Oprah Day 3: A New Earth

Sorry it's taken me a while to find time to watch each of these shows, and then write about it. This show in particular needed my full attention, and devotion to scripture.
Wow. This stuff is crazy. If any of you, like my friend Laurie who commented in the last Oprah segment, are finding yourselves in discussions about the validity of this cooky stuff, get out your Bibles.
Let me first say, if you are watching these shows, and you are not a mature believer, grounded in the Word, certain of what scripture says about salvation and living life, you should not be watching this.
It's deceptive. It's tricky. You can watch these real, live people give testimony as to how it's caused them to be better people, lose weight even (that will draw your attention!), stop your sinful behaviors, and think...Wow! This is good stuff.
It's not.
I understand how lost people get sucked into this. If I were lost, I might.
But as believers and followers of Christ, we ough to know better!
We need to know the God we love, we have given everything up to follow, and know what His Word says about this junk.
So if you've been watching this, and you are not mature in your faith, and you don't have your Bible in your hand, completely on guard against this, you are being like the "weak-willed woman" in 2 Timothy 3:6, who allow false teaching to "worm it's way into our homes", and "are swayed by all kids of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth."
So what is the basic message of this New Earth business?
Their advertisements say "Learn who you really are...awaken to your life's purpose...your place in the universe...only for those who are ready."
On the show, and also on the website, they assure you this will NOT intefere with your religious beliefs. It will only add to it, sweeten it.
Let's pause it. God's Word and Jesus don't need to add this little hobbit's guy teaching to sweeten it or add to it. (Rusty thinks this guy Eckhart Tolle, the author of the book, looks like a hobbit.)
Jesus' sacrifice for our sins and full teaching will stand alone, thank you very much. Not only did He take care of our sin problem once and for all on the cross, but then He gifted us with God's Word and His Holy Spirit, telling us everything we need to know in how to follow Him with obedient lives. What else could we possibly need? If you're a Christian, you certainly don't need this peculiar guy's book to "add to" your belief system. We don't need "A New Earth", we don't need the Book of Mormon, or any other book to add to His Word.
Let's start with one major deception: Being better people
Every good deception has a fragment of truth woven into it. It wouldn't hook us if it didn't. The objectives in this teaching sound good, and like some of our own objectives as Christians. I'm trying to catch the lingo they are using in this teaching...egos (pride)...pain bodies...that's our favorite. I tell you, this has provided for some hilarious jokes among me, Rusty, Heather and Aaron this week. Good fun.
But here are some of the objectives I heard in this one show:
-Breaking down of egos. We could find the theme of getting rid of our pride, as in passages like Phil. 2
-Breaking attachments to material things, similarly found in 1 John 2:16-17 and Luke 12:34
-Being present in the moment. This is the major theme! Something that might sound similar is in James 4:13-17 and Luke 12:28-31, teaching us not to presume upon God's future plans for us, and not to worry about tomorrow.
-Letting go of what we would call sinful thought patterns, like bitterness, unforgiveness, obsessive eating. etc. You will find that in passages like Ephesians 4:31, Col. 3:8, and Phil. 4:8
Let me be clear- their objectives are not founded in these scriptures, but they make it look like our goals are the same. It can be very deceiving.
Then they differentiated between the difference of spirituality and religion.
They defined spirituality as-the longing in each of us for MORE, for a higher purpose, and eternal journey.
Religion was defined as-what we use to answer these questions about eternity. Religion is meant to FILL that longing.
There's this idea in the world that you can be a spiritual person or grow spiritually outside of the knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.
We know we cannot separate these things. Everything about us, our spirits and bodies, are meant to glorify God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 6 tells us that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, meant to glorify God, if we are believers. Paul's who life and goal was to be poured out like a drink offering (Phil 2) to further His kingdom.
If we are just trying to better ourselves, making us kinder, more "present in the moment", less bitter, more forgiving, whatever, it is in vain if it is to please ourselves and not to please God.
2 Cor 5:15
15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.
With God, and the Holy Spirit in us, we have the power to please God.
Phil 2:12-13
you must be even more careful to put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. Without God, we are powerless to do this. When we are lost, we are enslaved to sin. Ask anyone who's ever been addicted to any sin (which is all of us.) Only God's power sets us free once and for all.
Rom 6:14
4 Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God's grace.

