Debunking Joel Osteen's The Power of I AM

So, all right, so Oprah and Joel Osteen have been just yucking it up on Oprah's Life Class.

And last week, if you listened to our I Am segment, then you heard Pastor Joel Osteen talking about the power of the

I Am statements and how Oprah was so excited about these I Am statements that it literally just changed her life.

She was experiencing life transformation there on the spot. Well, it turns out that earlier in the year,

Oprah attended Joel Osteen's church out there Lakewood.

And when she attended there, she heard Joel Osteen preach this sermon entitled,

The Power of I Am, The Power of I Am.

And so what I think would be helpful for today's edition of Fighting for the

Faith as we get into tomorrow. See, tomorrow we're going to actually look at Joel Osteen's appearance last night on the

Life Class. But I think we need to do just a little bit more foundational work.

And so we're going to be listening to Joel Osteen, the opening to this sermon called The Power of I Am, so that you can get a clear and succinct, complete with shiny teeth explanation of this

I Am doctrine that Joel Osteen preaches. So without any further ado, here's Joel Osteen and his part of his sermon entitled

The Power of I Am. God bless you.

It's a joy to come into your homes. We love you. If you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services.

I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. Thanks so much for tuning in. Thank you again for coming out.

And I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about this 92 -year -old man. He wasn't feeling up to par.

And he went to the doctor for a couple of days. A few days later, the doctor saw him out walking in the park.

He had this beautiful young lady by his side, and he seemed as happy as can be. The doctor said, wow, you sure are feeling a lot better, aren't you?

He said, yes, doctor, I'm just taking your orders. You said, get a hot mama and be cheerful.

The doctor said, I didn't say that. I said, you got a heart murmur. Be careful. Hold up your

Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says

I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the

Word of God. No, you won't. I don't know why anyone attending Lakewood would actually bring a

Bible to Lakewood. They're not going to be taught the Word of God. That's not true.

This whole little creed of his, this is my Bible, that is to create the impression, the false impression that what he's going to be doing is actually teaching

God's Word. What he does is he has people hold up their Bibles and say, oh, well, wow, this is so great,

I'm so, what a great guy Joel Osteen is. He boldly believes in the

Bible. If he believed what the Bible taught, then he'd teach what the Bible teaches. But he doesn't.

He teaches something very different. So this is part of the deception. This is to create the impression that Joel Osteen is a bold and unapologetic teacher of the

Word of God when he's anything but. I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive,

I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about the power of I am.

What follows these two simple words will determine what kind of life you live.

I am blessed, I am strong, I am healthy, or I am slow,

I am unattractive, I am a terrible mother. The I am's that are coming out of your mouth will bring either success or failure.

Okay. Succinctly said. Now, if you haven't heard last week's episode of Fighting for the

Faith regarding Joel Osteen and the I am, okay, I take time to explain to you biblically, show you from the

Bible that the I am who is mentioned in Scripture is God himself.

This is when Moses had the burning bush talk to him, okay, it was actually

God speaking to him. And during that conversation, Moses asked God what his name was and God revealed his name there as I am, okay.

Jesus uses this name for himself repeatedly, much to the consternation and offense of the

Pharisees in John chapter 8. I would recommend reading it, okay. But I'm not going to rehash all of that theology right now.

We're making a different point. And that is that Joel Osteen here has basically led off with presenting a problem, okay.

So the problem he's presented is this, is that are you having negative things happen in your life?

Well, it's because of the power of I am. If negative things are happening in your life, it's because you're saying things regarding yourself like,

I am slow, I am not smart, I am weak, I am miserable,

I am whatever, okay. And so the idea is that those words, those statements create the negative results in your life.

Whereas, if you're blessed and doing well, then obviously you're saying things to yourself like I am successful,

I am strong, I am more than a conqueror, things like that, okay.

Now here's the question, does the Bible teach that the reason why mankind is suffering and languishing under negative, and see, it's talking about this in this way so trite, suffering with negative consequences in their lives.

