Skip to main content

All Oprah fans need to read this article

Undercover at Oprah's Tour

Paula Hendricks
Paula Hendricks | 09.22.14
"We come from the stars. . . . How amazing is that?" These were Oprah's opening words at The Life You Want Weekend 2014 Tour.

Undercover at Oprah's Tour

I know, because I was there. Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Weekend Tour is drawing women like crazy, and I wanted to see what women are feasting on. What is Oprah feeding them? I figured I'd return to the office with fresh passion for why I do what I do.
I got that . . . and more.

As I slipped into my seat just minutes before the tour started with my pen and notebook, I asked God for compassion, wisdom, and discernment.

Those prayers quickly turned toward marriages and families as Elizabeth Gilbert encouraged women to go on a quest (even if it meant divorcing their husbands, as she did, in order to "find themselves").

I prayed for Rob Bell, who, according to TIME magazine, "is at the forefront of a rethinking of Christianity in America." I prayed big, that Rob would share the Gospel without even being able to help himself, but . . . alas. There was not one mention of sin or of our need for a Savior.

I prayed for speakers Oprah and Mark Nepo and Iyanla Vanzant. You might assume I left discouraged, disheartened, and thoroughly defeated, but just the opposite is true.
I left praying prayers of thankfulness.

Click Undercover at the top to read the rest of the article

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Families' Fridays

Starting a Family Devotion Time by Michael Kelley I haven’t always been a family devotion guy. It’s not because I didn’t want or aspire to be, I honestly did. But we went a long time as a family before pulling the trigger and trying to integrate this practice into the regular rhythm of our family life.  We’ve been doing morning devotions together for about five years now – long enough to where our kids expect that we will. It’s a long road, as are most things with young children I’m finding out. Though revival doesn’t break out every morning over eggs and toast, our continued hope and prayer is that times like these build into the love and discipline our children will have in the future when it comes to God’s Word.  Through those five years, we’ve tried different things, failed at a bunch, and have learned some things along the way. So, as encouragement to those of you just starting out or maybe some affirmation for those of you already in ...

Why is no one trying to be like John the Baptist?

This Sunday morning the sermon was taken from John 3:22-36.  In that passage, two of the disciples of John come to him with the report that Jesus was now baptizing more people than John.  John's response is one of the most humble in all of Scripture.  It was in reading that response that a thought occurred to me.  With all the leadership and ministry books out there, why do we not have people picking up on the ministry style of John the Baptist?  Maybe I am a little cynical, but I guy who gets his head chopped off might be a bit of a tough sell in our success-driven marketplace.  Can you imagine the title?  "Five Easy Steps to Losing Your Head." I can't imagine that book making it on the Christian bestsellers list. Yet John the Baptist is a great example to those of us in ministry.  His clarity about his own place and role in the ministry are worthy of emulation.  Here are some of the observations I made as I looked at his response to ...

Oops!

I can be a real klutz.  I have very few manual skills and I never grew out of the "tripping over my own feet" stage of life.  I have fumbled and dropped more than my fair share of balls. In other words, "oops" has been a regular part of my vocabulary. It is not only in the physical world that I have fumbled things.  I have messed up relationships.  I have prejudged people before ever getting to know them.  I have used and abused those who love me most in this world.  I have failed and sinned my way into more than one tight corner and created untold disasters.  Oops is not even sufficient for the ways that I have blown it. Perhaps that is why something Paul, our worship leader last Sunday, said resonated so deeply with me this week.  He said "Oops is never said in heaven."  Our God never is clumsy.  He never makes mistakes. His plans never go belly-up.  He never fails.  He never ever has to say oops - and that comforts me.