Be your authentic self.
I don't know about you, but my authentic self is pretty gross.
The me, before Christ, is sinful. Yucky. Selfish.
Without Christ, I wouldn't know how to be any other way.
Without the standard of God's holiness, what would I be? Whoever I want to be?
I don't want to be her. She's not nice. She's all about herself.
This idea of connecting with your inner self is faulty to the core.
If our inner selves were nice people, we would not live in a world of sinful, evil, people. But we do.
Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned; all fall short of the glory of God's glorious standard." We are guilty, on the fast road to being condemned for eternity without God. But the good news- the verse right before this one- Romans 3:22 "We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are and what we have done."
We are in need of a Savior, no doubt about it. We are not good enough, and our "authentic selves" will never be good enough.

Being present in the moment and eternal life.
This is the last thing I will try to tackle today.
It seems the overriding theme of this teaching, outside of being our "authentic selves" and being better people, is what I heard them say over and over...being present in the moment. This moment is all we have. Jenny McCarthy said "The only peace we can find is in the present."
One of them said "The NOW is where our power resides."
Wow. Where do I begin?
Living for the now goes against everything Christianity is about.
The NOW is not all we have. Eternal life is promised to those who trust in Jesus. John 3:16. Our home is really in heaven as believers. We are just aliens here, passing through. Our lives are fleeting here on earth.
Margit-a guest and Catholic minister said she had her "Aha moment" (if I hear that term one more time, I'm going to scream!) when she really got that Jesus didn't come to die on the cross for our sins- but to show us how to do it, how to live.
Wow!!! At this point, Oprah says "Yeah, you know I'm a Christian too...Jesus came to show us "Christ's consciousness." I'm not even sure what this means, but this is the most dangerous lie of all!!!!
We already saw in one of the clips from that video I previously posted that Oprah has denounced Jesus as the only way.
Jesus himself said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6
Oprah claims Christianity, but does not believe in his whole purpose for coming to save us! He DID come to die on the cross for our sins! I'll let scripture speak for that.
Rom 3:25
25 For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.

1 Tim 1:15
15 This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

1 John 3:4-6
4 Those who sin are opposed to the law of God, for all sin opposes the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, for there is no sin in him. 6 So if we continue to live in him, we won't sin either. But those who keep on sinning have never known him or understood who he is.

Without knowing this, and accepting this sacrifice, trading our life for His life, we will never know eternal life.
Except this is what they had to say about eternal life...scariest part of the show hands down.
This poor woman, Penny, who is nearing to death due to cancer, says she has found great peace in knowing she now will have eternal life based on reading this book. Tolle (hobbit guy) explains eternal life by saying we all have "energy", our life, and energy can't die. It goes on, but our "form" our bodies, will disentigrate.
Doesn't that sound simple?
And he says "This is Jesus' teaching."
No...no, it's not. He uses Jesus' name and supposed teaching in the book to weave into this treacherous lie.
Yes, eternal life exists. Of course. But you will spend it in hell if you don't surrender your life to Christ and follow Him!
Yet Penny says now she has no fear in death. Eckhart Tolle says he has absolutely no fear in death. I am fearing it for them.
As Jesus put it:
Luke 13:5
5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish."

A lot of the quotes they give sound like double talk and "deep thoughts" that used to be on Saturday Night Live. Really, this is weird stuff.
Finally, Be very careful when you hear any teaching, with Jesus' name on it or not, that never mentions SIN.
1 John 1:8-10
8 If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
We all have a sin problem. All of us.
It can't be solved with breathing, better space, living in the moment.
It can't be solved with ANYTHING other than accepting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and dying to our "authentic selves" to follow Him.

