Daily Devotional for Monday May 15, 2006

Rev. Oprah

(Deuteronomy 13:5; Isaiah 9:15)

Why Oprah is so dangerous. For the nearly 7 years Liveprayer has been around, I have continually exposed this New Age false-hope merchant and warned people of how dangerous she is. If Oprah Winfrey was simply another Hollywood entertainer I could care less about her. What makes her so dangerous is that while her program normally deals with the same subject matter the raunchy Jerry Springer program does, Oprah also deals with the very real day-to-day issues of life and uses her nationally-syndicated television program to tell people how to live. The authority she speaks from? Herself, OPRAH WINFREY!

We are living in a time where the better percentage of two full generations don't go to church. People still hit those difficult places in life and at those moments they are looking for help and for hope. Sadly, the Christian leaders of our day have abandoned the marketplace and secular television for the safety and prosperity of the "Christian trough." In so doing, they have left the lost and hurting masses looking for a savior, someone to come along and help them through the difficult moments of life, tell them how to live, and give them hope. To fill this void in people's spiritual lives, along comes Oprah!

People defend her by saying she is not a theologian or a preacher, she is a talk-show host and entertainer. I agree. However, that is not how she portrays herself or positions herself. She has eagerly cashed in to the tune of over $1 BILLION DOLLARS on being the spiritual guru to over 49 million people a week! The authority she speaks from is what she has determined truth to be, her views on right and wrong, her values and morals, as opposed to the only Truth and authority there is...God's Word!

Lest you think I have overstated my case and have been wrong all these years, please take a moment to read some quotes from a recent article in the USA Today on "the Divine Miss Winfrey."

"Over the past year, Winfrey, 52, has emerged as a spiritual leader for the new millennium, a moral voice of authority for the nation."

"With her television pulpit and the sheer power of her persona, she has encouraged and steered audiences (mostly women) in all matters, from genocide in Rwanda to suburban spouse swapping to finding the absolute best T-shirt and oatmeal cookie."

"'She's a really hip and materialistic Mother Teresa,' says Kathryn Lofton, a professor at Reed College in Portland, Ore., who has written two papers analyzing the religious aspects of Winfrey. 'Oprah has emerged as a symbolic figurehead of spirituality.' "

"'She's a moral monitor, using herself as the template against which she measures the decency of a nation,' Lofton says."

"With 49 million viewers each week in the USA and more in the 122 other countries to which the show is distributed, Winfrey reaches more people in a TV day than most preachers can hope to reach in a lifetime of sermons."

"In a November poll conducted at Beliefnet.com, a site that looks at how religions and spirituality intersect with popular culture, 33% of 6,600 respondents said Winfrey has had "a more profound impact" on their spiritual lives than their clergypersons."

"Winfrey called her talk show her 'ministry.'"

"Marcia Nelson says that it's not going too far to call her a spiritual leader. 'I've said to a number of people - she's today's Billy Graham.'"

"'Our culture is changing,' he says, 'as churches are in decline and the bulk of a new generation is growing up outside of religion.' Instead, they're turning to the Church of Oprah."

"'People who have no religion relate to her,' Nelson says."

It is clearly established that Oprah Wiinfrey views herself as some sort of spiritual leader, and based on the 49 million viewers of her TV program, you can laugh at that notion but can't ignore the fact she has an incredible amount of influence over tens of millions of lives. Let me be clear. The danger of Oprah Winfrey is that like any cult leader, her version of the truth and her final authority are not from God but from herself! It has been clearly documented from transcripts that Oprah Winfrey may use the name of "God," and very rarely "Jesus," and use many "Christian" expressions, but so does the Mormon cult! While she was raised in the Baptist church, she has been a long-time member (though rarely attends) of a very liberal church in Chicago that mixes Christian faith with New Age spirituality

Because she has never been married, choosing instead of live for decades outside the bonds of God's Holy Institution with a man who is not her husband, Oprah has a jaundiced view on this most sacred bond between a man and woman. Oprah embraces the New Age philosophy that there are "many roads that lead to God," a lie from the pits of hell itself. On her program she promotes and endorses cults like Scientology, Kaballah, those who speak to the dead, psychics, and people of ANY "spirituality." There is only ONE GOD, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to promote the false gods of this world makes Oprah an enemy of God!

