Live Now Live Later

Known by many as the iconic and successful billionaire philanthropist, humanitarian, talk show host and television network owner, Oprah Winfrey started airing last night a week-long series that she has been highly publicizing for months titled: Belief. It’s a series that will show according to her that all people around the world have an inward desire to connect with something greater than themselves. Her purpose in this is to show that all people truly believe in the same “Divine Being”. The show will display people from many different religions across the globe and document people in their search for “meaning and purpose”.

Oprah in the last 10 years has gone from being known primarily as a famous talk show host and has now gravitated to more of a “spiritual advisor”. Since she started her own television network, she has done many network premier shows called “Life Classes” and “Super Soul Sundays”. She brings “spiritual leaders” from various faith beliefs for interview and coaching sessions with the audience. Oprah will identify herself as a “christian”. She openly refers to her higher power as “god”, but will also say that it’s ok for me and you to call him whatever we want and believe whatever we want.

I need you to really hear me out

On the surface it sounds good matter fact REALLY GOOD, but it is very very deceptive. Just so you know I’m not making this stuff up I inserted a YouTube clip from one of her recent Life Classes below.

Oprah has even gotten WELL KNOWN and FAMOUS preachers who many christians follow to do these life classes with her. I know this will probably offend some, but I have no ill will towards any of the preachers. Matter fact I’ve listened to sermons and read books in past years, but just because I’ve listened to sermons and read books doesn’t mean that I elevate ANYONE on such a level that I won’t test what’s being said according to scripture and you shouldn’t either. They include T.D. JAKES, JOEL OSTEEN, AND RICK WARREN. If you listen to the life classes which you can find on YouTube that she does with them and there are many, you’ll notice Jesus is NEVER mentioned and the gospel is NEVER presented. The term “God” is mentioned rarely by them, but Oprah makes it clear to the audience you can call him whatever you want. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see it’s obvious she has made it understood to the three preachers what the topics and agendas are that can and can not be discussed. If you listen to various Life Class posts from Oprah with them which can be found on YouTube you’ll notice it’s general, “self-help, positivity, finding your purpose” type talks. Subjects that would NEVER offend anyone. Topics that constantly hit the New York Times Best Selling List. I’m sure many reading that will say whats’ wrong with that? Would you rather them talk negative degrading stuff? For one as a christian we don’t find worth & esteem in ourselves or what we can accomplish, but in what Christ has ALREADY accomplished. Two, the first and foremost PURPOSE for anyone in this world is giving your life to Christ, anything else before that is PURPOSELESS.

Here’s a short clip from Bishop T.D. Jakes on a panel with other “spiritual gurus” such as Iyanla Vanzant (New Thought Spiritual Teacher), Tony Robbins(Self-Help/Life Coach), and Deepak Chopra(New Age Spiritual teacher). Oprah calls them including Bishop Jakes her “Spiritual Squad”. They’re are discussing the topic of gratitude and how it is the main connection to a “greater spirituality”.

The World wants to hear messages and talks like this just as long as Jesus isn’t included. A preachers job is not to point people towards themselves, but towards Jesus. If I had the opportunity to talk with Bishop Jakes I’m sure he would say he’s reaching people for Christ in a way my “unqualified self” wouldn’t understand, but I would in turn ask how are you reaching people for Christ and you NEVER mention Christ? Jesus never said “Go into all the world and tell people about having GRATITUDE or how to become a BETTER YOU”, he said PREACH THE GOSPEL. In Matthew 10:22 Jesus states

“You will be HATED by everyone because of me…”

and in John 15:19 he says

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world HATES you“.

Instead of being HATED, Jakes, Osteen, and Warren are being applauded by Oprah and the audiences in the various Life Class Sessions they appear on. Matter fact Oprah said she loves to attend Bishop Jakes church from time to time and text Pastor Osteen on a regular basis. That in itself is scary because if Oprah likes to attend your services and can send text messages on a regular basis and can still feel okay to spread her beliefs and feel led to have you come on the show and speak before MILLIONS. A sound minded person would have to ask What “version of the gospel” are they teaching? It’s some really eyebrow-raising stuff. Here is another short clip with Oprah and Joel Osteen talking about The Power of words. Oprah even quotes a famous MYSTIC TEACHER  from the 13th century while Joel shakes his head in agreement.

