For those of us not attending, soon, mercifully, the onslaught of ads for Reno’s upcoming edition of Life Surge will be over.
Its multi tiered always urgent, lunch and wristband included ticketing — with “limited time special!”categories of Executive, Premier, VIP and $497 Ultimate — will no longer be blasted on our feeds.
We will be sparred to look at its dated blockbuster movie looking lineup of a man without limbs, a Duck Dynasty star, the founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Tim Tebow and others
For others who will attend the April 12th event at the Reno Events Center, starting bright and early on that day at 8:30 a.m., they will be repeatedly told how to “surge” their wealth the Christian way.
There’s hooks though, as amid the hyped fervor, they will be offered to buy up stock trading software and more tickets for increasingly expensive classes, with black-clad clipboard carriers scrambling to get their signatures.
After attending, people who’ve gone to shows in other cities said their feeds were then bombarded with ads for in person “impact classes” to increase income, “build Kingdom Impact,” and “surge your family’s future.”
A Las Vegas local writing in the Christian subreddit who was excited about the event there wrote that two extra classes on stocks and real estate were repeatedly offered for $197. “Each speaker ended with this, and waited for the clipboards to be passed around so ‘nobody would miss out.’ They took 15 minute breaks to allow everyone to have a chance to sign up,” he wrote. “Initially, I didn’t want to, but everyone around me was so excited that maybe I was just being too skeptical of it. I decided to sign up for the stocks class, because I was interested in learning more about stocks, and they stated it was a class value of $1500 for $197. It sounded like it was a good deal for a 3-Day Class Event! They also offered the Real Estate Class for free if you sign up for the initial stocks class. Seems like a pretty great deal, right?”
He said the class felt underwhelming though and mainly led to offers for new classes at much higher prices, from $13997 to $30000. He asked for a refund, at which point, he says, he was kicked out.
A commenter said that, at the event she attended, one of the Life Surge speakers was pushing proprietary stock trading software.
“At the close of all this, he says that for $97 they can show us how to use it (plus we get a FREE month's subscription) in a single three-day class,” she wrote. “But hurry! There are only a few spots available! Oh, and there's a money-back guarantee, and the first 20 people to sign up get this free swag bag. Why did I find myself and my friend in line? I have worked in sales; I understand the concept of creating urgency for the sale. But we had fallen prey to a particularly insidious form of religious manipulation. $97 poorer, we returned to our seats for the next speaker.”
One video by an angry looking couple on YouTube is called Life Surge Complaints and leads to a Facebook group called Life Surge Bait & Switch.
The complaints are apparent on the Better Business Bureau website as well, even though it’s noted Life Surge is not BBB accredited.
“I need a refund for ticket LSFRCA25-N6G009G due to being false advertising,” someone wrote in February. “I did not pay for advertising and selling. I paid to hear speakers. I as well need a refund for the classes.This conference was not advertised with accuracy and did not state stuff would be advertised or sold. The worship and all that was not even real due to the motive behind it.”
“Please note our website states, We offer additional products and services to equip you on your journey. Life Surge strives to maintain full transparency in what we offer, we believe in not just inspiring our attendees but also equipping them for success. To that end, we offer optional classes aimed at helping our students understand biblical wealth and learn how to cultivate their income effectively,” a reply signed by the Life Surge team indicated.
“We attended Life Surge and w[ere] pressured to invest $197 for educational classes that was sure to increase our income with Christian values,” another person wrote in December. “After coming home from the conference, we decided that it was too good to be true, and we called to cancel. It was confirmed that it was canceled last May and reviewing my credit card… I see that they’[v]e charged another $97 and a monthly subscription. I tried to call back to cancel again and customer service said they don’t have the ability to cancel it and refund my money. I called the credit card company and they asked me to try to go through Life Surge again before filing a fraudulent activity. I am so devastated that Christians like *** ***** made me trust in something that has taken so much money from me. This is evil, especially because I’m disabled on a limited income.”
The complaints go on and on. This latest version of apparent religious hucksterism combined with traveling prosperity gospel was launched by Joe Johnson several years ago as a for-profit limited liability company. It has grown from holding events in just a few cities in 2021 to over 30 cities in 2024. There’s no telling how long the ride will last.
Those on the speaker page for Reno include the Benham brothers, listed as “Acclaimed Kingdom Entrepreneurs.” One of them, David, previously led a protest to stop in his words “homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation” and “demonic ideologies” infiltrating “our universities and our public school systems.” He’s also compared same-sex marriage with Nazi Germany.
Speaking of Islam and Christianity, he’s said “Islam takes life and enslaves it. Christianity lays its life down and sets you free.”
In this case, if you get roped in further, probably with a much lighter wallet.