For instance, disease, poverty, death, okay.

Broken marriages, broken family relationships, skewed friendships, horrible boss situations.

We can even talk about things like slavery, adultery, murder and theft and all these things going on.

Is the reason why there's all of these problems in life is because there's a whole bunch of people out there who are completely oblivious to the power that their words have and as a result of it, they've created these negative situations with their words.

And so Jesus has come to teach us the importance of saying positive things about ourselves so that we can have radical life transformation, positive results and blessings flow to us because we say good things about ourselves.

The answer is absolutely not. God's word paints a very different picture of what it is that is wrong with humanity and the reason why there is death, the reason why there is disease, the reason why there is poverty, theft, murder, adultery and all of the horrible things that happen to us in our lives is a result of our sin and our rebellion against God.

The wages of sin is death and sin and death, well, it has a way of doling out its payments, you know, not just in one balloon payment but little down payments along the way with loss of health, you know, complete terrible things that happen to us in our lives.

Not only that, the solution that the Scriptures provide us for our sin problem and its consequences is none other than the

Son of God Himself, okay? The solution is Jesus Christ born of the

Virgin Mary and then suffering under Pontius Pilate, being crucified, died and buried and then raised again on the third day for our sins and for our justification.

The call of the gospel, the biblical gospel, is for sinners to repent of their sin and for their sins to be forgiven by the shed blood of Christ.

That's the solution that Scripture presents. So what Joel Osteen here is preaching is flat out mythology and here's the deal, his program purports to be

Christian. Remember, he held up his Bible. He says, it says what it says it says and does what it does it does, you know, and all that kind of stuff, right?

So he's purporting to be a Christian pastor but he's not teaching what the Bible teaches regarding what humanity's primary problem is and what the biblical solution is.

This is a solution without Jesus Christ. This is you becoming your own

Savior. That's how diabolical this is. So listen some more as Joel Osteen expresses the power of I Am and doesn't mention the

I Am of Scripture and that's Jesus, God in human flesh. All through the day, the power of I Am is at work.

We make a mistake, I am so clumsy. We look in the mirror. Notice, he didn't say that the power of I Am is at work, that would be the power of Jesus because Jesus is the

I Am. Jesus said, unless you believe that I Am, egoi me, you will die in your sins. He's not talking about Jesus, he's talking about almost like, well, a magic spell.

The power of I Am is like, well, abracadabra. This is the power of abracadabra.

I am so old. We see somebody very talented, I am so average.

We get caught in traffic, I am so unlucky. Many times we use the power of I Am against us.

We don't realize how it's affecting our future. Here's the principle, what follows the

I Am will always come looking for you. When you say, I am so clumsy, clumsiness comes looking for you.

I am so old, wrinkles come looking for you. I am so overweight, calories come looking for you.

It's just like you're inviting them. Okay, now notice he said, this is the principle. The Bible doesn't teach this.

This is not what scripture says at all. This is magic.

This is man -made teaching. This is false doctrine.

This is a false problem and a pseudo -false gospel.

Whatever you follow the I Am with, you're handing it an invitation, opening the door, giving it permission to be in your life.

Now the good news is, you get to choose what follows the I Am. Notice he didn't say the good news is that Christ died on the cross for your sins.

When Christians talk about the good news, the gospel, that's what the word gospel means, comes from the Greek word euangelion.

It means good news. When Christians talk about the good news, the good news is the news that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and was buried and raised again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

That's the good news. It is a proclamation of what Christ has done. But see, he says, oh no, the good news is you get to choose what you fill in the blank after the words

I Am are. When you go through the day saying, I am blessed, blessings come looking for you.

I am talented, talent comes looking for you. You may not feel up to par, but when you say,

I am healthy, health starts heading your way. I am strong, strength starts tracking you down.

You're inviting that into your life. That's why you have to be careful what follows the

I Am. Don't ever say, I am so unlucky. I never get any good breaks.

You're inviting disappointments. I am so broke. I am so in debt.

