answer
| Posted On: 01/24/08 08:34:39 AM |
Age 47, MO |
The title of his new book is "Your best life now." Inside the book he tells his readers how to live a good life of fulfilled desires. Friend, If you don't understand the error of this, then you don't understand the basic tenants of Christianity. John
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faith defined
| Posted On: 01/24/08 08:30:14 AM |
Age 47, MO |
I'm gonna have to start getting up earlier to beat Lou age 64, OH to the draw! Yes Lou, you are exactly right. Some people believe that stepping out on faith is a blind leap in the dark, others rightly acknowledge that "Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was credited to him as rightousness." To believe God, God has to speak first and then we obey. It's that simple. Jesus bid Peter "come" and then he stepped out of the boat. Faith is belief put into action. Belief is a conviction of the facts. Our faith then is evidential yet most Christians are ignorant of the facts, and then are easily swayed. John
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Re: Be Careful
| Posted On: 01/23/08 11:25:40 PM |
Age 51, TX |
I must at least somewhat agree with my brother from Tennessee. While I may not endorse everything that Joel teaches or preaches, I believe it is very dangerous to come against the Lord's annointed, and I certainly am not in a position to judge the heart of Joel Osteen. Joel's gift is primarily as an encourager. I have to ask...is that such a bad thing? I personally do not know of any pastors here in the United States who live in the deplorable conditions in which Pastor Zaur is subject to. I know my pastor doesn't and I think it would be safe to say that none of the ministers at Christian Worldview live in those conditions either. Does that mean they are not teaching the way of Christ because they are not suffering? They are blessed of God and I believe that God delights in blessing his people. I do agree that Joel is severely lacking in preaching messages that lead to conviction and repentance and therefore I do not tune into his messages anymore, but at this point at least I am of the opinion that Joel will have many rewards in Heaven for the souls that he has brought into the Kingdom. As for Pastor Zaur, I thank God for men that answer the call upon their lives to serve as missionairies and pray for God's strength and protection in their life.
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"Blessed are the cheesemakers"
| Posted On: 01/23/08 08:45:02 PM |
Age 30, IA |
The more I think about it, the more profound "Monty Python's Life of Brian" seems to be. At the end, these men are nailed to crosses, as in the days of Jesus, when they break out into song, "always look on the bright side of life." Funny or not, it's something to think about.
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FAITH DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE SURE - BUT IS IN THE ONE WE HOPE IN IS SURE
| Posted On: 01/23/08 02:10:14 PM |
Age 64, OH |
These men preach if you are SURE of what you believe and SURE of what you pray then you are sure to get what you pray for. This is because they have read the Holy Scriptures for their own vain glory and so God has not answered them. So they take their own "ASSUMPTIONS" as faith. They base their teachings on this scripture. Hebrews 11:1Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see.-- They misunderstand this scripture and think faith has to be SURE AND CERTAIN of what it believes. It was their preaching that kept me out of the kingdom for years. If I do not know God then how can I be SURE or CERTAIN that he exists. It is God that I seek and I am NOT sure or certain of Him. But by the grace of the Lord Jesus I read that I only needed a mustard seed of faith to find him. The scriptures are completely true, but it is man that misunderstands. Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].-- We can see here that the certainty is NOT IN US. We only hope, but if we hope in God then our hope is SURE to be rewarded by Him. We just do not know in what way he will reward us. Lou
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FAITH DOES NOT COME FROM THE BIBLE BUT FROM JESUS
| Posted On: 01/23/08 01:49:37 PM |
Age 64, OH |
The problem with much of the church is that they have no clue as to what faith is. They take the scripture in Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.-- they think by this scripture that if they read the scripture or preach from it, that it guarantees faith. Faith can come to us when we read the scriptures. BUT FAITH DOES NOT COME FROM THE SCRIPTURES. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. The Word Of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. Some men read the scripture for their own vain glory and will receive no faith when they read the scriptures. It is only the men who are seeking the Lord Jesus in the scriptures who will be spoke to by the Lord Jesus. FAITH COMES FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SPEAKING TO US AS WE SEEK HIM. This is why we have so many men who teach to "assume" that God has spoken or assume that God will answer if I believe. Jesus can not answer a man on that basis for it would be giving salvation for his own beliefs or his own works, and this is anti-Christ. Lou
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FAITH WILL SAVE NO ONE
| Posted On: 01/23/08 01:25:03 PM |
Age 64, OH |
May God bless you and your family dear friend. The problem with these men is that they do not have a clue what faith is. FAITH WILL NOT SAVE ANYONE. It is not our faith that saves us but WHO we put our faith in. These men preach that we can be saved and then healed by what we believe. That is teaching being saved by works. For what we believe is our work. We are saved by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to save us. The faith to trust Jesus to save us is also a gift by grace from Him. The Muslims have faith and will it save them. They believe what they believe so much that they die for it. But their faith is in vain, for they trust in a idol and a dead man. Lou
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All the truth?
