NLT Hope For Today Bible with Joel and Victoria Osteen
I guess I should not be surprised at this, but I was. I received in the mail the 2009 Bible catalog from Christian Book Distributors. I happened across a listing for a Bible to be released in February 2009 for the NLT Hope For Today Bible. Here is the blurb attached with it:
“Millions of Americans ‘attend’ Lakewood Church via television broadcasts. Now with this Bible, you can savor Joel Osteen’s spiritual insights and scriptural applications daily!”
I felt like uttering a John McEnroe, “You can’t be serious!” I can’t wait to see what these “spiritual insights and scriptural applications” are. Perhaps he will include his quip that if Jesus were alive today, he would fly on his own personal jet. I think that “insight” would be good right next to Jesus’ words, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
Joel Osteen has also taught that “God is a positive God” and “there is nothing negative about God.” This particular “insight” could sit next to these words of Jesus, “But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out” (Luke 13:27-28).
Maybe Joel Osteen’s teaching that “if we think positively, good things will happen to us” can be offset next to the crucifixion of Jesus, the stoning of Stephen, the beheading of John the Baptist, the persecution of the apostle Paul, or the death of the apostle James. If nothing else, maybe this will give Joel Osteen a chance to read and use the scriptures, rather than telling cute story after cute story every Sunday.
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Your Thoughts
21 Comments so far21 Responses to “NLT Hope For Today Bible with Joel and Victoria Osteen”
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Joe
January 13, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I assume you have not ordered your copy then…maybe you will get a review copy.
Wendyl
January 14, 2009 at 7:42 am
You’re right on, Brent! I know several people who think that Joel Osteen is the greatest thing since sliced bread and they swoon over every word he utters. The problem is that they are completely void of terms such as “denying yourself”, or “Do not marvel . . . if the world hates you.”
They are, for the most part, of the “rocky soil” Jesus taught in the Parable of the Soils–like Osteen, full of style . . . empty of substance.
Greg
January 14, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Joel Osteen’s message is all about “you.” The Bible is very clear: it’s all about God. When Joel makes it about “me”, and “my” blessing, “my” happiness, he reverses God’s order. I found this quote by DeVern Fromke from his book “Unto Full Stature” which seems to capture Joel Osteen’s teaching and explain his cult-like following:
“Christianity is not a happiness cult. It’s primary purpose is not to make us happy…happiness does come through the Christian faith. But if the end of the Christian faith is to make us happy, then we are using God – we are the center – not God. This means self-idolatry.”
Brent Kercheville
January 14, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Thanks, Wendyl.
Joe, I wouldn’t mind reviewing this just to see what the Osteen’s do with this Bible. I am guessing it will be the same fluff they spew on television.
Don in Texas
January 14, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Wendyl: You can’t say the world doesn’t hate Joel Osteen, not as long as you guys are around.
Besides Wendyl, what are you doing “knowing so many people who love Joel?” Who do you hang around with anyway???
Greg
January 14, 2009 at 4:24 pm
First, “we” (true followers of Jesus) are not the World! And yes, the ‘world’ does love Joel Osteen. He is not offensive to them-he only offends Bible-believing, truth-loving, self-denying Christians!
Second, I don’t hate him. I hate what he is doing by watering down the Christian teaching so much it has lots its real flavor.
Joe
January 14, 2009 at 4:31 pm
We could ask “Who did Jesus hang around with?”
How are we to teach if all we are ever around is christians?
Wendyl
January 14, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Don in Texas: I don’t necessarily “hang around with people who love Osteen,” I do work with some who do.
Secondly, I did not say that we or anyone else “hates” Osteen, but there are many who do hate and hold with contempt, Jesus and His followers. I consider Osteen as someone whose teaching is false and deceptive.
Greg’s posting above, is an excellent assessment of what Osteen is all about.
Greg
January 15, 2009 at 10:58 am
Wendyl: there are many more comments about Joel on my blog which I am using only for this purpose: to expose the half-truth, cross-less teaching of Joel Osteen.
My bog is called dyingtolive on blogspot
Me
January 15, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Why is so much time being spent critiquing Joel Osteen? How about we put the light on ourselves and work on the things we need to do to stay close to God?
Time is too short for me to consume myself with how well or how poorly someone else’s walk with the LORD is. I have to save myself first… Make sure I’m not out of the will of God. Then and only then can I help my brother. How about we pray for Joel rather than bash his method of teaching…
Joe
January 15, 2009 at 3:36 pm
@Me: I think you miss the point of this website. We have 483 posts here, and about 3 of them mention Joel. He is certainly not the center of our world.
Greg
January 15, 2009 at 5:38 pm
When you see a pastor (who is listed as the most influential Christian of 2008) speaking half-truths that will only lead to disappointed followers, you have to say something. (Wide is the gate to destruction.) Joel Osteen is only one small part of my ministry to share the truths of abudant life with whoever God brings into my sphere.
Many people will follow Joel’s teaching and think they are saved. They will be the ones about whom Jesus spoke when He said: “many will say Lord, Lord, but I will say I never knew you!”
