What’s God Got to Do With It?

The prosperity, self-help gospel (or should I say "gospel") is completely contrary to Scripture and everything Jesus taught. Osteen obviously isn't teaching it, and has even said himself he is more of an inspirational speaker than a Bible teacher or preacher. Faith based on self-fulfillment like that only goes skin-deep.

I'd just ONE TIME like a pastor such as Joel Osteen to explain the lives of the early church and the Apostles to me based on his message of prosperity and your best life now.

MY Best life awaits me in Heaven...this is merely my training ground for service to Christ. Peter, James, John and the others didn't experience prosperity measured in finances or physical gain...but in spiritual gain and in eternity.

Until the message matches up with Scripture COMPLETELY, I throw it out...and I'm throwing this one out.

If I'm eating an apple, how can you tell me whether my apple is sweet or not. Until you taste my God and the experince felt by living a life filled with joy and peace, you cannot say my life is not what I say it is. This morning I got some really bad news. For ten minutes I was pretty upset, but when I practiced what Joel has taught me over the years I was more motivated to move forward stronger. I gave God thanks for everything he has blessed me with instead of getting upset and complaining. Joel and his wife has done so much for me and others and I wish that all the negativity and criticism would end. What's wrong with bringing people closer to God.

What harold619? Practical Christianity? A spirituality that I can use in my everyday life and not live in absolute fear and self-loathing?

Why that's just silly.

I can understand the writer???s questions about these people like the Osteens. People who appear to be very ordinary despite their success, who say God is their daily guide and their strength.

I think that sometimes what we look for in others speaks most about what we are looking for in ourselves. The tone and a specific recollection in this article ask, "What has God got to do with it?" The larger question seems to be, what is there in our lives that God DOES NOT have everything to do with? As we wrestle to wall off an area of our life that we say is OK for God-- like Sundays at church or the sick room of a loved one or the earthly departure of a treasured person in our life. The pressure appears to be finding a place that is acceptable to contemporary, modern life for God. How about a corner of your being that all our colleges and associates--as neurotic and socially cripple as they may be-- will accept? You know a part of your life where you can convince your friends you are that same smart, feisty person you have always been,.. only better?

Let's put God somewhere where he/she won't come out and embarrass us by actually being apart of our everyday life. Anyone who does call on God everyday probably is unable to handle daily living on their own. Who needs Godly wisdom when you can be smart instead? Who needs faith in God when you can have social acceptance? Why bother with hope when you can have expert predictions.

I know that Jesus Christ actually walked the earth but shouldn't contemporary Christians be floating a couple feet off the ground or something like that? How dare the Osteens or anyone else speak to our daily concerns and pressures, shouldn't they be somewhere feeding the leapers? Maybe they should be spoon feeding dying AIDS patients in a third world country? I agree with the writer: Trying to insert the simplicity of wisdom and Biblical wisdom into our well-informed-contemporary-smart-feisty-consciousness is just more then I can bear,...and my three psychiatrists agree.
Harold619

I can understand the writer's questions about these people like the Osteens. People who appear to be very ordinary despite their success, who say God is their daily guide and their strength.

I think that sometimes what we look for in others speaks most about what we are looking for in ourselves. The tone and a specific recollection in this article ask, "What has God got to do with it?" The larger question seems to be, what is there in our lives that God DOES NOT have everything to do with? As we wrestle to wall off an area of our life that we say is OK for God-- like Sundays at church or the sick room of a loved one or the earthly departure of a treasured person in our life. The pressure appears to be finding a place that is acceptable to contemporary, modern life for God. How about a corner of your being that all our colleges and associates--as neurotic and socially cripple as they may be-- will accept? You know a part of your life where you can convince your friends you are that same smart, feisty person you have always been,.. only better?

Let's put God somewhere where he/she won't come out and embarass us by actually being apart of our everyday life. Anyone who does call on God everyday probably is to unable to handle daily living on their own. Who needs Godly wisdom when you can be smart instead? Who needs faith in God when you can have social acceptance? Why bother with hope when you can have expert predictions.

