[philomena83]

Thank you all for your posts! I am so glad that this thread has remained open and that we have all been understanding.
I wanted to respond to an earlier post (page 2) which talked about "the Jesus in all of us". I was wondering, if this is the case, that we are ultimately responsible for our own salvation, what need would there really be for Christ? If he said, "I am the Way to salvation", but what He really meant was "you are ultimately the way" then how superfluous would a statement like that be? I thought the whole point of putting our faith in Christ is that we are unable to do it ourselves! I thought that it was because we are fallen that we need Christ to restore us. To say that we are the source of our own salvation, or that we must "embrace the Jesus in us" is to reduce Christ to the level of a touchy feely happy person that makes us feel better about ourselves. It is hard to admit, but we live in a society where feeling good about ourselves has become very important. But that does not make it the truth.

[kandikid82]

I'm sooo glad I didn't find this post earlier! In fear of losing my mind I'm not going to put any comments or opinions. I've hit my controversial quota for the month with the other thread!

BUT

I have to admit that some of the responses made me

So thanks for the laughs this morning!!! I hope eveyone continues to play nice and have open minds!

[mpayne]

Just wanted to add my two cents worth..while I have faith in God and know that he is the true controller of my life and also place my life in his hands every day, (worries, cares and good times)..I know that he has sent us tools here on Earth (including the Bible) to help us on our way..if books like this help people find God or even to begin discussing faith and religion, then they can't be bad..noone can tell another person what kind of faith to have or how much of it is necessary for that person..it is a very personal thing! I haven't read the book and probably won't...but not because of it's teachings or thoughts, but because I can hardly find the time to pay my bills and call my parents..and as for Oprah, while she is a figure of authority, but each person makes up their own mind..in the end it is up to everyone's free will and choice, because in the end..Oprah won't be standing in front of my maker responding for the way I lived my life...I will!
Well said.

[poshpoodle]

You are right I will be judged by my maker- It was very well said! Maybe if nothing else this thread gets people thinking. I see that Kandi Kid thinks it was a great laugh, not my intention and I personally found nothing funny about it all. TO me it is a very serious thing- but again we all have our own thoughts and beliefs. I appreciate everyone's comments and opinions here and for taking the time to read my post!

[332pca]

This is the most interesting thread I had read at AFC in a long time. I use to work at an architectural firm and we had many people from different countries with different religions and cultures. I was the office manager/bookkeeper so I made it my business to learn about these religions and cultures. I found it to be very interesting. All of us got along well together. At the end of the day we are all the same. We are all trying to find someone to bring us closer to our creator (God, Infinite spirit, Allah) whatever you call him/her. Here is a nice quote for you to think about, "I give my life to God to guide today. Father, I give You all my thoughts today. I would have none of mine. In place of them, give me Your Own. I give You all my acts as well, that I may do your Will instead of seeking goals which cannot be obtained, and wasting time in vain imaginings." Lesson 233 from A Course In Miracles page 409. I like reading this kind of thing. It starts my day well and I am able to handle any problem (challenge) that may come my way.

[SuziQ]

I would have to say that IMHO I would avoid the book altogether. For anyone who calls themselves a Christian the Bible is our ultimate guidebook. My DH recently went through a difficult time and sought help from a dear friend and Pastor of a church other than the one we attend regularly. He strongly suggested we not dive into the self help or even the Christian help books as he said from his experience in counseling and personally they only confuse & exaggerate the situation. He pointed us to the Bible, not telling us where to go in it, but said to let the spirit lead. So far so good, and even through some tough times we have found more strength than we knew we had.

He noted that the Christian help books & self help books give you too much focus on what might have worked for someone else, but their situation is not yours & also that sometimes these kinds of books can lead us to think about the problems too intently and quite possible make the problem worse than it was. I'm sure many of the authors full intent is to truly help people that have been in a similar situation but it doesn't always happen that way.

Sorry to go off into a tangent. I had heard her speak of the book but hadn't looked into it myself... was just not interested due to above notes . When I heard her say, "What about Jesus?" as if he wasn't an issue.. I was taken aback and not sure what to do. I have loved watching her show off & on for years and would hate to ban myself from it, but I'm afraid it may come to that for me. My Dh has had concern about my watching her since he found out about this book, but now I will have to look into it all myself a little further. Thanks for making me take another look.