Day 2 of Oprah

Today's show was about friendship.
Martina Navratilova and Chris Everett were on first. Unlike Heather, I did know who they were. I remember watching them, or my brother's watching them rather, on TV.
I seriously want to be a tennis player now. I've always thought the outfits were cute, and tennis fans seem so dignified. But now I really want to be one! I want to go to Chris Everett's tennis academy. Except for the fact that I'm not 15, and there's nothing more pathetic that a grown person trying to learn something new that 5 year olds can whoop you at.
Okay, back on track.
I read Heather's post already, and she wrote something great on friendship. Go there and read it. She also reiterated that we are not trying to evaluate lost people's thoughts and actions and decide if they're okay. Our only goal here is to evaluate what we as Christians are taking into our homes and minds, epecially for those who are worshiping at the Oprah church faithfully.
Is Oprah's show entertaining? Yes. I was entertained so far this week.
This is my brief two point sermon, because as soon as I finish this, Rusty's going to fix us sundaes. Yes!

Point #1: This is a continuation from yesterday's post. Monday's show featured celebrities. Oprah regularly interviews celebrities because she knows everyone there is to know that's famous. She's Oprah.
There is definitely a ridiculous fixation on Hollywood in our country.
I wonder how many millions of dollars are spent each WEEK on magazines and shows and internet news JUST ABOUT CELEBRITIES.
Isn't this kind of strange, when you think about it?
I used to follow stuff like that a little, and now I don't.
I don't even want to get hooked into a People magazine front page. Why? We ought not idolize Hollywood stars for many obvious reasons, but as a woman, it makes me feel yuk about myself. When I see perfect bodies and perfect clothes and hair and make-up, how can I stand up against that?
I can't.
Weight is an issue for me. I think about it too much. I have written about this before. I gave up weighing myself more than a year ago. I haven't gone back. I've been so tempted a few times when I was in someone else's house, alone with a scale...no one would know. God would know and He's brought me too far on this issue. I have no idea what I weigh right now. I can't handle knowing what I weigh.
I know that when I am disappointed with that number, it will ruin my day, my week really, and it will ignite in me an obsessive thought pattern about my weight.
I can't have that.
I need to be fixed on Christ, on the eternal, not on what I weigh.
Nor should we be so fixed on things like clothes and glamour. These things will evaporate in the end. Meaningless. Completely worth nothing in the big picture.
I need to "set my mind on things above." Col. 3:1
So as Christian women, how can all that silly stuff be so important to us?
If you're like me, guard your mind. Be very careful about magazines, TV, whatever it is that sets your mind to work criticizing yourself. It's a discipline of my mind, and a true test in our contentment. God has been faithful to change me and the way I think over time in trusting Him on this.

Point #2: Vivian Stringer was the second guest, and she seemed like a very nice lady.
She had certainly faced a great deal of adversity, as a child and as a grown woman. She is the coach of the Rutgers women's basketball team. This is the team that was vicitim to the racist remarks of a sports radio host's remarks that make national news.
Ms. Stringer seemed to handle that with class. She seemed to be a very strong woman, despite the tragedy of a disabled daughter, losing her husband, and breast cancer.
The message was that we can turn to our friends in these times.
We can turn to ourselves. We can stand tall, which was the title of Ms. Stringer's book.
I just kept thinking, how sad to endure all these things and not know the Lord.
Vivian Stringer didn't speak of the Lord, and of course I haven't read her book, so I don't know. But when we watch people and hear their painful stories, though they seems quite corageous and victorious sitting on the Oprah stage, what does it really feel like to go to bed at night without hope?
If our hope is in ourself, I don't think I could bear that. I am sinful and destined to fail without the Lord.
When we lose a person close to us, what must that feel like? Where is your hope outside of knowing you will see them again for eternity?
Where is our comfort outside of knowing the Holy Spirit, who is called the Comforter in scripture?
We can turn to our friends. Friends are a blessing! God is good to me in His gift of friendship. But friends will fail you. They can't always be there. They will hurt you from time to time. They're human. Outside of our relationship with God, we don't really know how to be good friends anyway.
This is the reality for lost people. Their eternity will be damnation.
When need to pick people up and show them that our only hope is in Jesus.
We can't be brave enough, strong enough, classy enough, or good enough to save ourselves.
Sermon over. Bring on the sundaes.
I haven't watched Wednesday's episode yet, but I'm nervous. How weird is this New Earth stuff going to be?

