was into health and fitness. He had a long-term girlfriend that he loved and he would post videos about how he's retired. You know, he's 31 years old and he's already retired. He's moving to Arizona, that's been his dream and he thought it would take him 30 years to do it.

And here he is, he's 31, he's doing it. He's got three cars and amazing cars and a nice house, a pool in his backyard. He just had the life. I remember one video in particular, he filmed it from Costa Rica.

And he's like, oh, you know, me and my girlfriend just took a spur of the moment trip to Costa Rica and he showed where they are. And he's like, yeah, you know, I'm still making money, you know, and he's promoting these scams, right?

But he promoted them in a very appealing and very sophisticated way. And it's so sophisticated, guys, that like I know this is a scam. Like I'm watching this video and I know in my brain that it's a scam, but sometimes I'd be listening to him and in my heart, I'm like, yeah, but what if it isn't?

What if I'm missing out on an awesome way to make money easily in my sleep? And like, even I would get caught up in this sometimes. And of course, in my brain, I'd, you know, check myself always like, obviously it is a scam though.

I know that, in any case. So I watched a lot of his videos. And so two years ago, he kind of just disappeared. And I figured, okay, well, he must probably just be taking the money and running, you know, he's made enough money and now he can just sort of do legitimate stuff and he can, you know, get off the internet and, you know, escape unscathed, right?

And that's what I kind of figured had happened because he still posted like a video every now and then, but he wasn't really promoting that many scams and anyway, whatever. So then earlier this year in January, I Googled him and it turned out that actually the FTC had finally caught up with him.

And in fact, there was a default judgment against him because he didn't show up for court that, you know, I think it was like $600 ,000, something like that, default judgment in restitution that he needed to make.

And when I saw that, I was like, oh, that's why he hasn't been online, I see. So it's not that he's done scamming, it's just that the FTC caught him and now he's, you know, probably as part of the agreement, he can't, you know, promote these things anymore and whatever.

And I remember feeling a very deep sense of satisfaction because like I knew he was a scammer and I was right and justice would look like it was gonna be done. He had to pay restitution and all of this kind of stuff.

And this guy, I mean, this guy robbed people. He lied to people, he defrauded people and all kinds of people that couldn't afford it. Poor people, you know, people that were desperate, you know, he would even use, you know, COVID.

I remember at the time he used COVID, but right around the time when he got off the internet, he used COVID as a means to scare people and various kinds of things. In any case, I remember feeling a deep sense of satisfaction about that.

Homelessness, Loss, and the Reaping of Sin

Then yesterday, I was like, oh, I wonder what happened to me. So I Googled him and a video, he had posted a video in April, an update, an update video. That's what he always used to do. Oh, I got an update for you.

And he'd talk about all the money, flashes, cash, whatever. Anyway, he did an update video and I clicked play and he looked awful. He looked like, and I thought instantly, oh, drugs, he's gotta be on drugs.

You know, his face was kind of puffy. You know how like, what's his face from friends started looking when his face was all puffy and kind of red and disheveled. And he never used to look like this. He was very fit, very, you know, healthy looking on the internet.

And he's walking and he's breathing heavy and stuff like that. I'm like, wow, man, he must be, you know, struggling with drugs and whatever. And he's talking, he's talking. And then I realized, oh my goodness, he's homeless.

He's a homeless man. And sure enough, he is. And this whole video is about what happened with the FTC and what his life is like now. He was homeless for a year and a half. And he found a home with some roommates.

They kicked him out because he couldn't pay, you know, his part of the rent. And he's been homeless for, and then when this video was on, he'd been homeless for a week and he's a homeless man. And in this video, he talks about how he had everything.

And now he has nothing, everything. He had everything he could ever want. He had a girlfriend he loved. He had all the money that he could ever ask for. He had a house. He had multiple cars, vacations, you know, jet setting, everywhere.

He had the life. And remember what I said was, at the time out here, I'd be like, well, you know, it was so enticing what he promoted that it even like would tempt me, even though I know this is a scam, right?

Anyway. And now he's homeless and he's talking about his life. And I just could not, like I'm still happy that justice was done because this guy was a crook, right? And there's no question about it. He was a crook.

But I just couldn't help but feel so sad and so sympathetic. Like, this is a man who lost it all. And he, even his girlfriend left him and stuff like that. And he's a homeless man. He wanders the streets of Phoenix.

