Oprah Disagrees with the Bible

Let me begin by stating that I have been an Oprah Winfrey fan for years. Her show is full of information; her topics are interesting; she is intelligent. But it has come to my attention that she doesn’t actually believe in the Word of God. I know this happened over a year ago and I also I understand that it is not a Christ-like program. (I use Christ-like instead of Christian because these days everyone is claiming to be a Christian while exhibiting a lifestyle contrary to that fact). But if the discussion goes there then you are obligated to either change topics or state your belief. Oprah chose to state her belief.

I am not in front of you so you can’t throw shoes at me (smile). Like I said, I have been a fan for years. But if she, you, my mom, or anyone else speaks contrary to God’s Word – the Bible, I will not only disagree with you, but I will endeavor to correct you. In the clip Ms Winfrey interviews and showcases several “New Age” luminaries. But when a woman in the audience asks Oprah, “What about Jesus?,” Oprah insists Jesus “can't possibly be the only way” to God... And the sparks fly!

Although raised Baptist, Oprah Winfrey's faith has undergone a significant transformation towards “New Age” spirituality. She has said on air that she has prayed to Jesus, but why pray to someone who is not able to answer your prayers? If you don’t believe Jesus is the only way to get to heaven then you can pray to some other way for answers. The Bible says that THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO GOD EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST. Oprah in essence denies the Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ by teaching tens-of-millions of her viewers that there are many paths to God.
The Bible says that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Who’s report will you believe? As for me and my house, we will believe and serve the Lord Jesus.

President Obama's Pastor-in-Chief

At only 26 years-old, Joshua DuBois is Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The young Pentecostal minister (and Boston University and Princeton graduate), has worked with President Barack Obama on faith outreach since his days in the Senate and throughout the campaign.

Since being selected in February for the new office, Pastor DuBois has focused on connecting with faith-based and community groups around four main objectives: economic recovery, responsible fatherhood, reducing the need for abortion, and inter-religious cooperation. The walls of his office are bare, with the exception of a photograph of Reverend Joseph Lowery giving the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration.

It is his job of finding common ground with groups like the Catholic bishops who boycotted the president’s commencement speech at Notre Dame because of his positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Joshua DuBois states that with regard to tough issues like abortion, the president believes in a woman’s right to choose. He believes that in a area such as abortion where there are very strongly held beliefs on both sides, there are areas in the middle that everyone can come around to support (i.e., reduce the need for abortion, reduce unintended pregnancies and teenage pregnancies). This can be done through things like more education, supporting adoption through adoption tax credits, and making sure that pregnant women have the health care they need. The outreach entails, "I don't care if you're a conservative, evangelical Catholic who's never voted for a Democrat before; we're going to call you, we're going to sit down with you and try to find areas to work together. And even if you don't vote for us, we still want to work with you so that there's not some ‘us vs. them' mentality."

Reverend DuBois says that on a personal level, President Obama is a committed Christian. He would be the first to say it's a very important force in his life, and in the life of the First Family. It's an inspiration for him, and it helps him set his moral path. In terms of the Obama White House, we recognize that faith-based groups, which are serving people day in and day out, are central to any prospects we have to serving people in need. In communities across the country where there may not be an office of state, local or federal government, there's probably going to be a church or a synagogue or a mosque or a community-based organization. It just makes sense that, if we're going to serve the American people and get things done, we have to connect with people where they are.

Some think he is too young. Don't be fooled by the boyish face. Supporters say the young pastor has an uncanny ability for building relationships with religious leaders of various stripes. Spirituality has no age limit. God is no respector of person and He uses anyone who is willing to be used. Young people put Barack Obama in the White House, and the President hasn't been shy about bringing them with him. So it wasn't a surprise that President Obama — who entrusted 27-year-old speechwriter with crafting the soaring oratory that became his campaign's hallmark — would tap a relative novice to lead the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Pastor DuBois leads a council of 25 influential religious and nonprofit leaders in helping both faith-based and secular groups galvanize their communities by providing everything from social services to job training.

Born in Bar Harbor, Maine and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and Xenia, Ohio. Reverend DuBois' stepfather is a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; his grandmother took part in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins. As a 17-year-old freshman at Boston University, DuBois — armed with a placard inscribed with the words "NO MORE" — stood before a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Boston for 41 hours as a way to commemorate the 41 bullets New York City policemen used to kill unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo. He became an associate pastor at a Massachusetts church while still an undergraduate. When he received a form letter rejecting his application to join Obama's U.S. Senate campaign he drove to Obama's office to pursue and interview, and was hired as a Senatorial aide working on faith-based outreach.

Merry Christmas

Here’s hoping you and your family the happiest and blessed Christmas ever. As you celebrate this Christmas we realize that we have Christmas to celebrate the memory of the birth of Christ. We don’t know which day that Jesus was actually born but this is the day that we have come to observe it.

Let us remember the reason for the season is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His birth is the manifestation of God’s love for us. He came to bring light to a dark world. The Good News (the Gospel) is that God is so in love with us that he gave His Son to us. This Good News is the main point behind the Bible. All you need to do to receive this Good News is believe it. Here’s how it works:

1. You like everybody else on earth, have made mistakes. To use a religious word, you’ve sinned. All have come short of the Glory of God. We are all sinners.
2. Your mistakes (sins) make it impossible for you to know God all by yourself. God is perfect and good in every respect, and sinful people can’t even be in the presence of so much goodness. It doesn’t matter if your mistakes were little ones or big ugly ones – it’s enough to separate you from God.
3. God loves you, despite your mistakes, and wants to have a relationship with you. God came up with a solution to this sin problem – he sent his son Jesus to suffer the penalty that your mistakes deserve. Jesus wrapped himself in flesh and took your mistakes upon himself so that you can be perfect in God’s eyes. After committing this act of sacrifice Jesus was raised from the dead and acts as a go-between for you and God.
4. By simply acknowledging your sins and believing in God’s love, and Jesus’ sacrifice you can enter a relationship with God. That means that your mistakes are washed away and you’re invited to live a new, transformed life – a life that’s based on something more meaningful than the hustles and bustles of this world

That’s the Good News: that there’s more to life than what you see, and you can be a part of it – through Jesus. If that sounds like something you want to do, all you need to do is make the decision to believe and act upon your beliefs.

