The Bible says that to compare yourselves among yourselves is not wise.
I have great respect for the man ‘Wilkerson’ who ministered to gangs and prostitutes in NYC> In fact I used to get his newsletter, but he is dead, and I assume this is from his son, whom I am not familiar with.
There are a lot of preachers out there, however if they don’t get scripture right...I could careless what they have to say. They may quote scripture but attacking God’s servants diminishes them in God’s eyes and mine.
I have not heard Joel Osteen attack any other minister or his Pulpit, that in and of itself speaks volumes. As a matter of fact, Joel Osteen speaks a lot of truth, as God asks Christians to encourage one another.
Wilkerson was killed in a car crash not long ago; the link I provided was his teaching on the prosperity gospel.
Christians should encourage each other.
But to tie faith into gaining materially; is a perversion of Christs message.
In fact faithful Christians will likely be persecuted for their faith increasingly.
Actually, the Bible calls us to determine if our leaders are “above reproach” 1 Tim 3.
Osteen preaches a common type of message that is not as common in white churches. It’s the “God’s going to pay your light bill” type of message. If you listen to a lot of urban Gospel music, you hear it quite often. In Osteen’s world, God lives to serve us. We are the focus of the worship. God is merely a conduit of blessings for us.
I’ve yet to hear Osteen preach salvation through Jesus redemptive work on the cross. I’ve not heard him preach on sin, righteousness, judgment, confession of sin, repentance from sin, the atonement, the things that get people saved.
He’s a power of positive thinking, pull yourself up by your boot straps kind of motivational speaker.
Sure, he invokes God’s name sometimes, and his messages are designed to encourage, but they are sadly lacking in the truth and we cannot do in us what only God can do. Osteen does a disservice to his hearers when he doesn’t point them to God but rather just tells them to change the way they think.