Humble Disciple
Active Member
Can a teacher use the Bible to motivate people without compromising doctrine? Also, does Joel Osteen promise that you will never have hardships and setbacks in life if you follow Christ?
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Has Joel Osteen's preaching saved anyone?
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Can a teacher use the Bible to motivate people without compromising doctrine? Also, does Joel Osteen promise that you will never have hardships and setbacks in life if you follow Christ?
... Brother Robert or should I say rlvaughn, you're my kinda preacher!... Come on you Baptist liven up!... Brother Glen
Well, it would seem he ought to be able to do so, since there are things in the Bible that ought to motivate us. I fear, however, that much of motivational preaching may tend to appeal to the flesh rather than the spirit.
I do not know what Joel Osteen promises regarding this, but I would guess that he does not say "never." Most prosperity gospel preachers have a way of blaming one's hardships and setbacks on oneself.
I initially posted not because I have great expertise on Joel Osteen, but as a general warning that we should not use a "God is sovereign" mantra to somehow whitewash our problems based on the fact of God going ahead and doing his work in spite of them. For example, I have a preacher friend whose wife came to a knowledge of the truth through the bus ministry of a Methodist Church. I can praise God for that, while at the same time not recommending the United Methodist Church to anyone, as well as not being too keen on how many, if not most, bus ministries are carried out.
Joel preaches Moral Therapeutic Deism. He presents Aaron's calf as YHWH.
canadyjd
Well-Known Member
Ok, I watched about 6 minutes. He does actually say Christ died on the cross for our sins, so he broke his own stated purpose of not preaching the cross.
Other than his saying “your sins are already forgiven” I didn’t hear anything I disagreed with.
If someone heard the first 6 minutes they would have heard the gospel and salvation is possible.
peace to you
Ge is repackaged Robert Schuller, ole feel good self esteem gospel!
No, you are unfairly lumping Robert Schuller with the health and wealth heresy. Schuller was actually much more biblical than Osteen. Schuller had a relatively orthodox Christian basis for what he preached, but he had come from a theological background that destroyed any sort of healthy view of humanity. Schuller believed that the way to emphasize the image of God still present in humanity and to call people to something greater in Christ was to emphasize self-love. If we don't love ourselves, how can we love our neighbor as ourselves? However, Schuller went too far with it and distorted the message, losing the urgency of the gospel's call for transformation.
My only personal interaction with people from the Crystal Cathedral was in 1986 when my home church was going through a massive renewal (something I had not experienced before or since), where the Spirit was working through and in the people who gathered for worship at every service. We were seeing dozens come to faith every month without any special services or emphases. The pastor didn't even preach particularly evangelistic sermons, just a combination topical series or a series of sermons from a book of the Bible.
One Sunday evening, the youth choir from the Crystal Cathedral was on a tour and they sang at our church (one of the largest in the region) for the community. They did a fine polished job of singing, but it wasn't anything special. At the end of their program, our pastor thanked them for coming and gave an extremely brief appeal for all those who sense God calling them into a new life to come forward and speak to someone about faith in Jesus. The Crystal Cathedral choir began singing an invitation hymn, but they were struggling because so many were crying. Out of about 50 singers, a little more than a dozen stepped out of the choir loft and came forward to talk to our ministers. Almost every one of them made a profession of faith.
The scene reminded me of starving people suddenly finding themselves before a loaded banquet table. I had the distinct impression that they had heard all about Jesus, but had never been presented the opportunity to meet Him in a way they understood.
He was new age and humanism rolled onto one, another and false gospel!
Well we have company and at the breakfast table I told them of the conversation going on here... My wife made this comment... The preacher doesn't save anyone, its the LORD that does the saving!... And this has always been a favorite saying of mine and weather I coined it or heard it somewhere else I don't know?... The LORD "ALWAYS" beats the preacher to the creature!... And as they say, you can take that to the bank... Brother Glen
Humble Disciple
Active Member
What Osteen says is that God allows hardships and setbacks to happen in your life, so that His glory will be more demonstrated when He turns things around for you.
Humble Disciple
Active Member
That sounds extreme.
What do you mean by "new age?"
Are you just throwing buzz words around again or are you actually referring to something specific? I'm certainly not an expert on Schuller, but I am unaware of him embracing any facets of the new age movement.
Humble Disciple
Active Member
I could list at least five things that I don't like about Joel Osteen, but I could do the same for teachers, like John MacArthur, who I mostly agree with.
The question is whether or not God can sovereignly use Joel Osteen's message to lead sinners to salvation, despite its imperfections.
Osteen's videos usually end with an invitation to come to Jesus and repent for salvation.
The question is whether or not God can sovereignly use Joel Osteen's message to lead sinners to salvation, despite its imperfections.
Osteen's videos usually end with an invitation to come to Jesus and repent for salvation.
What does Exodus 32:5 tell us?
Humble Disciple
Active Member
That's assuming Joel Osteen believes in a false god.
And it is where does it say MY people?... Not only that they have turned their backs on God and claiming these are our gods now!... Brother Glen
Exodus 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Humble Disciple
Active Member
And it is where does it say MY people?... Not only that they have turned their backs on God and claiming these are our gods now!... Brother Glen
Exodus 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
That's assuming Joel Osteen believes in a false god.
Humble Disciple
Active Member
What does Joel Osteen teach, specifically, that is contrary to the Bible? In this video, Osteen focuses more on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus than the average preacher would on any given Sunday:
I have never heard Joel Osteen claim that if bad things happen to you in life, it's a sign that your faith wasn't genuine. Instead, he says keep on having faith until God uses your suffering to demonstrate His glory when your day of vindication comes.
I have never heard Joel Osteen claim that if bad things happen to you in life, it's a sign that your faith wasn't genuine. Instead, he says keep on having faith until God uses your suffering to demonstrate His glory when your day of vindication comes.
No, that's saying Joel Osteen has created his own version of God. Ask yourself this question. Is God pleased with Joel Osteen's image of God? Like Aaron, Osteen is acting like a priest in the Kingdom. Has Osteen done what pleases God with his portrayal of God?
Humble Disciple
Active Member
You would have to find something that Osteen has taught from the pulpit which specifically contradicts what's in the Bible.
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