I know that Jesus Christ actually walked the earth but shouldn't contemporary Christians be floating a couple feet off the ground or something like that? How dare the Osteens or anyone else speak to our daily concerns and pressures, shouldn't they be somewhere feeding the leapers? Maybe they should be spoon feeding dying AIDS patients in a third world country? I agree with the writer: Trying to insert the simplicity of wisdom and Biblical wisdom into our well-informed-contemporary-smart-feisty-consciousness is just more then I can bear,...and my three psychiatrists agree.
Harold619

You also have a lot of wisdom, onwisconsin66!

Bandying about ideas is fun (to a point) but when it turns nasty or judgmental, I think it runs counter to what Christianity or truly, any major (or even minor) religions are about.

There are two proverbs about riches I love: I posted them on my mirror during a time when I was working 5 jobs to make ends meet. And I kept having just enough -- and other opportunities would come up to get me to the next paycheck or assignment. It was good for me to remember the perspective these verses give:

'Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches and they are gone for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.' Prov. 23:45 (sounds like a good mantra for what's going on in our economy today....)

'Two things I ask of you, O Lord - do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say Who is the Lord, or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God.' Prov. 30: 7-9

You seem so wise, jvande7471!

I wonder ....has anyone READ Victoria's book or are we just commenting on what it says in the REVIEW? I didn't even think it was available yet. I know from past experiences with music, books and movies that often critics' opinions don't always line up with mine. It's hard to give an accurate picture of an entire tome in a 700-word article. Maybe actually reading the book and then having an opinion is a good way to go???? Just a thought. :-)

Nikki, I'm totally there with you. I would add that as a wife is there to support her husband, the husband is also there to support his wife. Whatever relationship Victoria has with Joel is between them and i don't really need to know the details.

As to being a servant of God, to me that means living the life that God means for me to live. The good parts and the bad parts. To learn from all the sources God makes available to me, be it the Bible, the Quoran, the Talmud, the Tao, or the 5 year old that lives down the block and is in awe of the way a spider spins her web. To take these learnings and apply them to my life, and to share what I've learned with those that want to hear about it.

God first. I think that is the best definition of 'denying oneself. ' Notice there is nothing punitive or self-destructive about it. It's just recognizing where our life flows from -- God is our source - and giving that first priority in all our decisions, and trusting that God wants what is best for us even more than we do. And God has the added bonus of 'floodlight vision'- seeing the big picture; while we have 'flashlight vision'- just seeing what is right before us.

Putting God first sounds easy, but it's not, especially when human wants, physical necessities, work demands, cultural norms, family pressures all compete to be first. But that is the essence of getting back to the Garden, as it were. And the more you do it, the more you can do it. Like anything else, it takes practice.

No offense, but I think it's quite obvious that some of the comments were made by non-Christians. We all don't "Bible-beat" or have a Bible glued to our hands. We do, however, live my the word of God. With that being said, the Bible teaches us that God will provide, in abundance, to his servants and that we will never be without. Some people who trust in God may go through rough times, but will come out on the other end as better people if they hold true to the Word. I can honestly say that regardless of what was going on in my life, I have always learned a lot and come out stronger in the end.

Also, I'm not totally backing up Victoria Osteen here. I believe that she is weaving in some of her own ideals into thebook, which are not necessarily from the Bible. She speaks about getting what she wants by pretending to submit to her husband. I think that is just a stupid concept. in marriage, the wife is supposed to be her husband's "helpmate". She is there to support him, not submit to him, trick him, or be his slave. And regarding the tithes comment listed below, we give tithes to God by faith. We are essentially saying, "Hey, you blessed me by giving me the ability to earn this money,. So, 'thank you' and 'I trust in you.'" By giving, we have a convenant with God. There are MANY Bible verses that touch on this. Google "Bible" and "tithes". A bunch will pop up. Here is an example:

Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. Basically, the money you have from work or whatever, did not just end up in your lap by accident. It is from God. By the way, tithes go to the church for different costs, including salaries, charity and missionary work. Some of the preachers with money have businesses that are not related to the church. They aren't necessarily stealing from the church.

So brutal--have you no compassion for midgets? So ARROGANT.