Christmas, without the specter of the cross, without the awareness that this baby was born to die for mankind’s sin, is just another day off.

And as you celebrate Christmas remember that Jesus came to bring us back to God. Hope you enjoy the day with your family and remember to keep Christ in Christmas.

“Christian” Right (More Like Wrong) Intensifies Attacks on Obama

Imagine the following scenarios: terrorist strikes on four U.S. cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe; Israel hit by a nuclear bomb; gay marriage in every state; the end of the Boy Scouts. In an imaginary “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America”, produced by a so called Christian group Focus on the Family Action, these and other things happen with Senator Barack Obama as president.

The imagined look into the future is part of an escalation in peddling fear from so called Christian right activists who are trying to paint Senator Obama in the worst possible picture as we enter the final stretch and polls show the Senator Obama ahead.

"It looks like, walks like, talks like and smells like desperation to me," said the Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, an Obama supporter who backed President Bush in the past two elections and recently officiated at his daughter’s wedding. Pastor Caldwell called the 2012 letter "false and ridiculous."

One of the clear targets is younger Christians who might be considering Senator Obama. The letter rightly suggests that young Christians will provide the margin that let Senator Obama defeat Senator McCain.

The Christian right attacks show that some Christian conservative leaders fear that Senator Obama's faith-based appeals to voters are working. Young Christians (like most people) are tired of speeches which are fear-based, which tries to strong-arm the listener, and state opinion as fact. This will only cause division. Younger voters are hungry for information and balanced discussion.

Hard-edge attacks are common late in campaigns, but the tone of this election year is sharper than usual and the volume has turned up as we get closer to this historic election.

The publisher of Charisma magazine, a Pentecostal publication, titled one of his recent weekly e-mails to readers, "Life As We Know It Will End If Obama is Elected." A group called the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission posted a series of videos on its site and on YouTube called "7 Reasons Barack Obama is not a Christian." I believe the Bible teaches against judging others. And if that is not bad enough the commission accuses Senator Obama of "subtle diabolical (of the devil) deceit" in saying he is Christian. I believe that God will have the final say.

The Christian right is actually caught between a rock and a hard place since they are not enthused with Senator McCain and are afraid of Senator Obama. The Bible teaches that God has not given us the spirit of fear…

Don’t you think it strange that most Black Christians are supporting Senator Obama? Like saying goes, “the most segregated place in America church at 11 o’clock on Sundays. God can not be pleased with that. We ALL need a change.

Many Religious Voters Favor Senator Obama

As the U.S. presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, continue to fine-tune their platforms before this month's party conventions, a survey released this week has renewed debate about the political leanings of a prominent, and often misunderstood, group of voters: Christians.

Ever since George W. Bush rode a wave of evangelical votes into the White House in 2000 and 2004, political analysts have been mulling just how much restless evangelicals, with their strong views on hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, seem to be reshaping the political landscape.

Faith-based groups have been the domain of the Republican Party lately, but political times could be changing. A study released this week by the Barna Group, a Christian research and consulting firm based in Ventura, Calif., finds that Senator Obama, the Democratic nominee, currently enjoys the support of more faith-driven voters, including Christians, than his Republican rival.

The poll, which shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain 43 percent to 34 percent among likely voters, also finds Obama leading in 18 of 19 different religious faith communities defined by the survey's strict standards. McCain leads in only one--evangelicals. Regardless, there is little doubt that evangelicals are still a highly motivated, well-organized voting bloc. Nearly 90 percent of evangelicals in the Barna study said they intend to vote in November.

The survey shows that the much debated "God gap" between Republicans and Democrats among Christian voters as a whole may not be nearly as dramatic as it appeared in 2004. Indeed, among those who self-identify as "evangelical" but who don't fit the Barna group's criteria, John McCain holds only a 39 to 37 lead over Barack Obama, with nearly 1 in 4 voters saying they are still undecided.

Among most other Christian groups, the Democratic candidate continues to enjoy a comfortable lead. Senator Obama has a huge advantage among non-Christians, atheists, and agnostics, but he also leads among nonevangelical, born-again Christians (43 to 31), Christians who are neither born-again nor evangelical (44 to 28), Catholics (39 to 29), and Protestants (43 to 34). If the current preferences stand pat, this would mark the first time in more than two decades that the born-again vote has swung toward the Democratic candidate.

Experts aren't sure exactly what is causing this shift. Senator Obama has made a concerted effort to reach out to faith-oriented voters, including a splashy announcement this summer about expanding President Bush's faith-based initiative. He speaks more openly about his faith than many previous Democratic presidential candidates, and he has made an effort to find common ground with opponents of abortion.

Still, most experts believe that Christian voters' preferences, like those of many other voters, have less to do with the candidates' current positions than with a backlash against the Bush presidency. When asked to describe what makes the candidates stand out, at the top of the list for Christian voters currently supporting Barack Obama is "being different from George Bush."

When the pre-election advertising campaigns begin this fall--particularly those that emphasize Senator Obama's support for abortion rights--those numbers may drop. There is a lot of anger toward the Bush administration.