Category Archives: Joel Osteen

The Fall From Grace of Mega Preachers: The People vs Joel Osteen

Written by Gloria

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Right on the heels of the Charlottesville riots, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas bringing with it death and the loss of property. One of the major headlines concerning this natural disaster had to do with Joel Osteen,  a prominent, mega-preacher in Texas who sent a tweet stating that he and his wife will pray for the those affected. The backlash started almost immediately on alot of social media platforms. Many tweets, memes, videos were posted where people were berating Joel and demanding more than “prayers” from him.

Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church are experiencing a PR nightmare, we have seen corporations that have bounced back from corporate gaffes and others destroyed from it. We are yet to see how this incident will affect Joel in the long-term. The Institutional Church herein referred to as the (I.C.) is part of the world system so it uses the tactics of the world to get by, the Spirit of God is not in any of their dealings.

There are those who have shown unwavering support for Joel  but what caught my interest is that there is a substantial amount of people as seen on social media who feel one thing for mega-preachers – ANGER. Gone are the days when people would shy away from speaking against a “man of God.” After Joel’s tweet, the comments came fast & furious making it seem like people were waiting for an incident to happen so they can let loose and tell Joel what they really feel.

There are people who are mad, fuming not just at Joel but at the I.C. and at mega-preachers. In some way it felt like there was nothing Joel could do to appease the critics, the arguments started with why didn’t he open the church early to he opened the church because of the social media pressure. Any interview Joel gave was dissected to show how his efforts weren’t genuine, even his body language was being analyzed to strengthen the claims that he didn’t want to be there helping people. Every thing he did was an offense.

Clearly, there are people who still love & support mega preachers but there is also another group that have become weary of mega-preachers and refuse to see any good in them. This group sees mega-preachers as scammers, Period! even acts of kindness are looked at suspiciously as many wait for the money grab to be revealed sooner or later.

I have belonged to both groups of people at different times in my life. I have blindly loved and supported mega-preachers and even defended them to critics, then as the years went by I became a critic as I noticed their teachings were pseudo-deep, they embraced the world and repeatedly taught the prosperity gospel. I left the church and would watch a lot of videos exposing ministries and false preachers we have today, which are plenty. The Irony is, in both states I thought I was walking in truth but the reality was I was still deceived. I had some partial truth in that I could see some of these leaders were false teachers but I still engaged in I.C. practices & believed I was born again because I had asked Jesus into my heart, I believed in a false gospel.

The major spiritual problem today is not the mega preacher phenomenon or false teachers – that is just a symptom of a bigger issue. If we spent time analyzing who is a false prophet and who isn’t we would be here for days as the list is endless. Time is really of the essence so what you need to see is that the entire I.C. is condemned and the Spirit of God is not there. For those who have left the I.C., if they still engaged in religious practices or hold on to church teachings, they could still be deceived.

Pastor Pam Sheppard addresses the Spiritual problem in our time in The Church of The End Time Zombies, an excerpt reads:-

Statistics show that floods of people are leaving the I.C. daily. The question is, where are they going? It could be that many of these folk are just joining up with yet another branch of the I.C. or doing the I.C. thing at home. Opening a church in your home by teaching the same false doctrines and practices, causes your home to be just as dangerous.”

The I.C. has been taken over by fallen angels and demons, nothing good can come out of it. The Lord Jesus already prophesied the future of the I.C. in the parable of the mustard seed.

As people who are preparing for the return of the Lord Jesus, we need to understand that holding on to partial truths is just as dangerous as believing a lie. It is good to know who is a false teacher, so you can avoid their traps, but spending time studying and exposing one preacher to the next is a tedious task as there are many.

The I.C isn’t under attack by being infiltrated by false teachers, it’s actually the I.C. that creates an environment for these preachers to grow and thrive. A word from Pastor Pam concerning mega-pastors in her own personal experience.

