THE MOST DANGEROUS TELEVANGELIST IN THE WORLD
April 18, 2008
Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, recently wrote an article called The Church of Oprah. In it he made the statement that “writing anything even remotely critical of Oprah will bring an avalanche of hate mail.” Well, back up the trucks from the Post Office.
Without question, Oprah Winfrey is one of the most, if not the most, popular and influential people in our world. She’s also among the wealthiest. Her Oprah Winfrey Show is the highest rated talk show in television history. Her book club makes instant bestsellers of what are oftentimes average books. Statistics show each of the book selections she’s made for her book club have sold over 1 million copies.
Her “O” Magazine (which features her picture on the cover of EVERY ISSUE) has become one of the most popular ladies’ magazines in America. HARPO PRODUCTIONS, her personal media company, develops television and radio programs, records music, and produces movies. They are responsible for The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil and The Rachael Ray Show. Her “Live Your Best Life” seminars draw thousands of women, who pay $185 each, and pack out auditoriums in cities all over America.
But Oprah Winfrey is more than just an entertainer, economic machine, entrepreneur, educator, etc. She’s also an evangelist for a “false gospel,” full of New Age philosophy and completely devoid of Scriptural truth.
On a recent program, which you can view on YouTube, Oprah said, “One of the mistakes human beings make is believing that there is only one way to live and we don’t accept that. There are diverse ways of being in the world . . . that there are millions of ways to be a human being and many ways, many paths to what you call God. Her path might be something else and when she gets there she might call it ‘the Light.’ But her loving and her kindness and her generosity — if it brings her to the same point it brings you, it doesn’t matter whether she calls it God along the way or not. There can’t possibly be just one way.”
Someone in the audience mentions Jesus and Oprah asks, “What about Jesus?” A lady in the audience says, “There is one way and only one way and that is through Jesus.” To which Oprah responds, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way.”
In one of her more recent ventures, The New Earth Web Class, (week #3), Oprah is visiting with Eckhart Tolle, author of the book, A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose (a selection of Oprah’s book club) and here is what she says, “I took God out of the box. Because I grew up in the Baptist Church and there were, you know, rules and, you know, belief systems and doctrines and um, I happened to be sitting in church in my late twenties and I was going to this church where you had to get there at 8:00 in the morning or you couldn’t get a seat . . . and a very charismatic minister and everybody was just, you know, into the sermon and this great minister was preaching about how great God was and how omniscient and omnipresent and God is everything. And then, he said, ‘and the Lord Thy God is a jealous God.’ And I was, you know, caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said ‘jealous.’ And something struck me and I was like, I think about 27 or 28, and I was thinking, ‘God is all. God is omnipresent and God is also jealous? God is jealous of me?’ And something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit. Because I believe that God is love and that God is in all things. And so, that’s when the search for something more than doctrine started to stir within me. And I love this quote that Eckhart has. Uh, this is one of my favorite quotes in chapter one, where he says, ‘man made God in his own image. The eternal, the infinite and unnamable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God’.”
Oprah then turns to Eckhart and asks, “What happens to us when we die?” Eckhart says he doesn’t give it any thought at all. Then, Oprah says, “God is a feeling experience not a believing experience . . . and if God for you is still about a belief then it’s not truly God. That’s what you’re saying.” And Eckart agrees with her.
What?
Oprah has embraced Betty Eadie, the new age, Mormon author of the book Embraced By The Light and said she wants “people to see things on our show that makes them think differently about their lives . . . to be a light for people. To make a difference . . . to open their minds and see things differently . . . how to get in touch with the spiritual part of their life.” However, according to Watchman Fellowship, a Christian ministry, which exposes cults, deceptive teachers and their teachings, “the light Oprah offers is the ‘angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14)” which is none other than Satan, himself.
Oprah wholeheartedly endorsed and promoted the feel good, phony-baloney book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, which teaches you can think anything into existence and bring success and unlimited wealth to yourself just by thinking the right thoughts. Only the latest in a long line of self-help books focused on positive thinking rather than God, the book promotes believing in the force of the universe rather than having faith in God and even states the individual reader is God.