Juan
January 23, 2009 at 7:40 pm
If we take offense of Joel flying on jets, what will we do when a christian traveling on a camel in the middle east takes offense on us who spend so much money on gas and so much time at work trying to pay our homes and cars. Everyone in America is rich compared to the whole world. Me thinks we should judge ourselves instead of Joel.
Greg
January 23, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Juan
You are correct. There is enough to ‘judge’ Joel about without picking on his jetflying! Whether he rides a camel or flies a jet is of little concern to me. But when he decides to interpret and teach the Bible to fit his own ‘gospel’ paradigm of comfort, ease and you-can-have-it-all, then self-dying, cross-carrying, giving-up-everything-for-Jesus Christians must speak up. When is the last time, if ever, that you heard Joel quote and teach Matthew 10:39?
Brent Kercheville
January 23, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Juan,
It is not that he flies on jets. He said Jesus would own a personal leer jet like Joel Osteen does. That is a big difference, and I completely disagree with the idea that Jesus would plunge his life into luxury.
Elizabeth
March 21, 2009 at 11:17 pm
God calls us first and foremost to love. And love unconditionally.
We are told not to gossip or criticize our brothers and sisters.
Joel represents God’s love with passion and grace.
Maybe we should learn what we can from him, and leave the rest to God.
Richard Vandagriff
March 22, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Elizabeth;
Christian love has nothing at all to do with what you have described. The biblical description of love is that it is the unconditional giving of things that will sustain another person, the giving of things that will give life. To give some context in a Christian point of view, let us note that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by me.” How many is “no one?”
It seems plain to me that Mr. Osteen’s teaching will not sustain anyone except himself and his cadre. And there is no gossip or criticism of Christians on this site. Gossip is the passing of false information with the intent to do harm – prattle and empty talking. None of what follows is empty or false or intended to harm.
Christ said “Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders n Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Mt. 7:21 – 27)
With that and any other of a very large number of scriptures kept in mind; according to the Bible I study, Mr. Osteen is not a Christian at all, and therefore is already judged by the Word of God – not by anyone here at CMS or by an adjudicating group or other individuals. He is (I am sure) exactly what he appears to be, just as I am exactly what I appear to be. The Word of God is sometimes direct and harsh. Mr. Osteen needs to submit to Christ and to repent.
Mr. Osteen and company do not teach the gospel of Christ. They teach the Gospel of the Osteen family, which is a very popular gospel largely of their own invention. That is the truth of things. The world is chock full of this kind of teaching and its adherents – too bad it has nothing at all to do with the gospel of Christ. You cannot and will not find any of it in the NT, search though you may. As his father had done before him, so does he. He does not each teach God’s plan of salvation, not submission to God and Christ, not repentance, not baptism, and not a good many other things beyond a smooth message of expendiency and some counsel of present day do-and-feel-good. In short, he teaches Joel Osteen. And as the apostle Paul therefore had said “let him be accursed.” Now, what does that mean?
As unfortunate as it sounds, how is that anything other than accurate? Why would you bother defending his teaching, unless you have fallen for his mannerisms and personna? The man does not teach the truth of Christ; how much plainer can that be put? And, if I am not correct, how is it that I am not?
However, you are so right in noting that God will judge him. I don’t intend to pull on God’s end of the rope, and neither does anyone else here. But, the evidence says that Mr. Osteen is no more “of Christ” than are the majority of televangelists or the current Pope, any of his predecessors or any of his successors to come. They will, everyone of them, talk you into a false submission, probably take your money, pat you on the head, if you like; and then retire to their mansions to count the dough. While, if you or anyone else continues to align to them without seeking out whether or not what they teach is true by the Word of God — then you and everyone else that does so will land squarely in Hell when they die. The Word of God is the judge as to who is and who is not; but we are told to have our eyes and ears open as there are wolves all around. How would wolves get through the door, if we don’t leave it open, I wonder?
Please study the word, “…which is able to save your soul.” It would be our hope that Mr. Osteen would do the same. Without doing that, as Christ very plainly put it, “you shall all surely die.” I suspect that includes me, you, Joel Osteen and everybody else who does something different or that is not found in the teachings of Christ.
Regards,
Wendyl
March 22, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Right on, Richard! We need more hard-nosed preaching from the pulpit to weed out these false teachers and charlatans who are making a mockery of God’s Word.
Elizabeth is a good example of why this must be done. Though as Christians we are commanded to judge only our brothers and sisters in Christ, that leaves frauds like Osteen to the wrath of God. However, those in our brotherhood who succumb to the false teachings of people like Osteen need for us to set them straight and put back on that narrow path that leads to eternal life.
This is what you’ve just done. Good work!
Elizabeth
March 22, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. My whole point is that you are not saying these things to correct your brothers and sisters. What you are doing is considered slander and gossip, which God calls us not to do.
