Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

" “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15, ESV)

In this blog I am going to point out why a famous pastor is preaching a false gospel. This is not the first time I have done this. I have a friend of mine with whom I have had some interesting arguments about whether or not I should be “judgmental” like this. I think that I should.

First of all, despite most people’s misunderstandings, the Bible never tells us not to judge whether something is right or wrong. “Don’t be so judgmental. The Bible says ‘don’t judge’”, some people say. Standing in the place of God, and having a condemning attitude is wrong. But, we are to be wise, not foolish. We are to determine, discern and judge whether what someone’s says is true or false.

I am just as much a sinner as Joel Osteen. I do not think that I am truth or am superior to anyone else. I do know that I have a biblical responsibility to point out error and heresy in order to protect the people that the Lord has entrusted to me.

Therefore, here is a blog on the most public, famous heretic of our day: Joel Osteen.

Joel Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Mega-Mega Church. They have about 42,000 people in church per weekend and millions more that watch on television. Last weekend he was interviewed on 60 Minutes by Byron Pitts.

To his credit, Osteen is a very sincere, genuine, kind-hearted, likable guy. I think he is sincere in his ministry and does some good. But, he preaches a false gospel. He is not leading people to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is dangerous.

Here are some quotes from a 60 minutes interview(transcript here) he did last Sunday and an interview he did with Larry King in 2005 (transcript here).

Quote #1
"My message is a message of hope that God is a good God, and that no matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, God has a great plan for our lives. And when we walk in his ways they can take us places we’ve never dreamed of," Osteen explains.

It should never be about “my message”. I am not preaching MY message. It is the message of God that He has written in the pages of Holy Scripture. This is a huge problem in many of the modern day pulpits. That have pre-empted the Word of God with their own message. The word of man is flawed and empty. The Word of God is living and active. It has true power to change lives for the kingdom of God. This is why I preach expositionally. This method allows the text to dictate the focus and order of the sermon. This is to attempt to kept the text central, not the preacher.


Quote #2

"Osteen preaches his own version of what is known as the "prosperity gospel" -- that God is a loving, forgiving God who will reward believers with health, wealth and happiness. It's the centerpiece of every sermon."

This is a correct identification by the producers of the show. Osteen is only presenting a half truth and it is dangerous. God is loving and forgiving. But it is not about me being healthy, wealthy and happy. It is about me being saved from my sin, saved from hell, saved from the punishment my sin deserves. That is the gospel, and should be the centerpiece of every sermon.

Quote #3
"You said 'I like to see myself as a life coach, a motivator to help them experience the life of God that God has for them. People don’t like to be beat down and told 'You’ve done wrong.' What do you mean?" Pitts asks. "Well, I think that most people already know what they’re doing wrong. And for me to get in here and just beat ‘em down and talk down to ‘em, I just don’t think that inspires anybody to rise higher. But I want to motivate. I wanna motivate every person to leave here to be a better father, a better husband, to break addictions to come up higher in their walk with the Lord," Osteen says. "I mean is that being a pastor or is that being Dr. Phil or Oprah?" Pitts asks.

Great observation by Pitts. Osteen is not being a biblical pastor, he is being a secular motivator wrapped in religious garb. The truth of the gospel is not about helping people rise higher, it is about Jesus Christ suffering for sin, rising from the dead, so we could be afforded the opportunity to made right with God.


Quote #4
Why doesn't it look more like a church? Pitts asked. Osteen stammered and paused with no good answer until the co-pastor, which is his wife, chimed in.

This was a great moment in the story. Their church doesn’t look anything like a church. I do not think that a church has to be filled with religious icons and have architecture like an ancient monastery. But, I do think that a church should look like a church. It should at least be different and distinguishable from the secular world around it.

Osteen was caught off guard by this observation and comment by Pitts. He had no reason why his church didn’t look like a church.


Quote #5
"To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are. Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that," Pitts remarks. "That's just my message, said Osteen."

Wow!!! No commentary from me needed on that one.


Quote #6

On Larry King Live – aired June 20, 2005

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.


