Joel Osteen Welcomes Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry to Lakewood Church (VIDEO)

[billiefan2000]

Joel Osteen Welcomes Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry to Lakewood Church (VIDEO)
By Allison Summers | Christian Post Contributor



Television mogul Oprah Winfrey and stage and movie producer Tyler Perry created a stir with a surprise appearance at Pastor Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, Sunday for an 11 a.m. service.


(Image: Lakewood Church)
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry attend a service at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 6, 2011.

Awesome to have you!" said Osteen, announcing their presence and welcoming the celebrities to the church. "We're so honored to have you both here, and we just celebrate and pray for you guys with what God is doing in your lives."

Winfrey was in the area to interview Osteen as part of her new series "Oprah's Next Chapter," which is set to premiere in January on her channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network. She reportedly joined Osteen and his wife, Victoria Osteen, for lunch at their home and discussed topics with them such as power, marriage and faith, according to The Houston Chronicle.

The non-denominational evangelical Christian megachurch, located in Houston, Texas, and headed by Osteen, is the largest congregation in the country averaging over 40,000 attendees per week. Osteen, author of numerous books on spirituality and whose services are broadcast worldwide, has been known to spark controversy in the Christian community on his views about certain fundamental beliefs of the church, such as homosexuality.

In an interview earlier this year on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Osteen's answer to whether or not he thought homosexuality is a sin ruffled a few feathers of some of his Christian followers. Many felt Osteen's answer was vague and that the Lakewood pastor had taken a half-hearted stance on such an important issue.

"Yes, I've always believed, Piers, the scriptures show that homosexuality is a sin. But I'm not one of those who is out there to bash homosexuals and tell them that they're terrible people and all of that," he said.


"I mean, there are other sins in the Bible, too. And I think sometimes the church, and I don't mean this critically, but we focus on one issue or two issues, and there's plenty of other ones."


Here is a video from Lakewood Church of Pastor Osteen welcoming Winfrey and Perry during the Nov. 6, 2011, church service:




Joel Osteen Welcomes Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry to Lakewood Church (VIDEO), Christian News

[billiefan2000]

Critics: Winfrey Cheered Like a 'Goddess' at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church
By Allison Summers | Christian Post Contributor

Some Christian viewers were a little less than thrilled to see pastor Joel Osteen welcome television mogul Oprah Winfrey to an 11 a.m. service last Sunday at Lakewood Church.


Awesome to have you!" said Osteen, acknowledging the presence of Winfrey and fellow media mogul Tyler Perry, who accompanied her to the service. "We're so honored to have you both here, and we just celebrate and pray for you guys with what God is doing in your lives."

Many Christians have been criticizing Winfrey's appearance at the church, not only questioning her religious beliefs, but also expressing disgust at the apparent girth of Winfrey's celebrity and power.

Some feel the mogul attracts followers that worship her as a god-like figure.

"I am not worried about Osteen as much as about the thousands in the audience who cheered for Oprah as if she were a goddess," said commenter Aurelian Botica in reaction to The Christian Post's original report on Winfrey and Perry's visit to Lakewood Church. "They are so hungry after celebrities! It's like living in a Hollywood dream, except that it takes place Sunday morning!"

In addition, Winfrey's religious and spiritual beliefs are somewhat of a mystery to the public. Although she was raised in a Baptist Church in Mississippi, it is not clear what, if any, traditional Christian beliefs Winfrey subscribes to.

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Some speculate that she is a follower of new age author Eckhart Tolle, who penned The Power Now and A New Earth, two books Winfrey has endorsed in her book club. Tolle, who claims to teach people how to reach a higher spiritual consciousness through his books and workshops, draws on teachings from many different religions.

During an interview with Tolle on her show in 2008, Winfrey quoted A New Earth, stating, "Man made God in his own image; the eternal, the infinite and unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God."

"I think that is very eloquently put...that is exactly what I was feeling when I was sitting in church," she added.

During the show, the media mogul also reportedly said, "There are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity."

