Over the past five years I have written a number of things that build a basic “iMonk” critique of evangelicalism. If you missed the basic class, there’s no reason you should be left out. Therefore, I present….reruns of some of my better work.

Let’s find out why high profile American Evangelicals have decided to go invisible on what they really believe….or don’t believe. It’s an Internet Monk “Reforming The Church” special.
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Before you read this post, I want to ask you to read two interviews with Joel Osteen and the first part of his book.

The first is at Beliefnet.com. The second is at FaithfulReader.com.

Here is the book excerpt at Amazon.

Here is a long excerpt from the first chapter of Your Best Life Now at Parable.com

Here are Osteen sermons. (Check dates. More recent ones reflect the concerns of this post.) Also, this is the closest thing we can find to a Confession of Faith.

Update 16: Here is Osteen’s recent apology for his interview on Larry King, where he did exactly what I told you he does. Included are my recations. And here is a long letter from Bob Ross at Pigrim Publications, who says Osteen is personally committed to the Gospel. I have no trouble with that. It’s his books, sermons and STATUS that are the problems.

Update 15: Here’s a commenter at the BHT defending Osteen and calling me out as too rash.

Update 14: The Detroit News Feature story. They are right on target: A New Age Gospel of Motivational Messages.

Update 13: Best Osteen post ever. Alex Arnold. Thank you, Alex.

Update 12: 2/7/05 I have decided to close the comment threads on the Osteen posts. Thanks to all who have commented, and I hope raising this issue has contributed to a better understanding of Mr. Osteen and what he represents in American Christianity.

Go directly to the “Outing Osteen” post.

UPDATE: The Faithful Reader site went down for a while. So just in case that interview may disappear, here’s the cached copy of the page.

UPDATE 2: I have made a list of all the current Osteen resources I could find in 20 pages of googling. I will add to the list.

UPDATE 3: Should I be seeking personal reconciliation with Osteen according to Matthew 18?

UPDATE 4: My response to some BHT questions, including my speculation about why Osteen won’t name books or influences in interviews.

UPDATE 5: It’s been quite a weekend. Record traffic. Biggest month in IM history, mostly off the last two days. Some wonderful blog posts have been forwarded to me. Thanks to everyone. This post on the Sacraments at Lakewood is a good one. (I am not about debating theology with Osteen. I don’t hear any theology from him. What is said at his web site or from the phone center is not what you will read in Osteen’s book.) Things are happening. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 6: My response to the objection “You should never criticize people who are winning others to Christ.” From a longer IM essay on Criticism.

UPDATE 7:Here’s another answer to a commenter: Is Osteen Ok for those who already know the Gospel, and just need a lift?

UPDATE 8: A MUST READ! Tim Challies does the grunt work of comparing the rhetoric of New Ager Marianne Williamson and motivational speaker Tony Robbins with Rick Warren. Why post that here? Do you need to ask? I said it at the BHT: There is a reason Osteen doesn’t name books and influences. Could this be why?

UPDATE 9 Osteen on MSNBC 2/1/05. He’s ok with being called a motivational speaker. Meanwhile, Michael Horton says what Osteen’s message really is: Fortune cookies.

UPDATE 10: Relevant scripture, and a story where “There really is a cliff!”

UPDATE 11: Amazon.com reviews of Osteen’s book, compiled by Byron Harvey. Also, Get Religion’s Osteen piece.

And for those who don’t care for what I am up to here, try this and this. Someone asked me if I wanted to pastor 30,000? Any church that cannot provide a meaningful interaction between pastor/elders and the entire congregation, in the homes of the members, regularly, personally, is too big. Megachurch numbers don’t represent churches, but denominations that gather in one room occasionally. I say this to everyone from Piper to whomever: Keep it small enough for shepherds to know the sheep.

UPDATE 12: Many excellent posts are out there, but few better than the BHT’s Richard. Updated: Tim Challies does a 5 star post on Osteen. Thanks, Tim. Updated again: Razorkiss has one of the best posts I’ve read. Very good information and quotes.

This is the pastor of America’s largest church. This will soon be the leading spokesperson for evangelical Christianity. This is the face and voice that will be heard speaking for the heirs of the Reformation. If you missed Jesus and the Gospel entirely, it’s because they weren’t there.

I want to know if anyone thinks we ought to try speaking up about this, at least once.
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Put down that remote, don’t touch that dial. It’s what every blogger envies: The iMonk Weekend File. (Otherwise known as taking a break from blogging about homosexuals and James Dobson to chase and shoot a few other rabbits.)

This week’s program: My Beef with Mac recipe, Christianity’s problem with politics, and the books I bought with the money for the kid’s shoes.

There will be an offering, and I’m selling CDs at the door.
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Paul faced homosexuality in his culture.

What did he do?
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The discussion at the BHT these days has drifted towards James Dobson, and I finally posted how I feel about this good man who doesn’t represent me and my views most of the time. Criticizing anything about Dobson brings on the mail, so keep those cards and letters coming.

