That's what I was thinking too...I heard he just speaks of the good things, never focusing or pointing out the opposite bad things...To each their own...
I'm not judging anyone, and definitely not those seeking meaning. Just rationalizing why Osteen and his ilk rub a lot of people the wrong way.
then one should credit one's personal health and great job to hard work, not god. also, the Church sure doesn't seem to mind the handouts given by their members.
Christianity is so rife with contradictions I find it impossible to take seriously. I remain baffled as to how anyone with any amount of reason is able to still "believe."
So you have complete free will? Do you decide if you are left or right handed? Did you decide your IQ? Did you decide what kind of home you were born into? You have complete choice on everything with no outside on internal influences? The thousands who starve every day are just being lazy? It is their choice to starve?
And yet, one of the first things the church did was establish welfare. Julian the Apostate (an emperor who hated the Galileans/Christians) pointed out that the Christians did a better job with taking care of the downtrodden than the government did. In fact, they became communalistic: Acts 2:44-45 "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." And Jesus was busy feeding people who followed him. He reached out to the very poorest of the poor. He was among them, in fact. Matthew 8:18-20 "When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'" The poorest of the day in 1st century Palestine were widows and orphans. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote this: James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." The only parable I can find that Jesus tells where a man is condemned to hell is the one where the rich man passes the poor man who lives outside his house every day...and never stops to help him. Not a COMMISSION but an OMISSION of helping out another human being who needs it. Luke 16:19-25 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
come on..you started out with "Christians are weird." my point is merely that: 1. not all Christians do what you're talking about; 2. many people in all different walks of life hold competing, mutually exclusive views of the world in their head all day, every day. that's not limited to Christians.
Mass? Y'all call it mass? Did Lakewood suddenly become Catholic? I've never been to a Lakewood service, but I HAVE worked security for 'em.
Don't try to figure out Christianity, read the words of Jesus and hear Him. Jesus made a point in almost every parable that there would be true Christians and false Christians wheat and tares sheep and goats wise virgins and foolish virgins good use of talents and unprofitable use of talents good fish (caught in the net) and bad fish good soil and bad soil narrow way and broad way humble and hypocrites etc etc etc Christianity is not confusing at all if you know what to look for. Matthew 13: 36 Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” 37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man[d] is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world,[e] and the harvesters are the angels. 40 “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! (NLT)
