Following an article I wrote recently, Bro. William Harkness sent me this story. It makes a great point about the need to get involved:

Dear friends, our beloved nation is in a horrible condition. But merely complaining about it won’t change it. We have to be willing to sacrifice to change things. Edmund Burke, considered one of the greatest political thinkers of England in the 18th century said,”All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”. You need to think about that! History is the record of struggle between good and evil. And it’s easy to see which side is prevailing. To turn the tide we need people with conviction, compassion, and courage to get involved. You don’t have to hold an office, have a title, or be rich and famous to make an impact. Just do what you can with what you have where you are! Believe it or not, little things can make a big difference. You can write a letter, engage others in conversation, start a blog, write an article, vote pray, etc. And, by the way–why couldn’t some of you run for office on the local level? Every little bit helps and there’s something for all to do. Think about it!

Well, I’ve preached about “The Most Dangerous Man in Town”(Houston), but maybe the time has come for a message on “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World”. And that dear friends just might be “Oprah”. In a recent article by James Emery White he said:

There can be little doubt about the power, the influence and the inspiration of Oprah.

Her career began with a local radio station when she was just 19 years old. Then, through hard work and talent, she climbed her way up through television as a newscaster and anchor, through Tennessee and Maryland, until finally, in 1984, she moved to WLS-TV in Chicago to host a local talk show, which became such a hit it eventually went national.

And the rest, as they say, is history.       

Now she is arguably the best-known woman in the world, with an influence that extends into television, magazines, movies, book publishing and the Internet. By her 20th anniversary as host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she had become a billionaire and assembled a U.S. television audience of more than 49 million viewers each week—which does not include her broadcasts in 122 other countries. Forbes magazine has named her the most influential celebrity.

Her latest venture? Her own television network.

But Oprah is more than a celebrity. She is even more than a brand, or a business.

She has become a shaping cultural force.

Oprah can single-handedly turn a book into a bestseller; she has been sued for crippling an entire industry simply by publicly denouncing its product. She even launches words; the Wall Street Journal coined the word “Oprahfication” to describe “public confession as a form of therapy.” Jet magazine uses “Oprah” as a verb, with sentences like, “I didn’t want to tell her, but … she Oprah’d it out of me.” Even our political process has been altered, as politicians now hold “Oprah-style” town meetings.

But her most significant role may be that of America’s spiritual guide.

Much of her guidance is deeply Christian and highly commendable, pulling from her Baptist upbringing.

In her book, The Gospel According to Oprah, Marcia Nelson outlines some of the orthodox and laudable aspects of Oprah’s spirituality, including the themes of forgiveness and generosity, self-examination, gratitude and community.

But there’s more to her spirituality than a few broad, generic Christian themes.

It increasingly reflects currents of thought embodied by such authors as Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson and, most recently, Eckhart Tolle, whose book A New Earth has seen nearly 5 million shipped with the Oprah seal on the front, thanks to a series of 10 “live” Monday night web seminars featuring Tolle and Winfrey on Oprah’s website. So popular were the webcasts that the first night brought down the server when more than 500,000 people tried to log on, and now millions have downloaded or streamed the first class.http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/164999-james-white-not-so-new-age-the-church-oprah-wan-kenobi.html

Be sure to go to the link for the complete article.

You did notice this didn’t you–“her most significant role may be that of America’s spiritual guide”. Whoa–that’s a scary thought! I guess we’ve gone from Billy Graham to Oprah? Well I feel a sermon coming on and it’s getting stronger and stronger. Maybe another day. Folks we are in serious trouble as a nation and anyone who doesn’t see that is part of the problem. We have Jr. High kids who know more about the Bible than Oprah does. Yet millions bow down before her altar and take everything she says as the gospel truth. Someone even wrote the book, “The Gospel According to Oprah”. All this is about as crazy as it gets. I’m starting to feel sick. I no longer feel a sermon coming on–I think I’m going to puke!

Just a side note. Something else caught my attention–it’s the word “Chicago”. I wish someone in the know would write a book called “The Chicago Connection”. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Oh, if we only knew what all goes on behind closed doors! Think about it! How about a sermon on “The most Dangerous City in the World”? I think I’ll forget that for now!