| Posted On: 01/22/08 09:23:49 PM |
Age 47, MO |
Brother, there are no shades of truth, truth is 100% true or it is a lie. I guess the real question is if Osteen intentionally twists scripture to his agenda, or if he actually thinks his drivel is true. But no, he hasn't said any truth in anything he says because his gospel is humanistic. Since his intent is to elevate man to be like God, then even simple statements such as describing faith, love, grace, mercy and Jesus are false. Remember, words are not Christ, Jesus (the giver of truth)is the word. John
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Re: Be Careful
| Posted On: 01/22/08 08:39:52 PM |
Age 56, OR |
Your comment made me think how the author could make his point without naming names. I have often heard and read from Pastors or those in the ministry about certain ministers who have done terrible damage, and continue to do great damage to God's Word, and lead many astray.
They feel it is important to warn us, but if there is not a name attached, someone who is new, young or not knowing much of God's Word may be following this person, and never know the truth.
My point is, I was brought up in a cult. A cult that no person would ever hear the Salvation message in. That cult has to be named to save others who are even considering becoming involved. The Cult Mormonsim.
Joel Osteen is the name of another cult. Leading as many as will listen, away from our Lord Jesus, and straight to Hell.
Joel Osteen is a name that is known by many. I believe the author was trying to show that the way of Joel Osteen is in complete contrast, (night and Day) to the way of many Pastor's who's preaching and living of The True Word of Our Lord is. These men so love Jesus, that they will do what is needed to protect their congration. Seems to be a major difference to the way that Joel Osteen leads his congration.
People need to hear the truth, and we all know the truth hurts. Better the truthful hurt and set a soul free from Joel Osteen's best life now, for the best Eternity with Jesus later. I have lost my mother to this cult, my family is steeped in the mormon beliefe, and I hold in high regard those who name those who name names of those who teach unsound doctrine, and doctrine of demons.
This is love, and it was love when I was shown how lost I was, and that being a mormon would not save me. It is not received well at first, but Jesus sends those who are brave enough to tell the truth.
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What is the "gospel truth"?
| Posted On: 01/22/08 05:54:11 PM |
Age 43, IL |
This is the ideas found in "The Secret" and in the caste systems of India. It is our own fault that we don't have what we desire. Really really believe, and God's blessings will be yours. (And by blessings we don't mean salvation, the comfort of the Holy spirit, and the strength to meet lifes challenges) He means temporal happiness, financial gain, academic smarts/success/health and all sorts of human desires that are not necessarily what God meant when he said he would provide for our needs.
And cruel irony is if we don't have these temporal blessings, its our own fault. (Try to find that in the Bible?) Its our fault because our faith is is not strong enough or we didn't visualized it enough or we didn't tap into our innate potential. It makes all the failures rest squarely on our own shoulders. And when baby Christians find the bad things still come their way, they throw away the whole package because it didn't work. They thought positive, really believed, prayed in faith and they still lost their job, their marriage failed, and their family still doesn't understand them or accept them.