Many Christians believe Winfrey is leading people astray through her promotion of spiritualists such as Tolle. Winfrey, the same year Tolle appeared on her show, launched a 10-week seminar and interactive book club with the author on her website, for which more than 700,000 people reportedly registered.

"Oprah knows exactly what she believes, she promotes it, she encourages it and she guides people through many different venues into error," said reader Teresa Blosser. "She will be guilty of sending many hearts into the abyss."

However, some felt the welcoming into Lakewood Church was warranted, as part of being a Christian means welcoming everyone that comes through church doors.

"I am glad to see Tyler and Oprah together in Church," said Diana John Butera. "I am glad to see Joel welcome them and everyone give them a warm welcome.

I don't believe anyone knows what Oprah really believes so pray for her don't condemn her."




Critics: Winfrey Cheered Like a 'Goddess' at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, Christian News

[billiefan2000]

And the crowd goes wild!
Posted on November 8, 2011 by Pilgrim
Joel Osteen introduces his audience to someone he describes as a “world changer,” a “history maker,” and “one of the great voices of our generation.”


And the crowd goes wild!


And the crowd goes wild! | Defending. Contending.

[billiefan2000]

OPRAH WINFREY, JOEL OSTEEN & CHRISTIAN POST
By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Nov 10, 2011 in AM Missives, Current Issues, Features

Here at Apprising Ministries I began covering Oprah Winfrey’s visit last Sunday to the Lakewood self-help center of Joel Osteen in As She Visits His Church Joel Osteen Celebrates What God Is Doing With Oprah Winfrey.

As murky postmodernism is spreading syncretism within the visible church this kind of thing has now become necessary for at least a couple of reasons.

For example, evangelical darling and Seeker Driven Prophet-Führer Steven Furtick has used his audacious quasi-Word Faith to declare Osteen a “great man of God.” Then there’s the New Spirituality ala Living Spiritual Teacher and New Age Eckhart Tolle espoused by Oprah Winfrey.

You see, this mythology is virtually the same as taught by more and more in the neo-liberal cult operating within the Emerging Church such as Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren. The final reason I decided to cover this is because of something I’m noticing at Christian Post.

It seems to me that a while back CP added some writers who appear to serve the purpose of blurring doctrinal lines by the things they cover and they way they write. In fact, in T.D. Jakes And Support For Apprising Ministries I recently had to clear up some misconceptions that were stated in a CP piece.

Therein I told you my Twitter exchange the other day with reputed Word Faith modalist T.D. Jakes was discussed in Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Tweet Reignites Debate About Pastor’s Trinity Theology by Nicola Menzie. In her coverage of this event she came pretty close to sowing outright confusion concerning what Jakes believes.

As I’ve said previously, the evidence of his (at best) acceptance of modalism as a legitimate Christian doctrine is more than clear in my article T.D. Jakes And The Trinity. With this all in mind I now point you to Critics: Winfrey Cheered Like a ‘Goddess’ at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church by CP contributor Allison Summers.

Summers starts by recapping Joel Osteen’s misguided gushing:

“Awesome to have you!” said Osteen, acknowledging the presence of Winfrey and fellow media mogul Tyler Perry, who accompanied her to the service. “We’re so honored to have you both here, and we just celebrate and pray for you guys with what God is doing in your lives.”
(Online source)

The genuine Christian should know better than to celebrate how Winfrey lures so many away from Christianity through her using Christian terminology repackaged with New Age meanings. Then Summers says:

Many Christians have been criticizing Winfrey’s appearance at the church, not only questioning her religious beliefs, but also expressing disgust at the apparent girth of Winfrey’s celebrity and power.

Some feel the mogul attracts followers that worship her as a god-like figure. (Online source)

With Winfrey the problem credible critics haver is her hijacking of Christian terminology, which deceives the unsuspecting into thinking she’s a Christian herself. Her “celebrity and power” is all part and parcel with our cult of celebrity culture; we see the same sort of thing in evangelicalism, e.g. with the EC’s Rob Bell.

