Have you gotten a link in your e-mail to that YouTube video about the new church of Oprah? I've seen it linked three times now from different sources. I'm not linking here. Honestly, you can find it on your own. I just can't bring myself to make a connection.
As some of you know, I enjoy the sound of my own voice, can't keep my mouth shut and think I know everything. And it's even worse when I'm typing instead of talking. So I had to respond when the video popped up on the Yahoo group that serves as a connector among local LDS moms here.
Here's what I said. I tried really hard to be nice.
I agree that Oprah mixes a lot of truth with misinformation about spiritual things. I don't watch the show. I think it's a time-waster and for me, not constructive.
However, she does a lot of good in the world, too, and I hate to see someone judged on a personal level when they are trying to look for truth the best way they can (and maximize their TV ratings because that's their job).
I am also really concerned about the widespread dissemination of that YouTube video among Latter-day Saints. I saw it from three different sources yesterday. The makers of the video clearly have a political agenda. Maybe you agree with that agenda, and of course that is fine. But make your decision about that without the far-fetched connections that are made at the end of the video.
I would be interested to see what the makers of that video have to say about the restored gospel and members of the Church. I have met many far-right Evangelicals who think we're as scary and Satanistic as Oprah. It makes me less inclined to get on their side and believe their propaganda.
Your thoughts? Oprah? Obama? YouTube? Evangelicals? Come on, get into it.
21 comments:
I completely disagree with you on all things Obama :) But I think you were right on with your Oprah remarks... she does do good... a lot of good... and I think that some times we get so caught up in the frenzy of things that we don't take the time to research it ourselves... we just jump on the bandwagon to what everyone else is saying... we need to take the time and find out what we believe and feel about a situation and form our own opinion.
Thanks for posting!!
Interesting
HO. LEE. CRIKEY! Seriously??? I can't even start because I would have to stop at some point, and I just don't know if I could do that.
I never watched it, I don't need to. It won't change my opinions of Oprah or Obama.
I like Oprah. I like Obama. Though I don't "adore" either of them.
Well said. I agree. I think what you said can be broadly applied to MANY of these fervently forwarded e-mails with political agendas. I got into it with a family member on just this very topic and I couldn't express my views this eloquently. In other words, "preach on, sistah, preach on!"
i dont have to research anything baout thi guy and his book because he compleely taking apart the christian religion and saying thats its not whatevr the bible says i know that my grandmother is turnin in her grave! oprah is as confused as this man my family and my church and my families churchs are praying or both of them why they threw obama in their idont know but oprah is a hot mess
I do not agree with you. Oprah has been spreading her tainted "gospel" for years. We're in a day when everyone is searching for some truth yet people refuse to pick up their bibles and get the real truth. I am amazed at people who try to find their purpose in this world but exclude the creator, God. How can you do this when He is the one who created you with life and meaning.
I do agree Oprah does lots of charitable work. This is needed in this world. However, what will it mean in the end if she does not even believe Jesus is the only way. Being "good" does not get you into heaven, it's confessing the Lord Jesus. And from what I've seen and heard from her own mouth over the years, it's a lot of new age crap-exalting yourself as God. People that is very dangerous!!!
I just want to get one thing straight for all those that think oprah is a Christian, she is not. One can't actually mean the things that she is professing and actually be a follower of Jesus. In my humble opinion, she has had a little too much fame and riches. For those who don't know the bible she is just pushing toward the antichrist's one global religion of tolerance. Does oprah do good things? absolutely. Does she do more good things that people who profess to be chistians do. Sure. But the people being camoflage Christians hurt God's family just as much. Give your mind, body and soul to The Holy Trinity. Not oprah's man made divinity.
Here is the rub with Christianity. It teaches you to to focus on Christ and in doing so, you are over exposed..... Your love for Him and His love for you changes YOU. You don't change you.... for the most part you cant..... Pretty simple but the world is blind and cannot see it ....The world does not want to see it. The world wants and easy way to live with or without sin......and the world gives itself permission to seek itself and its own way...
