A New Earth. . .A New Idea?

Oprah has recently started her own web based seminar class that took a look at religion and of course, her views on the subject. She has recently denied her Christian up bringing based upon some pretty sketchy thoughts on the matter. She considers truth to be relative to your time, situation and culture; as well as pointing out that Jesus was misunderstood and came to show us how to live, nothing more.

The truth is, Mr. Tolle does not bring any new ideas to the table, he is nothing more than another new age writer and his book, from the accounts I have read, is slow and share no new concepts. Yet, he is gaining quite the following thanks to Oprah. Recently, her class attracted many wayward confused Christians that she successfully turned in a very poor direction.

Many people try to push a counterfeit and discount Jesus' life here on earth. Tolle is not bringing any new ideas. From the time of Jesus resurrection people from all over the globe have tried to explain it away. Ultimately the issue is very simple, the issue is about sin about what you believe about it. Let's face it, the new age movement has no definition of sin, we simply have the ability to categorize people based upon what I believe is good and bad. Did you catch that, I am the one who decides. Tolle is speaking in his book about you become god. Does that make any sense? That really gives a messed up idea of reality where "I" become the center of the universe, defining my own good and bad.

Other religions make a practice of working our way out of sin, giving more chances, or doing more good things than bad things. As if God is weighing your good and bad and as long as the good weighs more, you are in. How do we reconcile that, how do we define it, you can't.

Since we are in James it's appropriate that James 2:10 gives us a clear picture of how sin really works, something that makes since and is easily defined. One sin = All sin. If I'm guilty of one sin, I'm guilty of breaking the whole law. Why doesn't someone come up with a religion about that? A religion that makes a whole lot more sense is a religion where everyone goes to Hell. That's logical and it's truth. Jesus says, I am the Way the Truth and the Life, why? He says that because unlike anything else in the world, He can take away sin.

Tolle is a positive thinker but he is offering no cure, just a sugar pill pushed by a media icon.

**For another great article on the subject, click here!

I spent some deep and awesome time with my wife last weekend at the Family Life Marriage Conference. Honestly, this is the first conference that I have been a part of that didn't make me feel like a schmuck. I was encourage, I was driven to try to be a better husband, a better father and ultimately a better believer. I had one of those "duh" moments that I really would like to share with you.

Here it is, the "duh" moment. I sat in the session specifically for men, and as the speaker spoke he reminded me of the importance of being a Chrsitian first and then God will be the one to help me be a better Husband, Father and person. Yeah, that's it. If I want to have a better relationship with my wife, I need to work on my relationship with Christ first and then he will show me how to be a better man. Same with my children. Same with work, entertainment, everyting! See, I always try to do it on my own. To force myself into being the right person and as I look back in my life I see that those times that I am doing stuff the way it should be done, it was because I wanted to. God planted those desires to be a godly man. See what I mean, a "duh" moment.

You see, Marriage itself is a complete God thing. He is the one who started it, defined it, gave it its perameters and ordained it. Without God, it has difficulty succeeding. With God, marriage is about making my wife happy by being the man God wants me to be. Without God, marriage is about making me happy by satisfying my desires in hope that those fit in with my wife's desires. Now, because I'm human this doesn't always work perfectly but my goals are the same, focused and fresh on being who God wants me to be, thanking him for grace and a graceful wife.

Spend some time today, focused on figuring out who God wants you to be and how that impacts every part of your life. God can help you with that. Give it to him, "duh."