Joel Osteen - Soft Serve Message

[SERay]

I am continually amazed by material being promoted from the mouths of teachers as God's truth. I could list many names of false teachers from every corner of the globe, but for now I want to focus on a growing media giant, Joel Osteen. Soft spoken, smiley, smooth, speaks all the right words to lift you up and never anything to upset your conscience. He mentions how wonderful he is quite often to exploit his narcissist self-love. Perfect teacher for the Emerging Church Movement and disciples of the New Age. The man is a real showman. Great message "God wants you to be happy" and "Have your best life now." I'm stunned when the camera swings across the crowd and all you see is an ocean of nodding heads.

God is NOT in the "let's make humans" happy business. That chunk of candy is from the prosperity gospel with God's name amended to it. If God wanted you happy, there would be no wars, no cancer, no 9/11's, no homicides, no evil and no death. We would be living in a utopian paradise of perfection without any sadness or depression. Please understand the prosperity gospel, if you suffer, that means God does not like you very well since you are suppose to be happy and that it is His will. See the error of this logic? There is a growing vacuum in discernment as souls stumble into pseudo systems of half-truths.

Isaiah 5:20 says "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness..." Indeed that is what we have today and such are cursed by blindness, in as much as not able to percieve truth. To this Isaiah wrote with God's annointing "God has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them." When a person rejects God's genuine counsel, a person naturally chooses error and becomes blind to truth. They cannot even know they are blinded. You've heard of the blind leading the blind, they all walk over the cliff together. Joel's message sounds good, tickles the ears and swallows easily. However it is an empty shell of humanistic psychology supported by candy coated words of affirmation. Anthony Robbins did this well, Joel Osteen does it better.

What does God want? He desires all souls to accept His perfect sacrifice sent through Jesus Christ for the atonement of sins by the shedding of his untainted blood. This gift allows us to receive the eternal seal of the Holy Spirit, be filled with the radiant essence of his eternal glory and experience the full inner joy that comes from being reconnected with the Father of creation. No, God does not want us to be rich in the wallet, but rich in the heart. No, he is not out to make us emotionally happy as an end within itself, rather we are called to become empty and then HE can fill us with HIS inner joy. God's way is not our way, so don't try to rationalize it of find the logic, you will fail. God cannot properly dwell in a person full of self-love as the world teaches... it's never going to happen. God's way is to empty ourselves of pride and self-love as to be filled with his lifting presence. It's not about listening to our emotions, whereas the emotions are deceptive, never to be trusted. The happiness God wants his creation to have is generated by His presence through the richness of the Holy Spirit. Apart from submitting to the complete message of Christ, it shall never be realized. Humankind is reduced to chasing rainbows never able to claim the prize of that core fulfillment.

Joel says many things correctly and aspires to reinforce positive affirmation, but he is not a preacher of the Gospel of salvation as he trys to represent. He is a world-class motivational speaker sporting a church label. He has a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status, but his church (business) is for profit and has abundant resources. Joel honestly means well I fully believe, but he is not a spokesman for the truth of Christ, he is promoting a secular message of "feelgoodism." His messages make us feel good about ourselves. Nothing about his message makes us squirm or reflect on repentence. When a true messenger of God speaks under the direction of the Spirit of God, you will be encouraged, chastised, enlightened, cut to the heart, shaken, and overwhelmed with God's love. It will be a fine mix, not all ear tickling like many of today's popular speakers.

I watched Joel and his wife on Larry King Live and even though Larry is a spiritually dead humanist, he exploited Joel for what he was. Larry asked about the cross, Jesus, sin... the cardinal doctrines of Christianity and Joel failed miserably on all accounts. Larry asked, "Why don't you ever mention sin?" and Joel responded, "I do in a different way, but not directly". No kidding, he doesn't actually address anything of Christendom. He only mentions the name of "God" which is politically correct, the rest is about pursuing your goals, not giving up and using some scripture to support his positive self-talk lectures. One might openly observe, "look at all the people in the stadium." That many people following Joel must mean he is correct. Christ spoke sternly and said "...wide is the gate and broad the road which leads to ruin, and many there are who enter by it" Matthew 7:13 Then Christ said in the judgment, many who preached, teached and did miracles would hear from Christ "depart from me for I never knew you" Matthew 7:21-24. Following the crowd like a pack of rats behind the pied piper is NOT how one measures truth. Actually, what is truth is NOT popular and people go to great length to avoid it! Why do you think Christendom has been cast from the schools and society at large?

