Bell and Oprah Lovefest: No Surprises Here

The biggest promoter of New Age moonbattery in the world today is of course Oprah Winfrey. Many years ago she abandoned any claim to being a Christian, and she now shamelessly promotes every bit of loony spirituality around. New Age guru Eckhart Tolle is just one of the many new spirituality folks she fervently champions.

I have written about all this elsewhere: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2009/06/18/the-gospel-according-to-oprah/

But it is not just outright paganism that she peddles to millions of gullible and conned groupies, but whacko Christian leaders as well. For example, she just loves megachurch pastor Joel Osteen. And no wonder, since what he preaches from his Texas pulpit is indistinguishable from what Tolle, Oprah and others preach.

Indeed, their message is basically identical, as I document here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2009/05/18/will-the-real-gospel-please-stand-up/

It is all the New Age and cultic ideology of self-improvement, mind over matter, self-help, and creative visualisation. Just think happy thoughts and say happy things and you will live a happy life. You will be happy, successful, rich, problem-free and living the good life.

All of which is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught of course. He said we will be hated by the world, we will be persecuted, we will have troubles, and we will face constant opposition and hardship. And he said that the real disciple of his is one who denies himself, takes up his cross daily, and dies to self.

oprah bellThe gospel of Oprah, Tolle, Osteen and others is all about ME. It is the Gospel of Self. Self is deified, worshipped, coddled, pampered, pandered to, and made the centre of the universe. It is an anti-God gospel actually, since it makes self the centre of all things, and the highest good in the universe.

Thus Osteen writes best-sellers like Your Best Life Now and Become a Better You. And now Oprah is doing a national “The Life You Want” tour. Hey, that sounds just like something Osteen would run with. It has the identical focus: It is all about ME. It is L’oreal Christianity in fact: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/04/30/l%E2%80%99oreal-christianity/

So nothing surprising here. But what continues to be a worry is how many compromised Christians she is bringing on board here. And as usual, she will dupe and deceive millions by adding a few big name Christian leaders who happen to be apostates.

The chief one this time will be “No Hell” Bell. Yep, you got it. Emergent church guru Rob Bell will be on board the magic circus ride to push his heterodox version of Christianity. I have discussed him often elsewhere, eg:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/04/15/a-review-of-love-wins-by-rob-bell/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/03/10/remaining-clear-on-what-is-clear-on-rob-bell-again/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2006/09/07/a-review-of-velvet-elvis-repainting-the-christian-faith-by-rob-bell/

But let me mention a bit more about this major tour of deception. As one write-up states:

Oprah Winfrey will be touring the U.S. this fall to help “lead people to an empathy space… a gratitude space” in an effort to find their calling and fulfill their greatest potential. Helping Winfrey in the tour hitting cities on both coasts will be influential and controversial Christian author Rob Bell, and other “handpicked thought leaders and pop culture icons.”
“All of my life I have wanted to lead people to an empathy space. To a gratitude space,” said Winfrey in a press statement. “I want us all to fulfill our greatest potential. To find our calling, and summon the courage to live it.”
Each stop on the national tour will run two days, with the first night featuring Winfrey “bringing her personal story and insights to life in a one of a kind intimate evening” and the following will have the media mogul and Bell, or another one of her handpicked guests, “lead a day-long gathering of thousands.”

There are at least two ways in which we can assess all this. One is simply to examine the mammon motivation here. The truth is, while Oprah is already filthy rich, she is going to get a whole lot richer from this tour. Just think of all the naive, undiscerning and clueless dupes out there who will be dishing out big bucks to hear these false prophets and fraudulent gurus. As Business Week reports:

Winfrey is embarking on an eight-city arena tour called “Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend,” which is being billed as a real-life reinterpretation of her original Chicago talk show. Each tour stop will last two days, during which Oprah will share her personal success story and interview self-help gurus such as Rob Bell and Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert. Events will take place at huge, 18,000-seat arenas, and ticket prices range from $99 to $999, which means Oprah can expect to make an estimated $1.8 million to $18 million per city.

So the greatest promoter of anti-Christian baloney is going to get a whole lot more famous, a whole lot more rich, and a whole lot more dangerous. And that is the second, and even more important consideration here. This is a work of satanic deception big time.

Just imagine all the damage that will be done, not just in these eight cities, but elsewhere. This will all likely be televised and promoted world-wide. Thus there is the potential for tens of millions of people to be conned into her diabolical worldview.

This mass marketing of deception is coming straight out of the pits of hell. Satan is rubbing his hands with glee, knowing he will capture millions of souls for a lost eternity. But the worst part here of course is the blatant complicity of “Christians” like Bell.

By going along with all this, he is demonstrating even more clearly what a wolf in sheep’s clothing he really is. Who knows how much money he will make off this tour. But the real tragedy is that a host of biblically illiterate Christians will rush to these meetings, because they think it will be a “Christian” affair.

Oprah will of course meet her maker one day and have to give an account. We need to keep praying for her that she repents and leaves this diabolical poison behind. But even worse yet will be the judgment of Christian leaders who are doing the devil’s work.