Oprah teaches what the world wants to hear. Focus on good things. These are god!
and since I have good, I can look at me as a god or have oneness with god.... If I weren't good I wouldn't have god.... So.. that sin thing... yeah, well we all have that.. lets do better.. and since I am good and know about the good god... he would never send us to hell..... Good gods don't send people to hell. So... Now that we have this teaching, we can ignore our sin... go on living....not worry.... I only have to be responsible for my good, cause after all.. that's my god...
That is a form of self worship. If Im blind and cant see and Im too blind to see my sin, then Im really O.K. I can enjoy that too and see there are so many ways to god....
It is so obvious that Oprah preaches self and Christianity doesn't. It is sad that with a Baptist background that she obviously does not know the teachings of God and leaves you to question, that if she does not know the teachings how could she know God? One scripture alone should be her conviction as well as convict her followers and for that matter all of us do gooders.....
Your Righteousness is of filthy rags!...... If we only knew the literal translation!!! Would we not learn to repent from calling anything that is of good "Of me"
or "Mine" Praise God and God only if I am lucky enough to ooze out some kind of goodness from this wretched condemned flesh! The day Oprah heals the sick, raises the dead and starts preaching the gospel of Christ is the day I will pay her mind. Until then He has confound the wisdom of the wise and made foolish the rhetoric of Oprah,friends and followers.....
Over and over lately I keep thinking of the "Lamb of God" ...
"Lamb of God" You take away the sin of the world. Someone really got this right. He takes away the SIN not sins of the world... the Sin of the world.... Its a process He put forth in motion and I, I being human, have virtually nothing to do with it, and no power to do it with...
As awful as this world is... and here is God who stepped in from the beginning of humanity and started taking away the sin of the world.....How awful would this world be without that process? Or if the process never existed? If it were truly left up to us and our goodness. By now, its safe to say there would not have been any goodness left. Shudder at the thought of a world without the Lamb of God! You can have it Oprah!
Oprah needs God. She's only thinking about a way of filling up her emptiness and soon she'll realize that no matter how much she gets, or how many people follows her as a "spiritual leader" (cuz that's what she obviously wants)her questions about life and it's purpose are still gonna be there...so as christians we don't need to be judging wether she's going to hell or heaven, cuz she has a soul which needs to be saved, we just pray for her, and try to shed some light and love upon her...cuz we can't do anything about her, but God is almighty.
It's good to see some varied ideas on this subject. But how many of us have actually read this book from Tolle? I have and nothing about it suggests that God is not the main focus. Oprah has the opportunity and the guts to actually try to help others see. I'm not a fan of Obama, and I don't have to agree with everything Oprah says to benefit from the good that she does that has helped me. Think for a moment... it is said, "We are all in Christ." Look deeper... Christ is in all of us and in everything. Father, Son, Holy Ghost... all three are All One. Christ is in us. God is in us. We are All One. We are made in His image. We are made of Him. So on the level of consciousness, He is consciousness, He is our consciousness. Return to the silence... He tells you repeatedly, BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD! Listen deeper. Be silent, like He has instructed us and Hear the Truth from Within! This is not a cult, it is not new, it is just awakening, we are awakening. Christ died so that we would not have to suffer... but so many go on suffering and actually celebrating the suffering... that was not the message He left for us. That's what Oprah is meaning... listen to His message, don't glorify the suffering.. He suffered so that we would not have to, not so that we could embellish ourselves in His suffering... He came with a message, that was the important part we have chosen to ignore... Christ was Spirit in the Flesh, an example for all of us. That is what is meant by Christ being the only way. The message of Christ. If others get His message through another source, but still get the message which He brought, they will still find their way to God. Each of us have the way to God within ourselves... how do we as Christians understand this? Because we are assured that Christ is WITHIN US!
Thanks, everyone, for the comments, and for keeping it respectful and polite!
I am sincerely interested in what everyone is saying on both sides!
I just want to make a quick correction about a misguided un-Biblical idea that I've heard the "oprah church" and michelle allude to. This concept is that God is in everything and all we have to do is listen deeper to our innerselves. This concept is error! First, consider that there is a reason we don't see God face to face:
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
The reason we don't communicate well with God is because sin has separated us. But God has made us a promise:
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Those who claim that God is "in them" must show the work of the law written on the heart. As scripture says, "to the law and two the testimony, if they speak not according to this word there is no light in them". Anyone who claims to be listening to the "within" and comes up with things not in harmony with scripture do NOT have God within them. God said, "my spirit shall not always strive with man". There are things that we do (sin) that don't allow God to be within us. Listening within is an error because we confuse the voice of the Holy Spirit with our voice of human reasoning and ambition.
