A review of Joel Osteen's new book "The power of I AM."

Am I "I AM" or am I "i am."

A picture that speaks a thousand words? A picture that says it all. Joel Osteen's new book - "The power of I AM." I want to start by giving you a verse. Read it, meditate on it and firstly think about the application and implication of this verse on your life and who God is. Then read further. The verse is: "I AM the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Isaiah 42:8). The title I AM is also mentioned in this verse. Take notice of God's distinctness and separation from His creation. He does not share who and what He is with people. He is I AM and He will not share his glory with any person. He is complete and fulfilled in Himself. He deserves all glory, honour and worship purely for who He is, "I AM," and that He shares with no one. Not even with angels or any person. On two occasions in the history of the world angles and people tried to be like God and you know the outcome. Satan with his angels was cast out of heaven and eternally doomed while Adam and Eve were cast out of the presence of God from Paradise. It is merely by God's grace and mercy that not all of humanity was also eternally doomed like Satan. What we see in this book of Joel Osteen is the poison of the dragon, that ancient serpent (Rev. 20:2), that tries to elevate himself to be God.

The principle behind the book is that you must speak what God has said about you. Instead of saying "I am poor" you must say "I am rich." He used various examples of various areas of our lives and tells stories around it. For example, he says a woman must not say "I am ugly," they must say "I am beautiful." He says if you say "I am ugly," you attracts an ugly atmosphere and you become that. But by saying "I am beautiful," you attract beauty to yourself. This is based on the New Age teachings of the "Law of Attraction." The law of attraction is the name given to the maxim "like attracts like" which in New Thought philosophy is used to sum up the idea that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life. One example used by Lisa Nichols in the film 'The Secret' is as follows: "Every time you look inside your mail expecting to see a bill, guess what? It'll be there. Each day you go out dreading the bill, you're never expecting anything great, you're thinking about debt, you're expecting debt. So debt must show up.....it showed up because the law of attraction is always being obedient to your thoughts." The authors of The Secret cite the New Thought movement which began in the late 18th century as the historical basis for their ideas. Essentially, The Secret is built on the principles of New Thought and Unity Christianity. The teachers of "The Secret" have been regulars on New Thought/Unity Christianity for years and is now more popular than ever among "New Age Christianity." Oprah Winfrey is one of the biggest proponents of New Age Christianity and that is why she was so impressed with Joel Osteen's sermon on this topic. Joel Osteen, Rob Bell and Rick Warren are some of the modern preachers that have appeared on her show.

This is also what Norman Vincent Peal taught in his famous book "The Power of Positive Thinking." Peale said, "What the mind can conceive and believe, and the heart desire, you can achieve." In a blog article titled "False Teachers: Norman Vincent Peale," Tim Challies wrote the following: "During his lifetime, Peale authored 46 books and the most successful by far was The Power of Positive Thinking. Peale Published in 1952, it stayed on the New York Time's list of bestsellers for 186 consecutive weeks and sold 5 million copies, making it one of the bestselling religious books of all-time. It began with these words: "This book is written to suggest techniques and to give examples which demonstrate that you do not need to be defeated by anything, that you can have peace of mind, improved health, and a never-ceasing flow of energy. In short, that your life can be fully of joy and satisfaction. The book had chapters with titles such as “I Don’t Believe in Defeat,” “How to Have Faith in Healing” and "Power to Solve Personal Problems." Each chapter contained sections titled “energy-producing thoughts,” "spirit-lifters" or "faith attitudes."

This book of Joel Osteen is based on exactly the same principles taught by Peale, which made him so famous. Osteen is also one of New York Time's best sellers. He is following in the footsteps of some of the famous fathers of the false teaching of the power of positive confession. Your words have the power to create and by using it you can create and change your destiny. The blasphemous part of the title of Osteen's book is that there is a double meaning related to God's name "I AM." Basically, Osteen suggests that we must think and speak like God and then we can create our own reality. He suggests that this is the way God thinks and speaks about us. God is saying we are the best and we are rich. We are healthy and wealthy. If we start every day by saying new I AM's, we can change our life and destiny. For example, do not say "I AM sick today," but rather say "I AM healthy today." He says we attract negative forces to ourselves if we speak negatively. He also says we have the power within ourselves to change our lives by changing our "I AM's." When you see the title of the book you are misled to think it is about God. There is nothing in the book to glorify God. It is all about me, myself and I. The book is man-centred and what you can get out of "I AM" and not how you can glorify and serve "I AM" irrespective of your circumstances. The title of the book suggests that we are "I AM." The idea is to think and talk like "I AM" and then you can change your life. It is very clever word-play that might suggest we are little gods which are also the reason Norman Vincent Peale and many charismatics teach we are little gods. It is the fact that we are little gods that give our words creative powers. I also see some irony in the cover of the book. Joel Osteen is known for his humanistic and self-centered theology. It is ironic that one would use a title "The Power of I AM" and then put a picture of your face above it. The last thing I would dare to do is to put my smiling face above the title "I AM." It reminds me of God's own words: "I AM the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise" (Isaiah 42:8).

A sermon titled "The Power of I Am." was preached at Lakeland and Oprah Winfrey was so impressed with it that she shared it on her network. You can listen to the sermon on YouTube. The commentary next to the sermon on Oprah's network is as follows: "It's the sermon that changed the way Oprah sees her life. Watch as Pastor Joel Osteen, one of America's favourite preachers, reveals the power of the words "I am" during a Sunday sermon at Lakewood Church in Houston. Find out why Pastor Osteen says anything is possible if you have the faith to believe it."

It is worth to note that books with similar titles and a similar message were written. For example:

"The Power of I AM and the Law of Attraction - March 8, 2014, by R. J. Banks. "A fascinating and unique look into the extraordinary word of power "I AM". This book is a manual on the mental, spiritual and physical power of the mantra, which can be used to create wealth, promote healing, bring about extreme happiness and higher states of consciousness."

"The Power of I Am", July 1, 2014, by David Allen. "We are sure that with each successive reading you will come to the realization that there is truly power in the speaking of I AM and that by understanding and applying the wisdom and principles in this book you can transform your life in ways that nothing else could do for you."

It seems as if Joel Osteen's book is a blueprint of these books. Take notice of the similarity in the title and the principles Osteen teach. Notice the following words from Bank's book, "I AM...the mental, spiritual and physical power of the mantra, which can be used to create wealth, promote healing, bring about extreme happiness and higher states of consciousness." This is new age. The principles in Osteen's book is nothing different than new age. And to relate that to God the Great I AM, is blasphemous.

You can also read this short review on his book "Your Best Life Now."

In contrast to what Osteen writes in his new book stands God, the great I AM. The words below was taken from the NIV translation of Ezekiel 36.

I AM......

"I AM the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord."
"I will show the holiness of my great name."
"I will cause many people to live."
"I will increase the number of my people."
"I will settle people."
"I will gather you from all the nations."
"I will cleanse you from all your impurities."
"I will sprinkle clean water on you."
"I will give you a new heart."
"I will put my Spirit in you."
"I will move you to follow my decrees."
"I will increase the fruit of the trees."
"I will be your God."
"I will save you."
"Then you will live."

"You have profaned my name."
"Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct."
"I am not doing this for your sake."
"But for the sake of my holy name."
"Then the nations will know that I AM."

Below is a few snapshots from the book that you can read yourself. If you look at the index of the book, you will notice how man-centred all the titles are.