OPRAH - PRIESTESS OF THE BROAD WAY

NOTE: I hope you will enjoy this excellent post about the New Age High Priestess Oprah Winfrey, written by a fellow Watchmen on the Wall. I completely agree with Garden Girl's unflattering assessment of Oprah and Oprah's chilling endorsement of President # 44 as "the One" in every respect.

Yours in Yahshua,
Helena Lehman
http://pillar-of-enoch.com

PS: For more about Oprah's false spirituality, see my You Tube Playlist about Oprah here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3D1FE99FCD34073D






OPRAH - PRIESTESS OF THE BROAD WAY


Posted by GardenGirl at 12/03/2010 10:57:00 AM;
http://runningfrombabylon.blogspot.com/


No doubt about it -- Oprah Winfrey is a great television personality. Since 1986, when Oprah's television show went national, her audience has swollen to well over a million people each week, most of whom are women.

Oprah came from an impoverished childhood that offered nothing to envy. Her story has been so well documented and written upon that a simple search on the Internet will turn up a vast amount of information. Suffice it to say that Oprah has become such an American icon that she can simply go by her first name, and many who have never watched her show know exactly who you are talking about if her name is mentioned.

Though Oprah is a multi-faceted person (talk-show host, actress, philanthropist and more), she is probably best known for marketing her brand of spirituality. She offers it on her show, on the Internet and soon on her own network. (Read the post 1/1/11 by Cindy by the Sea: http://cindybythesea.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/1111/ )

Unfortunately, doing a simple Internet search of two words -- Oprah and spirituality -- turns up page after page of links explaining Oprah's beliefs, all of which promote the New Age movement.

The New Age movement is fraught with difficulties in itself, and there are several good, well-researched books out there on the subject. Two I can definitely recommend are "oldies but goodies."

In The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism by Constance Cumbey (1983), Cumbey wrote the following:

It is the contention of this writer that for the first time in history there is a viable movement -- the New Age Movement -- that truly meets all the scriptural requirements for the antichrist and the political movement that will bring him on the world scene.

It is further the position of this writer that this most likely is the great apostasy or 'falling away' spoken of by the Apostle Paul and that the antichrist's appearance could be a very real event in our immediate future.

Caryl Matrisciana in her book Gods of the New Age (as well as her documentary film of the same name of 1988: http://www.jeremiahfilms.com/products/GNAD ) not only explains many aspects of New Age beliefs and contrasts them to Biblical doctrine, she also documents, in the words of adherents, hostility to and bias against the Bible and its teachings and Christians and the stated goals of the New Age movement to specifically target Christianity and destroy it.

I have never watched an entire Oprah show. To some that may "disqualify" me from having an opinion about Oprah. But as I have researched other topics and read much about the New Age movement, Oprah's name has come up often and some apologists, such as Josh McDowell (1), have written about statements that Oprah has made on her show. With YouTube a rich wealth of short clips is available so that if you want to see an actual snippet of an Oprah show where she has made a statement to her audience, it is relatively easy to find. With such tools, it is not difficult to follow a pattern of someone's beliefs and then form an assessment.

And Oprah has some beliefs that I do not share with her.

JESUS CAN'T BE THE ONLY WAY

Oprah has denied Jesus Christ as the "only way" to God the Father saying "there can't only be one way." Oprah is wrong when she denies Jesus as the only way.

YOUTUBE - JESUS CAN'T BE THE ONLY WAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETeI6i5oqh4



The Bible specifically states that Jesus Christ IS the only way. Many Christians are familiar with John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Oprah promises her audience that there are "many" ways to God because as long as a person loves others and is good, he/she will end up in "the light" that some call God but others may just call "the Light."

Sounds nice, but not correct.

At the end of each of the "many" ways that Oprah assures listeners leads to God, does not lead to THE God of the Bible but rather to satan, or one of his fellow fallen companions, and "the light" with these guys is not the light of Heaven but the light from the fires of Hell.

