Josh Benner

Tag: $

  • GoFraudMe – Viral story of homeless man using his last $20 to buy gas was an elaborate scam

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    This story is a fantastic illustration of the power of greed.

    If they had just split the money, no one would have ever known!

    I remember hearing about this when it happened. A nice story of a woman running out of gas in a dangerous part of Philadelphia. A kind hearted, homeless veteran saw her plight and went to get gas for her, spending the last $20 he had to buy gas for the lady.

    And so the lady setup a GoFundMe account to raise money in order to help get this selfless veteran back on his feet.

    And so people donated to the GoFundMe. A lot of people donated! 14,000 people donated. More than $400,000 was raised to help this man get back on his feet.

    But things took a turn earlier this year.

    The homeless man (Johnny Bobbitt) sued the woman and her boyfriend (Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico) for not giving him the proceeds of the GoFundMe campaign.

    At the time, people had mixed opinions. “You can’t just give a drug addict hundreds of thousands of dollars,” to “it’s his money.” There were allegations of the couple using some of the funds for themselves. GoFundMe promised to make it right.

    And then today, the couple AND Bobbitt are being charged with theft by deception. After an investigation, the authorities claim that the whole thing was made up! If convicted, they face up to 5-10 years in prison, according to CNN.

    GoFundMe has said they’ll refund the money that people donated. While the average person spent just $28 in this scam, I feel that what these people did is just as bad as robbing someone. They took people’s money by creating a ruse that preyed upon the good nature of people.

    GoFundMe is not above reproach. It’s not a perfect site. And there are certainly frivolous things which raise money on that site. But it’s also been a life changing blessing to many people in need. And this scam hurts the credibility of GoFundMe.

    It’s poetic justice that people who scammed others also tried to scam each other. Like I said in the beginning, had they just split the money amongst themselves, no one would have known!

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

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  • Mega millions – mega problems: why money can’t buy purpose

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    Tonight, the largest lottery drawing in human history will happen. If you have the right numbers for Mega Millions, you can win $1.6 billion dollars. An unbelievable amount of money to acquire in the span of a few minutes.

    To put that in perspective, think if you were given $1 million dollars. For the vast majority of people (and I’m sure anyone who’s reading this), that would be life changing money. Mega Millions is a million times sixteen hundred.

    And that’s not the only huge jackpot available this weekend. Power Ball is drawn tomorrow and is the fifth largest jackpot ever, with $656 million. Slumming it compared to $1.6 billion but still an incredible amount of money.

    Yes, it would be nice to never have to worry about debt, to never have to worry about money. You could pay off all of the debts of family.

    But it would also fundamentally change every relationship you have. Long lost relatives would come out of the woodwork. It would change how people looked at you. Money can unleash unbelievable greed. Families have been divided over a few thousand dollars in someone’s will.

    And how would you ever build any new meaningful friendships?

    Would it really be worth it?

    We can make an idol of money and think that if we just had more, everything would be better.

    Again, I get it. It does fix a lot of problems. If someone is struggling to make ends meet, and you suddenly never had to worry about that, who wouldn’t want that?

    But for whoever eventually wins these huge lotteries, life will never be the same.

    A 2016 article by Time shares stories of various lottery winners who wish they’d never won. Many people who win the lottery end up worse off as a result (I realize that is unlikely with $1.6 billion).

    The author of Ecclesiastes talks of the pitfalls of tremendous wealth:

    I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

    I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

    So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

    Ecclesiastes 2:4-6, 8-10

    The author of Ecclesiastes talks of having great wealth, great wisdom. But none of these things bring ultimately joy and fulfillment on their own.

    Money can’t buy purpose, it can only distract. Money can’t give us life, we can’t take it with us when we die. And no matter how much money we have, we all face death, and having a lot of wealth for a short time in this world matters nothing to eternity.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

    Let’s connect!
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Instagram