A letter to Oprah

Hi Everyone
I was just e-mailed a copy of this letter. I thought some of you would be interested. It was written By James Robison (of the tv program "Life Today"). He is a close friend of Beth Moore and she appears on his show every Wednesday. Lets pray for Oprah that she will be open to the words of his letter.

A Love Letter To Oprah
by James Robison

Let's pray for Oprah Winfrey and everyone she influences.

Dear Oprah,

I remember when you first launched your daily talk program throughout the country. My wife and I have watched with amazement as it has grown. I know you have been gratified by its broad acceptance and popularity.

My wife Betty and I have been praying for you since Gene Self (my former staff member and close friend of Stedman's) began to tell me about the relationship you had with his friend. On numerous occasions I thought we were going to be able to get together and just talk based on comments Stedman made to my associate. This never occurred, but we have watched your television programs and especially the talk format grow until they have worldwide impact.

Betty and I also host a daily television program, LIFE Today (www.lifetoday.org), which airs around the world. I also founded the ministry of Life Outreach International. With the help of countless supporters, Betty and I have been sharing the life and love of God in word and deed in the U.S. and abroad. We focus heavily on Africa, feeding more than 400,000 children each month and drilling hundreds of fresh water wells.

I am writing out of a sincere love and concern for you. I have heard some comments recently, visited the "New Earth" and witnessed the influence of Eckhart Tolle. Some of your statements concerning your beliefs and the direction you are going actually brought tears to my wife's eyes. She was stunned to hear your views of Jesus Christ, eternity and the Bible

You are a true example of the opportunity and success that America offers people who have had difficult challenges. I can relate, because I am the product of a forced sexual relationship on a 40-year-old woman. As I child, I spent time in a foster home, then with my birth mother and a stepfather who could not read or write. Later, my violent, alcoholic father came back into the picture. It ended when I pointed a gun at him in self-defense as he threatened to kill me. By the grace of God, I did not have to pull the trigger. A couple of years later, I committed my life to Christ and God changed me, established my life, and gave me a future. My wife Betty and I recently celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. We have three children and 11 grandchildren.

We have witnessed the vast influence you have been afforded. There is no question that you sincerely care about people. Your outreach in Africa and your personal response to the suffering you have seen reveals your genuine interest in the well-being of others. I believe you truly care about others.

You have become popular because you shared your own challenges, your own questions and your own failures. You have shared your battle with weight and tried to help people improve their own health. Anything that helped you, you passed on. I appreciate that. I sense that you believe in God and want the best for all His people.

What breaks my heart is that somehow we, as Christians, have failed to effectively communicate the greatness of our God to you. I cannot express how much I want you to fully experience the grace that God freely shares through Jesus Christ, as well as the supernatural enabling He provides "to live appropriately and victoriously in the now," as you eloquently put it.

We both know that life can be difficult, but God Almighty has provided a helper through the person of His Holy Spirit to walk through the valleys and also enable us to experience success without our gain becoming idolatrous addiction. He offers us the very things that you claim to be discovering in a mind-boggling journey wrapped in New Age philosophy and relativism. The Apostle Paul warned against the human tendency to justify ungodly ideas by "changing the truth of God into a lie" and allowing our own appetites and desires to control us rather than the proven principles of the Bible.

Here is my great concern. You have obviously seen good Christians whom you admire, such as CeCe Winans and Nicole C. Mullen. I know both of these wonderful women and I am sure they shared the reality of a personal and deep relationship with Jesus Christ. But where have we, as Christians, either in our prayer life or in our example failed to connect with you and inspire you so you could see Jesus as He really is? Many have seen limited portraits of God, such as the extreme suffering depicted in Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ. But you may not have been able to see the power of the comment Jesus made to his mother when he fell beneath the weight of the cross in that movie. He commented, "Mother, I came to make all things new."

Oprah, He is the one who enables us to rightly live in the now. Only Jesus Christ can free us from past problems, present pressures and future pursuits that can become idols. Rather, we look back on the past, thank God for the lessons we have learned, trust Him for grace to deal with painful experiences, and provide present abiding power to count it all joy when we face temptation and trials, knowing that He will walk with us not only in the presence of our enemies and accusers, but even through the valley of the shadow of death. He is our ever-present spiritual and personal Shepherd. Think about this: He said it was necessary to leave and send "another of the same kind" -- the Holy Spirit, His Spirit living in us in order for us to live life fully and freely.

Surely you have seen the reality of this eternal truth. The fact is He not only covers the past and provides for the present, but He also promises to secure our future. We are, in fact, eternal beings. We are not creatures of the day. It breaks my heart to hear you say that a sentence from your pastor concerning God being a jealous God caused you to reconsider your entire belief system. You misunderstood what the pastor intended and the reality of God's jealousy. He is not jealous of us, He is jealous for us in the sense that He does not want to see anything foolishly captivate us and take us as prisoners. God does not want you to miss the supernatural fulfillment that He freely offers. It is like a wife being jealous not because her husband associates with other women, but because she knows that he might be captivated by a false relationship and taken away from his first love and his family. Godly jealousy is an expression of love and concern for our best interests -- not a petty human emotion of fear, but concern that we might miss the very essence of life.