A word of caution. The religious demon assigned to me tried to set me up to become a false prophet.  In several dreams, he showed me standing before huge audiences, walking up and down across a platform with my bible in my hand, preaching and teaching.  He even showed me pastoring a church of about 10,000 people.  Because I sought after the power to slay in the spirit, after 10 years of seeking, I got it. I could wave my hand, and certain ones would fall out, unconscious.  However, I began to question this power because I noticed that the ones in my congregation who fell out the most, were also those who could not STAND for the Lord, relapsing or backsliding constantly.  So I said to myself, “Pam, there is something wrong with this so-called gift. This cannot be from the Holy Ghost!”  Once I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to “show me the darkness,” I got quite the wakeup call that revealed that the mega preacher phenomena of today is NOT of the Lord.  It is a combination of human charisma, “anointed” by the enemy’s power.”

Understand the times that we live in so you won’t be deceived with the spiritual blindness that’s all over, if you don’t know where to start, read “The Church of the End Time Zombies”, you can get a copy at:-

Paperback  http://www.lulu.com/content/16262055  and

e-bookhttp://www.lulu.com/content/16464312

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Who Are The Birds in the Parable of the Mustard Seed?

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Charlottesville, Va: The Church And Racism

By Gloria

The recent event in Charlottesville, Virginia is one of the many examples that show we do not live in a post-racial society. Racism seems to be one of the many social ills that has continued throughout the centuries without a clear end in sight.

What happened?

A “Unite the right” rally was planned for Aug 12 in protest to removing the statue of Robert E Lee, a confederate icon. A day before on Aug 11, a march was held at the University of Virginia where the crowds chanted “white lives matter” & “blood & soil”.

The protesters showed up on Aug 12 and clashed with counter demonstrators. The rally turned deadly as a speeding car killed one person and injured 19. Trump held a press conference days later which left many stunned and drew a lot of criticism as he stated that both groups were to blame.

The Church’s Stand

What has been the response from the church leadership not only over the racial divide which seems to be deepening but also where is the support from the leader of the free world, President Donald Trump who clearly stated that there are many good people in neo-Nazis & white supremacist groups?

For the most part, the Institutional church herein referred to as the I.C. hasn’t raised a strong, united voice indicating where they stand on the issue. Consequently, the silence in itself is both telling and deafening by comparison,for when business advisers have publicly stepped away from Trump, by contrast, the Nation’s evangelical leaders have made no or little noise over the issue and they remain steadfast and committed to Trump.

As an example, here are some quotes from various church leaders:-

Robert Jeffries, one of Trumps advisors said this on his twitter account,
“Pray for peace in Charlottesville and across our nation,” and “Let there be no misunderstanding. Racism is sin. Period,”

Paula White on her twitter account wrote about the event mentioning that there is a need for renewal of grace and for God to help us.

Franklin Graham defended Trump on his Facebook page stating that the shame should be on politicians that want to blame Trump.

Joel Osteen on his Facebook page wrote that, “…When somebody doesn’t agree with us or not doing what we like, it’s easy to get in conflict with them, to argue, to try to straighten them out, to prove our point. No, you have to be the bigger person. Just because they’re doing wrong doesn’t mean you have to engage.” 

The bottom-line is that many mega church leaders haven’t said anything at all.

This mixed reaction where some leaders condemned what happened, others spoke vaguely and others have remained completely silent shows the lack of unity in the I.C.

We live in troubling times; it is not the time to panic! But it’s time to get your life in order and prepare yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally & even learn several survival skills should any disaster happen. Leaders in the I.C. are not preparing their congregations to understand the times and many unsuspecting churchgoers will be caught off guard when the rapture they are waiting for doesn’t happen and they are faced with the tribulation.

This post is not to analyze the racial divide that is deep in America. It’s to simply shed light on the fact that the I.C. is unable to give proper guidance to their church goers and one of the reasons is due to the fact that she is divided.

Jesus predicted the division that would happen to the Institutional church. He did this using the parable of the mustard seed.

