Beware of false prophets - Joel Osteen

. . . Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves...
Matthew 7:15

The largest congregation in US, a big church which can accommodate 16000 people at a time, 3 services every Sunday 'serving' 48000 people... meet Joel Osteen the latest spiritual rock star of America.

What do I have against him? Personally... nothing! Then why should I waste my precious time to research on him and write this? I vaguely remember, years back when it was a big news when his father died and televisions around the world aired it, that time itself I was pretty sure his 'smarter' and young children are gonna cash in on the opportunity and gonna build a big 'business empire' on it. And today watching him again on Larry King Live, it came back to my mind and felt I should write on this. If at least one person "think free" and think wise reading this, I am rewarded big time. Lots of new christian ministries are springing up in different parts of the world these days. Many of these churches I know and been to are pretty shallow with a shaky foundation if you look thru the rock music and adrenalin pumping prayer experience. I believe all the religions in this world are pointers to god and unless we search for god ourselves we will never find him. The relation between god and man is a personal one and church is basically a way for people to come together and stay focused. If you expect more than bible and preaching from church, like breath taking music or energizing prayer.. perhaps you are being mislead about the whole idea of church. Anyone who has been to a rock concert knows that it is the power of the music that lifts up your spirits and shakes up the body... it is not the spirit of god! I am a catholic, and not just because I was born so. I have a hard time understanding why there is more than one christian group other than the catholic church, which is the oldest and the most disciplined and organized. Only reason I could think of is difference in opinion of people, politics, hunger for power/money etc. Once I went with a friend of mine to one of the new age non-denominational churches and the whole message part of the service was the visiting "bishop" bitching about some pastor who stood against his ideas and got casted out!! Be wise, think-free... never trust anyone blindly and watch out for treachery. Now continue reading the story...

Lakewood charismatic mega-church was originally started by John Osteen (his father), who was originally a Southern Baptist pastor but after receiving the “baptism” with the Holy Spirit he became enamored with the charismatic renewal movement in its early stage and eventually became associated with the Word of Faith (WOF) cult. At the time of his death Lakewood Church had risen to 8,000 members. After the death of his father in 1999, Joel became the leader of this empire. It is said that Joel Osteen has absolutely no biblical training or experience to be a pastor. Charismatic pulpits are filled with people who feel “called” to the pastorate and that is enough for them and those who follow them. They attempt to build congregations on the “strength” of their calling. Some charismatic leaders may go on to some unaccredited “Bible School” for a year or two, hardly any attended a legitimate seminary. Would you allow a surgeon to operate on you because he felt “called” to be a surgeon as a child, but never went on to medical school? Or would you allow someone to build your house who firmly believed God had called him to be an architect yet had never gone on to college to study architectural design? Yet millions of professing Christians are more than willing to follow a man (or woman) who says “God” has called them and has supernaturally equipped them to be ministers. These especially anointed men and women have no need to study Church history, hermeneutics, systematic theology and struggle through Greek and Hebrew as other ministers do. They hear directly from God!!! Looks like it is the blind leading the blind (read Luke 6:39) with the end result being masses of people falling into the ditch of spiritual ignorance, abuse and/or extremism.

Joel Osteen is a man without any biblical education but an admitted talent for marketing (tv shows, books). To be a success in marketing you have to know where people itch and scratch it. Or, you have to create a desire in them by creating a hunger for something they currently do not have nor formerly knew they needed. All commercials can be condensed down to one of these two truths. So to become a mega-church, a pastor has to make church relevant. He has to give the people what they want, something that soothes that spiritual itch. In order to be a “success” (i.e. large masses of people and money) pastors must preach unchallenging messages that uplift rather than convict. It is really nothing new, it is a simply fulfillment of 2Ti 4:3-4.

What is Joel’s educational background and experience? Since it is not theological, what is it? He did attend Oral Roberts University for two years, but his area of study had to do with television production and marketing. While Joel was learning the business of television… ‘Growing up, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be involved in TV production,’ he says. ‘That was just my passion.’ In 1981 he came home from Oral Roberts University (ORU) to start the Lakewood TV ministry. For seventeen (17) years Joel was behind the scenes handling all the television and marketing of his father’s ministry. The next statement from the Charisma article is very revealing: The younger Osteen’s television-marketing talents and his dad’s preaching skills resulted eventually in the church churches being aired on stations nationwide and in more than 100 countries. He lives the life of prosperity that he preaches. A 2001 Real Estate Guide valued his home at $1,265,500. A fund-raising campaign to raise the $70 million dollars for the improvements of "the Lakewood International Center" asked supporters to sponsor a seat for $2500 each.

