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March 17, 2006
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Subject: READ ONLY IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR GOD
Let me tell you, make sure you read all the way to the bottom. I almost deleted this email but I was blessed when I got to the end.
...
If You Love God... And, are not ashamed of all the marvelous things HE has done for you... Send this to twenty people and the person who sent it to you! And watch the blessings fall from heaven.
If you are too busy to pass on this e-mail then God's too busy to write your name in the Book of Life.Not all e-mails with a spiritual message come off as threatening. Many offer heart-warming stories and humorous tales.
Some Internet blogs compare zealous mass e-mails to scare-tactic, altar evangelism. Writes one fallen fundamentalist:{M3 "It's not just the hollow-sounding pious sentiments or the saccharine sweetness that bugs me, however. It's the bit you always get tagged onto the end: If you really love Jesus, forward this to everyone in your address book. ... The tag line is such an obvious attempt at a guilt-trip, so blatantly manipulative, that I never feel the sting it's supposed to deliver."
Chain letters that promise to grant or withhold heavenly blessings aren't very scriptural, said the Rev. Marvin D. Jenkins of Union Missionary Baptist Church.
"That's not what motivates God," said Jenkins, who admitted to breaking snail mail chain letters. "I know that I don't need that in order for God to operate in my life."
Rather, the Waterloo pastor said a sincere heart, prayerful petitions and acts of service can motivate God to bless. He defines a blessing as a favor to people that flows out of the kindness of God. A blessing, said Jenkins, can be as simple as waking up every morning.
Heidi Evans of Independence thinks inspirational e-mails with a Christian message can be used appropriately and effectively. Evans forwards e-mails to let friends know they are in her thoughts.
"Sometimes if I am having a really bad day and get one, it makes me feel like God is sending it because he knows I needed a little pick-me-up," Evans writes via e-mail. " ... I usually just send them to anyone and everyone because you never know who you might affect with that one e-mail."
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