"Joel Osteen is a friend to sinners"

Phil Munsey, head of Joel Osteen's Champion's Network, has written a completely unbiased article on America's favorite preacher:

When Jesus was in the homes of the gluttonous and wine-bibbers, Jesus appeared comfortable, and so did the sinners. I'm sure the disciples felt betrayed, confused, angry and maybe a bit envious. Why was Jesus spending time with those people?

Like the disciples, we as Christians may feel betrayed—left out. And with a culture that has seemingly rejected our faith and oftentimes mocked and misrepresented it through the media, it's easy to be disillusioned. Why would Joel and that grin of his be with "those" people? Why? Because Joel is a friend to sinners too.

Joel is an invited guest to our neighbor's home, to the person we do business with, to our families and friends—all of whom watch and are positively influenced by his ministry. My goodness, even our president watches!

I believe history will record the past 14 years of Joel's ministry and influence as one of the most effective pastor/evangelist of our time. And his compassionate passion for people indicates to me that his best efforts are yet to come!

Can I encourage us to begin to believe the best in and for each other? To especially pray and protect the gifts of Joel and Victoria? God has given them to represent and reach an increasingly number of unchurched, de-churched and unbelieving in our world. To be a friend of sinners should be a claim no one should be ashamed of!

It seems we've had Brother Joel all wrong.

How to Lovingly Rebuke False Teachers

UPDATE: Pastor Scott Rodriguez gives the full story behind the video.

America: A Nation of Heretics

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has written a book entitled Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics. In it he describes the sad state of religion in America, from how we twist the gospel for our own prosperity to the "messianic" status we assign to our political leaders.

Douthat, a conservative Catholic, discusses his book in this NPR interview:

Sending the Wrong Message

Even at first glance one should see just how dangerous this kind of theology is.



Uniting Christ with the state? No thanks.

No Hell?

Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't true. What we see in this video is akin to someone committing a murder, being convicted in court, standing before a judge, and believing no sentence will be passed down because the judge happens to be a kind man.

Note especially what is said at 3:53. Those of us who believe in Hell are "believing in a place that no one would rationally think of in this day and time." Translation: Forget what scripture says, because going by the world's concept of rational is how we should live.



This is what happens when words like "holy," "just," "sin," "punishment," and "atonement" cease to have any meaning.

Atonement Alternatives?

Emergent leader Tony Jones is encouraging his readers to think about alternatives to the penal substitutionary "theory" of the atonement. Other emergent types, like Mike Morrell, have already been contemplating this issue.

Change? What Change?

The divorced, homosexual "Reverend" V. Gene Robinson, in his invocation at the "We Are One" concert, which kicked off the presidential inauguration ceremonies Sunday, reminds us that nothing has changed. We are still a nation that worships an unjust, unholy god of our own creation.

Benny Hinn, Lord of the Sith

Sometimes you just have to laugh in order to keep from crying about crap like this:

Reformation Reminder

Jesus was not God. Mary was not a virgin. The resurrection story should not be taken literally. These are some of the claims made by Peter Dresser, an Australian Catholic priest, in a booklet entitled "God is Big. Real Big!"

On Christ's divinity he writes:

No human being can ever be God. And Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that! ...

... The people who made Jesus into a God -- or to be more theologically correct, the Incarnate Son of God -- were a breakaway group of Jews, Christians, who claimed that this person Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed One of God, the Christos. Subsequently there developed over the early church period some theological reflections regarding this man Jesus which ultimately lead to the Council of Nicaea which encoded the major beliefs of the mainstream Christian churches today, including the divinity of Jesus. I want to return to this whole matter regarding Jesus being God a little later because it is a concept that not only does violence to my own intelligence but must be a sticking point for millions of people trying to make some kind of sense of the Christian religion. The concept of Jesus being an avatar makes considerable contemporary sense. It does not detract in any way from Jesus being a human person, it explains more easily his relationship with his God, and it helps us to read and respect the lives and teachings of other avatars -- something very important for us living in the global village.

