60 Minutes, Osteen, and Horton
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James Grant:
Michael Horton will be on 60 Minutes tomorrow night, October 14. White Horse Inn has the information here.I also noticed that Westminster Seminary California has a collection of article from Horton written after his interview with 60 Minutes. It is titled, “Joel Osteen and the Glory Story: A Case Study.” You can find the collection here, which includes these articles:
posted by JT at Saturday, October 13, 2007
16 Comments:
Should be a very interesting program!
That it should, Tommy! ;)
Actually 60 Minutes did not really go after Joel Osteen at all---he came out looking "OK" to the everyday listener of 60 Minutes. It is sad to see all these people being led into such false teaching!
Osteen's got a sweet baby hook! I had visions of Magic Johnson watching him play basketball.
Did Dr. Horton attempt any dialogue with Osteen prior to offering his criticisms on "60 minutes"? After watching it, I didn't disagree with the substance of the concerns (and I have very little awareness of Osteen's minsitry), but my wife and I both wondered if there had been any attempt to speak with him personally about the important issues that were raised.
I watched Joel last night.
I think Dr. Horton's quote here sums him up.
"We can be the “nice guy” in a culture that prizes being nice. But being nice isn’t always loving." -Michael Horton
Osteen is nice. He's a shining righteous minister of deception.
Paul said Satan's ministers come as ministers of righteousness, transforming themselves this way. Satan himself is an angel of light.
Jesus said, "..many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. ... for there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the VERY ELECT." Matt 24:11,24
Is this Joel Osteen? Well, one thing is for sure, the Word says that Satan is a mastermind of deception, and he knows how to twist the Gospel just enough, and to have all the sweet smelling smoke sceens in just the right places to hinder people from coming into the kingdom of God.
How do we keep ourselves from being deceived?
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
We need to be in the Word. It exposes the false teachers for who they are.
Whether they are "nice guys", just trying to make you feel good about yourselves, or heavy-handed legalists, who bind heavy loads upon the soul. Either way, these are perverted gospels of faith + works, which will keep people out of God's kingdom.
To all of you posting negative comments on Joel, what makes you all so righteous? Did you write the Bible? Are you God's personal spokesman? I agree with Joel we have to have hope and faith(plenty of Scriptures in the Bible on these two subjects...Ps.42:5,Ps.146:5-6, 1 Thess.1:3,Rom.15:13,Ps.147:11)this is what God wants otherwise He wouldn't have written it in His Word!He wants us to be happy and have good things,for we know all good things come from Him that loves us! There is enough things in this world that is going on and bringing us down, in these in days we have to joy and peace of mind putting or hope and trust in our Savior Jesus Christ!
"what makes you all so righteous?"
Emily, no one here assumes we are "so righteous".
Emily, do you believe that there were false prophets during the time of the Apostles?
I'm sure you do.
Jesus tells us that there will be false teachers that will be so crafty, that they will even deceive the chosen people of God, if that were possible.
Could Joel be one of these false teachers?
Does he have a "cotton candy gospel, as Michael Horton said last night on 60 minutes?
Michael horton is a greatly repected apologist in the Body of Christ, and we need to heed his warnings.
As a man, and a neighbor Joel is probably one of the best. But as a preacher/pastor of Christ, he could be preaching a twisted gospel.
And that is the number one offense in this age, and Paul says if any one does this, let them be anathema. That's for anyone, including me.
While being wealthy is not a sin, in Matthew 19:23 Jesus said, "That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Are churches which advocate the accumulation of wealth placing their membership in jeopardy of losing the Kingdom of Heaven?
Myth-one.com
Living in the northeast, I was completely unaware of ministries like Osteen's. I hadn't even heard of him until a couple of days ago. The liberal, mainline church is the real problem here with some emergent-style theology thrown in. Aside from Tim Keller in NYC and some local PCA pastors there is very little real biblical preaching. I missed 60 minutes last night because I was at Redeemer listening to Tim Keller preach on our real need to be reconciled to a just God, not our felt needs for success, material goods, money, or even marriage. This is the kind of message that makes me burst with joy. Then, today I watched the 60 minutes piece on the internet and saw thousands of people buying into a message that only addresses their felt needs, that they know in the end can only disappoint them (its never enough money, the marriage is never perfect, and they will eventually die). So he has an audience of 12,000 and he fails to tell them about their REAL NEED? Yikes.