Joel Osteen reveals he does not comprehend Christ's message: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwL1DThtxYg

Joel's legal watchdogs nearly removed all posted videos of his first interview on Larry King Live in 2005, which revealed his being a false teacher, but a transcript is preserved and commented on: http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/...steen/king.htm

A good response to the Joel Osteen interview on Larry King Live: Joel Osteen: True or False?

I might listen to Joel on occasion for the entertainment value, but I am also reminded Joel is another example of why this world is depreciating into a spiritual hole of utter failure and souls continue to tumble into the abyss of destruction one on top of another. I keep praying that his heart will be enlightened.

[Ressmont]

Amazing! Pastor Ray, you proficiently say so clearly, so rightly, what I wish I could gather the words to articulate. I haven't the patience to watch Joel Osteen even on occasion though without clenching my teeth and raising my blood pressure. He is leading lambs down the slope and over the cliff.

[Michael]

Words of Wisdom

This frightening hour calls aloud for men with the gift of prophetic insight. Instead we have men who conduct surveys, polls and panel discussions. We need men with the gift of knowledge. In their place we have men with scholarship---nothing more.

If the church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.

~ Aiden Wilson Tozer; 1897-1963

[SERay]

Extended Thoughts

In 1 Corinthians 5, we see Paul discussing the issue of immorality within the church of Christ. There is a man who has been reported as having committed acts of sexual immorality with his step mother. The Corinthians apparently were tolerating the man’s sin. They did not cast him out of the fellowship, as they should have, but rather they became arrogant, or puffed up. Paul says that they were boasting. They had become so proud that they would no longer listen to sound instruction. Their boasting was borne out of the fact that they thought themselves to be so loving and tolerant of the offender, that they were not willing to remove him, but kept him in the church with the hopes that he would repent. In doing so, they fell into that same snare of the devil. They painted their sins with the colors of virtue, so they thought that they were doing the right thing, when in fact they were sinning against their Lord. Rather Paul said "Cast out the Evil Man from Your Midst" (1 Cor 5:13b)

Paul said, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” (1 Cor. 5:6). To become so prideful as to allow any measure of false teaching is not good, it is very bad! A little false teachings tolerated in the church will result in the whole church becoming affected with false teachings as is rampant today.

As it is written in 1 Peter 4:17 "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" So yes, it is the duty of Christian sound in the counsel of God to become extremely discreet about what they listen to, who they listen to and why not to listen to them. Even at the expense at being judged as judgmental, for lack of being understood.

Rather, what we are seeing is as prophesied in Scripture "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3) People have become so inclined due to listening to these false teachers, they actually think the Christian life is about pleasing self. That is a different gospel, that is esteeming the fallen man over the risen Christ. Christ said we must come die to self, not live to self. Today's Christian's are intrinsically me-oriented and self absorbed, they flock to the teachings of such as Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn and similar ear pleasers. For wide is the path that leads to destruction and many travel upon it, but narrow is the way and small is the gate that leads to heaven and few, very few, every find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Christianity is not about my better life now... it is about dying to my own selfish ambitions, and looking outward toward others. For as Christ promised, when Peter said, look Lord, we have given up all to follow you. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29) Whatever we give up, God will replace 100 times now in addition to eternal life. That which will be replaced 100 times now is not earthly riches as TV Evangelist Mike Murdock falsely teaches, but riches greater in worth. Spiritual fullness, a heart filled with love, serenity of mind and heart, richness in faith... many times over. Things money can never buy.

Shalom
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