But, when you hear comments about him often ya hear him referred to as "light and fluffy" or a "prosperity teacher"...
I was wondering why that is?
The other day there was a status on facebook posted by Joel Osteen Ministries and check it out:
Do you see what's happening there? In one hour...a status that says, "You can do it! God's with you!" gets over 7,000 LIKES! And, by the time I'd taken the pic and refreshed the page it was already up to 7,400+!
WHY?
Joel always clearly adds to his message that 2nd part...that WE need to FOLLOW God...
People are love-starved. People need to be reminded that God is LOVE because "there's a God-shaped hole in all of us"...right?! And, that hole in all of us can only be filled with LOVE...with GOD!
Most people in Westernized culture have been raised (thanks to teachers like Gary Ezzo) knowing they are "on their own" and "alone"...raised questioning their own wants and needs all the time...raised crying out in the middle of the night and being taught by their parents' lack of response to believe that they're not important enough to respond to...
So, WHY would Christian leaders dislike and talk against guys like Joel who preach mainly about the LOVE of God?
I believe they've been lied to. Because knowing WHO God IS is so critical!!!
(And, I believe the foundation for the lie starts with the false doctrine of Original Sin...and is amplified by spanking and other punitive forms of child-rearing...)
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Break it down...
let us love one another
love is from God
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
The one who does not love does not know God
God is love.
"The one who does not love does not know God"...
So, why would people be against preachers like Joel who focus on God's LOVE?
Satan is the "prince n' power of the air" the one "working in the sons of disobedience" and he does not want humans to know the love of God...
Matthew 7:22-24
"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
John 8:23-25 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
Romans 1:18-21
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
John 10:9-11 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
There is nothing "light and fluffy" about understanding, believing, and preaching that God is love...Because LOVE is what nailed Jesus to the cross!!!!
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross
Nothing "light and fluffy" about LOVE...
NOTHING "light and fluffy" about the love that drove Jesus to the cross!
And, the TRUTH is that because Jesus LOVED us that way...we DO PROSPER!
God is love...
And...love is...
Love (God) is patient
Love (God) is kind
Love (God) is not jealous
Love (God) does not brag and is not arrogant
Love (God) does not act unbecomingly
Love (God) does not seek its own
Love (God) is not provoked
Love (God) does not take into account a wrong suffered
Love (God) does not rejoice in unrighteousness
Love (God) rejoices with the truth
Love (God) bears all things
Love (God) believes all things
Love (God) hopes all things
Love (God) endures all things.
It takes great STRENGTH to love...
Someone doesn't want you to know what love is...
Because we're to be "conformed to His image" and THAT image is LOVE!
Someone wants you to believe all those "LOVE" preachers are "light and fluffy"...and are to be ignored, shunned, and rejected!
But GOD is LOVE!!!
Love (God) never fails
Thank God...love never fails...