As for the social issues, Oprah condones and supports those who choose to engage in the sin of homosexuality. Oprah is on the record supporting a "woman's right to choose," code for slaughtering innocent babies. While she gives lip service to being pro-family, Oprah's definition of the family is whatever men want it to be, not what God says it is! Again, the truth Oprah espouses comes from her own imagination, not from the only authority and source of Truth there is, the Bible. By going against God's Word on the key social issues of our day makes Oprah an enemy of God.

I could go on, but there is no reason to. Simply denying the Bible as the only Truth there is, God as the one and only God there is, and faith in Jesus Chris as the one and ONLY WAY to be saved, makes this woman dangerous and a false prophet in every sense of the word. What makes a person a false prophet is that they lead you AWAY from God, Biblical Truth and Jesus Christ. Sadly, those who follow this false prophet, this merchant of false hope, put their eternal souls in peril. That is why I have warned people for years about her and will continue to.

I love you and care about you so much. I know all the Oprah disciples who spend hundreds of dollars to go hear her preach the "gospel of Oprah" at her seminars, buy her books and magazine, watch her faithfully every day, hang on her every word, will run to her defense by pointing out all the good she does. I don't doubt for a second that Oprah uses some of her billions to help others. That is not the issue. The Mormon cult feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and visits the prisoners, yet they are still lost and going to hell for rejecting Jesus Christ. The Mafia gives millions to worthwhile causes that help those in need, but that doesn't make them good people. God's Word teaches you can't buy your way into heaven!

So what is the answer to Rev. Oprah? She is locked in. One of the most powerful women in the entertainment business. She is not going away and now that she is at least being honest about her "spiritual guru" status, will become even bolder in trying to position herself as the spiritual leader of the nation. By the way, this is EXACTLY how the anti-Christ will rise to power and the one-world religion will come to be. A charismatic figure who can control the masses and fill their spiritual needs by feeding them a perverse theology that makes them feel good for the moment.

The answer is to take on Oprah just like Elijah took on the prophets of Baal, head on! In the end, the TRUTH will always win out over the lie. False hope will always give way to true hope. The false prophet will always be exposed when confronted by a true prophet of God. I have told you many times that what we are dealing with is a battle for the souls of men. This is why I am so passionate about taking the Liveprayer television program nationwide. It will be a beacon of light in the darkness of this world for Biblical Truth and lead people to the only answer there is...Jesus Christ!

The reality is, for over 3 years now, night after night I have done on the Liveprayer television program what Oprah does on her program. Deal with the pressing issues of the day, reach out to people who are hurting, and give them answers for their life. The difference? I let them know that I can't help them and I am not their answer, Jesus is! I deal with the issues of the day not from a worldly perspective but a Biblical one! The answers for the hurting I share are not from my imagination but from God's Word! The truth I share is not my truth, it is God's Truth! The hope I give people is not a false hope, but the ONLY hope there is...JESUS CHRIST!

(Sadly, many high-profile Christians will go on Oprah's program and rather than confront her and challenge the false theology she espouses, say nothing so they can sell whatever book they are pushing. David had no fear in taking on Goliath on his own turf. David was a shepherd, not a great man of war like Goliath. I have no fear in taking on Oprah on her own turf. I am an evangelist, not a great television and entertainment celebrity like Oprah. David didn't need the fancy armor of Saul, only a few pebbles. I don't need fancy buildings and studios, only a few pebbles and that is why I am asking you at this time to help me. Supply me with the pebbles I need and our God will do the rest!)

The world has always had false prophets, merchants of false hope. Oprah, her creation "Dr. Phil," Montel, are simply some of the more notable ones of our day. I expose them for who they are, talk about them, because they are leading people AWAY from the only Truth there is and AWAY from the only hope there is. Pray for Oprah today. The fact is, Oprah could become a powerful woman of God if she would humble herself before the Almighty, get on her knees and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and stop preaching the gospel of Oprah but the Gospel of Jesus Christ!