Oprah’s Sprirituality

August 21, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

tv.jpgI must admit that I haven’t seen a lot of Oprah over the years but what I have seen just serves to confirm that she’s the ultimate television professional.

Her programme, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned a number of Emmy Awards and is the highest rating talk show in the history of television.

According to Wikipedia, she has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and the world’s only black billionaire for three straight years. That’s an amazing achievement for someone who has battled the odds to be where she is today.

Born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenaged mother, and later raised in an inner city Milwaukee neighbourhood, Winfrey was raped at the age of nine, and at fourteen, gave birth to a son who died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated. – Wikipedia

More and more these days Oprah’s programme has focused on spiritual themes that have found a very welcome audience amongst her millions of fans. Many say she is the most influential woman in the world, so when Oprah endorses something, millions around the world not only listen, they act on what they hear.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

This week we looked at the kind of spirituality that Oprah endorses and the latest author to have received a massive career boost via Oprah’s television show, Eckhart Tolle. Tolle’s brand of new age spirituality has been embraced by millions since attaining Oprah’s endorsement.

Oprah rejects any idea of there being one pathway to God as being unthinkable. She seems to be on a spiritual search, earnestly seeking answers and taking her vast international audience on the journey with her.

If you’d like to hear what Ross had to say about Oprah and her thoughts on spirituality, just click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Gambling on God

August 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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dice.jpgIs it right to gamble on God? If we’re not absolutely convinced that God even exists does it make any sense to live as if he does?

Many people will say that they are absolutely convinced that God is real and that they know him. Others seem equally as convinced that God doesn’t exist. What about those who aren’t completely sure one way or the other? Is there a place for stepping across the line and living as if they believed one way or the other? If so, which is better, to live as if God is real or to live as if he is a fabrication of human imagination?

Blaise Pascal’s posthumously published writings, known as Pascal’s Wager, suggested that knowing absolutely isn’t a prerequisite for faith.

Pascal’s Wager (or Pascal’s Gambit) is a suggestion posed by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should “wager” as though God exists, because so living has potentially everything to gain, and certainly nothing to lose.

Pascal figured that if the person who lives as if God is real is wrong, they’ve lost nothing, but if the person who lives as if God doesn’t exist is wrong, they lose everything.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

This week we discussed the idea of gambling on God and Ross recounted stories of people who came very close to believing in God but there was still a gap between what they’d been told about God and what they truly believed. Many people have felt that the gap to God is smaller than the gap away from him and so they’ve taken the step to believe and then felt an enormous confirmation within their spirits that they’ve connected with the Creator.

You can hear our conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

What has your experience been? Have you stepped across the line to belief in God? Did that come after you were totally convinced of the truth of who God is or did you still have doubt? What happened after you took that step?

Maybe you’ve heard people talking about God but you’re not sufficiently convinced that the evidence stacks up. What would it take to convince you that God exists?



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All I need is a miracle

July 2, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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If we’re to believe the hype, we live in an increasingly secular society that is losing its religion. Atheism is on the rise and less and less people have a belief in God. But is that really what’s going on?

From the Washington Post comes an article titled Most Americans Believe in Higher Power, Poll Finds.

It’s a fascinating look at the beliefs of Americans. I would guess that an Australian survey would yield similar results.

The poll took its results from interviews with 36 000 adults. While it shows that around 80% of people believe in miracles the percentage was even higher for those believing in God.

The study detailed Americans’ deep and broad religiosity, finding that 92 per cent believes in God or a universal spirit — including one in five of those who call themselves atheists. More than half of Americans polled pray at least once a day.

It’s interesting that 20% of people who claim some kind of belief in God or some kind of universal spirit call themselves atheists. I’m assuming that they aren’t rejecting the idea of God, rather they’re rejecting society’s understanding of who God is. This highlights the fact that the belief in God quoted in the survey isn’t necessarily a belief in the God of the Bible.

A belief in God or a higher spirit is pervasive. Even Americans who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic have a robust sense of a higher power: Twenty-one percent of those who describe themselves as atheists expressed a belief in God or a universal spirit, and more than half of those who call themselves agnostic expressed a similar conviction.

Smith said some people may identify with the term atheist or agnostic without fully understanding the definition, or they have a negative view of organized religion, even though they believe in God.

Many of the people surveyed believed in the power of prayer with many claiming to have experienced its power.

“I can’t remember any prayer that I have prayed that has not been answered,” said Helen Catchings, 62, of Vienna. God cured her of stuttering and gave her the resources for her home-care business, she said. And she said she has seen members of her church cured of cancer, brain tumours and other illnesses through prayer, baffling doctors. “I give Him all the credit,” Catchings said.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we discussed the survey and its implications. We also took a look at whether it really matters who we believe God to be. Is it good enough to believe in the God of our own understanding? Does it make a difference which path we take to God? You can listen to what Ross had to say by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Antony Flew says There Is A God

June 25, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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There_is_a_God.jpgHe was one of the world’s most vocal and respected atheists but after years of studying all the available evidence he’s come to a very different conclusion.