Anyone who hears Oprah speak this lie should remember Matthew 7: 13, 14.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

(Let me recommend another "oldie" here: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. This outstanding Christian classic is really all about the "narrow way." WELL WORTH reading this winter -- here is a link: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bunyan/pilgrim.html )

When Matthew recorded Jesus' words in his Gospel, Jesus already knew then, 2,000 years ago, that the New Age movement was coming. Why? Because it already had been. Satan has been promising mankind ever since the Garden of Eden that there was more than one way to "god."

The wide gate is the lies of satan; the narrow gate is the Truth of Jesus Christ, and that gate is only as wide as He is. People will either choose to believe Him and enter into the narrow way that few find and fewer choose, or people will run headlong down wide paths off a cliff and into Hell. The Bible says many will choose that way.

This is one of those teachings that either you believe it and accept it or you don't. I accept it. I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only life I need. Oprah, so far, has rejected the narrow way.

But if you look closer at Oprah's goal in spirituality, you can determine much more easily what her goal is NOT than what it is, and her goal is NOT to reach God the Father.

This explains her easy rejection of Jesus Christ.

GOD IS A 'JEALOUS' GOD

Oprah has stated that when she was about 27 or 28 years old while sitting in a Baptist church, she heard a sermon in which the pastor said that God was a "jealous God." Something rose up inside her and this statement offended her and she wanted no part of a "jealous God." The moment must have been very keen for her as she remembers it clearly.

YOUTUBE - OPRAH WON'T ACCEPT A JEALOUS GOD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4J1JpG_PA



It appears that it was at this point that Oprah rejected God. Instead of studying (as a Berean) to understand more fully what the Bible means by "jealous" God, Oprah began to search for a broader definition of God, one that would fit how she perceived He should be. The danger with this option is that the creation sits in judgment on God. When man rejects God, man rejects God as not being good enough for him. This is a terrifying place to be.

Man lives in this place until confronted by the cross of Jesus Christ. At the foot of the cross we will either suddenly comprehend the depth of how we have treated the Holy God of Heaven and be overwhelmed by the horror of our actions in deep remorse or we will look upon the cross and reject its impact upon our soul and simply dismiss it and move on.

When Jesus said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) He wasn't just speaking to those who physically crucified Him. He was speaking to all of us whose sins have nailed Him to the cross. He was saying that to me. He was saying that to you. He was saying that to each of us.

When the truth of the cross fully penetrates into a man's mind, it can be the darkest hour of a person's life. For me, it was an hour of unspeakable woe, a time of darkness unlike anything I had ever experienced. In the midst of this overwhelming sorrow a second dilemma appears: Jesus said I was forgiven -- do I accept that or do I not?

To accept means I must abandon, not merely, but utterly the sinful life I have been living up to that point and choose to live the way Jesus would have me to live. If I do not choose to believe what Jesus has said, that I am forgiven, then I must accept that from that day forward I will continue in the same sins of the past, but rather than those sins being a source of fun and good times, they will become a plague, an anathema to me and whatever sins I commit now will be done with the full knowledge that Jesus is out there and He offered me forgiveness, a slate washed clean and a fresh, clean start on life and I rejected it. I will re-enter into the broad way having come from the narrow gate but refusing to go through it because of unbelief and rejection.

Those are the two choices in the midst of the horror of the soul.

Years ago, I chose to believe Jesus, that I was forgiven of my sins and I could start over. I chose to walk through the narrow gate. Almost as soon as I was through the gate the horror and great fear I had experienced in understanding my role in putting Jesus on that Roman cross slid away, much like the burden that rolled off Pilgrim's back in Pilgrim's Progress. It is a remarkable world on this side of the narrow gate. Nothing on the broad way compares to it.

Oprah speaks of reaching "Christ consciousness." This term sounds like someone has come to a place of Christ within themselves, but this is not so. This is not the same as accepting Jesus Christ and going through the narrow gate; it is not becoming "born-again."

