that Oprah has it wrong???
I mean, really, in this society, in this culture, has it become un-American to say that Oprah has got it wrong??? That question could apply to any area, but specifically to her new book-club selection of A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Let me be clear, I have not read the book. I do not want to read the book. The book that can change my life, and has changed my life, is The Good Book...The Bible. Read it is any version, in any time span, in any chapter order. It will change your life.
What got me started on this blog was a you-tube video with Oprah talking about A New Earth.
Among other things, she talks about 'your life, your spirituality, your authentic self'. Contrary to this way of thinking is the first sentence of Rick Warren's book, A Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For, which says, "It's not about you". Bottom line- it's not about you or your authentic self- we were created by God for His pleasure.
Oprah also has it wrong when she (incorrectly) talks about how she cannot believe that God is a jealous God because if He is omnipotent and omnipresent, then how could He possibly be jealous of her, or any of us? HELLO!!! God is not jealous of US; He is jealous of us worshiping someone or something other than Him. He will not tolerate that. He cannot tolerate us worshiping money, television, an athlete or even our own family. We were created for worship- by Him and for Him. The Bible says that if we fail to worship Him, then the rocks will cry out in worship. But that is NOT what the rocks were created to do. We were! If we fail to do the job we were created to do, we are, in Oprah's words, denying our 'authentic self'.
Now do not get me wrong, God also created family, work, and even athletes. It is OK to partake in all of these things, and to pursue them with excellence.
But we must stop short of worshiping them.
And if you are choosing Sunday morning as your time to worship, and it is a beautiful day, so you choose golf instead, then where is your worship? I'm just sayin'....
Oprah also has it wrong in saying that 'spirituality is not believing, but a feeling'. YIPES!!! God's word also commands us to 'continually re-new our minds' but the heart (where we feel) is the great deceiver.
In today's program, Oprah also said that she has recently come to understand that Jesus did not come to die on the cross, but to show us the way to live a Christ-like life.
WHAT???
It is not about 'us'; we cannot save ourselves by what we do. It IS all about Jesus dying on the cross, being the perfect, sinless sacrifice, seated at the right-hand of the Father constantly pleading on behalf of those who believe in Him.
Jesus the Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.
He HAD to die and be resurrected!
Some of those most quoted scripture of the New Testament, the guideline we use to live a Christian life, was written by Paul, who did not even come to know Jesus until after His death. Paul's teachings are not a first-hand account of how Jesus lived His life.
The New Testament is not about the apostles, or Paul, or even about you or me. It is a wonderful example of how to live out a Christ-like life, but the New Testament is all about Jesus, and what He did for us on the cross.
I am also going to add that because of Jesus' sinless sacrifice on the cross, when we come to know Him and ask Him to abide in us, our eternal life with Him begins at that moment. My eternal life is not going to begin after I take my last breath on this Earth. My eternal life has already begun! Even on the worst of days, I do not despair. (I might have a good cry and go back to bed, but I know that when I wake up again, it IS a new beginning!)
This post has gotten long and deep, (or deep and wide, as the case might be), but I do hope it has struck a chord with you. What I am finding is the more I have to dig deep to understand what it is about my faith in Christ that I so firmly believe, the more firmly I believe in my faith in Christ. And I think that is exactly what God intended when He commanded us to continually re-new our minds.
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10 comments:
AMEN, SISTA!!!!
Preach it sista!!! :O)
How can someone so intelligent be so ignorant at the same time? It scares me that she can reach so many that are lost but searching and believe her because she simply is "Oprah". What can we do? Boicot Oprah? Something has to be done! This is insanity! The Bible says it all there is one way and one way ONLY, that's Jesus period!
The scariest part is that so many people will think it is logical and because it builds up and focuses on "self" they will embrace it. And it is so sad how so many people will be deceived.
I gave up Oprah about a year ago. She is wrong in so many areas. I have had a bad feeling about this New Earth series I've been hearing about. I didn't realize what she has been saying! It is SO sad that she is using this message to reach people--and just so scary how influential this woman really is, being that SHE herself is deceived!
Thank you for your support of my post, my friends. I wrote, read and re-read before I published it. It is such a meaty topic (Jesus and why we are on Earth~ not Oprah), and I wanted to get my thoughts out in a way where all of the dots where (at least somewhat!) logically connected.
I would welcome more discussion!!!
Thank you so much for talking about this. I received the you-tube link from my mom while on vacation and was just so upset. I was hoping someone would dissect it. I was immediately reminded of the scripture that says in the last days there will be a falling away. If someone can be deceived they will be, and it gave me a passion for new believers to know that this is a lie not from Oprah but from Satan. It is his job to deceive and turn away as many people as he possibly can. Especially someone new in Christ. Thanks again for the post.
Thanks Amy. You said it well. I've been wanting to do a post about this whole thing but was frankly so ANGRY that I didn't think I should write about it until I didn't sound hateful! I just told Randy the other day that I cannot watch Oprah any more. I enjoyed occasionally watching when Dr. Oz was on or an actor I like but I just flat out have to "boycot" for lack of a better word. She is a dangerous woman and I am not her judge but have a feeling when she stands before God, it's not gonna be her best day or make her "favorite things" list.
You guys are awfully critical of a woman who credits every good thing in her life to God. And praises him for it. She doesn't have to be perfect, remember? She's trying her best like the rest of us.
Diane
I'm a little late joining this particular part of the discussion, but we had a similar one on the same topic at my ladies small group a few weeks ago. We were all going on about how "out there" Oprah is getting and how horrible it was that she's promoting some of this stuff and is SO influential. One of the gals finally spoke up, albeit in a very quiet voice, and said essentially this: "I actually went through a new age phase myself a few years back. My being sucked into it was very subtle, as it has many points that are "feel good" and hard to argue. However, I had a friend praying for me the whole time. She never condemned me, but constantly put truth in front of me. Maybe we need to be praying that the "scales" will fall off Oprah's eyes and that her vast influence could be used for God."
We all felt pretty sheepish - especially me, the "leader". Sheesh. I couldn't agree more that this stuff is CRAZY that she's spouting off about, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't worry me. However, my friend that went through the "phase" is now one of the strongest believers and most influential people for Christ I've ever met. Perhaps lifting up those people we all love to bash (open up PEOPLE magazine and pick one), is really the better course of action. They do have a tremendous following and ability to affect great change...we stand to make a larger impact through God than by discussing it amongst ourselves.
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