Putting The Worlds Most Influential Woman Evangelist To The Bible Test

By John Stallings

….beware of false prophets. Matthew 7:15 There are others with large audiences, but by her standards they are dwarfed.

She gets her message to more people than anyone else on earth. Let’s face it, she’s number one; the world’s most powerful evangelist. She’s a consummate entertainer, a publisher, publishing her own magazine O, which is a massive success, (2.7 million Monthly readership) and any book she promotes through her book club instantly becomes a bestseller. She’s an Internet powerhouse and her website is visited by millions. She’s the power behind an Internet and cable conglomerate called Oxygen that specializes in feminist programming. She’s a mega-business tycoon with her own Production Company, Harpo productions and studio. Her flagship Television talk show is always top rated; as a matter of fact, it’s the top rated talk show in history and reaches 30 million people a week in 111 countries. She is also an award winning actress, a financial powerhouse worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as a mover and shaker who underwrites various and sundry causes. She is many things, but let’s talk about her as an evangelist. She is warm, down to earth, charming and is exceptionally good with ordinary folk. Her vast multimedia empire gives her a platform that no living preacher can match and believe me she’s using that platform to spread religion. She espouses her own spiritual ideas and frequently features her favorite spiritual adviser's on her show. Her website offers answers to many spiritual questions. We’ve established the fact that she’s spreading religion, but what religion is she spreading? THE MOST POWERFUL TELEVISION EVANGELIST IN THE WORLD TODAY IS OPRAH WINFREY. I warn you in advance, if you’re an Oprah fan, some of the things I’m going to say will be tough to hear. And she is spreading the “New Age” religion & make no mistake, Oprah Winfrey isn’t a Christian nor does she claim to be. She is a consummate New Ager, and there’s no question that millions of 40- something housewives faithfully watch her and give a positive nod to everything she says. The massively influential Oprah was named in 1997 by Newsweek magazine, “The most important person in books and magazines.” It was that year when she started Angel Network, a philanthropic outreach that has raised 27 million dollars for needy people worldwide. She got my attention when she endorsed Barack Obama for the Democrat candidate for the Presidency in 2008.That endorsement changed the political landscape giving America a problem we didn't need--THE OBAMA PROBLEM!

In 2004, Time magazine named Oprah one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2005, she received the prestigious NAACP Hall of Fame award. Let’s give credit where credit is due, in many ways Oprah’s show offers an alternative to some of the other trashy programming airing on daytime TV. She has the most magnetic personality imaginable. I give her that, hands down. She can be justifiably proud of the way she has risen from very humble and painful beginnings to such mega-stardom and world fame & at least Oprah is using her fame and influence to seek to improve people’s lives. I’m sure that Oprah the evangelist has helped and encouraged multitudes to make many positive changes in their lives. Kudos are in order here. But remember, Satan is perfectly happy to let us mix in some of our own goodness, if in so doing he can take our eyes off the perfection that is in Christ Jesus alone. Satan is happy to see us making short-term improvements in our lives, so long as we forget that it’s only the Gospel of Jesus Christ that can bring us real forgiveness for our sins and eternal life with God. How does what Oprah teaches harmonize with what the Bible teaches? Hold on tight, I’m going to tell you. 1. OPRAH FEELS THE BIBLE IS TOO LIMITED & BELIEVES NEW AGE THINKING ILLUMINATES & FILLS THE GAPS THE BIBLE MISSES. She believes New Age thinking mostly agrees with the Bible, but it seriously doesn’t and there are huge life-or- death differences. Oprah believes in the FORCE- “I call it God,” she says. But this is a terrible mistake. The Lord isn’t a force, but rather an all-powerful Person. Oprah says each of us is part of that force and we have the potential to reach down deep inside ourselves and tap into that force. She goes on, saying that we don’t need Jesus and “Our biggest mistake is to believe that there’s only one way. Actually, there are many paths leading to “what you call God. There couldn’t possibly be only one way.” If Oprah is correct, Jesus is a liar, for Jesus said,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. John 14:6. So Jesus says he’s the only way, but Oprah contradicts Jesus and says there are many ways to God. She teaches that God cares more about our hearts than whether or not we call Jesus Lord. But Oprah is wrong! Houston, we have a problem.