The "Christ consciousness" that Oprah and other New Agers speak of is a state of mind where a person tries to become really good, for lack of a better definition. I'm not sure even all New Age devotees would have a common definition of what attaining "Christ consciousness" is. But the idea seems to be that in achieving "Christ consciousness" a person frees himself of guilt associated with sin; there is now no law which tells you to feel bad for anything you have done. It is guilt-free, anything-goes mentality. You have "arrived" when you no longer feel bad about sin. Achieving "Christ consciousness" means rejecting the Biblical teaching that mankind is lost and undone and in need of Jesus Christ as Savior. Achieving "Christ consciousness" means rejecting Jesus Christ and not feeling bad about it.

In fact, achieving "Christ consciousness" is probably blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the one sin that the Bible says is unpardonable (Matthew 12: 31) The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to draw men unto Christ. This drawing of the Holy Spirit will inevitably bring awareness of sin and an understanding of its ugliness. To continually reject and resist the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and his efforts to draw us to Christ will eventually cause the Holy Spirit to cease his efforts and withdraw from working any further. I heard a pastor once say that God will not force anyone into Heaven if he doesn't want to go. This is the essence of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In achieving "Christ consciousness" a person comes to the place where she (or he) can resist the work of the Holy Spirit and not only feel no remorse about it but can actually feel good about it.

Think long and hard about wanting "Christ consciousness" for it has absolutely NOTHING to do with having Christ in one's mind -- the opposite is the truth -- it is the ABSENCE OF CHRIST in one's mind.

What does the Bible say about a "jealous God"? There are 10 verses in the KJV that put the two words -- jealous and God -- in the same verse. Almost all the verses deal with the same topic: worshipping someone (or something) other than God Himself. Exodus 20: 3-5 gives us one example.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (emphasis mine)

Gesenius' Lexicon notes the following: jealous; used of God as not bearing any rival; the severe avenger of departure from Himself.

These verses make clear that God will not tolerate people bowing down and worshipping other beings.

A renegade is one who has abandoned or deserted the faith. This definition would make Oprah a renegade. (Interesting that Renegade is also the Secret Service code name for 44.)

OPRAH IS A RABBIT HOLE

Oprah has rejected Jesus as the only way, and she has rejected the God of the Bible because He is too jealous for her taste. So if Oprah is not seeking Jehovah, then who is she seeking? The answer is found more correctly in asking "what" is she seeking. Oprah is seeking "godhood." Oprah would like to become a "god," or more correctly a "goddess." Oh dear! We are back to the Garden of Eden and another woman listening to hissing.

The lie that "ye shall be as gods" started in Eden. Satan tricked Eve so smoothly and easily that he has been tricking women (and men) ever since. Oprah, though, may be his greatest catch ever in modern history.

Oprah is an extremely enticing rabbit hole. She has built a vast kingdom, but it is all underground. (Where else do you go to escape from light?) She has led millions away from the light of Jesus Christ and down a rabbit hole. She promises that You! can be part of her world. Her world has riches and fame and spiritual awareness and is a place where one can "feel good" about themselves. No one does anything wrong in her kingdom. There is no place for Jesus and no need for the Bible. Oprah offers a "safe place" for like-minded renegades to explore with her the world that exists outside of Jehovah and Jesus Christ.

The prosperity gospel that has entrenched itself into America and blasphemously called itself a "biblical doctrine" may well be the reason that so many have rushed to Oprah. With the prosperity gospel, middle men hawk the favors of God by saying, "Send your seed money to my ministry and God will solve all your financial problems. God is just waiting on you to part with $100 so He can get you the pay raise you need at work or get your kids off drugs or replace your old broken down Pinto with a BMW."

Oh, Please!

God isn't for sale and never has been but that hasn't stopped people, many of them desperate, from sending that check and hoping that God will now live up to the prosperity preacher's promises of soon coming ease.

Oprah doesn't plead for money. You don't have to send her a dime. In fact, show up at the right time and you might find the keys to a new car under your seat or a pair of diamond earrings. If the priestess is feeling especially gracious to seekers, perhaps all will be treated to dazzling gifts and not just a lucky few.