Do you recall ever hearing Jesus or the Apostles ANYWHERE in the new testament tell unbelievers “Think positive about yourself or make your primary focus in life by becoming a better you”? When did we ever see Jesus being applauded and loved by the world in the gospels? If I remember correct I think He got crucified right? If Bishop Jakes, Pastor Joel, and Pastor Warren were FIRM in their beliefs and statements and made it clear to Oprah and her staff that they would share the gospel biblically before they share anything else, I GUARANTEE you they would not be on the show and Oprah would have gotten someone else instead like maybe these “ministers” below from one of her previous spiritual sessions who say things like “Being Gay is a gift from God”. Ummm yea that was NOT an accidental typo…

“Being gay is a gift from God- Rev. Ed Bacon”….. I told you it wasn’t a typo.

The apostle Paul told Timothy “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Oprah is pushing the New Age/Universalism movement. Someone probably just said New what/Uni Who??? The New Age/Universalism movement basically summing it up in short is that “All Faiths” lead to the same path. There are no right/wrongs as far as what you believe because eventually we will all end up on the same mountain. Its roots stem from eastern Mysticism. God is in all and through all.

Neil Anderson in his book, Walking Through the Darkness, writes this:

“The New Age movement is not seen as a religion but a new way to think and understand reality. It’s very attractive to the natural man who has become disillusioned with organized religion and Western rationalism. He desires spiritual reality but doesn’t want to give up materialism, deal with his moral problems, or come under authority”.

I know some will still say “Gavilan is just making that up because he’s an Oprah hater. Oprah doesn’t believe that. As long as we all believe in Jesus, that’s all that matters”. Not so fast!

Having a mental assent or intellectual knowledge about Jesus is NOT qualifications for “true saving faith”.

The bible even says,

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble (James 2:19)”.

But just so you know I’m not just trying to post some “made up stuff” to be an Oprah Hater, below is another short clip where Oprah lays out her beliefs and a Christian woman confronts her with the truth of Jesus being the only way to salvation.

Did you hear what Oprah said? If Oprah claims to be a christian, then I wonder what she or anyone else with like beliefs does when they come across scriptures like

“I am THE way and THE truth and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through me“- Jesus (John 14:6).

Notice Jesus did not say he was A way or one of MANY ways.

Also in Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”. 

The bible is clear in many more places than these that Jesus is the ONLY bridge that leads us back to God. God poured all of His wrath on Jesus on the cross making a way for us to have a personal relationship with Him. There is no other way. I don’t care how INTELLECTUAL, SPIRITUAL, and CONVINCING these “spiritual gurus” sound. I don’t even care if they quote a scripture or two, we have to use discernment which seems to be a “lost art” amongst some christians today. We base too many things on our feelings and not God’s Word and on another note just because someone may use a scripture from God’s word to justify a stance or belief doesn’t always make something true in the situation at hand. Satan tried to pull this on Jesus in the wilderness. He quoted a scripture trying to get Jesus to do something and it sounded good on the surface, but it was contrary to God’s will.

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (satan got this from Psalms 91:11-12).”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:5-7)

The bible clearly tells us as Christians to “test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Not good according to the world, but good according to scripture. The Apostle Paul once stated to the Galatians in his opening statements some very serious eye-opening warnings:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ (Galatians 1:6-10).

According to the Apostle Paul, even if we had an angelic being appear to us, that is not a qualification to accept what is being said to us. In the case of Oprah, even though we see some spiritual leaders who we might follow via Facebook, twitter, and television on stage with her we can’t allow our “affection for their teaching and wise words” to override God’s Word. We have to be like the Bereans who we read about in the book of Acts.

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (17:11).

Now if they examined daily to check and see if the message what the Apostle Paul preached was true, you don’t think we should do the same with “christian leaders” of today? Paul wrote over half of the new testament, but that didn’t matter to the Bereans. Truth mattered to them. Even if it was at a time when the apostles were “turning the world upside down“(Acts 17:6). My goal is not to focus too much in this blog on Jakes, Osteen, and Warren collaborating with Oprah. Rather, It’s to focus on satan’s schemes and tactics to derail us from trusting in the TRUE CHRIST. The devil is subtly pushing us toward a Jesus that we are comfortable with and that society will accept. A Jesus that DOESN’T exist.

We have to get back to a place where the Bible is our first resort for everything. Not someone’s book or sermon series. Not some Youtube documentary. Not even this blog! We have to pray and ask Holy Spirit to help us remain sober and alert because scripture says

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour“. (1 Peter 5:8)

No matter your age, if you hear something that sounds contrary or slightly different to what you’ve heard in scripture, talk it over with your pastor or other mature christian friends.

You’re not an island, You’re part of the body of Christ that’s connected for the glorification of God.

To answer the opening title question if you haven’t already gotten my take by now: Should a Christian follow “spiritual advice” given from Oprah Winfrey? The answer is a resounding NO!

In closing I leave you with these words from the Apostle John.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)