I heard of a 12-year old boy who was a key witness in a lawsuit. One of the lawyers, after intense questioning, asked, “Your father told you what to say, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” answered the boy.

“Now tell us,” pursued the lawyer, “what were his instructions?”

“Well,” replied the boy, “Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony; but if I would just be careful and tell the truth, I could say the same thing every time.”

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape” (Proverbs 19:5).

Tags: deception, truth

In 1943 the Allies wanted Adolph Hitler to believe they were going to invade Sardinia and the Greek Peloponnesus, not Sicily as was actually planned. The British came up with an ingenious scheme: float a dead man, carrying phony letters concerning invasion plans, off the coast of Spain, where German operatives were active. If all went well, the body would be recovered and its false secrets would fool the enemy.

Scrupulous attention was devoted to detail. The body had to look as though it had been in an airplane crash and then drowned. After an exhaustive search, the British discovered the perfect corpse: that of a man who had died of pneumonia following exposure. They called him Maj. William Martin.

The British conspirators stuffed the corpse’s pockets with theater ticket stubs, an “overdrawn” notice from his bank, love letters from his fiance, a cranky letter from his father about fuel rationing. And of course, the secret invasion plans. The body was placed strategically where currents would deposit it where desired.

The entire deception worked marvellously and the Germans were caught off guard. Satan is the master deceiver. He knows how to work events around to make us think we’re safe when we’re about to be destroyed.

When was the last time you were deceived?

Tags: deception, Satan, World War II

Everyone wants a great bargain. Pay close attention to the real deal you get in this national donut store chain ad:

“FREE! 3 Muffins when you buy 3 at the Regular Half-Dozen price.”

Unless there’s a typo in that, it sounds like you can buy 6 donuts at the price of 6 donuts. But the double-talk makes it seem like another deal altogether.

Its kind of like that with Satan’s deceptions. He makes it sound like its a special deal to do this or that. Then in the end, we pay much more than we thought, and the bargain ceases to become a bargain. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and there is no way around it except to repent.

Tags: bargain, deception, repentence, sin

Tourists throughout the centuries have visited the famous Acropolis, the ancient hilltop religious citadel in Athens. Thousands of sightseers from all over the world have picked up marble chunks as souvenirs.

Why hasn’t the supply of pieces been exhausted long ago? The answer is very simple. Every few months a truckload of marble fragments from a quarry miles away is scattered around the whole Acropolis area. So tourists go home happy with what they think are authentic pieces of ancient history.

There are many ways we can be deceived. Right now the FDA is suing General Mills over false advertizing on a box of Cheerios. Beware of deception because its everywhere. But Jesus is the truth, and you can take it to the bank.

Tags: deception

In an article in Reader’s Digest, the following story was told:

High Troy, a well-known artist, was a smart aleck who spent most of his life perpetrating frauds for the joy of it.

“One winter in the 1920s, while a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, N. Y., Troy got hold of a hideous old wastebasket with a real rhinoceros foot as a base. He filled it with metal weights and tied 30 feet of clothesline to either side. Late one night he and a friend caried it out onto campus, suspended between them. Every few feet they would lower it into the snow, their own footprints so far away as to raise no suspicions.

The next morning someone noticed the prints and summoned learned professors. Excitedly, they followed the rhinoceros tracks. The trail led out onto the ice covering Beebe Lake, which connected to the school’s source of drinking water. There the tracks ended in a gigantic hole.

It is said that half the population of Cornell stopped drinking tap water. Those who continued to drink it swore it tasted like rhinoceros.”

Its easy to be deceived. Keep your eyes on Jesus and not on what is getting all the attention.

Tags: deception, humor, rhinoceros

We learn to read people. After working with people for awhile, we learn to expect certain things from them. When they change, it throws us off.

An old Arkansas farmer bumped into a friend who asked what was wrong with his hogs, because they looked so poorly. The farmer replied, “When I lost my voice a year ago I could not call them to their feed, so I got a big stick and hammered on the crib and they soon learned that was a call to their corn.

“They were doing well until three weeks ago when some woodpeckers came in here and went to pounding on the old dead trees. My hogs ran in the direction of the noise, thinking it was my call to their feed. When they came running and squealing the frightened woodpeckers would fly to another dead tree and the hogs would run to that part of the woods. They have just about run my hogs to death.”

I think some Christians have about run themselves to death trying to find a new move of God over here or over there. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

Tags: communication, deception, hogs