Photo from Apostasy Watch
“Joel Osteen has joined up with Oprah Winfrey for a Lifeclass presentation on the power of words. In particular the words I AM. Notice the opening invitation from Oprah;
Start making the best out of the life you are living with two simple words: I AM
According to Oprah and Osteen, the words I AM can be invoked like a mantra to improve your life. What they are really saying is that when you recognize the godhood within you your life will magically begin to change.”
This is a portion of an article found here.
I have been watching this “Word of Faith” movement for quite some time now. According to this article, it “has been infiltrating evangelicalism for decades and is now the fastest growing segment of Christianity in the world. Some have estimated that up to 90 percent of those claiming to be Christians in Africa are of the prosperity gospel variety.”
I just thought you should know, if you already didn’t.
Chris Reimers
“I AM, is the name that God has chosen for Himself, the very first name revealed to Moses in the wilderness. So when Jesus warned of false teachers his warning was not just that they would claim to be Christ but that they would even claim Godhood for themselves and others.” – Apostasy Watch
Wings of the Wind 
You are pointing out some good truths. These happy faces (osteen and soaprah) i hope will wake up soon. I agree that the “Faith” movement is getting deeper and deeper into idolatry. Faith is not a car that takes us into being “little gods.”
Faith is a gift from God to enable us to believe (Eph.2:8). To believe, not to try to claim godhood. Also a gift of the Holy spirit 1 Cor. 12:9. To believe God when no one else can (a spiritual gift not something one conjures up) by repeating it in some type of mantra.
As for the article on the “I am. I find it all the more reason to use the KJV or NKJV rather than than the latest miss translation from Zondervan. Massage (deliberate) and neuter gender bible as well as all the other happy face and kinder and gentler versions flooding the book shelves. I am getting a little cynical about so called Bible publishers.
Sorry if i rant but but this twisting of Scriptures and bogus claims are real traps thanks for bring them out.
You’re welcome. It is, indeed, a sad day when one of the best known “preachers” in America is out there spreading this “stuff.” One has to be very careful about what one buys in “Christian” bookstores. Thomas Nelson press is one example. Once a publisher of great Bible helps, they are now printing emergent materials.
I used the NASB for many years, but am now using a KJV and give away NKJVs at the center where I work. I still refer to the NASB at times, but I have become aware of some of the issues folks have over versions that aren’t KJV.
So right about the Message Bible you are. Massage is a good word to describe it. It states: “May the God of green hope fill you with…” God of green hope? There’s obviously an agenda there.
A Christian doesn’t need a mantra. He needs the grace you have referred to in Ephesians 2:8,9.
It’s always a blessing to hear from you, Manny.