On the virgin birth:

A human couple cannot give birth to God! But because the early Church saw Jesus as a divine person, God, the notion of virgin birth had to be introduced in order to explain this phenomenon. And what an overzealous and violent attempt it was. Mary was proclaimed to have been a virgin before, during and after* the birth of her son. This really affronts one’s intelligence because it is simply not possible! Not even the traditional God can do something that is logically impossible. And it is logically impossible to be a mother and remain a virgin.

(*My note: Protestants do not hold to Mary's perpetual virginity.)

On the resurrection:

It is important that we do not accept resurrection in a literal sense as being a resuscitation -- and Jesus literally coming alive and dancing on the tomb! Those who insist on interpreting Jesus' resurrection as his physical restoration have perhaps never considered the difficulties raised by such a view. ...

... It is not my intention to prolong discussion on the literal interpretation of resurrection except to say that once again we are confronted with religious language. Even the expression that Jesus was raised up on the third day is not to be taken literally.

In the following clip, Tim Brunero of LiveNews.com.au talks to Dresser about his booklet. Note how Dresser opens the interview with a blatant lie: "I'm a little bit sort of dismayed that this has caused controversy, to tell you the truth." No, this is exactly what he set out to do.



How appropriate that this story comes out just before we Protestants celebrate Reformation Day. Let this serve as a reminder that reformation wasn't a one-time thing. We must remain constantly on guard, ready to make a defense for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15).

You Might Be a Heretic If...

...you call yourself a minister of the gospel and have never actually read the Bible.

Hagee Clarifies His Heretical Position

John Hagee doesn't want his unbiblical teaching to be labeled heresy, so he has posted an open letter in hopes of providing some sort of clarification about what he believes:

I am writing to share with you some important news pertaining to my latest book In Defense of Israel. It has come to my attention that my choice of language and some of the interpretation being given that language in Chapter Ten has caused some confusion and actually led some readers to question whether I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If people are reaching such a conclusion, then I have clearly failed to communicate my views as well as I should have.

Now, I haven't thoroughly combed the blogosphere to see what everyone else has been saying about this, but I never claimed that Hagee himself denies that Jesus is the Messiah. My problem was with this statement: "Since Jesus refused, by word and deed, to claim to be the Messiah, how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?" You can see why Hagee would want to cover his tracks.

What he really meant was that while Jesus came as the suffering Messiah, he never claimed to be the reigning Messiah, and that's the one for whom the Jews were waiting. Unfortunately for Hagee, this feeble attempt at backpedaling is just as unbiblical as his original assertion.

Those Jews who rejected Christ as Messiah were without excuse. If all of the Old Testament prophets weren't enough, they had the example of foreigners worshiping the infant Jesus as the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). More importantly, Christ himself proclaimed his divine kingship:

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world -- to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." (John 18:33-37)

And if there was still any confusion, they had Peter's sermon at Pentecost:

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

"The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool."

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2:29-36)

In the book of Hebrews, they were reminded that Christ, in his role as priest-king, was already reigning:

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. (Hebrews 7:26-8:2)

If anyone failed to recognize Jesus as the suffering and reigning Messiah, it certainly wasn't due to a lack of communication on Christ's part.

The Timelessness of Osteen's Message

Hagee's Heresy

John Hagee has written a new book, In Defense of Israel, which he claims will "shake Christian theology." He says the book will "prove that Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah. ... Since Jesus refused, by word and deed, to claim to be the Messiah, how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?"

Yeah, I thought that was outrageous, too, even for Hagee. But click here (or here) and see for yourself.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt Mr. Hagee to crack open his Bible once in a while:

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me." (John 10:24-25)

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

Joel Osteen on 60 Minutes

Joel Osteen was featured on 60 Minutes last night. In an interview with Byron Pitts, he talked about his "ministry" and responded to his critics.

I watched it to see what Michael Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, had to say. You can watch the video here while it's still available.