Chameleon: Understanding the Five Faces of a Super Deceiver: Sensuality, Popularity, Wealth, Charisma, Fear

By Marc Edgar Royster Sr. Ed.D

At one point or another, we’ve all been targeted or victimized by a Super Deceiver. Even as you are reading the cover of this book, unbeknownst to you, there is a very strong chance that someone you are very familiar with is lying, cheating, hustling or deceiving you. It is very possible that you are doing the same thing to someone else without you fully understanding the spiritual ramifications it holds.

In spite of having as its primary instructional tool, the best-selling book [The Bible] of all times, today’s Christians are in an identity crisis — we are in perilous times! And as we continue to live in perilous times, the explosive growth in WEALTH, the POPULARITY of people, places and things, the unencumbered SENSUALITY displayed in various forms, the charm and CHARISMA of people who are Christian in name only, and people who are adept at manipulating FEAR tactics to paralyze or channel a person’s movement, has allowed an insidious platform for Super Deceivers to thrive.

Like a CHAMELEON, who is capable of changing colors and appearances based on the environment it has settled into, a Super Deceiver does it in order to wreak havoc on you, your relationships, your finances, and your purpose.

Now is the time to understand and reclaim your identity, your purpose, and your influence as a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ, so that you, too, can expose and counter the five faces of a Super Deceiver.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512791853

Marc Edgar Royster Sr. Ed.D

Marc Edgar Royster, Sr, is a military veteran of the First Gulf War, a retired Army chief warrant officer, a seasoned business professional, author, and pastor of Harvest for Christ Global Outreach. He has pioneered and help develop several ministries domestically and abroad. Known for his keen insight and uncanny gift for spiritual discernment, he seamlessly incorporates a wealth of spiritual and professional knowledge, gifting, and experience into a model that serves and benefit all who comes within his sphere of influence, both on a practical and spiritual level. His mantra is to be Real, Relevant, and Relatable. Royster’s passion for ministry is just as strong today as it was in 35 years ago. Royster currently resides in South Florida with his wife of 31 years as empty-nesters. They have two adult daughters, an adult son, and a soon to be daughter-in-law.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 Marc Edgar Royster, Sr. Ed.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9186-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9187-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9185-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017909767

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/23/2017

CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I Sensuality

Chapter 1: Allurement, Entrapment, And Dismantlement

Chapter 2: Wicked Webs Women Weave

Chapter 3: Deceptive Devices Dudes Deploy

Chapter 4: The Lies Sensuality Perpetuates

Part II Popularity

Chapter 5: The Attraction Distraction Tandem

Chapter 6: People, Places, And Things

Chapter 7: The Lies Popularity Perpetuates

Part III Wealth

Chapter 8: Was Jesus Rich Or Poor?

Chapter 9: The Wealth Paradox

Chapter 10: God’s Purpose For Wealth

Part IV Charisma

Chapter 11: Angels Of Light: The Conniving Convincer

Chapter 12: Angels Of Light: The Abominable Advisor

Chapter 13: Angels Of Light: Lustful Leaders

Part V Fear

Chapter 14: The Power Of Doubt

Chapter 15: Going From Doubt To Fear: The Power Of Intimidation And Antagonism

Chapter 16: The Damage That Fear Produces

Endnotes

About The Author

To the only true, wise, and living God. I am grateful to be the vessel You appointed to author this work.

INTRODUCTION

The Bottom Line Up Front!

The secret things belong to the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

—Deuteronomy 29:29

Christianity is facing an existential threat. In 1998, it was estimated that by the year 2025, Christianity will have decreased around the world by 8 percent.¹

Unlike the existential threat churches endured during periods of the Roman Empire, the threat to Christianity is more nuanced. One reason there is a decline in Christianity is that people are deciding to limit their church participation and activities and, in many cases, disassociate themselves entirely from church. The reason given varies between irrelevancy of the message being put forth to a sense of indifference and the lack of genuine love within the assembly. Yet others see the church pushing a flawed agenda that is mostly centered on things that elevate and glorify a human leader and phantom achievements but nothing that honors God. The problem with such disassociation is that it has and will continue to have a cascading effect that will result in future generations being unfamiliar with church function, protocols, and expressions of worship.² What’s worse is the potential of Christianity’s losing its voice on the global stage.

But why is this so? Why are people willing to disassociate themselves from Christian churches? Who or what is causing this sense of disillusionment, discontent, skepticism, and falling away? What about those who still attend church, yet at the same time feel empty and uneasy in their spirits about the worship experience? Who and what keeps them coming back week after week? What keeps them giving and spending money beyond their means in hope that things will get better or that, as the beloved phrase goes, Late in the midnight hour, things will turn around?

The answers to those questions will be addressed throughout this book, but to provide you with a little insight now, many Christians are being manipulated, challenged, and hoodwinked by the influence of super-deceivers. As the title of this book suggests, a super-deceiver’s outward appearance is like a chameleon, which is capable of changing color and appearance based on the environment into which it has settled. A super-deceiver uses five variations of deception as a method of seduction:

1. sensuality—things that appeal to the physical body

2. popularity—things that appeal to one’s ego and attract or distract one from things that really matter

3. wealth—things that appeal to one’s socio-economic status but actually give a false sense of security

4. charisma—the attribute of persuasion, attraction, and believability that leads to hero worship and misplaced priorities

5. fear—things that control and manipulate one’s movement and purpose

Throughout history there always have been existential threats to what God chose to propagate His message, His love, and His purpose. During the same time those threats existed, God always sent envoys and spokespersons to counter such threats and to warn His people. God raised up and inspired common men and women to lead His people in victory and away from the trappings of their enemies.

