For some, when I say that I am not a supporter of Joel Osteen’s teaching you probably think, “DUH! He’s a prosperity preacher!” For others you might think “REALLY!? He has such a positive message. Why would you NOT support that?!?!”

About a year ago a friend of mine/member of my church family posted on Twitter that she was currently reading one of Mr. Osteen’s books. I messaged her about it and brought some things to her attention. I thought I would share my message to her with you all. My intention is not to slander Mr. Osteen, but rather to raise what I feel like are some legitimate concerns about his teaching. Below is exactly what I sent to her via text message and screenshots below that. I have deleted her name from the screenshots, but did ask her permission before posting.

Hey girl. Pls don’t think I’m the Twitter police when I share this w/you 🙂 
And pls know that I you are free to read whatever you want, & I respect that..:but I saw your post about Joel Osteen. First of all, props to you! I’m so glad to see you making efforts to feed your soul, few girls your age are doing that w/their time….but to say that I have reservations about Joel would be an understatement To be fair, I was “warned” about Joel & other “prosperity preachers” in ministry training, so I’m definitely hypersensitive to them, but as your pastor and friend I wanted to give you a chance to make a decision on whether or not his (Joel’s) teaching is in line w/biblical Christianity. Here’s a link to a post that brings up some of the same concerns I have http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/09/04/joel-osteen-wife-heretics-thats-america-loves/ and here’s a short YouTube vid about the prosperity gospel and its dangers ESPECIALLY in 3rd world countries as they don’t have the the $$ & resources that we have & are seen as not having enough faith or saying the right “powerful” words. http://youtu.be/G-V_91c5ojU
And one more by Matt Chandler http://youtu.be/w3oFFZQqKdc
Pls let me know if you have questions about this & pls don’t take this as me telling you what you should/shouldn’t read. Just want you to be informed. Much love, Roy

My friend said that what I shared with her was helpful and that she had passed it on to others. That’s my intention, to be helpful.

“Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” -Paul, the apostle — Acts 20:28

“May God show us a vision of ourselves that will disvalue us to the point of total devaluation. From there He can raise us up to worship Him and to praise Him and to witness”  -AW Tozer

“Has Jesus become our mascot, our projection? When you look at him, what do you see?”

This post poses a great question to Christians, Do you adore Jesus?

http://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/but-do-you-adore-jesus

As a child I remember being told “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.” Not something you hear much anymore. Today, God or Jesus have become our culture’s exclamation point, or preface to using curse words in disgust. Why do we do that? Do we somehow feel like breaking the 3rd commandment will make a situation better? Is it an act of rebellion against God? What’s even more strange, many ppl throw God’s name around who don’t even believe in him?!?! Weird. Why not yell “unicorns” or “Sasquatch”???

Well, when I was told as a kid not to take the Lord’s name in vain, my understanding of that was not to say God (or Jesus) unless I was praying, or talking about him in a good way. That’s a good place to start, but it’s a limited understanding. There’s a reverence that goes with the use of God’s name. Below is a great (and short) article on the subject:

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-take-lords-name-vain/

And another, Why It’s Wrong to Take God’s Name In Vain:

https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/01/why-its-wrong-to-take-gods-name-in-vain/

How do we measure wether or not a church is fruitful? Is it as simple as a headcount on Sunday morning? Number of people professing their faith by walking an isle, raising a hand, etc. It’s not that simple. Drawing from he wisdom of Jonathan Edwards and the example of the church in the New Testament, Jared C. Wilson offers some great insight on the subject at the link below.

http://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/5-distinguishing-marks-of-a-fruitful-church

Grace Notes is our church’s monthly newsletter. Check it out at the link below:

GRACE NOTES JUNE 2016

We’ve primarily taught thru books of the Bible on Sunday mornings at Grace Bible for several years now. It doesn’t sound cool, slick, or “relevant” but there are benefits to this approach. Jared C. Wilson outlines a few in this post: 8 Reasons To Preach Through Books of the Bible.

Ever struggle with what to say when someone is hurting? Me too. Maybe the best place to start is with what NOT to say. Check out this great post on the subject.

Most of our New Testament is made up of letters written to churches reminding them of the gospel (the good news that Christ died for sinners). Ever wonder why? Why would “saved” people need to here the gospel of Jesus again? The truth is we never outgrow the gospel. “The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A-Z of Christianity” -Tim Keller.

The fact is, a growing awareness of God’s holiness, and a growing awareness of our own sinfulness, without a growing appreciation for the gospel, is hurtful. The picture below illustrates this well. Notice what happens when we don’t increase our view of the gospel (the cross). We try to fill the growing gap with performance (religion, moralism, self-justification, legalism, pride) and/or pain (guilt, fear, shame, insecurity, despair).

The picture below illustrates Christianity WITH a growing understanding of the gospel. In this picture we see an ever increasing appreciation of the gospel (the cross) as we further our knowledge of God’s holiness and our own sinfulness.

The Christian life becomes a struggle when we don’t focus the gospel and it’s far reaching implications. We think the benefits of the gospel are limited to when we pass from this life to the next. But the gospel gives us freedom from our past, power of the present, AND hope for the future. The gospel not only saves us (John 3:16, Romans 10:13), but also progressively sanctifies us, allowing us to be “transformed…from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Performance and pain are now replaced by worship, a realization of the grace (unearned favor) that has been afforded to us, and a pursuit of holiness out of thankfulness. 

Now, if you’re reading all of this and are thoroughly confused, don’t worry. It’s probably my lack of explanation more than your inability to understand. Please, shoot me an email and let’s get together and talk about this. There’s nothing I want more than to help ppl apply the gospel to our lives.

Our church’s student ministry recently had their annual weekend retreat aka Breakaway Weekend. Below is a sweet highlight vid!

Loved this from John Piper. Less than 5 mins. Check it out!