by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 7 February 2010 @ 03:11 UTC
TULSA, OK – Several weeks ago, I received a letter in the mail from an organization calling themselves the Saint Matthew’s Church organization out of Tulsa. This letter introduced the Bishop of that church group and claimed to help people who may have become a victim of these financially desperate times by sending them a cross, which was supposedly blessed by the Bishop and the Church. Individuals who requested this cross would supposedly have prayers relayed on their behalf to God in Church services over the next several weeks. The letter stressed that the individuals who received these blessed crosses should keep them on their person at all times so that their prayers would come true.
Even though the material I received from this organization looked entirely legitimate, I requested the cross because they did not ask for anything in return. The letter did not request money or even hinted about it. I trusted that this organization was entirely up-front because they cited Scripture several times as their reason for contacting me.
After receiving the cross, I didn’t hear anything more from the Saint Matthew’s Church organization in Tulsa, OK for another two weeks or so. Then, I received a book entitled: “The Seed Principle,” which purports that God’s divine seed principle governs our success and prosperity. What struck me odd about the pamphlet was that the front cover had been ripped off and the book was very disheveled. Another oddity was the fact that on the back of the book was a detachable postcard that the Church requested the recipient send back if they wanted to receive the Biblical Seed Harvest Plan with a prominent notation that Saint Matthew’s would pay the postage for me.
So, I wanted to learn more about the Saint Matthew’s Churches of Tulsa, Oklahoma and went searching on the Internet. What I discovered when I typed in their web address of http://www.SaintMatthewsChurches.com was a bit alarming. First of all, most non-profit organizations, and especially churches have websites with the domain of .org, not .com. But, if you don’t know this or don’t really care, then when you visit this website, you receive the following notification page:
Server Application Unavailable
The web application you are attempting to access on this web server is currently unavailable. Please hit the “Refresh” button in your web browser to retry your request.
Administrator Note: An error message detailing the cause of this specific request failure can be found in the application event log of the web server. Please review this log entry to discover what caused this error to occur.
This sent chills down my spine, so I went searching deeper on the Web for any information regarding this organization. What I discovered was even more chilling.
What I discovered was a website called Ripoff Report: Saint Matthew’s Churches Scam Report # 30548. What you discover on this legitimate website will shock and appall you.
Con artists in Tulsa, OK are literally using the name and image of Christ, and the Word of God to deceive individuals out of what money they may have by tricking them into sending them money as “seed” for money they say will come many times over as a result of the Biblical verse from Galatians 6:7 (KJV) which states: “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Please DO NOT fall for this scam and, whatever you do, don’t send them money. Visit the website and see the testimonials from individuals who have been or nearly were scammed by these thieving con artists. Bottom line, they hope that you will request the first gift, so they can con you into sending them money by telling you that your prayers won’t come true if you don’t. You got it…big time scam.
And, even if you don’t send them money, apparently you will never be able to get rid of them no matter how hard you try. This is yet to be seen when it comes to me and my privacy. I’ll find a way, and, if I do, I’ll let you know.
I Don
Answer: Don’t send money to any church you don’t know personally. The best thing to do is to join a church in your area, worship God there, and give your offerings to them instead.
Well spoken. I have to research more on this as it seems quite interesting.
Glad I found your blog, got me motivated again to get mine going!
This article was helpful in a paper I am writing for my thesis.
Thanks
Bernice Franklin
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Really terrible people, so why do these people really feel the need to do this?
Such awful folks, exactly why do these people feel the need to do this?
I got the mail, I am currently still doing this, and I what I do is I keep on sending the mail, but I never give any offerings. This way I can still research if it’s a scam before I do give any offerings
Believe me, it’s a scam. I still get occasional snail mail from these folks but I don’t open the letters. I just send them back to the originator. I assume they’ll finally get the message and stop bugging me.
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Ti,
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What an epic put up – in fact important! A improbable deal appreciated!
I have been mailing these people for over 4 years. However, as I thought this could be a scam, or money hassel, I knew these letters were sent to me for a reason. The money I sent was beneficial to me because the letters gave me hope. The letters actually told me things that were yet to come. They told me many things that were supernatural and came true. This could be a money scandall. But the money I gave up, was worth the letters and information I recieved. However, 4.5 years later to our present, I would rather give this money to a random bum I see. Now that I know they are rich from their scam by letters. Also, I am a bit discouraged that they lied when they said they were praying for me. And many others things they said, probably weren’t honest.
I am really disappointed.I recieved a prayer rug from this “church” and just finished using it.I feel like a fool at this point.i am in desperate need of help and prayer.I wouuld have mailed off the rug waiting for a spiirtuall blessing.I’m really appreciate someone like yourself for doing the research.Even the mail I recieved has http://www.AboutSaintMattewsChurches.com and http://www.BiblicalPrayer.com underlined in red.There isn’t a valid mailing address,just a P.O.Box 21210
Tulsa,OK74121
Thanks again.
HOW HEART BRAKING….. HERE I BELIEVED THIS CHURCH WAS PRAYING OVER ME AND MY FAMILY. I RECENTLY MOVED AND SENT 2 SEED OFFERINGS AND STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK. AFTER SEEING THIS INFO. I HOPE I NEVER HEAR FROM THEM AGAIN. WOW…. HOW SICK AND SAD. I WISH I WOULD HAVE LOOKED IN TO THIS SOONER. I WOULD MUCH RATHER DONATE MONEY TO A LEGIT CHARITY.
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Anyone sending “seed faith” gifts to this “church” (and I use that term loosely because I don’t believe that it is a church), or to ANY church, are fools. Hate to be blunt, but that is the truth.
But, religions were created to control fools, weren’t they? To quote a recently infamous Alaskan Christian fool, “You betcha!”. Seed faith is just another pay-to-play Xtian scam, from a long list of Xtian scams dating back to the birth of the religion.
Don’t buy turds from turd salesmen. They are free.