Prosperity preachers, panhandlers in silk suits, hold out their hands for a check; Oprah holds out her hand and proffers car keys. Whose way looks more powerful? More specifically, whose religion looks more attractive?

Though Oprah is not openly hostile to Christians and is not known for attacking the faith of Christians (disagreeing with is not the same as attacking), she is open about her rejection of Jesus Christ. She makes it clear that He cannot be the only way, she will not accept him as the Only Way and to put her money where her mouth is, she offers to millions of women a path away from Jesus. Unfortunately, Oprah's face may be human, but the seductive hissing coming from her mouth is not.

OPRAH CALLED 44 "THE ONE"

When 44 wanted his candidacy to become president of the United States announced, he bestowed upon Oprah the honor. Although Oprah had never publicly endorsed any other candidate for political office before, had not backed anyone with her name, her platform or her brand she did come out of her television pulpit long enough to do this for 44.

And her introduction and endorsement were not low key.

Oprah's introduction of 44 so closely paralleled the actions of John the Baptist introducing Jesus Christ that it was chilling to behold.

The account of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1). Jesus came to John to be baptized but John was reluctant at first believing it was he who needed to be baptized by Jesus. But Jesus reminded John that this needed to be done, therefore John baptized Him.

Why John?

When John was conceived his father, Zacharias, appears to have been High Priest in the Temple (Luke 1). At some point after the Romans overtook Jerusalem, they also took over who served as High Priest in the Temple. These Roman-appointed priests apparently served for a specified period of time. For instance, Caiaphas was the Roman-appointed priest involved in the trial of Jesus and Scripture noted that he was priest "that year." (John 11: 49)

John, being the son of Zacharias, should have been High Priest in the temple but the Romans would not permit it. That is why the people recognized that John had the authority to do what he was doing on the banks of the Jordan -- preaching repentance and baptizing those who forsook sin. (Matthew 3) This is why Herod Antipas, who eventually had John beheaded, was afraid of John -- he knew the position John actually held (Mark 6).

Jesus came to John. John baptized Him and pointing Jesus out to others, declared Jesus to be the "Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29)

John had said earlier that there was "one among you" who "coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." (John 1: 26, 27) When John announced Jesus as the "Lamb of God," he was affirming that Jesus was "The One" he had said would come.

When Oprah announced 44 to be running for president, she chose an interesting way to phrase her introduction: she declared him to be "The One."

YOU TUBE -- OPRAH CALLS 44 "THE ONE"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjyU25bW3Y



"The One" what? The One who will deliver America from all her problems? Was Oprah, as priestess, declaring 44 to be The Savior?

Since Christians know this isn't possible for 44 to be The One as in "The Savior," then we are left to wonder what is meant by her choice of words and HIS LACK OF REFUSAL OF SUCH A TITLE.

Oprah has clearly denounced Jesus as the Only Way; in fact, she doesn't appear to care for Jesus or His Father at all. So she wouldn't want to parallel 44 to Jesus as she herself does not honor Him.

Who, then, is "The One" to her?

The answer might be found in a 1993 commentary by G. A. Riplinger titled NEW AGE BIBLE VERSIONS. Page 11 says the following:

Oriental mystics, traveling West via the New Age Movement are adopting Christian terms for their occult ideas and identities. (Some years ago the leading New Age newsletter [Lucis Trust, United Nations Plaza] called for volunteers to help find acceptable Christian counterparts for New Age words.) So now 'Buddha', 'Krishna', and Lucifer become 'The Lord,' 'The Christ', and 'The One'. (emphasis mine)

Hmmm.

