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Victoria Osteen & the response
Victoria Osteen – the “response” that shows she is a typical false teacher
by Sandy Simpson, 9/8/14
It never ceases to amaze me how people who claim to be “Christian” leaders are apparently NEVER able to admit when they are wrong. Makes you wonder if they are born again because acceptance of the Gospel will cause a person to repent of their sins which then gives them access to the forgiveness of Christ when they sin from that point on (1 John 1:9). But be that as it may, Victoria, the “co-pastor” and wife of Joel Osteen, fires back at the article in the Christian Post entitled: “Victoria Osteen Ripped for Telling Church 'Just Do Good For Your O... by claiming they lied about what she said. She claims in her statement back to them in the article called “Victoria Osteen Chides Critics: I Didn't Mean Parishioners Shouldn... that they claimed that she said a person should not worship God.
"While I admit that I could have been more articulate in my remarks, I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to Him we will be better for it," she told The Blaze in a statement Friday. "I did not mean to imply that we don't worship God; that's ridiculous, and only the critics and cynics are interpreting my remarks that way." (Christian Post, “Victoria Osteen Chides Critics: I Didn't Mean Parishioners Shouldn...)
That is not what they said at all. The title of the article is very specific in their correct analysis of her “ridiculous” statement – that she stated that “worship is not for God, it is for yourself”. So she lied in her response.
But the real problems are that she claims the following in her response:
"I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we're not doing it for God—I mean, that's one way to look at it—we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy," she said in the 36-second clip posted on YouTube, with her husband smiling at her side. "That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joy … So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy," she continued. "When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen?" the clip ended as congregants cheered. (Christian Post, “Victoria Osteen Chides Critics: I Didn't Mean Parishioners Shouldn...)
So she not only did not apologize for her statements and lied about how people quoted her, but she reiterated their same, tired, false Word of Faith teaching again. She states that worshipping God is not for Him but for us. Why? Because when we are happy that makes God happy. Oh really? What about the stories of Job, Stephen, Paul suffering from a “thorn”, and all the other prophets and apostles who died serving God? They were not worshipping God so they could be “happy”, they were worshipping God because of Who He is!
Victoria has also not read the Bible, which you would think would be a requirement for someone to be a head pastor of a church. The Bible is clear that the thing that brings God “joy” is our obedience.
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.
John 14:23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
John 14:24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
Love and worship for God is not predicated on how we feel or the amount of joy we have. It is predicated on obedience to Him BECAUSE HE IS GOD! Victoria also tells her audience that they need to “do good because God wants you to be happy”. We don’t do good so WE can be happy. That may be a consequence of doing good, at times, but the important thing is that, in the most difficult circumstances, we simply obey Him because we know He will be pleased with us on that basis. But our “happiness” is not the end. But it is for the Osteens. Almost every word of every message from them is the New Thought idea that we can create our own little world of happiness by simply thinking and speaking positively. I have written about this idea, which is basically Karma, in an article entitled “Karma (by any other name)”. God wants us to submit our will to His, not willfully try to create our own reality that is often not in line with His purposes.
Finally, the scary part is that the “congregants cheered” after Victoria finishes her diatribe. This reminds me of a warning from the Old Testament against heretics like the Osteens:
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Someday every person who has ever been born on this earth will answer to God for their actions. You can either fool yourself into thinking you are happy because of your positive thoughts and confessions, or you can follow God and obey Him, thus proving your love for Him. Better choose correctly because “what will you do in the end?”
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tammy on
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Nothing they say EVER surprises me. It's all about "me". What God can do for "me". Years ago, when I first heard of these people, I listened to his sermon. I wasn't that deep in the Word then. I mean, I knew it but as far as digging, I wasn't there yet. Someone told me that they were criticized a lot. So, I listened to him - actually several times. I thought, I don't see anything wrong with what he's saying. He's showing a positive way to live the Godly life. I was in the mind set that Christians needed to view life in this light because we hear hell, fire & damnation all the time - Now that is in the South. I've found out as I've gotten older that hell, fire & damnation isn't preached too much around the country though.
