(I stumbled across this on the Internet and this preacher, Argy Rodes ironically reminds of me a local pastor whom I was associated with not too long ago. I consider myself a staunch Christian but like everything else in life, there are plenty of corrupt, shyster Pastors, just like there are plenty of shyster lawyers, cops, politicians, car salesmen, etc. Not only do you need to pray about finding the right church, you also need to exercise wisdom and make darn sure the pastor, deacons, elderly are “practicing what they preach” BEFORE you choose to share your life’s secrets — or money — with these people as if you were dealing with Jesus himself. Just because a handful of phonies like to shout out, “Praise God, Hallelujah!” every two minutes or so, don’t assume these people are, “filled with the Holy Spirit”. Why not go “church-hopping” to someplace different every Sunday for a couple months and personally find out which one is the best fit for you and your family? Please remember, Sincerity is no guarantee for Truth.)
http://www.joy101.org/joy-confessions-con-artist.html
Confessions of a Con Artist:
Imagine for a moment, that you have just found the secret journal of a religious preacher named Argy Rodes. Argy was one of the minority of people who were immoral, unethical, and would do anything to make a buck except work to earn it. Here’s the essence of what you found in his journal:
When I was still in high school, I got to thinking that the world out there was a pretty tough place. My dad, on the few occasions that I saw him, told me that there weren’t very many life-long, free lunch counters, so I’d better start figuring out what I was going to do to (in his words) “keep my ass out of the gutter.” I’m not much for hard labor, so when my dad also told me that working smart was better than working hard, I actually paid attention to him.
I started looking for a work-smart career. My dad was a currier for one of the small-time, local crime families, so I saw first hand that crime attracted the attention of guys with guns and badges and jails. I knew dad’s business wasn’t for me.
When I was sixteen, two important things happened to me in the same month and when I connected the two, a flash of lightning hit my brain. The first thing occurred when a circus came to town. I went there with my buddy and lost all the money I had in a slick carnival game. When my mom found out, she just laughed and quoted P.T. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” About two weeks later I saw the film, “Elmer Gantry” which was about a vacuum cleaner salesman turned tent preacher in the 1920’s.
Talking and telling stories came natural to me, so when I walked out of that theater, I knew I’d found my career.
I started reading the Bible and checking out local churches. Mom thought I’d gotten religion and was pleased. She started encouraging me. I never mentioned that I didn’t buy into the religious stories because there were just too many things that didn’t make any sense. There was, however, one thing that made really good sense to me. I saw hundreds of people giving money to people who talked about God. As a test, I started making up stories that I thought were so outlandish that nobody would believe them. To my amazement, many of my listeners would respond to my stories with an open mouth stare and say, “Really?”
The first time I got my hand into a girl’s panties by telling her she was doing God a favor, I knew I was going to be a king of the hill. At that point, I knew that I was headed straight into the religion business; not for Jesus, not for saving souls, or for helping widows, but to make money; to be a pillar of the community; to make easy money; to be safe from those men with guns and badges; to make lots of money; to “live high on the hog,” to have a big home with servants, drive or be driven in luxury cars, drink the finest wines, and have lots of great sex.
Over the years, I’ve made millions, hobnobbed with the rich and famous, been invited to places that most people don’t even dream about, and had secret sex with more beautiful women than anybody I can imagine except perhaps rock stars and Hugh Hefner.
There are tens of thousands of dedicated, kind, honest, loving individuals who are leaders in numerous religious faiths and who are truly working for what they honestly believe are God’s wishes. To walk among them, wearing their costumes and pretending to be one of them, has been, for me, so simple and so easy that I’m amazed that I don’t find very many others like me. But then, perhaps there are numerous others who are as good at the con game as I have been. Who’s to say for sure what someone else’s motives really are?
As my life nears it’s conclusion, there’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty: Religion is the home of some of the greatest con artists on the planet. I hold myself up as a shining, but still invisible, example of a master of con artist. I’ve lived my entire adult life in a lifestyle at a level that is beyond the reach of 99.99 percent of the other humans on this planet and never, even once, got caught at my game.
So the next time someone starts peddling religion to you, look at his life style. If he lives a modest life, he’s almost certainly genuine, but if he spends large amounts of church money on himself — watch out. My advice to the world is to simply offer two quotes from Jesus: “Beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing”, and, “By their fruits you shall know them.”
{In order to believe that there are no con artists hiding among today’s religious and political leaders, one has to be either, incredibly naive or believe that Jesus was lying when he warned about wolves in sheep’s clothing. The best this author can add to the above quote is to invite you to apply two rules to your life, first question your religious beliefs and second, question every decision that you are asked to make that triggers an emotional response in you.}
One Bad Decision Away From Homelessness 