Bell too needs our prayers. He too needs to repent, and fast. But it won’t be easy of course. When folks like Osteen and Bell are rolling in the dough, and have millions of blind worshipers hanging on to their every word, it is very hard indeed to see the light.

Jesus warned us often about false Christs and false shepherds coming along to deceive people. And Paul spoke of Satan himself appearing as an angel of light, seeking to deceive the very elect. I can’t think of a better example of what they were talking about than this tour from hell – the very one Bell does not believe in.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/rob-bell-to-join-oprah-winfrey-other-handpicked-thought-leaders-for-life-you-want-tour-116902/
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-31/oprah-winfrey-stands-to-make-even-more-money-with-national-tour

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6 Replies to “Bell and Oprah Lovefest: No Surprises Here”

  1. I think the most dangerous part of Bell’s work, just like Oprah, Tolle, and the whole Christ-denying gang, is that it is very open to interpretation, asking many questions and giving none directly yet subtly leading the audience to his conclusions (which he conceals in the ambiguity of his questioning).

    It’s actually like clever and subconscious marketing, tactics I do not think teaching the word of God should ever employ. Scripture says what it means and so should we.

    I remember reading Bell’s ‘Sex God’ as a newly converted Christian and really enjoying it and being encouraged by some of the the perspectives it offered about God. I bought it for a close friend, a deist, who was interested and both she and her atheist boyfriend read it and came away saying they really enjoyed it and totally agreed with Bell about the various topics he discusses, even using it to justify their own attitudes about sex, marriage, cohabitation, etc.

    I was confounded and asked what they agreed with and they reiterated it all to me from a completely different and unbiblical perspective, something that solid biblical teaching simply does not permit. While I had read the biblical God Yahweh into Bell’s writing, they had read their own idols into his book.

    Sadly, his writing permitted that – a serious warning sign.

    I learned a powerful lesson that Bell’s teaching style (I would argue it is a seriously flawed style) of “questioning dogma” and challenging “traditional interpretations” is really dangerous for anyone who is not rooted and grounded in the biblical worldview. We have seen the problems with Bell’s teaching increasingly in the last few years…

    …and now Bell is speaking alongside blatantly antichrist wolves in Oprah’s tour.

    Just like his books, there is a really serious potential for subtle and subversive damage to immature Christians who are not cemented in scripture, truth, and an awareness of the strong return of old heresies.

  2. 2 Timothy 3:12-13 – Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

  3. I am often amazed at the way some Christians are taken in by those who sometimes say right things but are obviously completely “off the beam” when it comes to Bible truth. A Christian friend of ours once said she thought that what John Selby Spong was teaching was quite good. She didn’t seem to know, or want to know, that he has described himself as technically an atheist, apart from his absurd caricatures of orthodox Christianity and the church and his rejection of basic Bible teaching. That’s just one example, but it reminds me of the great need to teach people to have discernment.

  4. The diviners “rule of thumb #1”.
    This ruler is a great thing for checking if something is straight and measures up against the plumbline.
    I use it regularly when someone offers a new super product or even if they are beginning to walk off the track a little bit to the right or left.
    Ask 2 questions
    Q1 “Does this idea or concept diminish or deny the fact that Jesus was born and lived here on earth as a human?”
    Q2 “Does this idea or concept deny that Jesus came from the Father and was a spirit being?” or was he just a good man like me. lol

    I picked up this smart rule from someone cutting thru all the difficult discussions about who was or was not walking in heresy. I have found myself turning away from some of my previous ideas after putting this little flame under them. It is so easy for me to let religious rules to creep in and block my relationship with the truth.
    I hope this helps others a bit on their journey.

    Geoff

  5. Oprah is surely one of the most dangerous women alive, today… leading so many people down the broad path to death (Matt.7:13) with her seductive pied piper siren songs.

  6. I cannot help but think what it will be like for Rob Bell as he stands before his Maker. It is one thing “not to believe in hell”, or to think that since “God is love”, His love DEMANDS that everyone spends eternity in Heaven.

    But I cannot imagine the horror that Mr. Bell will face when the blood of countless thousands will be on his greedy hands. He exchanged the truth of God for a lie and a quick buck. Rob Bell is ever so popular with the 20 somethings who enthusiastically embrace his “take” on his imaginary god who basically says that you can do whatever you wish in this life……..because in the end “love wins”.

    It will be bad enough to spend eternity in hell. I cannot fathom what it would be like to hear the agonizing screams of those you helped damn to an eternal fire….and it will never end.

    I can’t understand how anyone can look at our precious Lord Jesus and look at the length He went to so as to redeem us. how can Rob Bell spit in the face of our Savior and say that he “doesn’t need” Him to have eternal life? i get physically ill when i think about the precious young people who are daily duped by this charlatan.

    There is one verse of Scripture that has always haunted me. It drives me to the cross, it makes me hold on to Jesus for dear life……trusting that His sacrifice has eternally saved me. I KNOW what my destiny is because i trust in my Precious Lamb of God. Sadly, unless Rob Bell repents and humbles himself before his Lord…….the last thing he will hear the Lamb of God say to him is:

    “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

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