Matthew 13:31-32
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

In order to understand this parable, you have to look at the history of the church:-

The Seed -The church had very humble beginnings with the disciples who symbolize the mustard seed.

The huge tree – From 312 AD when Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, Roman practices were mixed with Christian beliefs leading to the creation of the Roman Catholic Church that grew far and wide, virtually unopposed for centuries.

Branches – The protestant reformation that opposed the many false doctrines of the Catholic church occurred in the 16th Century. The church split as many denominations were created.

Birds nest in its branches – demons infiltrated the churches, bringing false doctrines with them. (in Matthew 13:4- birds represents demons).

Clearly the Lord Jesus warned our present generation with this parable prophesied over 2000 years ago.

A clear and simple analysis is that the I.C. is infiltrated by demons and that is why she is weak. All she has is a form of godliness but no power. The early church with the apostles was relatively small but moved with great power but the Laodicean church of today is large but weak & lukewarm, unable to make any significant impact.Clearly, the Spirit of God is no longer in the I.C. The Lord warned you with the parable of the mustard seed. If you seek direction from her, you will be led into more confusion.

The Lord Jesus said on the other hand that HE will build his own Church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Matthew 16:18. He was not referring to the Institutional Church, but to all the believers throughout the centuries that have remained faithful to Him because he has kept them. From every generation, God always has HIS remnant who remain faithful to him.

If you want to understand why the I.C. is the way it is and get a clear understanding of who the Body of Christ is, get a copy of

The Church of the End-Time Zombies. 

Paperback  http://www.lulu.com/content/16262055  and

e-bookhttp://www.lulu.com/content/16464312

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For all books by Pam Sheppard go to  http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pam_s911

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False Prophets: There Are Many in These Times

By Pastor Pam Sheppard

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In ministry since 1981, I know a thing or two about false prophets. Besides the TV mega preachers that I watched for years, I also came to know at least 200 ministers while I was pastoring in a well-known denomination. So from my observations, I have designated 3 different types of false prophets. The deceived, the detoured and the diabolical.

There are those false prophets who are really saved but they followed the wrong leaders, and “sucked into themselves” mixed and false doctrines and practices. In short, they heeded and harkened unto the voice of seducing spirits and doctrines of the devil. However, they have not yet departed from the faith. These I call, “the Deceived.” Some of them will be set free. Because of pride, sad to say, others won’t be. Some false prophets would prefer to be caught up in a scandal than to admit that they taught error and thereby “led the people in the wrong direction, away from God, and not toward Him.” They are too spiritually proud to admit that they did not rightly divide the word of God.

Then there is the false prophet who was once used of God mightily, but he or she got deceived by the enemy and fell into disrepute. These I call “the Detoured.” This man or woman becomes a pretender—one who is very dangerous to those who are babes in Christ or who remain carnal Christians. Their followers “stand by their man” even when they should jump ship. The bible has a classic example of how the detoured “Old Prophet” deceived the man of God, resulting in the latter’s death. (I Kings 13)

Then of course, there is the out-and-out pretender who knows that he or she is serving the spirit of the Anti-Christ and everything they do is a masquerade. These I call “the Diabolical.” They are imposters, planted in among Christians to willfully bring confusion that will lead to destruction.

Every false prophet type— whether the Deceived, the Detoured, and the Diabolical— is equally dangerous. Why? Because they can leave a huge trail of victims.  I am humbled and thankful that although I was on the road to becoming a false prophet, the Holy Ghost jerked my chain, then cut it and broke it.  When  I was deceived by charismatic teachings,” God blessed me by closing doors and blocking me from spreading error. Even though I once had the heart, the skill and the desire of a mega preacher, God purposefully would not allow me to become a popular celebrity.. When a door opened, the Holy Ghost closed it and blocked my way through it. Moreover, among those that I have pastored, even though I personally believed some mixed doctrines, I didn’t teach them to those who allowed me to lead them. So praise God, after 36 years as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have no victims.