Jesus never said he had a problem with Joel Osteen. And I certainly don’t, and I don’t have a problem with anyone else. Their faith is between them in God. If God, and only God, is not happy with Joel, there lies a problem. What you all say will be held to you, and I really think you should be careful how you talk about people. “Cute story after cute story”…there is nothing wrong with this. This is better than someone with a bullhorn screaming, “God will condemn.” All sin is equally wrong. All sin is equally judged.
Joel is our brother in Christ. If you have a problem with him, you should respectfully present your case TO HIM and only him. Not to the world wide web or in hushed tones with a friend.
I came upon this website because I googled this bible to show it to my sister, as we are fond of Joel’s never-changing character and joy. He is filled with peace; you just can’t fake that kind of peace and joy for very long.
He is a man of God. Whatever you do to the least of men, you do to Jesus, as the Bible states. And by condemning and judging Joel, this is not honoring God.
Richard Vandagriff
March 24, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Mr. Osteen is not a Christian. I’ll stand by that. Just because someone claims to be a Christian does not make it so. The scriptures define how any person becomes a Christian, what it means to be a Christian, and the works and obligations that define Christianity; not me, not you, and not Joel Osteen. And how is it that you tell what anyone adheres to except to compare what they say against what they do? Does a person become a lawyer by saying they are a lawyer or do they have to follow the curriculum and in time pass the Bar? By the way, I also believe that Mr. Osteen is a hypocrite. He says one thing and does something else. It’s all about The Benjamins when all is said and done.
The rest of what you posted has no bearing on my “non-relation” to Mr. Osteen – I owe him nothing. He has staked his claim to what he has decided is the truth; and that also has nothing at all to do with me. I don’t honor the man or his teaching, his writings or his show business acumen; and I haven’t heard him teach the truth since I have been paying any attention to him. I am not party to his teachings and I cannot find the truth in it, so I steer far afield of him and any others of his type. Therefore I have no fellowship with him and I owe him nothing. I am told by that same Jesus you mention not to have fellowship with the “unfruitful works of darkness.” By the way, I also owe the Pope nothing, any fervent Mormon nothing; nothing to 7th Day Adventists, and the same to a host of other false teachers.
You do know that Old Israel believed a lie when he was told that Joseph (his favorite) was dead? Joseph’s conniving brothers brothers lied to their father. Question: did the lie have the same effect on father Jacob as the truth? Answer: of course it did. Did Jacob’s not knowing it was a lie make any difference? No. He accepted the word of his sons. Question: will we accept a lie just as easily as we will accept the truth, if we do not know it is a lie? Answer that one for yourself.
I might remind you that the same Jesus you mention also said, “Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and happily rend you.” How does that sit with you? And what do you suppose the Son of God was warning his disciples about with that one? The point of this response is – you cannot make your own rules even where there are none, regardless of whether you can quote scripture with it or not. Nor can I.
What you imply from the teachings of Jesus has no bearing on what you claim. You don’t get the luxury of deciding what honors or dishonors God – he has told us what will and will not serve to accomplish those things. And God says all liars and false teachers will end up “in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.” What does that mean? To reiterate, God does nothing on my terms — nothing. He will also do nothing on your terms. It is all on his terms; and his terms are plainly stated so that “wayfaring men cannot err therein.”
I am not interested in being mean, and I have no interest in dissuading you and you sister from your inquiries. But don’t cast off without a rudder or map. You have the right to choose to do well or to do anything else. But I would persuade you to study the word of God. You will never come to the truth of the word of God by going outside of it – whether with Joel Osteen at your side, with me or through CMS. Your singular duty is to verify what is the truth and then to seek it out and to do it and it alone. God has said “His word is truth.” Therefore I suggest you need to concentrate on the Word of God. Leave Joel Osteen to his own devices. With that noted, I suggest that you will not get very far within the Word until you will find any number of things that comdemn Mr. Osteen and his like – and none of it comes from me. The evidence is empirical in nature. I am simply reflecting and instucting on what I see and hear. I plan to continue to do just exactly that.
By the way, if Joel Osteen is a man of God, what then is Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts (Sr. or Jr.), Creflo Dollar, & c. & c.?
The man is not a Christian, whether you choose to accept it or not.
Regards,
Wendyl
March 24, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Well said Richard! I wanted to respond to this lady’s last post, but felt that she was directing her remarks more to you than anyone else.
I know of several people who think Joel Osteen is the greatest thing since sliced bread. They use the same adjectives this lady used in her post . . . his never changing character, his joy, full of peace, ad nauseam. The only thing this guy is full of is deceit and showmanship style . . . absolutely no substance at all. He’s a fraud and a charlatan.
The people I know personally who adore this guy are so shallow, naive, gullible and totally ignorant of the Scriptures. If you mention to them terms like propitiation, sanctification, justification and they stare at you like zombies . . . duh! Mention the word “sin” and they cringe and think you’re a legalistic bigot.
So, right on Richard! For far too long has the church become too tolerant of the flood of false teachers that permeate the airways and the pulpit. It needs to stop before it’s too late. Thanks for being an advocate for Christ!