Well, if you know me by now, which if you're on the forum, you do, you know that I think they are useless now. Now, I haven't looked up every single Greek, Hebrew & Arabic meaning behind the word 'blessed' but so far I haven't found one that defines it as happiness. The New Century Version (never heard of it before) translated the word blessed as happy.
Here are a few scriptures that use the word bless.
Matthew 5:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I was going to post more but I feel these will do. If we read these Scriptures, I don't think these are the blessings the Olsteens teach about. Not once do I believe that he stands up there & says blessings unto you who mourn, blessings are yours who are poor in spirit because your reward is in heaven. Instead, they teach the blessings are the ranch houses & let's not forget the private jets (hint! hint! Joyce Meyers).
2 Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears...
Who isn't excited about hearing about that God wants to bless them financially when they fight to keep food in their baby's mouths? Who doesn't want to hear this message when they don't know where their next $1 comes from for gas to get to work & take kids to school? So, when they hear these messages that take a few Scriptures here & there & promise that tomorrow will be better, sure they fall into it when they don't search the Word for themselves. They are at the end of themselves. At that point, any hope is great. That's what these folks give them. An Elvis Pressley hair style, huge white teeth & a cute joke to make you giggle. The wife is a beautiful blonde, flawless skin, gorgeous green eyes & perfect nails. Nothing wrong with any of these qualities but it's the American Dream Team right to hell.
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Tammy,
It is good to see you are still blessing God's people here. Good Word.
Much love to you sis.
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Good to see you as well brother after such a long time. Love back brother.
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Now I'm reading an article where she apologizes for not articulating it better & read this line "Every Lakewood member knows what I was talking about because they have experienced firsthand the joy and victory of a Lakewood Church worship service, and the honor, reverence and gratitude we show God," Am I just being nit-picky or does this statement also not imply that it's not of God but of Lakewood? Sometimes, I can read statements & based on my opinion of these people, my opinion can be strewed. So, am I just making things up with this statement?
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Oh yea, that first link in the article came up with an error page, not that you can change it or nothing since you pasted it but just wanted to let you know.
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By far the worst theology I have heard in a long time from prosperity false teachers. Horrible statements.
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I hadn't seen the video until now. I had heard about it & read a statement or two. Blows Me Away even though I'm rarely surprised with these types.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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My view of this topic is more in line with the following article: http://www.blogos.org/keepwatch/false-teachers-self-esteem.html
I think the question should be asked, what is a false teaching?
Many of us read Scripture and only understand it partly but the real truth is always there and yet we don't always see all of it. So if we can't see it all, then we only have it partially right. It means we are still wrong to a certain point. So we walk in the light we have. I have experienced being under teachings that are errant. I think there's a difference between being influenced by error in the essential doctrines versus non-essential doctrines.
False teachers would be those who are wrong in the essentials of the Christian faith and they are no longer teachable or willing to receive correction andadmit when they are wrong and repent when admonished. (The Osteens appear to fall in that category.) I think we must be careful about calling any error a false teaching or calling anyone we see in error a false teacher, because none of us have complete understanding of the truth and should always be teachable, growing in knowledge and wisdom.
I've learned not to just accept what someone says as being true even when Scripture is used as proof, but to search it out for myself and ask God for wisdom and discernment. But, I also have learned that I can't always trust myself anymore than I can another person to come to the right conclusion, either. I think it's probably best not to study the Scriptures all alone and make your own interpretations. For many years I did that, just reading and studying alone, especially during the times when I wasn't in church, but I have noticed that the Bereans were a group and searched the Scriptures together. The last four years I've attempted to ask for help and to discuss Scriptures and doctrines with others. It's still been difficult.