For example, I spoke in tongues, but I didn’t teach my followers to do so. I tithed, but I did not preach a “sow a seed,” prosperity gospel. In fact, I was completely self-sustaining. I gave back my church salary in the form of tithes and offerings to the churches that I pastored. When I practiced healing and the laying on of hands, I never told anyone to stop taking their medicine and “walk by faith.” I primarily preached the cross, sin, repentance, rebirth and the resurrection. But make NO MISTAKE. The false prophets of all 3 varieties:— the deceived, the detoured and the diabolical— are equally dangerous! Your prayers for them to repent may NOT prevail. And why not?

In order to repent, the false prophet has to do more than apologize and ask for forgiveness from those he has abused and deceived. If he has been made rich off of the backs of poor people by preaching the prosperity gospel, then God will require him or her to “give back” all of that money to the poor. Not too many false prophets are willing to give up those jet planes, million dollar homes and those Bentleys. Even the false prophets who are NOT mega, many of them have practiced the lie for so long, that it is practically impossible to receive the truth and act on it. Far too many have made “ministry” their career and not their calling.

Ask the Apostle Paul. He maintained as a tent maker. He would not allow any of the churches that he set up to totally provide his livelihood. That is why he could write, “whether abased or exalted, I can do ALL things 4 through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, JUST SO YOU KNOW, I am not dependent upon YOU to live and to serve my God. When a false prophet’s livelihood is intricately tied to church dollars and resources, he or she is captive to a self-made trap that cannot be escaped from without God’s help. Actually, some false prophets have to be stripped naked to find God again, if they ever knew Him. So if you really think a particular false prophet is deceived, perhaps detoured but not diabolical, then your prayer should be “Lord, strip him.”

A word of caution. The religious demon assigned to me tried to set me up to become  a false prophet.  In several dreams, he showed me standing before huge audiences, walking up and down across a platform with my bible in my hand, preaching and teaching.  He even showed me pastoring a church of about 10,000 people.  Because I sought after the power to slay in the spirit, after 10 years of seeking, I got it. I could wave my hand, and certain ones would fall out, unconscious.  However, I began to question this power because I noticed that the ones in my congregation who fell out the most, were also those who could not STAND for the Lord, relapsing or backsliding constantly.  So I said to myself, “Pam, there is something wrong with this so-called gift. This cannot be from the Holy Ghost!” Once I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to “show me  the darkness,” I got quite the wake-up call that revealed that  the mega preacher phenomena of today is NOT of the Lord.  It is a combination of human charisma, “anointed” by the enemy’s power. My testimony is in “Come Out of Her God’s People.”

So if you are on that road, you need to get off, and get off with a quickness! If you have been burned by a false prophet, there is help.  Call 1-888-818-1117

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For more help about how to recover from experiences with false prophets I recommend The Church of the End-Time Zombies. Paperback  http://www.lulu.com/content/16262055  and e-book http://www.lulu.com/content/16464312

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Faces of the Religious Demon  Paperback http://www.lulu.com/content/11647727 and e-book http://www.lulu.com/content/11647727

FACES OF THE RELIGIOUS DEMON: Freedom Through Deliverance Counseling

For all books by Pam Sheppard go to http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pam_s911

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Finding The Peace of God in Troubled Times

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Let the God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13 )To the Colossians,Paul wrote “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” (Col 3:15)  Yet there is such a thing as a false peace. I just watched Oprah’s interview of Joel Osteen, and what manifested clearly is a false peace  by a self-proclaimed blessing. Although he took a stronger stand on the Lord as the only way to the Father than he has in the past,  Osteen hesitated with tongue in cheek as he made it clear that homosexuality is a sin.Yet he equated sodomy on a  par  with “telling a lie or being proud.”