I thank God I had a Godly father who taught me that when adversity hits that God isn't neccessarily going to take the adversity away. He will give us the strength to work through the adversity and he has a purpose in the adversity- though we may never know why. Our best life can be in the midst of our disappointments, and human failures. So when my child was born with a disease that causes her brain to slowly calcify resulting in progressive mental and physical retardation, Did I pray for her to be healed? You bet. Did I believe God could heal her? Absolutely. 12 yrs later, 28 hospitalizations, I have a child who can't walk, talk, or see. And you know what? God has given me my best life and it was not one that I would ever have "dreamed or envisioned".
Because I was never taught that I had to visualize my success or wants I never blamed myself or God for this situation or for the other disappointments or failures in my life. I was taught to bring my requests to God and he would answer. And if the answer was no, than I knew he had something better in mind or a purpose behind not giving me what I wanted. I trust in His goodness.
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Keep it Cross Centered?
| Posted On: 01/22/08 03:53:45 PM |
Age 47, IL |
I appreciate your exhortation to keep discussion cross centered, but Mr. Osteen does not appear to preach Christ crucified; he appears to teach the "prosperity Gospel." Take a look at his stage; no cross there, just a spinning globe. Some of the other comments already have pointed out that the way of Christ is often the way of suffering and persecution. This goes counter to what Mr. Osteen preaches. That's reason enough to call attention to his doctrine and to question it. Finally, if a professing minister teaches doctrine that is at odds with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, believers have a duty to stand against it. I would call upon Mr. Osteen to clarify HIS positions rather than taking others to task for raising red flags.
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Please help me to understand...
| Posted On: 01/22/08 03:13:37 PM |
Age 61, OH |
I am in hopes of learning more here about what makes this obviously popular and persuasive man, Joel Osteen, generate such strong sentiment against him. Can someone who has this understanding please provide a few examples of just why he is "so close", yet so far away from true Christian beliefs. I thank you for your help in expanding my walk with the Lord.
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comment
| Posted On: 01/22/08 02:47:49 PM |
Age 45, TX |
Normally I would agree with this type of reasoning. However, as a long time resident of Houston, I clearly know several first-hand examples of people who have been sucked in and deceived by the Lakewood/Osteen machine. Maybe the comments from the book were taken out of context, but if you actually read the rest of the context, you would see how wrong it is.
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JOEL - PROVE WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE
| Posted On: 01/22/08 09:05:49 AM |
Age 64, OH |
Jesus promised persecution to those who preached the truth. That is why this pastor is in prison. Let Osteen go to a Muslim country and preach and find out if his best life now is true. JOEL, IF WHAT YOU PREACH IS TRUE THEN PROVE IT: GO TO A MUSLIM COUNTRY AND PREACH AND SEE IF YOU ARE STILL ABLE TO LIVE AS YOU DO NOW. What you preach is anti-Christ. Lou
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Joel Osteen is a deceiver!
| Posted On: 01/22/08 07:02:46 AM |
Age 60, MO |
The gospel which Joel Osteen is preaching is NOT the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth! Osteen's gospel is a man-centered false gospel straight from the pits of Hell designed to deceive and lead people astray.
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Pray for Pastor Balaev
| Posted On: 01/22/08 06:29:25 AM |
Age 57, AR |
I know all who are reading this report are broken hearted. I pray that if God allows the Pastor to be in this situation, that there will be someone saved from hell. I pray guards will be lenient, and some will be saved. I pray for Pastor's protection and health, and finances. I pray for all inmates to see Pastor's witness for Christ to be so different than Muslim's witness, a witness of joy in suffering, of faith in God through Christ. Osteen's congregation is being set up for hard times ahead. They have their heads in the sand. It is very sad. I pray Osteen will be found out as a shallow teacher, and not telling ALL the truth.
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Be Careful
| Posted On: 01/22/08 01:03:04 AM |
Age 33, TN |
Brother in Christ,
This site is relevant in spreading truth. Let's keep the articles Cross Centered. Your disdain for Joel Osteen is obvious, and your comments are a bit off base. I would challenge you to write in a way that challenges the reader's mindset without misrepresenting quotes from a book. I too honor our missionairies and martyrs, but not at the expense of any minister, whether I agree with them or not.
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