Oprah has done a lot of good in our world. But that doesn’t discount the damage she is doing to millions of people who are buying into the dangerous gospel she espouses. A gospel diametrically opposed to Scripture.
The Bible emphatically and clearly states there is only ONE WAY to Heaven and His name is JESUS! Jesus said, “I am THE way, THE truth and THE life. No man comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6). The apostle Paul was equally clear when he wrote, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”
Oprah is a talented talk show host and likeable person — at least from a distance. But she’s also a dangerous televangelist duping tens of millions of people into believing and embracing a false gospel.
Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by the most dangerous television evangelist in the world and don’t excuse her actions by recounting all the good she accomplishes.
No amount of good works can ever make up for a false gospel that sends people to Hell!
© 2008. Barry L. Cameron
Posted in Deception, Oprah, Televangelists, The Gospel
April 19th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I posted on this same trend here at Christ and Pop Culture:
http://www.christandpopculture.com/television/oprah-the-next-billy-graham/
She has tremendous influence with millions of people and she is propagating a faith and spirituality that is using biblical imagrey but is Nothing biblical about it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Here are some links, Al Mohler Pastor Cameron FOX […]
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:38 am
I am so glad this is being out ut there for the world to see. Oprah is dangerous in that thousands of people worship her and will believe what she believes. Thank you, Pastor Cameron!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:25 am
I like to see that you and my pastor Dr Jeffress are attacking this issue head-on.
BTW, thanks for hosting Dr McArthur last week.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
Thank you for addressing the difference between what the world wants to believe and what the truth of God actually is. It is really easy to believe in nothing, or everything. For those of us who believe in Jesus, issues like this have to be addressed to protect the truth. Thank you!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
WOW! I just heard about this blog while listening to KCBI radio. This is a wonderful commentary. Every bit of it the truth!
Thank you and God bless.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
I AM SO GLAD THAT A PASTOR HAS FINALLY SPOKE OUT ABOUT THIS. SHE IS VERY DANGEROUS AND EVEN SOME CHRISTIANS WATCH HER ALL THE TIME. I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE, BUT I HAVE BEEN SPEAKING OUT ABOUT HER NEW AGE TEACHINGS FOR YEARS - AND NO - I DO NOT WATCH OPRAH. SHE IS LEADING WEAK PEOPLE AWAY FROM JESUS USING THE “INCLUSION METHOD” THAT EVERYONE WILL GET TO HEAVEN, BUT JUST IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN AND THAT IS THROUGH JESUS THE MESSIAH. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WISE ENOUGH TO SPEAK OUT. MAY GOD ALLOW HIS ANGELS TO WATCH OVER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Who’s the “BOLD DFW Pastor” who preaches the UN-popular Truth WITHOUT apology? Bro. C…that’s who! WAY TO GO!!!
April 24th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Thank you Pastor Barry for not waivering on speaking the truth! Jesus Christ is the only Savior. Oprah is disillusioned and leading a lot of people away from the truth! We as christian have to pick up our crosses and follow God not Oprah or Echkart Tolle! This truly saddens me that people are so easily mislead. I am praying for us all to keep our eyes upon God, stay in his word. I pray that Oprah seek God and go his way…endorse his book and quit putting her trust in man.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Amen!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Oh, you poor, poor, superstitious people….if you believe in your superstition of a limited God named YWH who acts like a spoiled child on whims and bases actions on whims, so be it, but how about this: I will pray for you. You see, the God that I believe in is far removed from the influence of human emotion. Because, you see, I believe in an Infinite Spirit that has no beginning or end. I believe in an Infinite Spirit that has created of itself All That Is.
I believe in a Spirit, a Goed who is indeed everywhere because that Spirit IS Everything. How better to clothe the flowers beautifully, or to know the number of hairs on our heads than if He (for want of a better term, because God is the creator and originator of BOTH genders) HAD BECOME the flower, the hair, the sparrow? What use have I of a God who is the embodiment of cruelty , capriciousnees, and patrician fiat? These are the imperfect creations of humankind in various stages of his unfoldment-or, rather, the unfoldent of God as He finds expression in the pure, loving joy of creation.
