The Great Deception

"But the sign said go this way!" 

There are many counterfeits all around us; counterfeit products, counterfeit logos, counterfeit money, and counterfeit Christs.  They are all "signs" that deceive us into believing a lie.

This last week in EL RETO, the lesson to be taught was "Deception."  As the teams took off from the church to run their race to Arrayanes, they didn't know that the Chinese code sign I gave them had counterfeits to lead them down incorrect paths.  They needed to make sure the sign really said what they thought it said; they needed to make sure the sign said the truth and that it was going to lead them to where they needed and wanted to go.  The problem was, they didn't know there were counterfeits and every team went down a road that led to a sign that said "Wrong Way; go back to the last sign that led you astray and don't pay attention to it."

There were activities throughout the race that they had to accomplish.  Some were individual team activities; others were activities to be realized against other teams so they had to wait for a team in order to do the activity.  Their final destination was the baseball field in Arrayanes.

One team showed up incredibly early.  We found out that they made a wrong turn, misinterpreted one of the signs and ended up skipping the two activities near the river.  This caused a lot of frustration on the captain's part, even the adult we had as a chaperone.  Once things got a little heated, I realized that this was going to need to be dealt with and looked at through the eyes of the purpose of EL RETO.  Learning things about God.

What happened next, turned into one of the most impactful teachable moments EL RETO has ever had.  In real life, we can get deceived very easily if we don't know the true signs very well.  There are many false religions, false prophets, and false Christs deceiving people into believing a lie that looks a lot like the truth.  The good thing about EL RETO is that it's just a game.

The truth is:  (Jesus is) the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through (him).  John 14:6.

The lie is:  You need to be good and work for your salvation.

In "Part Two", we talked about the counterfeit doctrines, beliefs and religions.  We exposed how Satan is out to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  Here are the verses we used:  Matthew 7:15-23; 24:10-13; 23-24; Galatians 1:8; and 1 Timothy 1:3-8; 4:1-8.

During the voting time, we spent time with each team giving them the opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to become Lord of their life.  All the teams but one wanted to pray.  In each team, there were at least 1 or 2 who I could tell were pretty sincere.  That was time well spent.

WHAT IS TRUTH IS TRUTH.  WHAT IS NOT TRUTH, LOOKS LIKE THE TRUTH.  That is the Great Deception.