Buddha = The Lord
Krishna = The Christ
Lucifer = THE ONE

On page 14, Riplinger writes this:

In this New Age 'name game', new versions have substituted 'titles' which transport the reader immediately to a list of Satan's latest poison pen names. The rock scene sings of Lord Satan (Venum) who's 'a new god' and 'a star from the east' (Wang Chung). New Agers refer to Lucifer as "The One,' 'the Spirit of the Age' and a 'divine being.' (emphasis mine)

For those who might be hesitant (or even feel somewhat uncomfortable) to think that Oprah would be saying such a thing here might want to look at what she herself said in her post-inaugural edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show in January of 2009. Oprah had received an email from actor Forest Whitaker in which she "praised" (2) Whitaker for his assessment of 44:

"I got a wonderful E-mail from you (meaning from Whitaker) . . . that just said 'The light of the New Age is here.' I just love that." (2)

Oprah "loves" "the light of the New Age." I not only believe that Oprah knows full well what she believes, I also believe she understands that that light she promotes and loves comes from phosphorus.

In a recent interview with Barbara Walters 44 said that "praying and reading the Bible are part of his everyday life." (3) But when asked by Walters to explain why some do not believe he is a Christian, 44 blamed the Internet.

"Well, you know, the Internet has a powerful effect these days, and so, the way rumors can take on a life of their own ends up being very powerful," he said. (3)

In what has become a well-recognized pattern of his over the last two years, at no time did 44 take personal responsibility that some of his own actions might have caused such a perception. Instead, he offered as excuse a belief of his: people believe rumors.

It seems that it's all about marketing to this president. He sees himself as the finest mouth magician that ever lived. He appears to be so enamored with his gift of speech that he cannot imagine a world where he says something and people don't believe him. He cannot imagine why anyone would question anything he says, after all, he said "it" so well -- no, so beautifully -- no, so magnificently -- no, actually there is no word grand enough to describe how smoothly words slip off his mercurial tongue.

And that is his undoing.

And this is the problem of his answer to Barbara Walters. What he really is saying here is, "Barbara, the American people are not listening to me when I speak. It should be enough for me to simply say I am a Christian and everyone, without exception, should believe me. But, alas Barbara, these weak-minded simpletons simply believe rumors on the Internet. They have no ability to see me as I am."

But I beg to differ.

If 44 is indeed a Christian then why let Oprah, who is a cult* leader in every nuance of the term and has one of the largest cult followings in America, who has denied Jesus Christ openly, endorse you and introduce you?

And if 44 is indeed a Christian then why allow Oprah to call him 'The One,' a term New Agers (a movement she clearly identifies with and promotes) uses for Lucifer?

Christians don't overlook those who deny Jesus Christ as the Only Way to God the Father. Christians don't embrace anything from anyone in the New Age Movement, a movement that has openly declared to destroy Christianity, And Christians don't let anyone call them 'The One,' opening up oneself to comparison to the Lamb of God by those who don't know better or opening up oneself to a name used for Lucifer by those who do know better.

Oprah is not found after going through the narrow gate, therefore, she must be found in the broad way -- so that means 44 is in the same place, otherwise how could he embrace her and everything she stands for? Just like Paul who did not stand for the girl with the spirit of divination crying out in his favor (Acts 16: 16-18), 44 should not have wanted Oprah's crying out anything on his behalf. Perhaps that is one of the reasons it is difficult to believe 44's claims of being a Christian for "in the beginning" of his 4 years as president, Oprah raised her hand and pointed her finger and proclaimed to her followers, "He is "The One."

If you are a Christian and going to the Temple of Oprah -- I would advise you to leave it. You will not find Jesus or His Father or Biblical teachings there. In fact, run! from Oprah and those who stand with her, run! from the priestess of the broad way and run to Jesus! run to the narrow gate, kneel at the cross and then enter into the narrow way.

Shalom!

(1) "Christian Apologists: Be Careful of Oprah's Spiritual Teachings," Christian Post, January 25, 2010
(2) "Oprah Show Glows for Obama: 'The Light of the New Age is Here,'" NewsBusters, January 24, 2009
(3) "Obama: I pray every night, read the Bible," The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, November 27, 2010

*The plumb line for heresy and orthodoxy is given by cult expert Bob Larson who says: The basic fault of cults is that they demote God, devalue Christ, deify man, deny sin and denigrate scripture. -- New Age Bible Versions, G. A. Riplinger, pg 16