You are inviting struggle. You're inviting lack. You need to send out some new invitations.

Get up in the morning and invite good things into your life. I am blessed. I am strong.

I am talented. I am disciplined. I am focused. I am prosperous. When you talk like that, talent gets summoned by Almighty God.

Go find that person. Health, strength, abundance, discipline starts. Notice what's missing. An open

Bible. The Bible doesn't teach this at all. So, there's

God up in heaven. Just wanting to help you. But you, you've got to activate

His blessings by saying things like, I am talented. As soon as you say that, then

God's up in heaven going, Oh, finally. I've been wanting to give that person talent forever.

Talent, go find that person. Did you hear that? Somebody just said they're talented. Go quick.

Go find that person and bless them with talent. The Bible doesn't teach this anywhere.

It's heading your way. But how many people, when they wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, the first thing they say,

I am so old. I am so wrinkled. I am so worn out. You are inviting oldness.

You're inviting fatigue. What a total crock. These are flat out lies.

The Bible doesn't teach this. Do us all a favor. Stop inviting that.

When you get up in the morning, look in the mirror, instead of complaining, you should be saying,

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am attractive. I am getting younger.

Could there be anything more narcissistic than this? I don't think that there can be.

The thing is that Joel Osteen comes off as just being the most humble and likable guy ever.

But let me ask you a question. Whether or not somebody is humble based upon the tone of their voice or the content of their words.

For instance, let's say that I said something like,

I've discovered it. I play disc golf. I like disc golf so much.

It's my favorite summertime and fall time activity. Winter and spring don't get to participate in it much.

I can say something like, work with me here. If you were to come to me and say,

Chris, tell us about disc golf. It's a great game. In fact, I am the best disc golf player in the whole world.

You'd look at me and go, oh, well, he's kind of full of himself, right? But what if I said it like this?

Disc golf is just the best thing ever. I am just the best disc golfer in the whole world.

It's my favorite sport. You see, I said the same thing, right? Except for one way

I said it. One of the ways I said it, the tone I used was kind of snarky and full of myself.

The other was feigning, pretending to be humble. Yeah, you know,

I just love disc golf. I'm the best disc golf player in the whole world. You'd sit there and go, oh, well, you see.

But see, that's what Joel Osteen is doing. Listen to the content of his words, okay? And tell me how humble he really is.

Is humility based upon the tone of the voice or the meaning of the words that you say?

Let me back this up so that you can kind of ask yourself this question. Is he truly humble, or is

Joel Osteen not one of the most self -absorbed, narcissistic people you have ever heard?

Let me back this up. You're inviting fatigue. Do us all a favor, stop inviting that.

When you get up in the morning, look in the mirror, instead of complaining, you should be saying,

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am attractive. I am getting younger.

You talk like that, and God will renew your youth. I know people, the older they are,

Really, so if I look in the mirror, and I go, man, I am just thin, and I am the handsomest guy in the whole world,

God's gonna go, oh, finally now I can bless him with weight loss and with a more chiseled chin and better looks.

Where in the Bible does it say any of this?

Show me where in Scripture the apostles taught this doctrine.

Show me in the history of the ancient church and the church fathers where this was the doctrine that Christianity embraced, taught, confessed, and that martyrs died for.

That's right. All of Christian history is marked with martyrs.

People who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, which is their lives, to confess and proclaim

Jesus Christ. Who would rather die proclaiming Jesus than live having denied him?

Is this why the martyrs died? Was this the doctrine that they bled for?

Was this the doctrine that Christians were thrown to the wild beasts in the

Roman arenas? Was this the doctrine that Christians were literally bathed in tar and then lit on fire to become tiki torches for outdoor parties for Nero and people like that?

Is this the doctrine that they died for? The more they get, the more attractive they are.

A lot has to do with our attitude. The other day, our daughter Alexandra had a copy of my first book from 2004 and she was comparing the picture to my new book that was just released.

She said, Daddy, you look better now than you did back then. I said, what would you like me to buy you?