Update: What do I believe about homosexuality? Exactly what Piper believes. What do I believe is the best thing I can do about homosexuality? Preach salvation by grace through faith by Christ ALONE and build up a church that believes that.
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When I was a little boy, we lived in a very small house, and my bedroom was connected to the living room by one door. My bed was in the corner of this big bedroom, and I would go to bed- depending on my age- at 8 or 9 or 10. And I would lay there in the dark, listening to my parents watching television. A big black and white set in the corner, with three channels from Evansville, Indiana. CBS, 25. ABC, 7. NBC, 14.

Beyond that door, beyond the barrier, was the adult world, and the sound of it was the sound of Johnny Carson and my father’s laughter.
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I’ve got three topics running around in my head. All are important and deserve some ink. I’ll call it the iMonk’s Weekend File. Nothing too long and complex, but enough to say things that need to be said. Maybe they will reappear later as actual IM essays or BHT discussions. Would love your comments or emails. Here we go…
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Somewhere in this world, there is a guy named Bob. Bob is a Christian. Married. Couple of small kids. He’s got the family every church wants.

And that is the problem.

Every church in town has a children’s program for Bob’s kids. There’s a clown at this church, pizza at that one, a children’s choir over here, camp over there and Upwards basketball everywhere. It took Bob a while to find a church, but now his kids love the children’s church building at his current church, where Pokey the Gospel pony gives rides to all the kids on their birthdays.

Bob’s kids love everything his church does for them. They can’t wait to get to church on the 5 days a week something is going on. It works for them, and it should be working for Bob, too. But it’s not.
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On Sunday morning, January 9th, 2005, my uncle, the Rev. Willie Offutt “W.O.” Spencer came to the end of his earthly journey. He was 88 years old. Married to my Aunt Dot for 67 years, pastor of my home church- Hall Street Baptist- for 25 years, and active in the ministry for over 50 years. He preached to and pastored thousands. He baptized hundreds, and ordained dozens of young men into the ministry.

No human being on this earth placed more of an imprint on my life than my Uncle Offutt. His influence, example and legacy run deep into my life. How I think of God, what I know of Jesus, how I preach to my students and my church- all run back to what I learned from this man.

I was asked to say a few words at his funeral. Because I was standing in the pulpit now occupied by another man- a good man, I want to add- I was not able to say all I wanted to say. There wasn’t enough time, and frankly, speaking the truth about this unique individual puts most every other minister I know into a smaller suit real fast.

This is my tribute to my Uncle Offutt, my pastor, “Brother Spencer.” If you knew him, I hope it reminds you of the man in ways you may have forgotten. For those who never knew him, stop and ask the Lord to send His church the gift of more pastors like this unusual man.
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A friend stopped in to ask me some questions about her 6th grade son’s sudden announcement that he no longer believed in God or Jesus. Our time was simply too short for a substantial answer, so I thought it would be a good topic for an essay. Probably others are facing similar struggles with your own children. There are thousands of “Alexes” out there, and thousands of agonized, surprised parents. I hope this is helpful. Feel free to write me with your thoughts.
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All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all God’s graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by the Prince of Peace
And they call him by the Savior
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they’ve turned the nature they have worshiped in
From a temple to a robber’s den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgment
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.
-Jackson Browne, “The Rebel Jesus,” from “The Bells of Dublin” by The Chieftains

“The Rebel Jesus” is about the only Jackson Browne song I can stand, and that’s mostly because of the Chieftains. But I do love the song. I love the idea of the a pagan who sees something about Jesus that those who claim to know him well have missed, or swept under the rug. Jackson Browne’s song suggests that the prophetic Jesus- the “rebel” who was crucified by the powerful- is not well represented by the modern church, where seeking to help the poor at Christmas is acceptable, but seeking to understand and change poverty itself is a violation of an agreeable status quo.

Evangelical prophet, gadfly and activist Ron Sider wants evangelicals to examine their conscience and see if they are living like the world or like followers of Jesus. In his upcoming book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (excerpted in Christianity Today), Sider examines the contradictions in evangelicalism’s numerical success and cultural influence compared with their actual ethical behavior with marriage, money, race and power. Once again, as in his classic “Rich Christians In An Age of Hunger,” Sider has the statistics to back up his case.
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I was raised a Democrat. FDR was the fourth member of the Trinity. No…..really, he was the third because I heard a lot more about him than I did about the Holy Spirit. FDR and the Democrats kept my dad’s family from starving to death….or at least that’s what I was told. They led the country to victory in war. The rescued us from the Great Depression. They started Social Security. They gave us the minimum wage. They invented coffee. They created Apple Pie. They walked on water. Something like that anyway.

I voted for Jesse Jackson in a primary. I voted for Jimmy Carter. Twice. I voted for Mike Dukakis. I voted for Walter Mondale. I ridiculed Republicans as evil, greedy, racist throwbacks, just like Bill Clinton does in his autobiography. I would have loved Michael Moore.

Of course, I changed. I became a Republican, and a conservative. I voted against Clinton twice. I voted for Bush twice. But I’m not beyond hope. I could change back. I could be a Democrat again. With conservatives pushing me out, and Democrats working to pull me in, I could find myself back in the bosum of FDR.

Here’s the plan.
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