Acts 4:12 makes it clear that, “There is no other name…by which we must be saved.” 2. OPRAH CLAIMS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE SPIRITS OF HER ANCESTORS & OTHER DEAD PEOPLE. New Age religion encourages such things but the Bible fiercely forbids trying to communicate with dead people or other spirit beings. The Bible clearly tells us in Isaiah 8:19 that we should inquire of God instead of going to old spirits or demons that are out to trick and destroy us. Old Testament King Saul in his backslidings started going to fortune tellers when God had forbidden it, seeking to learn from hell what heaven would no longer tell him. Oprah ignores the Bible and goes ahead and seeks the very type of contact that God forbids. 3. OPRAH FEELS TO LIVE WITH HER BOYFRIEND STEDMAN, UNMARRIED- IS PERFECTLY OKAY. The Bible calls this fornication and obviously living in sin. The Bible commands that a couple be married before they live together. Oprah says, “it works so well this way, I wouldn’t want to mess it up.” So America’s beloved “Evangelist Oprah” slaps God in the face and by example, encourages millions of others to follow suit. Shame, shame Oprah! You feel that your feelings matter more than the facts of what God commands us to do. Your acid test is your subjective feelings rather than God’s objective commandments. Oprah’s religion contradicts the Bible. She spreads falsehoods about the most basic things: the nature of God, the way of salvation, the source of supernatural truth, and the standard for moral living. 4. OPRAH GETS HER THEOLOGY FROM GURUS AND NEW AGE TEACHERS. New Agers like Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Shirley MacLaine, Betty Eadie and James Van Praagh are often on her program. These people don’t believe in a personal God but in an impersonal power. Shirley MacLaine goes so far as to say, “if everyone was taught one basic spiritual law, we’d all be happier and that law is that; everyone is God; everyone.” Oprah’s guru says, “The Universe is wise and compassionate and doesn’t burden you with a destiny. It provides you with potential. Your life depends on your choices. There are no right or wrong answers, only your holy life, and the experiences that you create in it.” These people promote a Godless religion and a Christless spirituality in a slick manner which popularizes the principle of reincarnation; which says that if you don’t get it right this time you will the next. This is anti-Bible. What about salvation through Jesus Christ? These Guru’s deny this and speak of, no right, no wrong, no sin no judgment, no hell, no need for a savior. Your soul creates another life for you to live and die many times. This is re-incarnation. But the Bible says,

“Man is destined to die once and after that the judgment. Hebrews 9:27.

This is “Karma”…. “Nothing happens to you that don’t come from a choice you made, either in this life or a previous life. Its all in your hands and this is the lesson of Karma.” The message Oprah sends out is; -- don’t just listen to the Bible or think hard about the words God speaks; just watch Oprah and her Guru and feel them emote. They may sincerely believe what they’re saying but they have put there faith in lies, and are spreading those lies to millions of people. I’ll go so far as to give them the benefit of the doubt that they don’t realize that Satan himself is the author of the ideas they promote. Satan isn’t stupid. He knows the best possible way to spread his message isn’t through some wild-eyed seemingly nutty person, but rather through a likable, warm woman full of good intentions, eager to help people. Another of Oprah’s Guru’s is a woman named Iyanla Vanzant who makes statements like, “The power is in your hands. The reason you are on this planet is to awaken to your God-self, to celebrate life, and to do what brings you JOY!” That’s just another re-hash of Satan’s old lie in the garden of Eden “You will be like God.” But now Satan doesn’t speak through a snake, he uses powerful and popular women. If we chose to follow our own warm-fuzzy feelings rather than the word of God, we are asking to become dupes of Satan. God says,

“Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit.”… Woe to the women “who prophesy out of their own imagination.” (Ezekiel 13:3,-17).

5. OPRAH & HER GURUS ARE BIG ON THE IDEA OF FORGIVENESS. That seems strange to me because there’s never a hint of the problem of sin on Oprah’s shows. Only the power of positive thinking can change the world. Bad human behavior is only the result of the need for attitude adjustments or the “realignment of energies.” They can be heard talking about forgiving all the time but if there’s no personal God to sin against, and if there’s no such thing as a wrong choice or a sin, what real need does anyone have for forgiveness? What they teach is all about just keeping your feelings positive. Dismiss the notion that something is wrong with you or anyone else and delight in your own “evolving Godhood.” This view is a cheap counterfeit replacement for what Bible forgiveness really is. It’s an insult to the Son of God who died that we might be forgiven of our sins. Personally, I like Oprah. I admire her talent and accomplishments. From the first time I saw her in the early eighties, I recognized there was something special about her and have often enjoyed watching her unique interviews. She’s a breath of fresh air in many ways & if nothing else, she provides a positive outlook when these days negativity abounds. Looking at her in purely human terms, “what’s not to like about Oprah?” However we must remember that while New Age Humanism sounds great, (who isn’t for the human race?), from a scriptural standpoint, Oprah the evangelist will destroy your spirit if you place your faith in the religion she promotes. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and now is already in the world.”(1 John 4:1-3) THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT CANNOT BE COMPROMISED.TO WIT…. God has provided only one message of salvation: the Bible. God has provided just one way to be saved. If you or I reject Jesus we will perish in hell. But if we believe in Him and Him alone, we will live forever in heaven. It’s just that simple. My prayer is; may God help people who are confused or deceived by false religion. I AM PRAYING FOR YOU OPRAH, AND THAT’S THE TRUTH.

Blessings,

John