I haven't listened to much of his lectures, sermons, speeches or whatever you call them, but one issue I have is him having his name above the church. This should not be his teachings, but the teachings of God and his interpetation. I don't think any religion should hold one man above the message.
It all depends on how you define free will. Free will has its consequences, just as it has its rewards. Simply put, I have the ability to believe what I want and do what i want, not something absurd like the ability to change my IQ or choose what family I want. I believe there are different levels to our "existence". There is the carnal world, which is everything that happens in our 3-dimensional existence. There is the emotional/psychological world, which is everything that happens in each of our minds. There is also the spiritual world, in which God encompasses. All three of these worlds interact with eachother to produce all the outcomes in our life. When we are born, we are all dealt a different hand. This is what makes everyone unique. When we each analysis everyones hand, we like to compare who had a better deal than who. What makes a difference is how we play our hand. There are people who live their entire lives blind, deaf, dumb or dismembered and are much much happier than most of us who are fully able. Going back to your original thought, yes, we should pat ourselves on our back for our good health if we have taken care of our bodies and the good relationships and hard work we developed along the way to get our good jobs. God surely didn't destine me for any specific path. I do believe in praying and learning from the bible does help guide me on the paths that I have taken. Also, i don't give my church handouts. Tithing is just as important in my life as any other thing my money goes towards. I will agree that not all churchs use the money wisely, but many churches do use it for the right reasons.
For a non-Christian, this is a very insightful post. Those who preach the that Gospel promises great material rewards are perverting it.
This "Gospel of Prosperity" stuff is not the Gospel I heard growing up in the church. Sure puts asses in seats, though!
The Gospel you heard in the church growing up is not the same as the original one being delivered by Jesus either. DD
Very true. Religion is a giant game of Telephone. We're operating from a Bible that is a copy of a copy of a translation of a copy of another translation and so on and so forth. I believe in the Bible as a whole, but knowing the history, it's very hard to take anything in the Bible as 100% accurate because we don't know what the original texts said. Then there's all the political stuff that has affected it. What books got in and which ones didn't. The sects of Christianity that died out. The many seemingly contradictory things done in the name of God. The many different denominations and different interpretations of the Bible. The book of Mormon. It's all very confusing. Christianity has understandably changed a lot in ~2,000 years and it has become hard to filter the truth through the BS. It doesn't make the truth any less true, it just makes it harder to get to.
I wonder if his critics think Pat Robertson is christian enough. The timing of his 60 Minutes interview with his new book is questionable, but he's making a huge impact upon peoples lives. He's benefitted many who havent set foot in a judgemental church or feel insecure or skeptical about self help material. At the very least he's a gateway to those who want to learn more about the loving aspects of religion rather than the fearful aspects most of its leaders casually employ. I still find it interesting that both Christians and non christians see him as not christian enough. The biggest knock on him seems to be that hes making a lot of money.
I just have a problem with any teaching that presupposes that if you seek to follow God, wealth, health and good times follow. That wasn't remotely true for the disciples. It wasn't remotely true for John the Baptist, who Jesus said was the greatest man that had ever lived. I see that as a complete bastardization of what Jesus taught.
Incredibly inaccurate post. The biggest knock on him is that Christians feel that he isn't doing his actual job. I don't begrudge anyone any amount of money. If he wants to be a self help coach, go right ahead. What does concern me is that he uses Church for that purpose. The purpose of the church is to spread the Gospel and bring lost sinners to Christ.
I don't go to church...I was raised Catholic so I watch his sermons on TV once in a while and I relate to his preachings more than I did in my Catholic years...weird. I am reading his daily devotions off and on... Good stuff.
I hear ya, dude, I hear ya on this one. This thread looks like it is heading to the D&D. And is it me, but every time there's a thread that has a post by "rhadmanthus", there are also posts in that same thread by "rhester". Forgive me for not knowing everyone's history, but isn't rhester a minister and rhadmanthus an atheist? I just find it funny to see their 2 names in a thread right after each other...the "rh" posters, yea I know, I know, I am weird.
The man is charismatic and can sell. I am glad he is about being positive and not people going to hell.
advising a christian to go to actual church isn't telling them how to practice. joel seems to be a good guy, but it isn't church, sorry.
He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. When I lived in Houston, we would go out after basketball to eat etc....before he became a preacher. DD
