Oprahs Gospel ?????

The other day a billboard outside of a local church Caught my attention . It said ( in electric letters ) " We don;t have the same Gospel as Oprah ". At first I didn't know what that meant , I asked my wife if she knew how Oprah had hacked off the local Church and she said that Oprah has apparently hacked off many Christians with her " odd " interpretations of the Bible.

I probably should have let it go at that ..but I have been thinking about that sign for several days now and I have some concerns.

I guess my first concern is that as "Madison Avenue " advertising this just doesn't work for me , I'm not interested in what something is not ..I am far more interested in what something is. I wouldn't expect a Church to announce " we are not Muslim " , Or we are not " Buddhists " Nor do I expect a Church to advertise on behalf of others ...Oprah does pretty well , in fact its probably reasonable that More people watch her on a daily basis than have been in this particular church in a year. What I want to know is very simple I want to know what you believe and I want this to be positive and not negative.

I am reasonably certain that a clear proclamation of the Gospel will make perfect sense to those God wants to hear the message in His timing. Proclaim the Gospel of the Jesus Christ ...that's what the Bible says to do.

As for the Gospel of Oprah I also don't have a clue what that really means ...I know that Oprah doesn't have a " Gospel " I know she is a person who has beliefs and ideas and some or many of these may get under the skin of other people ...but I think all of us have those ...One of the biggest surprises for me as a new Christian was finding out that not all Christians believed that all Christians were Christian ...In fact it seems that some Christians go so far in defining what it means to be Christian that they essentially exclude anyone who doesn't agree with them as not being Christian enough for them . I believe that faith and beliefs are gifts from God .. it is through Gods grace and not our merit that He offers these gifts.

I'm not even sure that God wants all of us to have the same ideas and beliefs ..I do know that if He did we would . I also feel that while there are people who know the Bible by heart they have a hard time understanding and living the heart of the Bible. I am not bothered nor offended by Oprah nor am I threatened by her ...If I want to know what the Bible says I read the Bible and if I want to know what Oprah believes I will read and listen to what she says.His Word says that " we see but a reflection " and each of us will always see a reflection differently than another ..its a matter of angles and perception. All this to say ...Christians should proclaim the Gospel ...that's Job enough for most of us ..Just faithfully Preaching Christ and Christ Crucified.

I would myself be inclined to stay far away from a Church that measured its Preaching against a Talk show host ...but that again is just me

The Cross on the top of the steeple points to Heaven not to our neighbors transgressions ....at least that is the way I see it