Tag: gospel

Manic-Depressive Life, Manic-Depressive Faith

~ K

It should be no secret to anyone on this blog that I suffer from bipolar disorder (formerly manic depression), although more along the lines of the depressive spectrum. I’m pretty positive that this affects my outlook on nearly everything and how I deal with life sometimes.

I can be a real downer. For days, perhaps even weeks, at a time. I am not a sparkling ray of sunshine 365 days a year although you’d never know it if you met me at my job. I’m pretty much Bubbly Betty or Cheerful Charlene.

For a lot of people, it’s disconcerting to meet someone who’s constantly down on themselves and their lives when they’ve got so many blessings and things to be thankful for. But let’s face it: we all have our own problems and our own sinkholes to patch up. Some are a bit more expressive than others.

I talk too much, want too much, need too much. Continue reading “Manic-Depressive Life, Manic-Depressive Faith” →

It’s Your Time Book Review: Dump this book, Discard much of what you learn, Desist reading

~ K ~ 6 Comments

Inspired by this post from Matthew Paul Turner, basically making fun of Pastor Joel Osteen’s (NOT OLsteen, maybe LOLsteen) new book, It’s Your Time and a one-star review on Amazon in which the “reviewer” essentially wrote that Osteen was a fraud, he hadn’t read the book, and never intended to read the book (the review’s since been taken down), I felt prompted to go where most Biblical evangelical Christians choose not to go.

I decided to read Joel Osteen’s latest book to see if dollar signs would really begin flashing right before my eyes. However, I need to add a disclaimer of a sort:

Last page with text in "It's Your Time"I am a little sensitive to Joel Osteen and his ministry and likely not as hard as I should be. Thank my mother. I believe that God used Pastor Osteen’s ministry to bring my mother to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. She was hesitant for many, many years but after watching Pastor Osteen regularly, softened up, accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and now regularly attends a local Bible-believing church. I have seen Osteen’s telecast and at the end, he does give an invitation (though many Biblical evangelicals would consider it a weak one) to accept Jesus. Although the criticism is that Jesus is secondary to his preaching of the “health and wealth” gospel,” which we’ll get to later on in the review. (Click on the photo on the left to enlarge it and essentially read the “invitation” Joel Osteen provides.)

I wrote an unfinished review of It’s Your Time and was probably more favorable to it than most Biblical Christians would have been. So now that I’ve completed this book, how would I rate it overall?

Two stars.

What were the issues then that led me to give this book a rating comparable to “poor”? Quite a bit. Sit back and have a nice cup of coffee or tea as you review this list with sometimes lengthy explanations. Continue reading “It’s Your Time Book Review: Dump this book, Discard much of what you learn, Desist reading” →