No Politics From This Pulpit

I am a member of Lakewood Church and I was in attendance at the service that President Clinton visited. He WAS NOT allowed to speak to the congregation. Joel Osteen is a man of God and a man of his word. No elected official, or person trying to become an elected official, has ever addressed our congregation in the eight years that I have attended.

If Pastor Olsteen is keeping politics from his pulpit, why was President Clinton allowed to speak today according to CNN.

Many of our founding fathers,including Jefferson, Madison, Adams and Franklin were free thinking "Deists", who believed in a watchmaker God, who set the universe in motion but subsequently took no active role in the affairs of men. These men were even labeled as atheists,heretics and infidels, by their Calvinist contemporaries, because of their intention to establish a secular government. These founding fathers were NOT Christian. History Lesson 101.

Lets talk about what's credible. If the Bible is the word of man,not God, then everything that follows is false .Nothing more needs to be said!

Why are there people who like to run off into another topic... the discussion should be about politics and religion, Not about whether the bible is credibel (very credible, as a matter of fact!)
Politics and Religion is not something new to this country, lets look back in history. This country was founded by people who were looking to Praise and Honor God in their own way. Look at the dollar bill, what does it say?? Selfish people who are so insistant on separating church and state, have chosen to ignore our countries past, in order to compromise God's plan and live their lives the way they want to. Its about feeling free by the "world's" definition. Thats not freedom, its a silent jail of doubt, hate, depression and empty idols.

To jdperki; I guess I should be glad that the church doesn't have the power to imprison,a person for theories that don't jive with their dogma, as it once was.(Galileo) Some were even put to death for what you would call fables, which were later on found to be true. More and more of the missing links ,you mention , are found every year in new archeological sites or are these just fake fossils that God has planted as a joke! Again, the Bible is not a book of facts but a book of faith. I can say I have evolved past the questionable beliefs. Common sense and reason far outweigh a biblical fairy tale!

the one that tells the true version of creation. not the fables of something exploding and everything just so happens to fall into perfect harmony, or that we evolved from singlecell organisms that crawled up out of the mud and muck. or all of the "missing links" that we just cant seem to find. no, i know that not everyone can and will understand the bible as the truth. as a matter of fact the bible tells us in first corinthians 1:18 "for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." at one time i was in the same situation. but one day he moved in my life and opened my eyes to just how real he is. i know he is real. i know that without him none of us are anything. i can guarantee you that one day you will also know how real he is. i just pray that it is on this side of death. the old testiment stories may seem far fetched to the natural inclination. but they are far more believable than the evolution theory.
at one time

To jdperki: Which older version(Bible) is the true book? The one that says people lived to be 900 years of age, the world is only 6000 years old, a man can be swallowed by a whale and later deposited on a beach alive! Noah builds a boat big enough to hold every species, including dinosaurs, to avoid the flood that KILLS everything else on earth. The Garden of Eden , created by an omniscient God , that ends in disaster . Didn't God know it was going to fail? Is this the version that is the correct one ? All of these stories appeared in earlier civilizations before the Bible was ever written, passed down, retold, embellished,retold,embellished on an on. I guess God couldn't come up with any unique storylines. Sorry , but it's all mans creation. And man is still changing the storyline,remember, we have to fit the dinosaurs in there someplace and evolution creates another problem.

I am referring to the comment by Mike Bard. This, I am sorry to say, does not have anything to do with the subject, but Bard is my family name and I wonder if he might be a relative of mine down the line somewhere. My e-mail is busibe113@hotmail.com, should he like to respond. Thanks, D. Clark

the bible is the inspired word of God. true there are many different versions as of late that "man" has written to fit their personal desires. but if you fall back on older versions, Gods word proves true.
the bible is full of promises and prophecies that have come true. for instance, up until columbus sailed to the new world, people thought the earth was flat. in the old testiment , the book of job, there is a pasage that states "the earth is a shpere, and he (God) hangs it on nothing." we have grown accustomed to the prosperity messages here in the u.s. 78% of our country claim to be christians, but i have to say that about 95% of the people i meet on a daily basis are living just like the world. (cussing, lying, stealling, adultery, and a multitude of other sins that the bible says are wrong.) we seem to want to put God in the corner and tell him that we will handle everything, until a day like 9/11 comes aroung. then everybody starts calling for his help.
He told us in His word to "acknowledge Him in all of our ways, and He would direct our paths." we want to take him out of our schools and wonder why there are so many shootings in them now. Psalms 9:17 states "the wicked shall be cast into hell, and the nation that forgets God". unfortunately we are on that path.
Jesus told the rich young ruler to "go and sell all that you have, then he could follow Him." but that young man loved his possesions more than he loved Christ. we have that problem here today. and for the most part the church encourages it. instead of preaching the gospel.

