Thursday, April 10, 2008

Church of Oprah


I recently viewed a youtube video where Oprah had spoken about denying Jesus Christ. She says that this came about when she was in her late 20's and her pastor talked about God being a "jealous God." It didn't make sense to her that God, who was supposed to be all-powerful, and all-loving could be jealous of her. How could that be?
This led Oprah into a new venture of faith where she sought answers outside of the framework of the all-powerful God she had believed in as a young adult. She got to the place where she believed that there couldn't possibly be one way. On her show when she was challenged by a member of the audience about Jesus being the only way, all she could do in response was to repeat over and over again, "There couldn't possibly be one way." This led her to New Age doctrines and the development of a "New Earth Web class."
Why should we be so concerned about this? Because Oprah has a faithful following of millions of viewers who are easily swayed by her philosophies. Any time that she promotes a book through her book club or television show, it instantly becomes a best seller! By offering this new earth web class, she is seeking to lead people away from Jesus Christ, and towards this doctrine of:
"Who you are requires no belief." "Heaven is not a location, but refers to the inner realm of consciousness." "The man on the cross is an archetypal image. He is every man and every woman." "My mind is part of God's; I am very holy." "My holiness is my salvation." "My salvation comes from me." "Let me remember there is no sin." "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the Old Rugged Cross.'" "The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross."
If there were a lifeboat adrift at sea, and in the lifeboat were a male lawyer, a female doctor, a crippled child, a stay-at-home mom, and a garbageman, and one person had to be thrown overboard to save the others, which person would we choose?”
This type of thing is done every day. You see it in the school yard when teams are chosen for dodgeball. The weakest players are seldom chosen first. Why? The team captain doesn’t want them in the lifeboat. It carries over into adulthood. It seems that Oprah is afraid that she will be kicked out of the lifeboat.
But this is not the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus says: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." With the message of Jesus in mind, everyone who believes has a secure place on the boat.
What do you think? Do you agree? Share your thoughts.