Far from being an athiest, I embrace a theology of love, protection, and the constant rapturous expansion of creativity. I believe in a God who is far above the human need to control others. I believe in a God who has created All That Is, a God who embodies All That Is. Yet, because I am created of Spirit and am a child of God as we all are, I know that this Universal Intelligence that composes, comprises, and pervades all existence cares for me. This infinite Spirit is the clock, the maker of the clockwork, as well as he who observes the clockwork. Indeed this catholic essence is the creator of time as well as of the clockwork that measures its inexorable tick.
This Creator has no need of my worship or praise. God “needs” nothing. God is in Himself sufficient, the very Source of all succor and salvation. He has gently created of Himself we humans, who , being God and not-God, He gently guides and teaches. Without guilt for breaking artificial rules made by mankind in the name of an ancient Deity whose purpose has been served, I joyously follow the leading of Spirit. Because everything that feels good is not sin, but my conscience operates in a natural, instictual way, feeling poorly in the violation of His law, and feeling joy in the flow of a moral life. This is indeed God given morality- no prophet, no priest, no human being created an instilled this natural conscience, God has. Human authorities, the Church and Her clerics have served only to muddy the waters of morality by exerting control over human behavior through violence and fear. That is True Sin.
Did the God who is the author of logic create humankind and place us on this miraculous planet with all of our rich experience if it was not His intention that we experience it, learn from it, and live a life of sensuousness, revelling in things of the Earth that the truly omniscient Lord created to teach us how to create as He creates, ever expanding, and constantly renewing.
Did the God who created us do so for the pleasure of selecting some of us for paradise and others for damnation? Does the author of logic practice the opposite by punishing our eternal spirits for a finite violation? If , as I believe , the God who created us did not do so for amusement, but for His joyful purpose, which is the imperative of creation for its own sake. The creator of the concept of Grace does not require us to believe anything, that requirement itself is a negation of the concept of grace because we must DO something for it. I enjoy the grace that is my right as a product of His creation, his truly free gift, not of salvation from a punishment contrived by humankind in its effort to exert temporal control, but rather the title and deed to eternal life that can never be taken away. I believe in giving credit to God for being All That Is, who He is, and for the gift of infinite Love.
Yes, I believe in giving God credit for being God. I know the Lord. He is a friend of mine. A father and mother. A leader and teacher. A loving creator. And YWH, you’re no God. Thank you, and God bless you.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Thank you for speaking out about Oprah. If anyone would like to mail Oprah a good Christian book that has been an inspiration to them, here is her address:
Oprah Winfrey
Harpo Productions, Inc.
110 North Carpenter Street
Chicago, IL 60607
Pray that she will intersect with the Lord soon, if her heart is sincere, and her zeal real, maybe she is a Saul ready to be Paul.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Dear Larry Pritchard:
Please do not pity us who follow the Jesus Christ of scripture, the Son of the Living God, JWH, Jehovah, Eternal Father. You speak of a god and spirit and lord whom “YOU” believe in — one you have fashioned after your own moral choosing. Is God an item on the smorgosboard of your life, from which you pick a little grace here, a little “Female God” there? but don’t take any of that “hell” there that Jesus spoke and warned about there?
I find it curious that you and Oprah both quote the words of JESUS, as though you must somehow validate your form of “spirituality”? But stranger still, you do not believe HIM or His WORDS about Himself, especially His claims to deity, His warnings of Hell, which IS His great love for you, His Promises of being born again, having His Spirit abide in you, and life eternal with Him and His Father in Heaven. How can anyone say they follow Jesus or call themselves “Christian” and then reject SOME of HIS quoted words and messages? Believe what you want, but don’t think that you can “believe in Jesus” (or quote some of his words) and then NOT believe other of His words - like the HELL He preached and warned you to avoid - not because He is mean and capricious but because He loves you and wants you to avoid the place reserved for those who reject Him.