This book will attempt to bring balance in inspiring one to live a God-ordained life and to truly understand His message to us, His love for us, and His purpose through us. Most important, this book will bring attention to the tricks, traps, and trip-wires of super-deceivers. While super-deceivers have been in operation for centuries, their activities have become elevated. They are now more brazen in their efforts to diminish what is required to live a life honoring God. It is now more evident than ever what Jesus said: And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days (Mark 13:20).

If you were to take a short journey throughout history, you would find the deception started with Adam and Eve, when Satan disguised himself and misrepresented the truth of God’s words. Satan incited Adam and Eve’s curiosity and sensuality to break their focus. As the scripture says, they saw the tree as something to please their appetites (although they had an abundant food source in the garden); also, the tree was something pleasant to the eyes and was something to make them wise—it was an ego thing. So we have three things here: (1) something that could satisfy a craving, (2) something that was dazzling to the eyes, and (3) something that offered a feeling of superiority.

The threats to God’s message, God’s love, and God’s purpose continued when the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses, made a decree to slay all the Hebrew males to eradicate the male seed from Israel. To understand the mind-set of the Egyptian pharaohs, we need to know they considered themselves as gods. They used the position of authority, as well as superstition, to exert fear upon the citizenry and subjects. One of the goals of the pharaoh was to contaminate the Hebrew women by impregnating them with the seed of pagan Egyptian men. And if you agree with many of the biblical scholars who asserted that Egypt represented sin, then it is obvious what the goal of the super-deceiver was: to mix sin with what God had separated unto Himself.

There were other instances of God’s message, God’s love, and God’s purpose being threatened, but such threats became a little convoluted when they were perpetrated from within the ranks of God’s people. It was Israel’s own King Herod who decreed that all male babies be slaughtered, which was an attempt to kill the baby Jesus. King Herod saw Jesus as a threat to his kingship, but in reality, Satan was using Herod’s proclivity for popularity and power to thwart God’s message, God’s love, and God’s purpose.

The threat of knowing the truth of God’s message from error practically became indistinguishable after the death of Jesus and during the time of the apostles. Apparently, the great apostle Paul exerted an enormous amount of energy while contending with other so-called apostles about the truth of the gospel. Paul all but conceded that he was not as charming and charismatic as many of the other so-called apostles, which is why he stated, in part, "when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:1–4).

In conclusion, the last book of the bible, Revelation, speaks about a well-to-do region in Asia called Laodicea. The church that was established in that region benefited greatly from the socio-economic status and business commerce associated with the area. While the city—and by default, the church—prospered in enormous ways, the emphasis and dependence on wealth displaced the church’s emphasis and passion for propagating God’s message, God’s love, and God’s purpose. In effect, the message became a message of prosperity, the love was for money, and the purpose was to gain more so that they would have need of nothing at all. As John, the beloved apostle, cited, So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17).

PART I

Sensuality

CHAPTER 1

Allurement, Entrapment, and Dismantlement

Eye candy is all around us. A mere twenty minutes could hardly elapse before our eyes come across an animated object that attracts us or distracts us. Yes, we are either attracted or distracted by what appears appetizing and appealing to our eyes. Even when we aren’t hungry, we can’t help but nibble on certain foods. It seems like there is always room for just a little more of the right thing. Let’s face it—some things are hard to pass up. However, the matter of nibbling becomes much more complicated when it comes to things that not only appeal to our eyes but can instantly satisfy our appetites or cravings.

I recall the story of a guy who was nearing the end of a two-day fast. He was a driver who delivered food to restaurants. At the end of his last delivery, he was so hungry that he broke his fast two hours prematurely. As he was carrying bags of raw vegetables into a restaurant, a baby carrot somehow fell out of one bag and onto a table. He looked at the carrot, wiped it down, and took a bite. After two or three nibbles on the carrot, he realized that it wasn’t worth it and felt horrible for not continuing his fast as scheduled. A baby carrot got him—not a cheesecake, not a juicy burger, not an apple but a baby carrot.

Although we can find humor in this story, there are strong lessons to be learned that are not a laughing matter. Many would admit to having been in a similar situation; that is, being determined to do something or to refrain from something, only to have that unexpected thing seemingly pop out of nowhere and interfere with the desired plan. As with my friend, the truth is that his eyes were not mesmerized by the carrot; his eyes saw something that his internal appetite desired.

Think of this scenario for a moment. Say a guy and his spouse agree to fast the entire day until dinnertime. The guy refrains for the entire day, but as he is about to leave his workplace, a supervisor invites him into a conference room for a quick social mingle. As the guy enters the conference room, the sight of hors d’oeuvres—chicken wings and other finger foods and treats—begins to overpower any sense of restraint the guy had for maintaining his fast until dinner.

If sampling the hors d’oeuvres seems innocuous to you, then how might you feel if you were the spouse? If you were the one looking forward to breaking your fast with your spouse, would you be miffed at his or her seeming lack of discipline? Would you call him or her a cheat, or would you be empathetic and forgiving? Be truthful, here. Would you allow a small plate of wings, some meatballs, and a few cheese squares to come between you and your spouse?

In unpacking this analogy further, what if the same guy in the scenario was invited to a social mingle at a restaurant after work, and out of the blue he was met with eye candy of the human sort? He is faced with