And it's just, he promoted this. He said he was retired at one point. He promoted this lifestyle of like, you know, really making tons of money with very little effort. And now he puts more effort into his days, probably than I do.

And he gets zero result. Like he doesn't have a place to lay his head. He said in the video, he would give anything to just have a comforter and like just a place to kick his feet up, you know, a shower.

Like, these are the basic things. And, you know, in the video, he said lots of his, you know, old friends say, hey, don't worry, you know, you're gonna make it. You're gonna get back to where you were.

And he just is like, and it sounds believable. And again, who knows? But he says, I don't even wanna get back to where I was. Like, I just want a place to stay. You know what I mean? And he's one of these like high positivity sort of mindset guys back in the day.

And now he's like, I still have that. Like, I still like don't wanna give up. But, you know, some days I do wanna give up. And it just was so, it hit me so hard. And here's what I wanted to do this video about.

God Is Not Mocked: Sowing and Reaping

Like, guys, God is not plain. God is not plain. God is merciful. He's good. He, you know, He forgives our sins. He gives us blessings, even though we don't deserve it. All for the sake of Christ who died for our sins and all of these things.

God is so good. He's so merciful. And He doesn't give us what we deserve so often. But don't get it twisted. That's all true. But at the same time, God is not plain. In Galatians, Paul, the apostle tells the Galatians, he says, be not deceived.

God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. God is not, He's not playing around. If you've got a pet sin or like an issue that you're kinda hiding from people and you don't think anyone's ever gonna know, you don't think your sin's gonna find you out because it never found you out in the past.

Guys, you gotta put it to death now. God is not plain. Whatever a man reaps, sows, that's what he'll reap. And so it just hit me like, that verse hit me like a ton of bricks. Yeah, when I was watching this man's video, this man was reaping, he was just ravaging people.

And he had this lifestyle and he admits he loved it. He loved his life. He loved everything about it. And he was robbing people to get it. And now he's on the streets. And it just hit me so hard. And obviously the stuff with J .D. Hall hit me this way as well.

I did a video on that on Friday. And people were ripping that video. Like, oh, it's way beyond addiction, A .D. Why are you saying he's a victim? And it's like, guys, do you understand the gospel? Number one, having sympathy for someone is not the same as thinking they're a victim.

J .D. Hall is not a victim. You know what I mean? Obviously he did this to himself, obviously. But my goodness, you guys think like, well, if it's these other things that are being alleged against him, then I guess you wouldn't have done this video, A .D.

You're just ignoring the other issues. No, I would have done the same video. In fact, I will do the same video if it ever comes out that he actually did these things, right, if he actually did these things.

Of course I'll do the same video because it's the same gospel that covers and saves you from your sins of violence or stealing than it does from addiction, right? It's the same gospel. It's the same thing.

And obviously, we pray and we hope that he submits to church discipline and that he repents of these sins if he did them. And all of these things, I just don't understand how anyone could think that somehow I wouldn't have done that video if it was these other things.

I didn't know about them. And it's like, I did know about them. In fact, I mentioned them in the video. That's not the point. That's not the point. So man, two reminders, two reminders that you need to put to death the deeds of the flesh.

The Gospel, Mercy, and the Hope of Restoration

You need to. God is not playing and your sin will find you out, whether it's years and years of fraud and you end up on the streets, whether it's an addiction and you end up bankrupt and disqualified for ministry and completely disgraced, dragging Christ's name through the mud.

Praise God that he was willing to identify with us. Praise God that he was willing to come down to our level and willing to have his name drug through the mud to save us from our sins. He gets into the slop with us and he pulls us out of there.

Praise God for that. Praise God for that. Anyway, so just a quick video, guys, to tell you about that. I don't know why that, I'm sure it won't hit you the same way it hit me because you didn't ever watch this guy's videos.

But man, I watched a few of the old ones yesterday where he's kind of, you know, loving life and just, you know, he's retired, nothing could be better. He's just, he's in a nice house and stuff like that and all his stuff's around him.

He's flashing cash, showing you his cars and trying to get you to join his scam. And then fast forward a few years, literally lives on the streets, looks like a different person. It's unreal, it's unreal.

Anyway, praise God for his gospel. Praise God for his forgiveness. I hope you found this video helpful. God bless.