As Byron Pitts of CBS reports (see the link below), Osteen was virtually unknown eight years ago, even in his own Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. A college drop-out, he worked behind the scenes producing his father's television ministry. When his father, Pastor John Osteen, died, he stepped out in front of the camera and started to catch on. Osteen's service is an uninhibited celebration that's part rock concert, part spectacular. There are no crosses, no religious symbols whatsoever. It's all taped and broadcast around the world. His service is seen in 100 foreign countries and is the most watched religious broadcast in America.

Now you know the truth... next time you make any decision, religious or otherwise, research, think and then act.

Joel Scott Hayley Osteen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Osteen
Lakewood International Church, Houston
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_Church
CNN LARRY KING LIVE - Interview With Joel Osteen (June 20, 2005)
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/20/lkl.01.html
TIME - Does God Want You To Be Rich?
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1533448,00.html
Joel Osteen Answers His Critics - CBS (Byron Pitts)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/60minutes/main3358652.shtml

People who spent time finding the 'truth':
http://www.av1611.org/osteen.html
http://www.cultlink.com/ar/osteen.htm
http://www.forgottenword.org/osteen.html
http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/joel-osteen-and.php
http://www.apprising.org/archives/2005/10/joel_osteen_smi.html

Direct selling: caution quotient

There is a flood of direct marketing companies now a days. It is common to bump into strangers who try to start a conversation with a friendly face and catchy question "interested in starting your own business?". Whether it is walmart or you are in a train, people are now tired of this new breed of overly-friendly strangers!

If you have an aptitude for selling, being a distributor for a direct selling company "may" be a great way to make some money. Amway(Quixtar), Avon, Tupperware, Modicare, Herbalife and Oriflame are some well-known names in this business. But you must also be cautious. There are many who have lost big money being part of fraudulent direct selling companies. Typically, these operate as pyramid schemes, where people profit from the payments of others who might join the network later. Such schemes inevitably collapse when no new distributor can be recruited. And when a plan collapses, most people - except those at the very top of the pyramid - lose their money.

How do you recognise pyramiding from legitimate direct selling? According to the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA), there are three fundamentals to a legitimate direct selling business.

These are:

Low entry barrier: When distributors sign up, sales kits are sold at cost. There is no other investment required and distributors are not forced to buy training material or sales aids. This is because companies should not be dependent on selling the business opportunity alone, nor should they resort to merely selling sales aids at exorbitant prices while awarding commissions.

No inventory loading: Direct sellers make money by simply booking orders, not committing to a substantial investment that may cause financial distress to the distributor subsequently. You should be able to buy, say, a single sachet of shampoo, if you think that's all you will be able to sell.

Low exit barrier: Protection is given to distributors who may want to get out of the business.

Check these fundamentals out before you sign up for a distributorship. Or you could lose money. And yes, don't give your friends the feeling you are meeting them only to push your products. Or you could lose your social bonds.

But seems recently many of these companies have come up with some sleazy product line up, just to get thru the legal barriers to become legitimate and prove they are not a pyramid scheme. The main income still remains from joining more people in your network and products are just for name sake! So before you join one of these, do a thorough research, analyze their products and be willing to do a lot of hard work in the initial stages. I was with Amway (2004-06) for almost two years, may be I will write in detail about it later.

Read more here:
Article on direct selling in India:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/700194.cms
Reviews on direct selling company QuestNet:
http://www.mouthshut.com/product-reviews/Quest.net-925052721.html
Reviews on Amway, supposedly called the global leader in this type of business:
http://www.mouthshut.com/product-reviews/Amway-925071625.html

Proud to be an Indian?

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard (hp) ?
A. Rajiv Gupta

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dahm

Q. Who is the third richest man in the world?
A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Azim Premji, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6 th position now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT&T-Bell Labs (AT&T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

Q. Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives.

There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET,
38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.


Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA:
1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty stricken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 10 53.
10. According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India .
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( Indus Valley Civilization).
16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.


Quotes about India:
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
Albert Einstein.

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.
Mark Twain.

If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India .
French scholar Romain Rolland.

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
Hu Shih (former Chinese ambassador to USA )


All of the above is just the tip of the iceberg, the list could be endless. But, if we don't see even a glimpse of that great India in the India that we see today, it clearly means that we are not working up to our potential; and that if we do, we could once again be an ever shining and inspiring country setting a bright path for rest of the world to follow.

I hope you enjoyed it and work towards the welfare of INDIA .

