Bothered by Christian TV shows...

[Grace from God]

I've been watching some Christian shows on TV, and although I rejoice in their spreading of the Word, I still get bothered a bit by what they preach.

One person I am bothered about is Joel Osteen. He seems to focus more on peoples problems in being comfortable in their American life than actually living in the faith. He encourages people about how if you pray to God, He will give you that promotion, He will give you that money for that Lexus you've been wanting, He will give you this and that, because "God wants you to live abundantly". Not to mention, He probably has the biggest ministry in this country.

Mike Murdock is another preacher that worries me. He constantly insists in people sending money to his ministry in order for God to answer your prayers... like if you give this certain amount of money to them, God will reward you ten fold. What? And there are some other preachers on tv that do the same thing... "Go to your phone go to your phone, the Lord is working through you right now!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!"

I was also listening to these two women the other day in a type of "talk show" type of show... and they were talking about how a girl was only 15 and barely knew how to read or anything, but at the age of 22 she got a science degree and is going for a PHd and got high honors in her class and everyone was shouting Amen and Hallelujah....... as if God wants you to focus on worldly stuff like college. Since when did Christ care about us working hard on flourishing on man's knowledge, and spending so much time gaining knowledge of this world when we are supposed to be studying Scripture, studying God's Word, the only thing worth learning about in this world? I mean, we all will die in the flesh soon, and once that happens, time is up for us.

Sorry, this was kind of a rant lol.. but it has been bothering me a bit...  

[Shadows-shine]

I get annoyed by all televangelists, so I don't watch their shows.


I have never liked Joel Osteen. He is fake and sort of two faced in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with having a big ministry, but there are bigger ones out there than his...Like Messenger International, led by John Bevere. I am a huge fan of his and I love his wife, Lisa Bevere. She wrote a very powerful book called Fight Like a Girl. Excellent reading and I'd reccommend it to any woman!


And there is nothing wrong with having a good education. I am sure God thinks it's important to have one. If a good education is going to help you provide for yourself in this world then it should be done. While yes, you should focus on the Word of God, but you also need to know how to survive and provide for yourself in the world. So I think it's okay to focus on "Worldly things" like college education.  

[Br1ttana]

You have every right to be bothered by that. You are spot on with everything that you are saying. : D But while I do get what your saying on the last paragraph and agree with you it is okay to further and focus on your earthly education just as long as it isn't the most important thing in your life above the LORD. ^_^  

[zhiliolia]

i find a lot of those televangelists to be phonies. I've tried watching the Christian Channel before and all they do is try to sell me stuff.  

[Azume-chan]

I use to be those people who watched Olsteen until I saw an interview of him on Larry King Live and I noticed did not say once about salvation and that Jesus died for our sins or any kind of that stuff. Olsteen is way too politically correct. The thing that disturbed be most was when Larry asked him if atheists were going to hell. Olsteen's reply was "I don't know, I'll leave God to do all the judging" HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW THAT? It was almost as though he was afraid of his reputation and what people we going to think of him. Then I researched about the whole "prosperity preaching" then it just opened my eyes.  

[WhitersNote]

My family likes Joel Olsteen, but I have not really watched his show. I'm not interested in any televised ministries other than Joyce Mayers, that's just because that's what I want to do, Idk. There are other good ministries like T.D Jakes, and I'll watch that, but Joyce Mayers is just my favorite soo...
And of course Joel couldn't answer that question about if he thinks that atheists will go to hell, and it's not his job to answer anyway. It is not man's place to say who will go to hell, no matter who they are asking about, no matter what the person believes in. They could be the anti Christ for all I care, the judgment belongs to god and only god. If the bible says that the anti Christ will go to hell, than that's just it, there's no reason to argue otherwise of walk up to some person who is Antichrist and tell them that they are going to hell. That's how I see it, and that's all I care to know on a personnel level. I'd hate to tell anyone, no matter who they are, that they're going to hell. God wishes everyone to get saved and to know him, he wishes that everyone went to heaven to be with him, so why would I tell someone they were going to hell?
And some ministries are like that, some do it for the money, so just lost sight of god after becoming famous. We can only try not to judge and pray for them and the people who follow and believe them.  

[smileindarkness]

I'm not really fond of any of those types of shows. I think they are often watered down or at least slightly off.  

[emorhconom esor]

I only watch JCTV. All he other ones push the properity gospel which is against scripture.  

[psychocat Inc]

My uncle once worked for a tv minister who was really Jewish.
The truth is that any television is a scam.It is competing for views with other "shows" and as such is not a religious preaching.
Though I find it odd what you mention with these two women,I do not see it reason to complain.It is obviously a scam but the furthering of education is a very important thing to consider within modern life.To make others happy and not drag them down as you must depend on them can and will ruin people's lives.Even in science there is much debate about science yet how I see it,there is no saying that a religious figure as god did not create "evolution".He made the creatures but is there a specific mentioning of how he did it?Why can it not be so that evolution is not the work of god?In all truth,most if not all commercial programs that offer salvation or good things on television and even sometimes on the internet,is simply attempting to take advantage of you,the consumer so that they may get more money and power.  

[up13stories]

you're right. mr. olsteen seems to be saying nice, comforting things, letting us feel good about ourselves, because everything is always alright.
however, he is forgetting THE most important thing about Christianity: the Gospel. the Gospel isn't about how God wants us to feel nice and warm and fuzzy - it's about how God gave up everything to restore a broken relationship with children who just keep running. Jesus Himself on multiple occasions said that following Him would not be easy - in fact, the exact opposite. (such as luke 17:33, luke 9:58, matthew 10:34. and paul had a LOT to say on that...lol)

yay for you for awesome discernment!!! *applause*  

[emorhconom esor]

up13stories

you're right. mr. olsteen seems to be saying nice, comforting things, letting us feel good about ourselves, because everything is always alright.
however, he is forgetting THE most important thing about Christianity: the Gospel. the Gospel isn't about how God wants us to feel nice and warm and fuzzy - it's about how God gave up everything to restore a broken relationship with children who just keep running. Jesus Himself on multiple occasions said that following Him would not be easy - in fact, the exact opposite. (such as luke 17:33, luke 9:58, matthew 10:34. and paul had a LOT to say on that...lol)

yay for you for awesome discernment!!! *applause*

I wish I could see them try to preach that to Peter when he was being crusified upside down or to Stephen when he was being stoned. You can bet they sure weren't having a nice warm fuzzy feeling while they were giving their lives because they followed Christ.