Day 1 of Oprah Show

Just to recap, Heather and I are watching Oprah for a week. Heather asked me if I would participate in checking this new stuff out on Oprah, but also to see what it is about her that draws millions of viewers, so many women, Christian and non-Christian, to her 5 times a week. Heather pointed out that many Christian women will defend her to the death, and are more faithful to watching her than they are to church or Bible Study. Anything that is that big of a deal, we should probably carefully evaluate what we're thinking.
So this week I am watching and evaluating. I have NOT read Heather's post about Day 1 yet. I want to give my honest thoughts, and then we'll see what both of us are taking from this.

Her first guest was Jamie Lee Curtis. I like her. I like her children's books. They are not a source of biblical truth or anything, but I like them. She has adopted kids. I like that too.
Here's one of my first thoughts, interjected here:
It's okay to like lost people.
It's okay to like Oprah. It's okay that I like Jamie Lee Curtis. I used to like Rosie O'Donnell and her show way back when. (I was pregnant and on bedrest with Jax, so I watched it daily for a while.) I know Rosie is a lesbian. I know Oprah is an adultress. I know Jamie Lee Curtis showed her boobs in movies. They're lost. I could be any one of those things but for the grace of God. I was a sinner in need of a Savior, just like them. I think it's arrogant of us to think differently.
Lost people are likable too. They can be funny, entertaining, and smart, like saved people.
However, we can't idolize them. We can't be so enamored with them that we start allow their ideas and views to seep into our minds as acceptable and good.
This is a fine line we need to be aware of.
Jamie Lee Curtis had some good things to say about aging, and not being caught up in the outward appearance. I've heard her talk about this before on a talk show. I like that! What a rare message in Hollywood! But she and Oprah agreed that it's all about finding your "authentic self." Be who you are, and whoever that is is okay. Whatever works for YOU, in all the choices you make in life, is part of your authentic self, and that is the god you bow down to. (I don't think they put it quite that way. My interpretation.)
That's not true. We can't say what ever feels right for US is okay. Sin can feel good and right. When we gratify ourselves, it feels good. When we make ourselves the boss and the king of our lives, the world will applaud, with Oprah starting the standing ovation. That doesn't mean they don't do altruistic and wonderful humanitarian things. They do! That's what's tricky about it. But I know enough of the Oprah religion to know that being the best YOU you can be can mean making decisions that don't honor God. We're either for Him, or against Him. If we're for ourself, we're against God. We can't serve two masters. But we as Christians know, He's for us, and that's where our authentic, unique, true self is found. Our identity in Christ, not in self-promotion and being empowered as a woman in the worldly sense. It's an illusion promising happiness and self-fulfillment. It's not real. Our only joy and peace is found in putting God on the throne of our lives.


