exceptionnoted

A while back I was on social media and ran across a thread concerning Joel Osteen. I believe, as far as I can remember that someone was asking if Osteen was a true minister of God, or something to that effect. So, being the Bible reader which I am, I commented and plainly stated, ‘No.’ Of course, after I replied, I had to defend myself against all kinds of attacks, whereby I was being accused of judging Osteen’s salvation.

The main scripture used against me, of course, was Matt 7:1. I was told that I could not judge Osteen’s theology or lack thereof. This is a misuse of the verse and my opponents did not have enough Biblical insight to rightly interpret scripture, nor to rightly understand the true interpretation of Matt 7:1. On top of that, their entire argument was self refuting because if I can’t judge Osteen’s theology…

Years ago while I was attending seminary, small groups of students would get together with one of our professors on a regular basis for prayer. We would often meet outside, since the weather was almost never an issue in Southern California.

On one such occasion we were struck by the sound of all the birds around us singing. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the birds seemed to be everywhere, and they were all singing their little hearts out. It was as if nature itself was putting on a little concert for us.

Our professor used it as opportunity to give us an object lesson from the Scriptures. He reminded us of the words of our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body…