Summers continues:

In addition, Winfrey’s religious and spiritual beliefs are somewhat of a mystery to the public. Although she was raised in a Baptist Church in Mississippi, it is not clear what, if any, traditional Christian beliefs Winfrey subscribes to. (Online source)

As far as what “traditional Christian beliefs” Winfrey may hold, she rejects Chris Jesus as the unique God-Man and God’s only means of salvation, which Summers even notes herself:

Some speculate that she is a follower of new age author Eckhart Tolle, who penned The Power Now and A New Earth, two books Winfrey has endorsed in her book club. Tolle, who claims to teach people how to reach a higher spiritual consciousness through his books and workshops, draws on teachings from many different religions.

During an interview with Tolle on her show in 2008, Winfrey quoted A New Earth, stating, “Man made God in his own image; the eternal, the infinite and unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God.”

“I think that is very eloquently put…that is exactly what I was feeling when I was sitting in church,” she added.

During the show, the media mogul also reportedly said, “There are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.” (Online source)

Whether or not Winfrey is specifically a follower of Tolle is beside the point, the fact is, she is in agreement with his mystic mythology. Here’s part of the transcript from Oprah and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth webcast classes, which Summer is quoting from:

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): And you know, it’s been a journey to get to the place where I understand, as I said on the pre-show here, that what I believe is that Jesus came to show us Christ consciousness…

I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity. (Online source, emphasis mine)

Those are the words of a an unbeliever; no, Jesus came as the Christ and the way of salvation (cf. John 14:6; Acts 4:10-12). This isn’t open to debate, period. God said it; that settles it, it really doesn’t matter what anyone believes about it at that point. The fact is, the world will always hate this message because it hates Him (John 15:18-19).

Next Summers makes a curious statement at an ostensibly Christian website:

Many Christians believe Winfrey is leading people astray through her promotion of spiritualists such as Tolle. Winfrey, the same year Tolle appeared on her show, launched a 10-week seminar and interactive book club with the author on her website, for which more than 700,000 people reportedly registered. (Online source)

All genuine Christians who know anything about Oprah Winfrey also know that she’s leading people astray. Summers saying many Christians believe this about Winfrey then leaves the impression there are such who don’t believe it. We Christians love Oprah for Christ’s sake and we pray for God to save her soul.

That said, we hate what she’s doing because Jesus does. Finally Summers tells us:

However, some felt the welcoming into Lakewood Church was warranted, as part of being a Christian means welcoming everyone that comes through church doors. (Online source)

Here we have more confusing the issues. The Christian knows any sinner is to be welcomed to attend a local church. However, Osteen was welcomed her celebrity; he’s shown nothing publicly to give indication that he’s concerned for her eternal soul. Remember, as nice as he is, Joel Osteen is quite spiritually obtuse.

Osteen’s told us that he believes practing Mormon Mitt Romney is a Christian because he says “Jesus” is his savior. The problem is, the Mormon Jesus doesn’t exist; nor does the New Age Jesus Oprah and her gurus of the New Spirituality teach in their mythology. In closing this, for now, let me show you New Age Jesus.

The following is from Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up? In this article I used 24 years of studying non-Christian cults and Comparative Religion to show you the various Jesuses running around the landscape. I used the idea of the old TV show To Tell The Truth and had each introduce himself with you the panel.

In the interest of space this is a general description of the mystic New Age Jesus. Everything I tell you about this Jesus I have personally and carefully investigated; in addition, it can all be documented from sources within the New Spirituality:

I am the Jesus of the Mind Science cults such as Christian Science, The Unity School Of Christianity, A Course In Miracles, and the New Age Movement. I am simply a man—just as human as you are.

And yet; I am God. But not the way you think. I am one of the Ascended Masters and many consider me the man who best demonstrated how to tune in to, and then to use, the Christ-consciousness principle which is actually in all of mankind.

I teach you that God is the force that we’re all a part of. For many of us God is not really a person and as such we are all god; just like drops of water make up the ocean, so are we make up god.

I teach you that through learning to develop this spark of the divine—the Christ already within you—and through reincarnation, you can once again be one as god.

Then you just fade back into the blessed nothingness, which some refer to as Nirvana.



OPRAH WINFREY, JOEL OSTEEN & CHRISTIAN POST : Apprising Ministries

[LivnForChrist]

Birds of a feather flock together.