Oprah, you are gifted. You have been so blessed and I know you recognize and appreciate it. I believe that you want to share the best you can discover with others. But Oprah, can I encourage you to please sit down and go a little deeper and discover something that will also truly enable your friend Eckhart Tolle and others caught up in his teaching to see that God has given us Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, who not only lived and died, but now through the power of His Spirit is available to live in us if we open ourselves to His indwelling presence? This is not mere religion, it is relationship with the living God and an unconditional love for others.

You are an honest seeker and sincere in your desire to help others. Please give us as Christians another chance to clearly communicate the matchless, amazing grace of our great God and give Jesus, the One who has never in any way failed, the opportunity to become the fullness of life for you and those you care about. He will enable you to deal with the past, live fully and meaningfully in the now, and secure your future, so that whatever challenges may come, you will have a Friend and Father who never leaves or forsakes you.

As believers, Betty and I are praying for you and encouraging every person with faith in Jesus Christ to lift you up in loving prayer before the Lord. You are a special person and it is my prayer that you not miss anything God has to offer. I pray that your journey will inspire all of us to examine our lives and become more consistent, compassionate, effective witnesses for Christ. Perhaps each of us as Christians should feel some weight of responsibility for not more effectively demonstrating the great message of hope found in Christ. Those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will never be disappointed in Him.

God loves you so much, as well as everyone you sincerely seek to inspire.

Praying His best for you and those you love,

Bible Study

Hi Everyone,

The Bible Studies are going great. And I can hardly believe that we are halfway through this round of studies. Yesterday we worked on our paper bag scrapbooks, and I thought I would include a couple pics of what mine looks like so far. I have a long way to go, but that's ok... it's a journey of faith we're on day to day, so even if you all don't finish in the next 4 weeks, I hope you'll continue to work on it over the next weeks and months.

The cover... some people called theirs "My Journey of Faith" or something similar. I chose to call mine Walking by Faith, because I like that verse in 2 Cor. 5:7 "For we walk by faith and not by sight."

One of my inside pages


This is my "In Everything give thanks" page... and the tab there is on a little prayer of thankfulness for my family that I wrote.


The way the bag books are put together creates all kinds of natural pockets for pictures or for additional scripture verses or prayers.


Next week we are going to have another DVD study featuring Beth Moore again. I hope you all can make it!

Sarah

The Birthday Surprise

by Jane W.


It was my husband Harry's birthday a few weeks ago. We had planned to travel to Portland, Oregon on a business trip together that day and then travel onwards for a "little holiday." Then, our "little holiday" grew two weeks prior to his birthday to an 8 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise leaving from Los Angeles. This was a "first" for us, so needless to say we were very excited about going on a cruise. Plans were made for us to fly from Portland, when the conference ended, to meet the ship at the Los Angeles dock. The morning of Harry's birthday was a frenzy of activity as we were both going to our respective places of work that day. Our plans were to leave at 4 pm later that day to drive from our home in Abbotsford, across the U.S. border, down to Oregon.

At 10 a.m I got a phone call from my husband. The local police department had phoned him at his office to say that that they were in possession of his briefcase. They had found his business card in the briefcase. It had been found at the park close by the police station. This could only mean one thing. Our house had been broken into.

When we arrived home, we discovered several things had been stolen. There is always the sense of violation that comes with a robbery. There were sentimental items stolen which all the insurance money in the world cannot replace. That day however, our most important documents, needed for the trip that day, were our passports. Harry had put those in the briefcase the night before.

That afternoon Harry went to the police station to pick up the briefcase. This is where we believe the miracle happened. They were still in the briefcase. We could still go on our trip. Otherwise we would have had to cancel everything.

Was it a kind thief who saw we were going on a trip and chose to leave the briefcase in a visible place by the police station? Or was it God's sovereign grace showing us that He is still in control even when things seem to go wrong? I choose to believe the latter.

The cruise was amazing. However, beyond the great experience of a holiday like that, the most wonderful thing that happened was that due to a series of circumstances, we met a Christian crew member who needed prayer. We had the privilege of praying for our brother in the Lord on the staff of that ship, with some other Christians we had met during the course of the week.

We make our plans but then the Lord guides us in His perfect path as He says in Proverbs 3:5 : "Commit your ways to the LORD and He shall direct your path."

Nothing is a surprise to God!

Bible Study tomorrow

Hi Ladies,

How did another week go by so fast? Well, it happened!! And tomorrow morning is Bible Study time again.... we will be watching a dvd with Priscilla Shirer speaking, and then starting our Faith mini scrapbooks.

Hope to see you all there! 9:30 is start time.

S

Walking By Faith

Last week we had a great lesson by Beth Moore (via DVD) on Love.

This week we'll be hearing Jennifer Rothschild speaking on her experiences of Walking By Faith (Lessons Learned in the Dark).

Tomorrow morning at 9:30... and we'll be in the Fireside room this week! This will be great because the chairs are way more comfy!!!!

Hope to see you all there.

For we walk by faith, not by sight (KJV)
2 Corinthians 5:7

Salt Blog

In my "blog hopping" aka "blurfing" I came across this blog that is all about scrapbooking and sharing your faith through creative paper crafting. Since we are just starting to talk about that in our Ladies Bible Study, I thought you might be interested in taking a peek!

http://saltfaithchallenge.blogspot.com/

Enjoy :)
Sarah