We believe in THE God who had the POWER to speak through MANY witnesses, who recorded a message to us about Himself, and had the POWER to preserve it for us in the scriptures. According to the Gospel of Larry Pritchard, God is a Creator that evolved and became The Flower (?!?!). You have exchanged the glory of the Creator in all His Splendor for the glory of the created thing. In doing so, you reveal your heart of hearts and what fuels your moral/belief system.
Larry Pritchard, you are certain free to proclaim “What Larry Believes” and pity those who do not accept your ‘theology.’ So please, be warned that if there is a true and living God, isn’t it possible that He is BIG and powerful enough to get his message to you and preserve it? if there is life beyond the grave, if Jesus is God’s one and only Son, if HE is WHO HE claims to be, if HIS promises are true about Heaven, and His warnings are true about Hell, then you will meet Him according to who HE IS, not who you want him to be.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am
This is to Larry:
Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” Even Jesus didn’t say, “This is what I believe.” He came in truth, speaking only the message His Father instructed him to deliver to us.
Jesus spoke of heaven and hell, grace and damnation, mercy and wrath, good and evil, light and darkness, life and death (here and beyond the grave, God’s truth and Satan’s lies, faith and unbelief, sin and righteousness, repentance and forgiveness.
Jesus didn’t stutter, he didn’t straddle the fence, he didn’t speak of only the ‘positive self’. He made claims that caused men to seek his execution! He didn’t say ‘there is no sin, therefore there is no need for forgiveness.”
You are the one who (mis)quoted Jesus’s words about the sparrows, and hairs on your head, etc. Read for yourself ALL the words of Jesus. At least know who Jesus claimed to be before you proclaim what you believe. If you at this time of your life believe what you have written, then you stand opposed to the teachings and claims of Jesus and God. Know His full counsel. Know Him for who He is. Trust Him. Then we will rejoice to hear you say, “I know the Lord. He is not just ‘a’ friend of mine - HE is my friend, my Lord and my Savior.” God bless you.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I received an email a couple of weeks ago about this Oprah “thing”. I watched the link and felt almost every emotion in a few minutes. Sad for these lost souls looking for “something” and possibly buying into this junk food. Mad that she has this much power and influence. Happy and proud that Christians can take a stand and say “Wait a minute…Jesus is the only way!”
I quit watching her show a few years ago…she honestly scares me. I don’t want anything to do with her or ANY affiliations that come from her or her money. I am so glad that Pastor Barry has guts!
April 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Well said Grace and Carol! Larry… you must watch Oprah, huh? We will pray for you to understand God’s truth… before it’s too late, Hell is very real.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
we all should be praying for her.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I THINK WE SHOULD PRAY FOR OPRAH. JUST THINK WHAT IT COULD DO IF SHE CAME TO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST,
BY THE GRACE OF OUR GOD THROUGH FAITH. NEVER THE LESS, NOT MY WILL BUT HIS BE DONE
May 8th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Larry Pritchard is confused. We shall pray for him. Kudos to Pastor Barry for having the courage to speak the truth. I don’t watch Oprah either, but I do read Scripture. And Scripture says that Jehovah is One God! That Immanuel is “God with us!”
How exciting to know that God loved the world so much, that He gave to us, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus….and whoever it is that will believe in Him, will not perish but will have eternal life. By the way, if you want to know more, come to Crossroads Christian Church and really get an ear full ! I am proud to say that I am a mature African-American Male who holds membership and can attest to the real fact that Pastor Barry walks the talk… on a daily basis. ‘Nuff said.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Dear Pastor-How does this relate to the end times. Could Tollen be the antichrist? What do you think about the book-Don’t Drink the Koolaid?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
It’s true that God is a jealous God, but not the same kind of jealousy that we experience from a fallen nature. I believe God has a righteous kind of jealousy because he created all of us and we rightfully belong to him because of that and because Jesus purchased us with his life. Not everyone will accept that and they’ll turn away to their own path.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Amen! I agree completely!
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~~~~~JESUS LOVES YOU!!!!!~~~~~
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