This is a huge problem. The Bible could not be more clear on this issue. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Those who reject the Jesus of scripture and what it teaches, have rejected the only way to heaven. You cannot love God and reject His Son.

To pretend to be a minister of the gospel and then not preach that gospel is the very definition of a false prophet.

Please don’t listen to Joel Osteen. Don’t buy his books, don’t propagate his false message. He is a false prophet.

Picketing For Life

Last Sunday afternoon I did something I have never done before. Yes, I missed the afternoon football games, but that is not what I am talking about. I attended a protest rally.

I was a participant in Life Chain. I am guessing that there were probably 250 people lined up along about 3 miles of sidewalk along Southlake Boulevard protesting the horror that is abortion. It was quite an impressive sight.

Why haven’t I done this before, and why did I do it this Sunday?
I am fiercely pro-life and anti-abortion because scripture is abundantly clear on the issue. I won’t give an exegetical paper supporting this position here at this time. Suffice it to say, life is a precious gift from God and the taking of innocent life is murder by any definition. That life in a woman’s womb is not a fetus, it is a person created in the image of God. And, we have a biblical mandate to stand up for and protect the innocent.

I am always cautious about being involved in outside organizations. This is true even if those organizations are supportive of things that I am. I don’t want to be too political or align myself with groups that could bring reproach on the name of Christ or the ministry to which I have been called. Some pro-lifers can fall into the category of bringing reproach on Christ.

After research, I felt that Life Chain was an organization that I could participate with. Besides, doing nothing is not an option. I feel that I have a clear mandate from scripture to protect the fatherless and innocent. I have not been pro-active enough in the past and need to find ways to stand up more against the murder of babies.

Here is how the event was constructed. First of all, it is a Christian witness. It was also silent and we were encouraged to spend the time praying. Each participant was spaced along the sidewalk about 20 feet apart. So, there was no chit-chat while we were holding signs saying “Abortion is Murder”.

The signs we held were already made. Nobody could make there own. They were pre-approved signs. They said, “Abortion hurts women”, “Abortion is murder”, “Adoption the Loving Option”, and “Jesus forgives and heals”. I felt like these were sufficient to convey the message that abortion is wrong but by seeking Christ someone could find forgiveness.

What did we accomplish? That is a hard question to answer. My prayer is that if one person saw our signs that was considering abortion and reconsidered to give birth to that child – that is a victory. If one person who had an abortion was convicted of that sin and begins to seek forgiveness in Christ – that is a victory. Did that happen? Only God knows.





Modern Day Holocaust – Abortion Statistics
In the US

2002 there were approximately 1,300,000 abortions

Since the atrocity of Roe V. Wade in 1973 there have been over 42 million babies murdered by abortion.

93% of abortions occur for social reasons

Slanderous Work For God?

In O. Chambers book My Utmost For His Highest I found this sentence, “We slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him.”

I came across this quote in a devotional reading and spent some time really thinking about what it was saying. The truth of the quote was striking. The Pharisees were eager to work for God, but not to know Him. A group comes to Jesus and says to Him, “Look how much we have done for you, in your name.” And Jesus tells them, “Depart from me I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Slander is a misrepresentation which defames another’s reputation or name. When I am eager to work for God, but am not knowing God I am misrepresenting Him. I am telling the world that my effort is more important than my God. And the truth is that my effort is meaningless drivel without His help and power. That is putting the spotlight on me and not on Him. That is defaming His name.

I can’t tell you how many times in my life I have been busy doing the “work” of God and have not taken the time to actually be with God. I am fooling myself and defaming the Lord by pretending that my effort can make any difference anyway. And, what I have found is that my effort leaves me exhausted and fruitless. It’s like paddling upstream; lots of effort but little progress.

The converse of that scenario is just as troubling. Doing nothing for God doesn’t reveal my spirituality, but my laziness. Those who know God most, seem to always be doing the most for God. But it is not an empty religious exercise, it is a God-powered effort that advances His glory and kingdom. That is what I want to be about in my life.

My prayer, which is where this all should start, is that the Lord will work in me so that I might know Him and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do all that He calls me to do.