Oh, the wonders of Photoshop. I was with my college roommate last week. He said, Joel, what are you doing?

You're getting taller. You're growing. I said, I received that. Again, ask the question.

He says it in such a, aw shucks, kind of humble kind of way.

But the words that he's saying, if I were to transcribe them and hand them to you and say, not tell you who said them, what would you think of this person?

I didn't want to tell him that he's getting shorter. But when you go around saying,

I am being renewed in my youth, I am full of health, vitality, wholeness, that's one of the best anti -aging treatments you could ever take.

My mother's a great example of this. I mentioned how she just turned 78. She still looks fantastic.

She's still strong, still energetic, still beautiful. But when you get up in the morning, don't talk about how old you are, how bad you look.

Dare to say, I am young. I am energetic. I am vibrant.

I am radiant. I am fresh. Some of you women have never once said, notice again, not a single

Bible verse to substantiate any of these assertions, not one.

I am beautiful. You're so focused on your flaws and what you don't like about yourself and how you wish you had more here and less there.

I'm not pointing, but you know where I mean? When you say, I am beautiful, beauty comes looking for you.

Youth comes looking for you. Freshness comes looking for you. Nobody can do this for you.

This is narcissistic mythology. It's got to come out of your own mouth.

Listen, ladies, don't go around telling your husbands how unattractive you are.

You should never put yourself down and especially don't put yourself down in front of your own husband.

You are his prize. To him, you're the most beautiful woman in the world. Why would you want to tell him anything differently?

The last thing he needs to hear is how bad you think you look. Don't put those thoughts in his mind.

It's not going to do him nor you any good to discredit yourself. If you keep telling him how bad you look, one day, he may believe you.

Okay. Now I'm not going to play the whole sermon. That's pretty much the whole message.

Notice, not a single Bible passage to substantiate even one of these allegations.

All of this was done in the name of God. God wants you to do this. He will bless you if you say that.

You'll be cursed if you say this or you think that. Right? No Bible passage says that.

Not only was this narcissistic and utterly self -focused and conceited, arrogant like you wouldn't believe.

Okay. Not only was it all of that, but what you heard here was exactly what the

Bible defines as taking God's name in vain. Joel Osteen has hijacked

God's name, held up Bibles to create the impression that the God of the universe, that this is what he wants you to believe and this is what he wants you to do.

But God has not said any of this. His Word doesn't teach this. This isn't what Jesus taught.

This isn't what the disciples and the apostles taught. This isn't what the church has confessed.

And this isn't the doctrine that the martyrs have died for. This is something very different.

It's satanic. It's deceitful. It's a false gospel. And it sends people to hell.

And it doesn't matter how successful he is. He's not successful even in the remotest sense of the word of rightly handling

God's Word and proclaiming the biblical gospel. Joel Osteen is smiling and happy and faux humble, not real humble, faux humble and likable and just the nicest guy ever.

And yet, he's sending people to hell with this teaching. This is not. This is not only not helpful, this is absolute spiritual poison.

Alright, what we're going to do right now is we are going to take our first break. And during our first break, we're going to be premiering our latest

Max Holliday sketch. Well, in honor of Mark Driscoll. The name of the Max Holliday sketch, by the way, is called

Always Trust Your Pilot. Always Trust Your Pilot. We're going to be premiering that during the break.

You don't want to miss that. When we come back, we're going to be doing a Joyce Meyer update. Joyce Meyer believes the same false teaching regarding the power of words that Joel Osteen teaches.

And she was asked questions by her audience recently regarding how do you talk about negative things in your life without creating those types of realities.

So you don't want to miss that. We're going to take our break. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the

Faith, you can do so. My email address is TalkBackAtFightingfortheFaith .com or you can ask to be my friend on Facebook.

It's Facebook .com forward slash PirateChristian. Click on the subscribe button. You can follow me on Twitter. My name there, at PirateChristian.

We will be right back. Sisyoprified religiosity won't save you.