Tim,

Wow. Unbelievable. I hadn’t heard of any of this until you put it on your blog.

But I Googled it a bit more. This will hit close to home for you: Here’s a link to an investigation of Fortune by the FTC that the North Carolina AG’s office has joined just this year.

Also, here is a story on this subject by USA Today, a publication well-known to Southern Baptist journalists.

And here is an investigative report by the Louisville ABC affiliate detailing what a scam this is, and explicitly showing how faith has been exploited to take advantage of people.

I’ve had to comfort people who have lost everything to schemes like this. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have been the cause of their financial destruction.

I’m with you on this one, brother.

Brother Peter,

Your follow-up has and expose from ABC news. I really do not give that much credence to such organizations, but when they do an investigative expose they usually have their facts. Especially when the state attorney generals office pushes for and receives $1 mil in fines and a restructuring of the company in that state.

Brother Bob,

As you can tell this has nothing to do with politics on my part it is just surprising to me to see this happen with Dr. Merritt.

Brother Howell,

As a lawyer, what do you make of the way Montana law differs from other states. For example, it seems to be perfectly legal in Georgia. What cant you tell us of this?

Blessings,
Tim

Tim,

One redemptive aspect to the ABC expose is no apparent “ax to grind”. In a day when so many people are looking for jobs and ways to survive an economic crisis, had ABC botched an investigation which potentially could squelch economic assistance, their ratings could have taken a beating. Any way one slices this, it seems to me to be a horrific risk for a pastor to expose his congregants to non-sense like this.

I’m also told by laypeople who are members at Cross Pointe that other staff members–including an executive pastor–are into this thing as well. The rabbit hole apparently goes deep.

With that, I am…
Peter

There are a few Multi-Level Marketing programs that are legitimate, but there seem to be more that are not. While Amway may be a good one, if you want to see the other side, just Google “Koscot Interplanetary Inc” some time. You’ll get several descriptions of what a bad plan is.

I checked the firm Merritt is hawking and all the “products” they purport to sell can be bought through normal sources; Dish Network, for example.

Jihn,

When did he get out and what is your source? If this is the case, great!! However, just showing up here and stating such is not good evidence. Dr. Merritt has never distanced himself from the company in any way, shape, form or fashion. I pray this is the case, but he still has some public relation work to do concerning his statement of directing people to this organization when he comes to them with financial difficulties.

Blessings,
Tim

Jihn,

I do not know you. You do not know me. Thus we are in the same predicament. As to my confession of “grievous” sins. If I did something in public, I am obligated to confess it publicly. Dr. Merritt stated what he did publicly and if he “made a mistake” as you point out then he is obligated publicly to correct it. For crying out loud, if Dr. Merritt did not know all of the videos were out, how did he get them removed so quickly?

Blessings,
Tim

And Tim, regarding the videos coming down so quickly…I imagine that once you and Peter, so efficiently noted that they existed, that Dr. Merritt of someone on his staff, kindly advised those web site owners that they were using them without permission.

I found your blog while searching for a connection between the Southern Baptist Church and FHTM. Thank you for sharing your opinion and for including the links to the outside sources. I don’t know a lot about the leadership within the Southern Baptist Church, and wondered if the the Church leaders have an opinion about SBC Pastors promoting this “business.”

While my husband and I were visiting our in-laws this past week in Florida, my father-in-law informed us that he is involved in FHTM. He tried to convince us to join, and or purchase services from this “business”, but we declined. We were given a hard sell, which included watching two videos and listening to a detailed explanation of how FHTM operates. My husband and I both believe that FHTM is a scam, that it is or should be illegal, and not something we would be interested in joining, and politely told him so.

While we were there we had lunch with some members of my in-laws Church (including their Pastor), who we later found out were part of FHTM. One woman gave us a very hard sell, and did not stop until I not too politely explained to her that nothing she could say or do was going to change our minds about their business.

My mother-in-law doesn’t support this, but my father-in-law has gotten involved in similar things in the past, Amway and MonaVie are two that I know of. While we are concerned by his lack of good judgement it is not the loss of his money that concerns us, it’s the involvement of a Pastor in a very small community’s Church in what appears to be a pyramid scheme and fraudulent enterprise.

I know that ministers of all faiths are human, and therefore not without sin, but most people look up to their ministers. We tend to respect and believe what our religious leaders tell us. It pains me to think about the people who will be duped into becoming involved and most likely lose money they can’t afford to lose.

Thanks again for your blog, I hope that other people searching for information on FHTM or other pyramid schemes will do their research, and share the information with those involved, their State Attorney General, and who ever else may benefit from the information.

Mary