I'm not a big proponent of the idea that current world events are exactly what was spelled out in Revelation as ushering the end of the World. I think that God would have designed Revelation as a way to keep people on their toes because practially every generation since the apostle John has been able to rationally compare his visions to events in their present day. This means, of course, that I don't think that The Antichrist is alive yet. That said...there are a lot of people out there, including...and especially...within the mainstream American church...that are teaching some very anti-christian (when compared with the words of Christ which to me should be the standard of Christian thought but increasingly are not so in America today) ideas and messages. The most henious (as Bill and Ted would say) among these I believe is the focusing on gaining wealth and the idea that God's plan for the lives of his little christian children is to gain wealth and be prosperous and comfortable. It doesn't take more than a couple minutes of reading the words of Christ to see how increadibly and basslessly wrong this is but this post is not about that in particular.
With this preface in mind. If you were to in some way threaten my life (the cliche 'gun to the head' is acceptbale) and ask me that if the Antichrist were alive today, who would he be...I would have a pretty clear answer. And it would be completely serious.
And the answer is:
Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston's Lakewood Church (one of the world's largest "mega-churches") and author of New York Times bestseller "Your Best Life Now".
Now this theory may sound harsh and judgemental...and it is. But, he really does fit the profile. Charming and persuasive...he appeals to both believers and "unbelievers" while preaching a gospel of his own that many will confuse with the true gospel. He has literally millions of followers around the world who speak of him as if he could do no wrong. Also interesting is that many of his followers speak of him as highly, or even more so, than they would God himself...because really, as Dan pointed out...he never even really gives God any credit.
Of course he's not the anti-christ...but I believe if the eternal cosmic stuff were to go down next year, he would be a good candidate.
7 comments:
the prosperity gospel scares me a lot, man. have you read "the irresistable revolution" by shane claiborne? i'm reading it right now, and it has convicted me about a lot of stuff. let me know next time you're in town!
your brother,
jason
So once while on a roadtrip, I was stranded in a Wal-Mart. Actually that by itself is fairly horrific, but I digress. I saw a copy of his book lying around, and read the inside book flap thingy. What did I notice? It didn't mention Jesus once.
that is so lame. did you see the omen? it played a lot with the idea of the antichrist, but it was just a movie. i think if the antichrist came, we'd freaking know it.
hmmm, the nixon head theory is interesting and new to me, but i whole-heartedly believe it as scientific and religious fact.
ha...interesting
this would be an interesting theory if it weren't for Barak Obama.
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