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Permalink Reply by Substance on January 23, 2008 at 8:50am

DUDE! Not that I am totally shocked since I am not particularly impressed with Joel Osteen but that statement is just bewildering... and to an extent I believe it proves that a charming smile and a positive message is not life transforming but only the doctrine of Christ is an eternal remedy in man's salvation!

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Permalink Reply by Brother E on January 23, 2008 at 10:55am

Wow. That's pretty shocking to me. All in the name of what? I don't understand that. Well, I guess it's really not that shocking, now that I think about it.

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Permalink Reply by DJ Guardian on January 29, 2008 at 11:08am

Well, here's the thing... I'm not at all surprised. This is just consistent with a lot of the "seeker friendly" movement.

But it doesn't bother me whether Olsteen supported Mitt for president (not a horrible choice) but the idea of equating a religion that considers Jesus as the brother of Satan, among other things like Jesus also being the arch angel Michael, is just sad and disappointing. Hopefully Joel will be confronted with his error and then change his view after realizing the error. Good thing to pray for, greater understanding, knowledge and consistentcy with scripture for our pastors, church leaders and fellow Christians.

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Permalink Reply by Carriers of the Cross on January 30, 2008 at 8:11am

Word. Great points. I don't think the surprising statement was his personal endorsement but the fact that he indeed equated Mormonism with Christianity... as you noted the implications of that are HUGE! I agree, we should pray for him to realize what he just said for he is leading a flock.

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Permalink Reply by Hollafest Radio on February 23, 2008 at 1:49am

this is just a clear example of positivity gone to the extreme.......JOEL IS BIENG SO HEAVENLY MINDED THAT HE IS BECOMING NO EARTHLY GOOD!

brother osteen seems to be soooooo obsessed with potraying the gospel in a non offensive, loving, merciful manner for the sake of winning people to christ that i think he is becoming infactuated with the "IDEA" of presentation that he is waterdown the gospel itself!!

if you saw his second interview with larry king live....there was a point that larry said to him. "wow...you seem to be a master optimist" cause joel answers thruout the interview was shrouded with "POSITIVE JARGON" that you couldnt get a straight answer from joel. i mean larry king asked him "what gets joel osteen mad" .....brother osteen said in essence 'i dont get mad" and larry kept trying to get joel to open up and brother joel wouldnt budge (lol) larry king just flat out gave up and was like "man...you one positive dude" (paraphrase0

in my world such people are on the borderline of fanaticism....you know the kind....that you cant seem to get a straight answer from them...like if you say "brother so & so...how are you today"....he responds "im in victory....washed in the blood of jesus, saved , sanctified & filled with the holy ghost" and you walk away saying to yourself "a simple hello would have been nice" hahahah

dont get me wrong brother joel is doing a great work.......just he seems to be encasing himself in this bubble of positivity cause he is under so much pressure to maintain his image along with the fact that chrsitians have done a not so good job at attracting people to church....that he seems to be headed to self destruction.

mormons are not christians!! niether is mormonism!

Hollafest Radio
www.HolyGhostExplosion.com

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Permalink Reply by Hollafest Radio on February 23, 2008 at 1:50am

brother ostenn is a clear example of SEEKER SENSITIVE GONE WILD!!! hahaha

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Permalink Reply by Mika B on March 4, 2008 at 4:58pm

for real man. mr osteen needs to do his research. i mean how can a man of that kind of status not know..its bewildering.

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Permalink Reply by DJ Wade-O on May 9, 2008 at 12:01pm

This is why its important to have training before you get in the pulpit. I understand everyone won't go to seminary, but at the same time, you do need to be aware of what others believe, particularly if you are in his position. If you don't know, then he shouldn't speak on it.

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Permalink Reply by DJ Guardian on May 16, 2008 at 5:54pm

The biblical quote at the end of the video (Gal 1:8) is very appropo. In fact the "let him be eternally condemned" is not nearly as powerful as the more direct translation "let him be an anathema" which is more commonly translated as "let him be occursed."

But one of the key notes is that he said he really doesn't know anything about Mormonism or done any studying on it but merely because a person says he believes in Christ he must be part of the family... There are some clear cultists that "believe in Christ" or so they say. There are some people who will even say they believe in a religion just to be accepted or even to save their lives (when in Muslim nations to keep from being killed, many will say they denouce Christianity and accept Allah, etc., just to keep themself and their family from being killed). The forgotten part of text is "speak with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus Christ is Lord."

How does one test if the heart has been changed? Sure, character is part of it and Mitt certainly has good character. But is not one's believe in basic doctrines also a reflection? If one believes in this new prophecy of Smith and in these new doctrines, then they are directly rejecting the God of history and all of doctrine for a new god. This is by nature blasphemy.

But Joel also likes to duck and weave like a crack politician who knows his answers are unacceptable or doesn't have an answer. I agree with what was said that he cares more about being "positive" than being honest or forthright. But he emphasizes the crux of the "Seeker Friendly Movement." It's like hippie, scriptureless Christianity based more on perception than truth.

The thing is, Joel has good intentions but it stops there. I hate to question one's faith, but surely there must be something lacking here. Also, when one starts listening to and breaking down Joel's teaching, one finds more Humanism than Christianity. Wade-O noted that it is important to have training before taking the pulpit. Um, sorry Wade-O but he had LOADS of training and that is why he does what he does. The first time I saw him was with Crefflo Dollar on one of their tours, then on tv a billion times too. But he had been very trained, trained to be a positive motavational speaker who doesn't offend sin, but befriends the sinner... but how does that lead to salvation is sin is never convicted? This is why it is so much more important that we as believers each take time to read and study the scriptures. We are guilty for following people who teach not the truth (Jeremiah Wright, etc) and we are responsible for our actions, beliefs, faith and the lack there of. We need to "study to show ourselves approved." And we need to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to preaching and doctrine. If we do not, then we will suffer for it and so will many, many others.

I pray that issues like this and Jeremiah Wright and others, will lead us as believers back to our scripture (or maybe just to it) and to our knees. We need to start holding our leaders and teachers accountable... if we don't then we all suffer (and worse yet, our posterity ).

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