The second guest was Salma Hayek. It's hard to find pictures of these people without their boobs hanging out! (Hey, I just wrote boobs two times in this one post. That's funny!)
She is so beautiful! I love her accent as well.
She had some things to say about motherhood that I liked and didn't like.
I liked that she was enjoying motherhood.
I hated that she said that it was ideal to wait until you are older and find yourself, achieve things, love yourself basically, first.
That's a lie. We can argue that case on many points.
When the topic turned to marriage (or lack thereof for she and Oprah alike) it bothered me even more.
I've heard this same coversation many times before in past years about marriage on her show.
Salma says being a woman is hard. I think being a woman is great. Let's stop acting like being female is a hardship. In this day, it certainly is not!
This is what I was hearing about marriage:
Marriage, it's so optional. It's far from necessary in their eyes.
We are good enough and strong enough as women on our own, and don't need the validation of a man. One of them said you "keep your power" by not marrying a man.
It's "sexy" not to marry, but once you marry you lose the spark and excitement.
Salma and her fiance live across an ocean from each other, but it's so good, because she has more time to devote to her baby, herself, and her career.
Of course, we as Christians should know the truth about marriage.
But do we? Do we filter this message immediately through the Word of God, or do you allow it to wander around in your brain, look for a weak spot to infiltrate, like a disease looking for a weak immune system. How strong is our spiritual immune system?
The older I get and more I mature in my walk, the better I think. But not rock solid at all times, in every moment.
I remember watching an Oprah show about the evils of spanking when I was a young mother, and it terrified me. I thought I was a child abuser. I called my friend Leanna (Godly counsel) and said "remind me why we do this?" She brought me to God's Word, and I was reminded of what loving discipline can look like in that context. But it shook me up! It confused me! I was vulnerable there. I was a young Mom and I had a weak spot.
Where are your weak spots? Where is your spiritual immune system low? If your marriage is experiencing trouble and you struggle with contentment and satisfaction because of it, stay far, far away from media like this!!! The messages about marriage, self-empowerment and fulfillment, your authentic self, being true to you, will beat down that weak spot until it can't stand it anymore.
God's Word can stand the test! He can give you an answer for what you believe, but if you're feeding your flesh with this stuff more than you're feeding your Spirit with His Word and prayer, then you won't make it!
I was talking with a friend last night about her experiencing a deep depression brought on by a medicine she was taking. It brought her to a crisis in her faith. She felt purpose-less, doubting everything she knew to be true about God. How hard would it be for the Enemy to take a person in this position, and twist their thinking? Not hard.
We must guard ourselves! We must guard our hearts and minds.
I'm interested to see this "New Earth" business on Wednesday, "awakening to life's purpose." I'm scared already.
I didn't get to it today, but I want to write later on about the dangers of celebrity worship.
That concludes my Monday Oprah thoughts. There you have it.

Oprah

Heather called me today and said "Do you want to watch Oprah for a week?"
I said "okay....?"
I know neither of us are Oprah watchers. I used to watch Oprah.
I haven't in a long time.
If I'm going to watch something when I finally fall in bed at 10pm, it's going to be Gilmore Girls or American Idol.
Watch this short video filling you in on her latest anti-Jesus endeavors. I had heard it was bad, but I just haven't paid much attention to it.
But this is something worth looking into, considering how many Christians are big Oprah fans. In fact, it's pretty obvious the way women idolize her, because from what I remember, the first five minutes of her show, everyone there looks like 16-year-old girls at a Beatles concert. They are screaming like crazy, crying, just trying to reach out and touch her with a brush of their hands! Let's admit it...she is worshiped. She is one of those people who can speak with authority, and no matter what she's saying, you want to believe it. You don't want to oppose her. Who would take on Oprah? I really think if she herself ran for president right now, she would win, hands down. No matter what party she ran with.
I've written on here before that she would be my #1 celebrity pick to get saved. What would happen? But she's not saved. She needs Jesus. And she is the pied piper, playing a very seductive tune, with millions, MILLIONS of people following behind her.
The saddest part of that video was hearing that woman from Illinois, I assume who claims to be a Christian, so confused about how to "reconcile" her faith to this new book and way of thinking. We can't reconcile these things! Light has nothing to do with dark!
I think we need to be VERY CAREFUL what we allow into our homes and minds. It only takes a doubt for Satan to ride the wave and cause a tidal wave in our spiritual lives.
So this is the beginning of the Oprah week for Heather and I. We will write about it at some point. Stay posted, if you're interested.
*By the way, I know this video mentions Obama. This is not about politics, or endorsing a candidate, at all! I am not lumping him in with her in this "New Earth" business.