Open Letter to Joel Osteen #1.002 – “It’s Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God’s Favor”
(New readers can click here to download the introduction and first chapter of Joel Osteen’s new book, It’s Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God’s Favor.)
Chapter 1: You’re Closer Than You Think!
Pages 2-3
+ “While on vacation in Colorado, I woke up early for a hike. The three-mile trail ran to the peak of Beaver Creek Mountain.”
A fine start to this personal anecdote.
+ “As I climbed over a big ridge, I had to stop for air. Sweat was pouring off my body. I thought: If there’s another two hours like this, I don’t know if I can make it.”
A good job building suspense and interest in your story.
+ “As we passed, he said something that changed my whole perspective. He smiled kindly and said in a calm voice: ‘You are closer than you think.’”
Kept my attention all the way through. Looking forward to what you do with this.
? “Hearing those words, I felt rejuvenated, as if he’d breathed new life into my lungs. Energy surged through my body. My legs grew stronger. I caught a second wind. From that point forward, with every stride, I repeated those words of encouragement: ‘I will make it. I’m closer than I think.’”
I can hear a particular word repeated as I read this: Mantra. Mantra. I can only guess where you’re taking this from here.
- “I don’t know where you are headed, what your dreams are, or how many obstacles you have to overcome. But I encourage you to let these words reach deep down into your spirit. Receive them by faith. You are closer than you think.”
Didn’t take us long to go completely off the tracks.
“Receive these words by faith.” What on Earth does that even mean? “I don’t know what problems you might be facing, but just open this magic email message and all will be better.” Is this what cable programming has done with the Word of God? Reduced it to the equivalent of “Abra Cadabra” and “Hokus Pokus?”
There may be people who need real encouragement out there, and you want them to receive a generic message (that frankly belongs on a bumper sticker) and expect it to do some good in their life. You should be ashamed.
- “A global recession has forced many to postpone their dreams and cancel their plans. You may have lost your job. You may have lost your savings, maybe even your home. It could be that you have health concerns or relationship problems…Yet now is not the time to talk yourself out of your goals and dreams…You may think, as I did climbing that trail, that you’re not even halfway there. You may feel you have so far to go. But the truth is, you don’t know. Your dream may just be up around the corner. You may think it will take another two years. But if you stay in faith, who knows? It may just be two more months. You are closer than you think. I believe it’s your time.”
I don’t get it. You say on one hand that people don’t know whether or not “They’re closer than they think,” and on the other hand, you tell them, “You are closer than you think.” Sorry, Joel, but in the real world, you can’t have it both ways. Which is it?
(For new readers, my earlier analyses of Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (by Rob Bell and Don Golden) is available for free download. Simply click on my title, Clear as a Bell, and decide for yourself whether or not Bell’s teachings match those found in God’s Word.)