[WhisperWisdom]

I am surprised by Tyler Perry's appearance though....Thought he did have strong beliefs, but his appearing with Oprah and Joel makes me wonder.

[eddie]

What Oprah believes. The Church of Oprah Exposed - YouTube

[WhisperWisdom]

Oh Oprah...if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. She's clearly falling for everything under the sun. Please Lord, help her to see the Light and to realize that Jesus is the only way!

[billiefan2000]

She's clearly falling for everything under the sun. Please Lord, help Oprah to see the Light and to realize that Jesus is the only way!

amen whisper



the HPN aka Hollywood Prayer Network btw (and yes I am a HPN supporter) is praying for Oprah 's salvation Oprah Winfrey | Hollywood Prayer Network


quote from link


Despite the fact that Oprah was introduced to the God of the Bible at a young age in the company of her grandmother, by attending the local church, it would seem apparent from even a cursory recounting of parts of her childhood and young adult life that she never came to know the Lord personally.


In recent years this has become increasingly apparent, as Oprah has not only personally turned to New Age philosophies, but has become very influential in the lives of tens of millions who look to her as the source of spiritual inspiration.



Somewhere during her career Oprah read a book entitled, Discover the Power Within You by Unity minister Eric Butterworth.


In line with the Unity teaching, the book expounded on the divinity of many as perceived through mystical practice. Oprah embraced these views so earnestly that she advocated: “This book changed my perspective on life and religion.


Eric Butterworth teaches that God isn’t ‘up there.’ He exists inside each one of us, and it’s up to us to seek the divine within.”




Her talk show has launched many New Age authors into national super-stardom. One such author – now a close friend – is Marianne Williamson, who is today considered a premier New Age leader.


Williamson is presently teaching through A Course in Miracles on Oprah’s new XM Satellite radio program. By the end of the year, "Oprah & Friends" listeners will have completed all of the lessons laid out in the Course in Miracles workbook.



Those who finish the course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset -- a New Age worldview that includes the belief that there is no sin, no evil, no devil, and that God is "in" everyone and everything. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life. The course workbook bluntly states: "This is a course in mind training" and is dedicated to "thought reversal."




Not only is Oprah Winfrey in need of having the blindness removed from her own mind – until she has that life-changing experience she is systematically leading millions down the broad road to destruction.


Pray as you’ve never prayed before that God will reach down into the life of this woman for whom Jesus died – that she would see the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ and be saved for eternity.


http://www.hollywoodprayernetwork.or.../oprah-winfrey

[Lvanett]

I was kinda surprised too to hear of Tyler Perry going with OPRAH of all people. Is he into seeker-sensitive and prosperity Gospel churches too?

[LivnForChrist]

I was kinda surprised too to hear of Tyler Perry going with OPRAH of all people. Is he into seeker-sensitive and prosperity Gospel churches too?

I too was surprised and it makes me seriously
question where he stands.

[billiefan2000]

I too was surprised and it makes me seriously
question where he stands.

I wonder too.



I think his creation/character Madea would likely say to Tyler Perry:



Madea: what's wrong with u Tyler, Madea didnt raise up or be around no fools.

Jesus didnt enable false teachers, u better go get speak out on that fool Osteen

[billiefan2000]

Glee the "Sermon"


• The Blessing Zone?
• Osteen Welcomes Oprah to Lakewood
• Francis Chan Says Failure to Help the Poor Could Send You to Hell
• Sermon Review: Glee: Don't Worry Be Happy by Bob Laurent


Fighting for the Faith: Glee the "Sermon"



================================================== ==


btw, as a HPN and HPN like groups supporter, I ask people for Lea Michele and Dianna Agron of Glee tv show to come to know the Jewish Messiah YESHUA aka JESUS

(Isaiah 53 and Micah 5:2 and Isaiah 9:6 among other OT verses point to the Jewish Messiah


Prayer List For Rock Stars: LEA MICHELE


Prayer List For Rock Stars: DIANNA AGRON

[billiefan2000]

Joel Osteen on Oprah's Next Chapter TV show on 1-8-2012