When people believe that all they have to do is start listening to themselves deeper they fall into error.
Pro 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Just because you think you hear a voice inside you that tells you things does NOT mean it's the Holy Spirit! Everything must be in harmony with the Word of God!
2Ti 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
In otherwords, the scriptures are "God breathed" as the Greek states. They are not subject to our interpretation, but the interpretation of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will not speak of Himself (as Jesus said) but will speak of Jesus, He points us back to the Bible and the revelation of God's character.
I say this because we are failing to see the error of what Oprah's "doctrine" teaches. Her message is to look within to find God. God can not be within if the heart is not born again in Christ Jesus! If one is born again in Christ Jesus, they must show the work of the law written on the heart (see Rom 2). We must stop looking within to find God, and start looking at the scriptures. Only they can make us "wise unto salvation". When we start doing that we can invite the Holy Spirit in. Good works is not enough to make it to heaven (not everyone that says Lord Lord, will make it to the kingdom). We are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We can't earn our salvation by good works. Rather we look to Christ for Righteousness by faith! Once we have that righteousness we will show evidence of it by our works! We keep the Commandments as evidence of Christ's Righteousness (not our own). To think you can earn salvation by your good merits, your works, the kind things you do for people, even by keeping the commandments (though all of these things are necessary) we make Jesus a liar because He paid the cost to justify us and give us His righteousness which we are selves are incapable of obtaining. The Bible says, "all thy commandments are righteousness" therefore if we've broken the commandments... which every human being has... none of us are righteous! This is why no matter how "good" we are we always fall short in some way and Christ must make up the difference! So we do not look within for salvation, we look to Jesus! No earthly-human priest can give us absolution of sins, rather it is Jesus who cleanses us from all unrighteousness by giving us His Spirit to change us and CAUSE us to walk in His ways and have the law on our hearts. (Heb 8 & Jer 31:31-33)
The truth can NEVER be within because:
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
There is nothing good in us that gives us direction in life. Until we invite Jesus in, until we have His Spirit... we can find nothing good from within because what is within needs change! We consider Oprah, Obama, etc good peole because we judge them by a human standard! None of them are Jesus nor as righteous as He is! Our standard for what is good is Jesus and no one measures up to that standard! When man was made in the image of God we reflected the Character of God and God is love! After sin man no longer reflects that aspect of God because "all we like sheep have gone astray". It is only by accepting Jesus that we have the ministry of reconciliation and people can begin to see God in us!
How do we know if we are led by the Spirit?
1Co 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
This is the reason why Oprah should not teach people to look within. This is the reason why self worship and self righteousness are error. I have alot to say on this subject but time and space will not permit it. Look me up, if any wish to discuss further. But in closing I will say to those who are/were taught that salvation is found in yourself:
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
All you lovely Mormons out there, you are truly nice people. Please do yourselves a favor and log on to http://www.mormonchallenge.com/ Watch it in it's entirety and go from there. Thanx
I've decided to leave Vicci's comment here in an effort to respect a viewpoint that is different from mine, but I just want to make it clear that it is an anti-Mormon site. If you don't want to see that, don't go there.
I appreciate that you didn't delete my post. Is it really an anti~mormon site? Is there any truth to their viewpoints? The Bible says, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life." If someone who also loves God sends you some information that may be different from what you're used to, don't you think it is important to have an open mind and at least research the information? I would be interested in knowing if you did research it and if it was full of errors, I would like to know because I am not out to spread inaccuracies. I just love all of God's creation and I don't want the devil to win because there is good and bad in all religions and I honestly believe that the devil likes us spending all our time fighting each other because that leaves us no time to fight him. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you are wrong, I am just saying that we are all in this thing called life together and there really is only one decision that we ultimately need to make. That is, "Heaven or hell." At the same time, I am a truth seeker. To me the best way to do that is to talk, {and listen!} to people who believe differently than us. I am open to what you have to say. Thanks again!