Professor Antony Garrard Newton Flew is a British philosopher who was known for several decades as a prominent atheist. In fact, he has been called the world’s most notorious atheist.

For many years, Flew debated Christians and others who believed in the existence of God saying that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He still believes in this approach but in recent years he has come to the understanding that such evidence does exist.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we discussed Flew’s book, There Is A God, and looked at what he now believes.

Antony Flew is certainly not a Christian but the book would suggest that he sees Christianity as the most compelling of the world’s religions.

I haven’t had a chance to read the book as yet but I certainly want to grab a copy. Ross says that it’s very readable and quite a revelation.

If you want to hear some more about Antony Flew and his book you can listen to our conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

So where does the evidence point for you? Whatever side of the fence you’re on, I hope you’re wise enough to ask the tough questions and see where the answers lead you.



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Christian Carnival 229

June 18, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

carnival.jpgThe carnival’s in town.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify.

I’ve taken part in the carnival many times over the years but this is the first time I’ve hosted the carnival. I must say that it’s a real honour to be able to present such a diverse range of great posts.

If I was clever, like many carnival hosts, I’d create categories and do all kinds of tricky things, but instead, I’ll just present this remarkable body of work in the order that each submission arrived in my inbox.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought.

There seems to be something about money that makes many Christians squirm. Unfortunately that prevents many from taking a serious look at their finances to find God’s heart on the matter. Free Money Finance wades into the topic with Putting God First.

Michael Snyder gets political when he presents The Picture Of The Hindu God That Barack Obama Carries For Good LuckShattered Paradigm at .

The way that many live, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Christianity is just a set of beliefs that’ll keep us busy until we make it to eternity, but David Gushee’s post The market economy’s moral influence posted at CounterCulture explores our responsibility for stewardship of the world’s resources.

Another wonderful contribution to the carnival this week comes from Weekend Fisher who remembers the advice she never gave a friend … and what her silence cost her friend in her post Do Christians sell the faith short? Part 3: sexual integrity and abortion. She issues a call to stand up for integrity not as a set of intrusive Thou Shalt Nots, but as a blessing of a more livable life.

Ken Brown is looking at Art, Nudity and Sex and the City. Well … that didn’t come out quite right. Ken’s not really looking at that stuff, he’s writing about it and you should check out what he has to say at his blog C. Orthodoxy.

A blogger I’m pleased to have recently started reading is Kathie M. Thomas. She presents Between a Rock and a Hard Place at workplace-ministry.com. It’s a lovely post that brings out a life lesson from the things around us.

Dean’s another favourite on my ‘must read’ list. This week he presents Certain Location… posted at My Jarrol Spot. He talks about old places bringing back old memories.

Annette has been thinking about The Mandate for a Pastor at her blog Fish and Cans. Her post is well worth reading and I encourage you to spend some time considering what Annette has to say.

Us Christians talk a lot about faith, but what is it really all about? Elementaryhistoryteacher presents Oh Ye of Little Faith at Got Bible?.

Richard H. Anderson is Reading Schweitzer Again for the 1st Time. Richard’s post at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos is a great one to get you thinking.

Fathers’ Day is a joyous time for many, but for others it can be a reminder of how our earthly fathers have failed us. Jennifer’s post Revisiting Father’s Day posted at Diary of 1 is a wonderful exploration of what we should do if our memories of dad aren’t all happy memories.

What is the real reason that communication and organization is so bad in so many churches? Diane R has written about The Church “In” Group? at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

Jeremy Pierce says that while A.W. Pink takes an outdated and unwarranted view on the so-called Curse of Ham passage in Genesis 9, he believes that Daniel Hays goes a little too far to call his comments racist. Jeremy asks is A.W. Pink, Racist? over at Parableman.

Walking is an oft-used metaphor for our life’s journey. But what does it really mean to walk with God?  This week John at Light Along the Journey has a few thoughts in his post What Does It Mean to Walk with God?

Tom Gilson reckons that everyone wants to claim Jesus as their own, in one way or another and he thoughtfully explains what he means in his post Jesus: Who Was He, Really? posted at Thinking Christian.

There are so many varied thoughts on what the scriptures are saying to us. ChrisB asks if theological differences between Christian groups prove our beliefs are inconsistent in his post Do Denominations Disprove Christianity? at his blog Homeward Bound.

One notion about gender and church, especially regarding woman priests, is that woman and men are “interchangeable.” Mark Olson examines that notion in his post On Men and Women with a little History Thrown In at his blog Pseudo-Polymath.

To round of this week’s Christian Carnival I’ll point you to some people who are taking their faith in Christ to a massive audience around the world through their music. Earlier this week I saw the Soweto Gospel Choir in concert and was thrilled at how overt their spiritual message was. They have an amazing ministry of shining God’s light into darkened corners. Here’s my post, Soweto Gospel Choir in Perth, complete with a radio interview (including a wonderful live performance) that I conducted with them yesterday.

Thanks to everyone who contributed this week to the Christian Carnival. Get posting and get your submissions in for next week’s carnival over at Thinking Christian.



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