“In God We Trust.”
It’s on our money, so the idea of trusting for financial breakthroughs is innate to believers. We also want to trust the person helping usher us into the presence of God on Sunday morning.
However, trust in some of those people can sometimes burn us like money, forcing us to struggle with buyer’s remorse. Such as the case of “online pastor” Pastor Eli Regalado and his “venture” from the pulpit of Victorious Grace Church in Denver, Colorado.
Pastor Eli and his wife, Kaitlyn, aren’t feeling as “victorious” as they were last month when they were selling fake cryptocurrency to the members of their online church. Tung Chang, the state Securities Commissioner, said the Regalados stole…eh, raised more than $3.2M from over 300 investors.
The crypto, called INDXcoin, was sold to their Internet church under the name “Kingdom Wealth Exchange,” which was the front cryptocurrency marketplace the online pastor and man of the cloth operated.
Why did they do this devious plan of fleecing their flock? To renovate their home. Classy.
Online Pastor, Offline Promises
According to the Colorado SEC office, the civil fraud case against the online pastors waiting for prison describes a nefarious plot. INDXcoin targeted Christian communities in Denver and claimed that “God told them directly that investors would become wealthy if they put money in INDXcoin.”
“We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies,” said Commissioner Chan. “New coins and new exchanges are easy to create with open-source code. We want to remind consumers to be very skeptical.”
Eli has since admitted to his scheme and has spoken to the Denver Post.
“It was last October that the Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me. He said, ‘Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.’ Part of making way for His people is to really train them up and teach them how finances work in the Kingdom because many of you will soon have more money than you’ve ever had in your life by participating in this crypto.”
Under the guise of “setting the rails for God’s wealth transfer,” the online pastor slash huckster took $650,000 to the IRS, a new Range Rover, luxury handbags, expensive (and probably gaudy) jewelry, snowmobile adventures, and a home remodeling that “the Lord told [him] to do.”
God Wants to Tell Us Something Else
The Word of God could have helped the Regalado’s flock not get victimized by the cutting shears. Most children of God know the parable about “entering through the narrow gate” and “wide is the gate that leads to destruction” in Matthew 7:13-20. But, The Message interpretation is so on point for these two fraudulent pastors–and the rest of us.
“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.”
Eli and Kaitlyn took a shortcut, but theirs will lead to prison. Unfortunately, the shortcut those 300 misled souls led them is a few dozen bills of which they skipped a payment. Yet, with God, you have to work for your blessing. It’s sowing and reaping. There are 42 instances of “farming” in the Bible, all of which discuss a process.
Anything worth having is worth waiting to have, it’s worth going through a process. The economy stinks. The rich get richer, and the rest of us get to watch. But, the Bible declares…
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
We are all waiting on the Lord for something. But if you wait and trust, God’s blessing for us will blow away a lottery ticket or some get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme. And not for nothing, but COVID has a vaccine. An “online only church”?!
That guy was fishing in a barrel. Too bad a much nastier pool is waiting for his guppy self.
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