Religion is and always be a tricky subject to speak about.
We Do Not know if that person in that church actually said that God is Jealous of "YOU or ME". Many times when it is said, it pertains to other GODS. Gods that people worship that should not have a face or body. Some people cannot feel close to god with fire and brimstone. I don't and wont believe that God or Jesus will harm me first of all without actually knowing that there is a calling for my life and why I am here. Sorry, I just won't do it.
I truly believe in Jesus, How you get there is not your problem or mine. That issue is through God. And that timing will not and won't be determine by you or me. I also grew up in the baptist church and the times have changed and so has the belief that you have to struggle in order to see Jesus. Not so all the time, that is when you find Jesus that is his plan. I don't know if Oprah is serious because all we have seen were small clips of something we call "Her Church".. Why are so offended.
Catholics believe that the only church, true church is their religion and yet they worship and bow down to Mary. A broken commandment if you aske me. But some will justify it. The Muslim people are a convenant of Hagars son, and yet these people are willing to die for there beliefs and the Jewish people don't belive that Jesus came back to die on the cross for our sins and yet Christians (me too) believe that he did.
I amd not defending Oprah. Trust Me, I just know that there id more way to God and Jesus and that at the end of the day. No one know if they are right or wrong.
Because you cna't caste the first stone
Your Job is You and How you choose to live your life, but make sure that you and your house will serve the Lord.
God Bless
Oprah is walking a very tight rope. The bible says: The only way to the Father is through the Son. Oprah is treading dangerous waters with this made-up religion. I always felt Oprah took herself a little too seriously. How does she think that all of a sudden after many years of the bible's teachings, she can come in and all of a sudden change things? God and His wondrous work are belief and faith. It has nothing to do with "feelings". Being a believer and having faith in God is what gets me through the day. He's carried me through my circumstances and has done so many times. I rely only on Him. Jesus died for those circumstances, so we would not have to be burdened with them. Jesus was the one who made it possible for us to have a closer relationship with God, so how dare Oprah leave Him out of the equation when it comes to being close to God. Stick to your TV show, name-dropping and selling people on books they don't need to read. Leave the Bible and God out of your self-absorbed world and let people get to know the real way to know God -through JESUS and through JESUS ONLY!!!! I used to think Oprah honestly gave from her heart, but I'm beginning to believe she just love the applause and the recognition. Oprah is truly one of those who is getting her rewards right here on earth. You cannot get to the Father by works alone. Oprah's has been blessed with many things, but that won't get you to heaven. If you don't believe that Jesus is the answer it will all be a waste and what a shame. Christians need discernment to resist false teachers. God can rescue us from their lies if we stay true to his Word, the bible, and reject those who twist the truth. The truth is our best defense because it exposes the lies of those who try to deceive us. One day Christ will create a new heaven and earth where we will live forever. As, Christian's our hope is in this promise. But with Christ's return comes his judgment on all who refuse to believe. JESUS IS THE WAY!
Oprah has a church?? It's about time. Since she is a Christian her duty is to go forth and spread the good news. Therefore, if she can reach 22 million people it should be part of her spiritual journey to do so. Everyone should focus on what they need improve the world we live in.
Therefore, how can I join??
Wow, you may want to look into researching her church before you join! Just because it's "Oprah's church" doesn't mean it's one you should be a part of! She is spreading a big lie---she believes man created God, not God created man, and also that God wouldn't send anyone to hell......last time I checked, there is a Heaven and a Hell and there is only ONE way to get to Heaven----by confessing with your mouth your faith through Jesus Christ! (the verse-"for no one comes into the Father but through me"). Hope you'll rethink your decision! God bless!
Why even bother go to Church if all you have to do is confess your faith with your mouth through Jesus Christ...you can do that anywhere since he is everywhere.
I have visited lots of churches and seen and heard all kinds of things, but through Oprah's works and deeds she has achieved more spiritually than a lot of these churches combined. If she is an ordained minister why can't she have a church?
The witnesses do not believe that we are going to be burnt in hell either and that only 144,000 will be going to heaven to rule over earth, don't hear anyone putting them down and look how large their church is.
She believes that man created God...ya right, whatever...
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