Lori
I was so grateful for donsands second response with humility and the fear of the Lord. I watched the program and was greatly concerned over what is being represented of the Gospel by Mr Osteen. I am so grateful for the faithful students of the word who argue for Biblical faithfulness. But I am also concerned at the trap of pride that is so easy to fall into. In these discussions I think it wise to refrain from sarcasm when writing our views. Gracious words must rule our conversations. The Lord is near.
As a Catholic, I appreciated so much what Dr. Horton said about the role of suffering in Christian faith. If we lose touch with the fact that Christ came into this world to suffer, and that we as his body are also called to suffer in bringing the gospel to the lost and in living a holy life, then we have lost touch with the gospel. I pray for Joel and all others in the prosperity movement that they would seek to unite themselves with the sufferings of Christ rather than seeking wealth which passes away.
God bless you all,
Philip
Have you ever watched his tv program? If Joel Osteen was a false prophet,then why at the end of every message does he give everyone there at his church plus all the viewers watching an opprotunity to repent and ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of their lives.That's the whole purpose right there in life correct?Leading people to Jesus Christ so they can go to heaven? That's the only way through Jesus Christ that you will make it to heaven.(John 14:6)"I am the Way the Truth and the Life no one comes to the Father except through me." So, if Joel was a false prophet why would he lead these people towards the Kingdom of Heaven?
Emiley,
I have never been able to watch more than 5 minutes of this man. he is not only boring, but his words drop to the ground. They are so empty.
If he preaches the Gospel and calls people to repent and believe in Jesus christ, because he is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life, then why doesn't he do that on Larry King, and on 60 minutes?
Remember, one of the greatest heresies today is the invitation to pray and ask Jesus into your heart. This is totally unbiblical. And Satan is a schemmer, and he will get up in a pulpit and say things like Jesus loves you, and ask Jesus into your heart, he gives a watered down gospel, and we need to always be aware of the devil's craftiness.
I hope that Joel does call people to repent and trust Christ for the only possible salvation from God's wrath, hell, and their own sin. But then why doesn't he preach the the Scriptures the rest of the time/
He said last night that he doesn't really talk about sin, Jesus christ, or God, and leaves that to others, he is simply there to encourage people to live good lives.
That's people-centered humanism, not Christ-centered preaching of the Gospel and truth.
I'll try and watch the end of one of Joel's shows and check it out, (as hard as that will be).
Thanks for sharing.
Emily,
Are you saying there is nothing else in the gospel that is important other than some altar call?
I daresay there is: altar calls are a very small theme in the gospel. Sin, repentence, suffering, righteousness, the identity of the Church, the Sacraments, Tradition and sorrow are all towering themes on the pages of Scripture, and to have a theology that leaves these things out is like having a dead arm that is detached from a living body.
Finally, for an altar call to be a "good thing" it must be where people are introduced to the true Christ; the whole Christ. We are here asserting that this is not being done and so his altar calls are a moot point.
God bless,
Philip
Emily and others who want to know if Horton talked with Joel, or how we can criticize Joel, etc:
Did you actually read Michael Horton's piece? I urge you, I plead with you to read it. REad it with a heart to understand and then open your bible and see if these things are so.
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/osteenfull.pdf
The issues here are bigger than anyone here has alluded to so far. Joel is teaching ANOTHER GOSPEL. The true gospel says that I am a sinner and under the wrath of God. My problem isn't that I am unhappy with my terrible circumstances. Apart from Jesus Christ, I am under eternal condemnation. I need to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ - this is my greatest need. Jesus Christ took on human flesh, lived the perfect life, kept the law of God perfectly and died. Then on the third day He rose again. He died as a substitute for his people. He died so that sinners like me and you could be reconciled to a holy God. When He rose again, this proved that God's wrath was satisfied by Christ's death for us. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself that we might become children of God. Not only that, but read Ephesians and see what spiritual things are true of a child of God! We may not be rich in material blessings, we may even have cancer or devastating trials, or something like that in this life, but we have Jesus Christ. To try and convince people that what they need is their best life now is to teach a false gospel. It is to lead people astray - away from the BIBLICAL Jesus Christ. Everyone has an opinion of Jesus Christ, but unless it is the biblical Jesus, it isn't the true Jesus! Unless it is the biblical gospel, it is a false gospel. Those who believe a false gospel, and those who follow a false teacher, and those who don't believe in the biblical Jesus will not be saved!
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