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to improve current situation would be to control the population explosion! Every year the total Population of Australia, is added to the population of India. Only five countries in the world - China, USA, Brazil, Indonesia, and United USSR have more population than Uttar Pradesh (145 million), which is one of the 28 states in India. The density of the population in India has climbed up from 261 per square kilometer in 1981 to 267 per square kilometer in 1991. This is ten times greater than the density in the United States (26 per square kilometer) and 2.5 times greater than the density in China (109 per square kilometer).

The birth rate in India (31 per thousand people) is greater than that of China (20 per thousand people). If this trend continues, India will beat China by 2025 A.D., becoming the most populous nation in the world. In 2025 A.D, India will have 1591 million people and China 1554 million people. India with about 2.4% of the land area in the world contains about 16% of the population of the world. The present population of India is around 1.4 Billion (1400 Million). The population clock in the Union Health Ministry, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi, now ticks at the rate of 31 persons per minute. The clock shows that about 44,640 babies are born in India everyday. Hence the population of India increases by 16.29 million every year, which is equivalent to the total population of Australia.

We cannot control population by force. But may be government can increase awareness and give incentives to people who control population or undergo permanent birth control procedures. Generally it is the poor and the undereducated class of the society that is on a birth spree!

What is the 'Art of Living'?

Taking time to smell the flowers,
Counting joys instead of hours,
Delighting in the simplest things,
Letting all your thoughts have wings.

Feeling peaceful deep inside,
Taking everything in stride,
Balancing both work and play,
Learning all along the way.

Moving towards a dream or goal,
Nurturing your own heart and soul,
showing others that you care,
Finding beauty everywhere.

The 90/10 Principle

It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations).

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.

What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other 90%. How? ………. By your reaction. You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react. Let's use an example.

You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react.

You curse. You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You look forward to coming home.

When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter. Why? …. Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is "D".

You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and should have happened. Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, "Its ok honey, you just need to be more careful next time". Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are having. Notice the difference? Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different. Why? Because of how you REACTED. You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle. If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you try and bump them? WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it. You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job. The plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take outpour frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle.

It CAN change your life!!!

Author: Stephen Covey

Help UNICEF - make a difference in a child's life...

Help raise money for UNICEF without spending a penny! Click the link below!
http://friends.unicefusa.org/r/91dded9a2496102a85e1

All you have to do is to sign up for their email news letter. You can invite your friends too. For every sign up $5 will be donated in your name to US fund for UNICEF

It's so easy!

1) Sign up for the free UNICEF USA eNewsletter and we'll donate $5
2) Invite your friends to sign up for the free eNewsletter too
3) Get $5 donated in your name for each friend

Tell all of your friends about this great opportunity to raise money for UNICEF USA without spending a penny! The more friends you tell, the bigger the difference you can make.


What your money can buy:
$3 can buy a large wool blanket to protect a child from the cold during an emergency.
$17 can immunize a child against the 6 major childhood diseases.
$54 can buy 150 sachets of PlumpyNut, a ready-to-eat therapeutic spread to nourish children with acute malnutrition.
$100 can buy a kit with enough materials to test 100 children for the Hepatitis-B virus.
$500 can buy a year's supply of antiretroviral medicine for an HIV-positive child under three-years-old.


Support UNICEF's lifesaving work. Your monthly pledge works hard
$15 a month (about 50¢ a day) can feed three children for almost four weeks.
$25 a month (about 80¢ a day) can provide vitamin A for 7,500 children.
$35 a month (about $1.15 a day) can provide two sturdy tents for families struck by disaster.
$50 a month (about $1.70 a day) can provide clean water for four villages.
$70 a month (about $2.30 a day) can provide lifetime immunizations for almost 50 children.


UNICEF - For every child - Health, Education, Equality and Protection.
ADVANCE HUMANITY

Why not join this noble initiative? Every day you forward lots of junk emails around the globe. Send this to all of your friends and make this fund raising program a big success. Feel the happiness, satisfaction and blessing, while making a big difference to lots of needy helpless children!

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one" ~Mother Teresa
"Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something." ~Author Unknown

Think! Inspire!

Celebrate the Women in Your Life, Today...

Today (Mar 08) is the International Women’s Day. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. Women influence our daily life immensely, but most of the times, invisibly from behind the scenes. Today is the day to appreciate and celebrate the love, care and service by these angels to the society. They take many crucial roles in a man’s life starting as mother by bringing to the world, grow together as sister/friend and comfort him to the end of his days by standing beside him as wife, the better-half!



Dedicated to all the women out there... the making of a women!
http://think-free.blogspot.com/2005/12/making-of-woman.html

And the history of IWD (International Womens Day)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women

Happy New Year

It has been a while, perhaps it is time to come back and write more...

So starting with a new year wish to all, wish you all a blessed, eventful and joyful 07!