The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is inviting Facebook fans and others to “join the virtual audience” for live tapings of Oprah’s Lifeclass this Friday, 5 October. The reason for the excitement? Oprah will feature two of “America’s pastors” namely, prosperity preacher Joel Osteen and purpose-driven pastor Rick Warren.
Warren has been featured on Oprah’s television show in the past. Winfrey also has granted publicity to Osteen, even visiting his Lakewood Church last November. The Futon Critic shares a press release with further information about the upcoming Lifeclass show:
Oprah Winfrey’s popular series “Oprah’s Lifeclass” is headed to Houston, Texas for all new episodes with Pastor Joel Osteen and acclaimed author Dr. Rick Warren. Winfrey will take the stage with hand-picked experts Osteen and Warren to discuss important life lessons that allow everyone to lead their best lives. The episodes, which will air later this year, focus on topics including living your dreams, finding joy and leading a purpose driven life. SOURCE
Oprah Winfrey’s choice of Osteen and Warren is interesting, as she has demonstrated that she herself is not a Christian, but rather adheres to a type of New Age spirituality. Pastor-teacher and CRN General Editor Ken Silva demonstrates this well in his May 2012 post, “Oprah Winfrey Is Not a Christian.” Within this article, Silva shares several video clips of Winfrey speaking with Eckhart Tolle, author of the New Age book, A New Earth. Silva reveals that, per this interview, Oprah Winfrey’s professed beliefs are hardly in alignment with biblical, orthodox Christianity. During this online class teaching through Tolle’s book, Winfrey stated:
Now I think that’s very eloquently put by Eckhart Tolle in Chapter 1. But that is exactly what I was feeling when I was, you know, sitting in church that Sunday listening to the preacher. And you know, it’s been a journey to get to the place where I understand, as I said on the preshow here, that what I believe is that Jesus came to show us Christ consciousness. That Jesus came to show us the way of the heart and that what Jesus was saying that to show us the higher consciousness that we’re all talking about here. Jesus came to say, “Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.” These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way. And when I started to recognize that, that Jesus didn’t come in my belief, even as a Christian, I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity… SOURCE
Silva then rightly points out:
This is classic New Age mythology aka the New Spirituality and actually couldn’t be further from a Christian testimony. Jesus didn’t come to show us some laws “to know that way.” No, Jesus is the way to the Father; and He didn’t come “to show us Christ consciousness” because the Bible tells us God the Son is the Christ. SOURCE
Rick Warren and Joel Osteen, then, as professing Christian pastors, ought to take this opportunity to call Oprah Winfrey to repentance, sharing with her the true Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Yet, Joel Osteen cannot do this unless he first repents of his own aberrant feel-good, Word Faith gospel. The onus then falls on Rick Warren, who this weekend will stand in disobedience to Scripture as he allows a woman to preach the weekend services at his Saddleback Church. This leaves one to postulate just how shallow these episodes of Lifeclass may be. After all, the press release does note that the three will discuss, “living your dreams, finding joy and leading a purpose driven life.” Truly those who pursue their “best life now” are receiving exactly what they desire as they trade eternal life for the fleeting, transient things of this world.
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” MARK 8:34–38
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