Posted on 01/09/2007 7:07:04 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Barbara Walters' most fascinating pastor, Joel Osteen, now tops the list of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America.
Osteen heads one of the largest megachurches in the nation – Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas – and authors a #1 New York Times bestseller, Your Best Life Now. After Walters recently featured him as one of the 10 most fascinating people of the year, the Church Report announced the megapastor as the most influential Christian in its annual report.
"Always humble, Pastor Osteen gives credit to his wife, his staff and his church family for his success and the many blessings of Lakewood Church," the Church Report stated. "Pastor Osteen has a gift for reaching unreached people with his message of positive thought and God's plan for our lives."
Evangelist Billy Graham still ranks high in the list even past his retirement. The 88-year-old pastor is not only influential among Christians but he was also chosen for a record 50th time as one of the top 10 most admired men by the American public, a recent Gallup Poll showed. His eldest son, Franklin Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, placed 14th.
Following the elder Graham on Church Report’s list of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America are megapastor Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., who ranks third, and Bishop T. D. Jakes – last year's most influential Christian – at the fourth spot.
Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and recognized advocate for the family, moved up in this year's rankings to round out the top five.
Making it to the top 10 are Paul Crouch, founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network; Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries; Leonard Sweet, professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School in Madison, N.J.; John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.; and Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., respectively.
Bell, who moved up from number 25 last year, came out of a national tour called "Everything is Spiritual" and is slated to release Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality in Spring 2007.
Evangelical pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., dropped to number 16 and President George W. Bush ranked 11th.
The top 50 Most Influential Christians in America list is a result of over 200,000 nominations from readers of the Church Report.
4 TED HAGGARDTed Haggard is the president of the 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the largest evangelical group in America. He is also founder and senior pastor of the 11,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. He formed and serves as the president of both the Association of Life-Giving Churches, a network of local churches; and worldprayerteam.org, the only real-time global prayer network.
Every time I see a preacher in a custom made Italian suit I become apprehensive.
Congratulations to Alex Murphy for just missing the list at #51.
:>)
Baba Wawa has a church in Texas? Suppose she goes every week?
Yeah, he's a good motivational speaker.
So THAT's what caused the Reformation! ;)
The top 50 Most Influential Christians in America list is a result of over 200,000 nominations from readers of the Church Report.
So, who are these people, these readers of Church Report?
Every time I see a preacher in a custom made Italian suit I become apprehensive.
"Apprehenisve" misses the mark when I see the institution referred by the Bible as the body and bride of Christ and the temple of God, referred to as an industry, with it's own trade rag.
And giving the same credit to Christ that he usually does.
He's good at motivational speaking but every week it seems he talks about the same thing: Positive attitude, pick yourself up and go forth, etc. and that's it.
I like some fire and brimstone and to hear a preacher talk/preach about more than just attitude. I need the flat out "this is what the bible says is right, this is what the bible says is wrong. Period" I think people need that "kick in the butt, get up and get moving" more than the pat on the back, "everything's gonna be okay" approach.
But, that's just me....
No, that's not just you. That includes me and my family too. We love to hear biblical truth, even if it is hard to digest sometimes. It is what "changes" our lives. I do believe Joel Osteen to be a false teacher. The bible warns us to be discerning and he fits the description. He appears as a lamb, but beneath his message is destruction.
The bible says we are to have suffering and hard times here on earth. Jesus doesn't promise to remove those, only to carry us through them to the other side. He gives meaning to life, he gives us a purpose.
When a preacher continually tells stories or gives their "opinion" about something, you need to be weary. When they use the bible to discover truth, then you have a reference to study on your own. The times I have suffered through watching Joel Osteen he never turned to scripture. He just kept his message on people, not on God. Beware my friends, false teachers do exist.
He is definitely a false teacher.
This is part of the transcript from a Larry King Live show that featured Joel Osteen.
KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?
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 with 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.
This shows what Christianity has come to. Its not about our Lord and what he did for us, it's all about what we can get from him. Joel Osteen, Paula White, Jesse Duplantis, and others are sending thousands of people down the road to destruction and laughing all the way to the bank. This is what happens when you let someone else read the bible for you instead of studying what it says and what it doesn't say.
oh, me too! Apparently, this fellow went on Larry King Live and actually denied: John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
http://www.av1611.org/osteen.html
Sorry -- didn't see your post before I posted. I've given the link to that transcript. Houston seems to have more than its share of mega-preachers without substance. Pastor Ed Young, of the Second Baptist Church, is of the same ilk.
We just left a church last year because of the downhill slide due to "seeker-friendly" philosophies. It got worse though when the "minister" (a.k.a Pastor Buddha), held up Old Testament verses for ridicule and had the congregation laughing at them. In addition, in listening to this snake oil salesman, I wondered if I had been to church or had experienced a Dr. Phil/Oprah show instead.
While I would agree that there is no perfect church--in the sense that we sinful humans mess things up all the time--we ARE very pleased with our new church. We are not "comfy" in our seats being told how wonderful we are. Our sinful situation is emphasized and dealt with every service. It's the whole gospel and not just a pep rally. It's straightforward Bible...no psychobabble agendas. It's nice to partake of meat instead of milk-- and milk that was PAST the expiration date to boot!
Praise God you had the Jesus "filter". You were able to discern when something was not truth and flee from it. I couldn't imagine being in a congregation that actually makes fun of the Old Testament. It makes me want to throw up and I can relate to the powerful verse in the bible (only two words long) Jesus wept. John 11:35
Unfortunately these churches seem to be on the rise. They are finding out that if they tell itchy ears what they want to hear, the people will come with their pocketbooks open and make the preachers materially wealthy. There is no concern for the eternal soul of the lost.
We are engaged in a spiritual battle and we need to continue putting on the full armour of God. Read and study His word with new fervor, knowing it is the shield we need to protect us in the times we live. Pray for those who are blind and deaf to the truth. Ask God to open their eyes & ears to begin to receive the truth and to apply it to their hearts.
Unlike Iraq where we don't know the outcome, we can have confidence in the end of this battle God will win!
Amen to your post!
In our last church, I found it sad that an offer to join church MEMBERSHIP was given at the end of the sermon but never an invitation to accept Christ. I would say that was putting the horse before the cart! They would say that "numbers don't matter" when really they were very concerned that they were losing people. They talked about reaching "certain groups" such as the Hispanic group, the poor group, the black group.....
"we must learn Spanish for outreach to have them join us". DIVERSITY! Itchy ears, indeed!
Our new church recognizes and ministers to 2 groups: saved and unsaved.
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