How do you respond to "God" texts & emails?

[Carole L]

A lot of those emails asking you to send it to x number of people in x amount of time, and if you break the chain you will have bad luck are Phishing (fishing) scams looking for email addresses that can be sold to other scammers. They open you, and all of your friends, to getting all that junk, porno, and "specialty item" sales emails.

By sending them thru, you are verifying a live address, plus you are giving them x number more. If you do choose to send them on, be sure you delete the promise/threat at the bottom, as that is usually where the code is hidden for the collection of email addresses.

Also, NEVER forward emails with others addresses on it, always copy and paste the text you want into a new email to send. That stops the chain.

This information was given to us by a very competent tech guy at the last place I worked. He knew all about what he was telling us, as he was a former hacker himself.

[DonnaEdgar]

"God" chain mail ( as well as ALL chain mail )is inmmature and a waste of time. I do not respond to any kind of mail that has even the tinest hint of manipulation, no matter what the content is about.

[sola]

Frightening does not make one responsible to God in voluntarily sharing a good and inspirational word with others. The fact that our love for God should be unconditional requires that we should not gamble godly deeds on promises or rewards. The text and email messages should win their credibility of inspiration and meeting a need , else, they should be ignored or deleted. That is my usual screening platform. T hanks

[exchangedlife]

Here is a simple formula I use to evaluate whether or not to forward an email. If it says I must in order to be guiltless or approved, *DELETE*. Even if I would have liked it enough to forward it, I delete any guilt-tripped manipulation. God will never sort through emails and judge a person on whether they 'loved Him enough' to forward a message. That is nothing more than a works based, man-centered false religion. God will never reward anyone for earning His approval. Nor will the angels grant miracles because you sent an email to 10 people. Oh, and God doesn't think you don't love Him if you hit delete. I think Jesus would do the same thing.

[yarra]

I agree with all the previous comments pretty much. Sometimes I email the person who sent such an email and thank them for the 'lovely prayer' or 'nice words', but I don't do any forwarding. Superstition often gets linked in with belief and these type of emails are really a form of superstition, a "do this to get blessings / good luck" approach.

[DonnaEdgar]

To all of the above, that a great big "DITTO!" One sugestion that may be an wittness tool is to explain (if asked) why you don't respond to such chain letter type e-mails; i.e., Because God does not use guilt trips, because God does not manipulate, because God blesses you as He sees fit, not because some one sent a letter,.... gentle explanations can get people to thinking about their own path and the direction they are going. God bless ya, Donna E.

[deejay]

You also have to be careful that it isn't being used to harvest your personal information, or determine if your email address is valid and thus ripe for hacking.