It"s BEYOND ridiculous to argue over what the Bible says! With 13,000 different interpretations , different churches and mega-church evangelists are still to this day creating their own Bibles for their beliefs in their own church. It never stops! One bible passage can become a whole mini-series in the hands of the modern day story teller. What do you think the original writers of the bible were? Great story tellers! If you believe Gods hand was involved then his influence should create one Bible, one belief system with no argument. Wouldn't the Holy Spiirit work through every believer to be on the same page! (A must read," Misquoting Jesus " by Bart Ehrman on who changed the Bible and why.) Mr. Ehrman chairs the dept. of religious studies at Univ. of N. Carolina and is an authority on the early church.

To jwil5050: You are right, God is a God of relationship. However, you need to get your scriptures right, because Ezekial 28 does not say that, "Hell was created out of the lust of satan's heart." It's not just for him and his angels. Tell me, why did Jesus say, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6 Also look at Revelation 20:15: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." That is the same lake of fire that "death" and "hades" had just been thrown into, so you see it's not just for satan and his angels, it's also for those who have not believed that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for all of our sins. The bible says that God will judge us. What does a judge do? A judge does not make, or decide if someone is guilty, a judge simply oversees the revealing process of that person's guilt or innocence. We are already guilty by our sin and have basically condemned ourselves and are responsible for paying the price of that sin. But that's why God sent his son to die for us. So that we wouldn't have to pay the price for that sin. John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." God loves us so much that he doesn't want to live apart from us, but at the same time, he's not going to force us to accept his son, Jesus, as our Lord and Savior because he wants us to willingly love him. He doesn't want mindless people that he has to command all the time and make every decision for them. That's why he gave us the ability to make choices. Because he wants us to love him out of our own free will! God is absolutely amazing that he has done all this, and more, for us! It's amazing to me that some people just don't see the truth in this. One last thing... Jesus would never rub in the face of someone that they didn't save more souls than someone else, so who are you to? God bless everyone! -Mike Bard

God loves us,correct? Think hurricane Katrina and the devastation, drowning, pain and suffering involved. Now picture,if possible, the entire earth flooded killing every living creature. How much pain and suffering was involved from your loving God. Doesn't make sense!

The Christian church is getting more and more watered down with Joel Osteen being the perfect example. People are simply evolving away bacause it no longer makes any sense, and only appeals to those that need a crutch to lean on . The Bible is the word of man, created by man much like the Greek , Egyptian, Mayans,etc etc throughout history that have created divine beings,spirits and the like to fill a void for the unknown. At some point you should realize we simply don't know where we came from but history shows we constantly use myths, legends,stories, like the Bible, to be the answer. Many people can't give the idea up completely so it progresses, or EVOLVES, slowly. Why do you think there are so many non-denominational churches today! Joel Osteen is a motivational speaker using God as his link or crutch to his flock of sheep.( A must read Thomas Paine , THE AGE OF REASON)

All I want is Obama to win so I can get my reparations

Joel Osteen is dangerous for those seeking the kingdom of Heaven. He never speaks about the Gospel, nor does he explain the severity of our sin. He continues to preach that if we do our best, God will give us all we want. Well, even if we did our very best, we would still fall short of Christ perfect nature. Yes, I KNOW that God loves us, and I know that he loves his son Jesus more. But I also know that he hates our sin, and without the death of Jesus by the hand of God, we could not stand before God justified by FAITH in the cleansing, forgiving blood of Jesus Christ. God loves us all, but he would not give over his only son so that we can do as Osteen says, and just "try our best to be good." We are not good, God is great, Jesus is mercy. Now, tell me...do you ever hear Joel Osteen tell you this? Search for God's will through his word, not through Joel Osteen. Jesus said he is the way the truth and the life, and no one goes to the father except through him. Not through our works and deeds, not through our best behavior, but through Jesus. God bless you all.

Joel tells you a story about your life in every sermon.If you take it to heart and believe in God.Life will get better

I have already cast my vote and that is for God's Kingdom. People need to realize that God's Kingdom is a real government with a real King, Christ. One can only support one side, either God's Kingdom or rule by man. Very soon God's Kingdom will "crush and put and end" to all earthly governments. (Dan. 2:44) They will all be destroyed. (Rev. 19:19-21) Jesus said his Kingdom was no part of the world. We all must one day "vote" - God's rule or man's