Having said that, I have read the word "happy" in the KJV. It is used, as well as the words rejoice, joy, and blessed. I'm not sure why "happy" is used in some verses. I view happy as subjective and temporary, but "blessed" and "joy" are objective and permanent, although it is dependent upon choice, meaning I might think joy is gone and not see that I'm blessed because I'm looking at circumstances and feeling very unhappy. I could always choose joy and to rejoice even when in bad situations.
I did a word search for "happy" in the KJV: https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=happy&qs_...
Our feelings and emotions go along with how God has created us. I don't see anything wrong with saying God wants His people to be happy in the sense of the way the word is used in some of the KJV verses. Perhaps to say that God feels happy is to ascribe a human term to God -- anthropomorphism. I have felt happy when worshipping God. Whether it's right or wrong, I don't know.
I don't agree with prosperity teachings and seldom listen to those teaching them. I listen to Joyce Meyer once in awhile, mostly to see what she has to say regarding her past history of sexual abuse. Christine Caine has helped me much more in that area. It really has never taken much by means of money to make me feel blessed, I guess because I grew up in abject poverty and severe neglect. I remember when I could finally afford to buy sets of bed sheets and some thick bath towels, I felt rich.
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Amanda,
The prosperity message creates another Gospel and that is the big issue with it.
The article you placed here is a good reminder. :)
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Thank you for looking up the Scriptures that contain the word happy. The only reason I said what I did is I looked up happy on my LOGOS 5 program & when I typed in Happy, the word Blessed came up.
False teachers would be those who are wrong in the essentials of the Christian faith and they are no longer teachable or willing to receive correction and admit when they are wrong and repent when admonished.
KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?
OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...
KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?
OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.
CALLER: Hello, Larry. You're the best, and thank you, Joe -- Joel -- for your positive messages and your book. I'm wondering, though, why you side-stepped Larry's earlier question about how we get to heaven? The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light and the only way to the father is through him. That's not really a message of condemnation but of truth.
OSTEEN: Yes, I would agree with her. I believe that. . .
KING: So then a Jew is not going to heaven?
OSTEEN: No. Here's my thing, Larry, is I can't judge somebody's heart. You know? Only God can look at somebody's heart, and so -- I don't know. To me, it's not my business to say, you know, this one is or this one isn't. I just say, here's what the Bible teaches and I'm going to put my faith in Christ. And I just I think it's wrong when you go around saying, you're saying you're not going, you're not going, you're not going, because it's not exactly my way. I'm just...
KING: But you believe your way.
OSTEEN: I believe my way. I believe my way with all my heart.
KING: But for someone who doesn't share it is wrong, isn't he?
OSTEEN: Well, yes. Well, I don't know if I look at it like that. I would present my way, but I'm just going to let God be the judge of that. I don't know. I don't know.
KING: So you make no judgment on anyone?
OSTEEN: No. But I...
KING: What about atheists?
OSTEEN: You know what, I'm going to let someone -- I'm going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell. I just -- again, I present the truth, and I say it every week. You know, I believe it's a relationship with Jesus. But you know what? I'm not going to go around telling everybody else if they don't want to believe that that's going to be their choice. God's got to look at your own heart. God's got to look at your heart, and only God knows that.
I would classify the above conversation as being wrong in the essentials of Christian faith. So, nope. I have absolutely no problem in calling him a false prophet. Maybe none of us have complete understanding of the full truth but the truth of the cross & who can enter the kingdom is pretty cut & dry.
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Yes, I mentioned the Osteens appear to fall into that category, regarding essentials. There's another discussion on the site regarding Osteen that might help edify others along with this one: http://www.allaboutgod.net/forum/topics/joel-olsteen-sermon?comment...
But new reminders are always timely. What makes the false so dangerous is that there's always truth in it, too, and I always attempt not to throw the truth out along with the false. What I mean is, it helps me to be clear about what exactly it is about someone's ministry that makes them a false teacher preaching a false gospel. I approach this very cautiously anymore -- the way anyone handles the Word of Truth and divides it -- due to my history and personal experience in errant teachings.
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