  When  Osteen struggled to not offend anyone and   he told  a huge  tv audience that homosexuals shall go to heaven,  he detracted from the word of God.  Paul wrote and warned the Corinthian believers that effeminates shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Does inheriting  the kingdom equate to “going to heaven?” Not completely, but it certainly is a part of the overall package. To be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD “IN HEAVEN” while He remains there. Consequently, Osteen has sent out a platitude  of a” false peace.”Commonsense ought to tell Osteen that  since  God destroyed Sodom primarily because of homosexual activity, it’s a sin far more damning than a lie or pride.. To not be truthful with the gay community is in itself, a lie. Along these same lines, when preachers expound on the escape of a lukewarm, deluded Laodicean age through a pre-tribulation rapture or messages that uphold financial prosperity for all, a  false peace prevails.

Yet when the evil day comes, we will need the peace of God to rule. In this country, we have the expectation that happiness is ours by our American birthright, so we are in constant pursuit of it, particularly on the weekend.  I should spell it “weak end.” Many are speeding in  cars, fighting  in parking lots and pushing forward in various malls and supermarkets, with dentist appointments, diets,  vacations, manicures, gyms, and restaurants on our minds.  The irony is that as a nation in pursuit of happiness, “our weak end” is that we find no peace.

Moreover,  there is coming a day when all of our material comforts shall fail us and the fundamentals of food, water and shelter shall ascend in priority.  I know because I have seen it in the spirit.What usually causes us to lose peace is a lack of understanding that leads to confusion. In other words, what we don’t know brings stress. Therefore, in 2012, I offer a few points that will help you to let the peace of God reign.

  1. Learn how to thank God for “the answer.” The answer might be that “you will not get an answer in the way that you expected.”We must wait for the Lord’s answer in peace. Very often, the Lord has already given us the answer but we did not hear Him because we were too preoccupied and consequently, too stressed. We cry “speak to me, Lord” and He has already spoken.
  2. Learn how to stop trying to figure Him out. Most believers have a misunderstanding of prayer because they have been led by false doctrine and habitual expressions like “prayer changes things.” God does not need our prayers for Him to act.  We do not control God with our prayers.  Prayer changes us, not things.  Prayer is what brings the peace of God that confounds human understanding.  Prayer does not change God.  Most of the time, we do not know God’s will.  When we don’t, then we need to pray and ask Him to reveal His will.  Once His will is revealed in a particular situation, then peace will automatically rule in our spirits.
  3. Learn how to walk in the light as He is in the light.  I have an expression that brings me peace.  It goes “TO KNOW, BOW LOW.” When the brightness of the gospel falls upon us, we should immediately prostrate ourselves under His light and declare “Lord, I accept your sentence. I agree with your judgment. I seek mercy in this matter.” Meekness before God will prepare you to receive light, revelation or in other word, “enlightenment.” Enlightenment leads to deliverance and deliverance brings forth discernment, wisdom and freedom.  A humble gay or lesbian will receive light by resisting pride in all its forms, particularly gay pride.  if he or she “bows low, they will KNOW!”

In the New Year, many google for prophecies because they have no peace in uneasy times. A wet blanket of worry, fear and stress has fallen on multitudes of professing Christians who search the web for a prophetic messages. Since they are reading the signs of the times, believers are looking for confirmation and assurances that we will make it beyond December 21, 2o12. In the New Idolatry you will find these words:”Doubt can be a good thing, particularly when those fictitious, religious foundations upon which a captive has built his pride system become shaky.”

Yet in the final analysis, the message that should give you peace is both spiritually historic, prophetic and biblical. Simply put, if you be in Christ, He has already spoken peace to your troubled spirit  when He he prophesied that “if you endure to the end, you shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)

This ministry is about preparing the elect of God to “endure to the end,” through publications, deliverance counseling, deliverance mentoring, and deliverance training. Ours is a Christ centered, a spiritual warfare and a spiritual empowerment strategy.  So our help is available to you. Send an email to pamsheppard911@yahoo.com or call 518-477-5759.

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