The minds behind that episode, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, then went on to make it into a book. Then as soon as Oprah got her hands on a copy, a show titled “The Cold, Hard Dating Truth”, was slotted, aired and created an instant hit.

Well, it’s been about 4 years since then, but coming to theaters February 6 is an all-star cast picking up where the book left off, deciphering the codes and meandering through the maze that is the dating world.

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson, the romantic comedy is sure to be a Valentine’s Day box office winner. And I’m also sure that around the release date the talk show circuit will be aflutter with relationship talk and analysis of gender behaviour. It’s an age-old topic of conversation that will exist as long as men and women do.

Do you plan on seeing the movie? What do you think of Greg’s advice and outlook on dating?

image source: getthebigpicture

The Top 10 Gifts You Shouldn’t Buy Your Wife This Christmas
Sometimes men are bad at choosing gifts. Despite good intentions, men sometimes pick the wrong gift and send the wrong message. So, before you go out and buy a present for your wife, girlfriend, or whoever that lovely lady is in your life, be sure to read our list of the top 10 Christmas gift no-no’s first to avoid a frosty reception on Christmas morning! Read the full story.

Take action: Are you a teen, or do you know one? Our series of teen interactive life lessons include topics like dating, the media, and dealing with parents.

You said it: This week Tracy commented on the “Oprah’s Favorite Priceless Things” saying, “I don’t subscribe to Oprah’s spiritual beliefs, but I acknowledge the fact that she has a big influence in our culture and around the world.” What do you think about Oprah? Join the conversation on the Talk blog!

On the blog: Street Level Interviews – Family
The definition and role of family in an individual’s life shifts with every unique culture and generation. This week we asked passers-by on the street how they define family. How do you define family? Add your thoughts!

Article: Keeping Your Balance at Christmas
How to stop the holidays from becoming a burden instead of a blessing!

Coming up next week: We’re talking about The Gifts of Christmas: Abundant Life. Join us in the chat room December 14^th, 10:00pm EST (See also our full chat calendar.)

In Search of the Christmas Spirit
“What is the Christmas Spirit?” It’s inside of us somehow, in some way, most people reason. We just have to find it. But when does the Christmas spirit hit? Is it when we unpack our decorations and start playing the music? How many decorations do you need before you officially have the Christmas spirit? Does it take a Christmas tree? One strand of lights? Two? Three? Maybe it’s time to reconsider this whole Christmas thing! Read the full story.

Take action: Do you know the stories behind your favorite Christmas carols?  Try the Carols of Christmas life lesson.

.You said it: This week Tom commented on the “Why Me?” saying, “I love this article. It was just what I needed tonight. Thanks for putting it up! I have shared it with many” Read Susan’s story of her struggles and successes while living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Article: Last-Minute Gifts that Won’t Break the Bank
It can happen to anyone: You suddenly remember that one person whose name wasn’t on your list but should have been! This can be especially stressful in our tough economic times. But don’t panic, check our list of inexpensive last-minute gift ideas!

On the blog: Oprah’s Favorite Priceless Things
Over the past six years Oprah and her staff have put together an extravagant list of Oprah’s Favorite Things. In place of all the luxury items, this year Oprah brought together a list of gift ideas that barely cost a thing.

Coming up next week: We’re talking about The Gifts of Christmas: Peace. Join us in the chat room December 7, 2008 10:00pm EST (See also our full chat calendar.)

The Christmas Rush
It was an exciting time for the little town of Bethlehem where life was usually quiet and predictable. But ever since Caesar Augustus had ordered everyone back to his birthplace to be counted in the census, life had begun to stir! Housewives cleaned and baked in preparation for the arrival of relatives who seldom passed that way. Young girls fashioned new dresses as they happily anticipated the influx of eligible young men. Read the full story.

Take action: Try the Advent Journeys interactive life lesson.

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Devotional & audio podcast: God in the Winter
By Charles Spurgeon: My friend, as we begin on this wintry month, begin it with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind us that God keeps His covenant in day and night, and assures us that He will also keep the glorious covenant which He has made with us in the person of Christ Jesus. Read more

You said it: This week pria commented on the “Jesus Came to Bring Hope” devotional, saying “Without hope it is difficult to have faith and trust in the good Lord. With these things, we know in our hearts that He will always see us through any and all situations.” Join the conversation on the daily men’s devotional and women’s devotional!

Article: Holiday 911
Holiday Mode. It’s a familiar flight plan that transports me through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. How do you handle the holidays?

Coming up next week: We’re talking about The Gifts of Christmas: Peace. Join us in the chat room December 7, 2008 10:00pm EST (See also our full chat calendar.)

It took until early December for National Bureau of Economic Research to officially call it a recession, but really, we’ve known for a while now. Things are different this year. You can see signs of the times everywhere.  It’s in the wording of of the ads on TV, not to mention the prices.   It’s on the cover of every magazine and this year, even Oprah’s famous Favorite Things list bears the scars.

Over the past six years Oprah and her staff have put together an extravagant list of Oprah’s Favorite Things.  In the past the list has included everything from organic pears to fancy cameras to high end robes and PJs.  This year the list was part of the November 26th broadcast,  “The Thriftiest Christmas Ever” and heralded as Oprah’s Favorite Things… with a twist!

In place of all the luxury items, this year Oprah brought together a list of gift ideas that barely cost a thing. Handmade and heart-felt gifts made the list this year – no $3000 fridges or $800 camcorders.   If things are sluggish enough that watching other people get extravagant gifts has lost its charm this may be a surer sign than anything the financial gurus can tell us.

In explaining the change to the list on her site, Oprah’s writers had this to say:

Oprah has received many gifts over the years, but she says the gift that means the most to her is one that cost the least. “A few years ago at my 50th Happy Birthday luncheon, my friends wrote me heartfelt notes that they then placed inside this silver box,” Oprah says. “The words from your heart mean more to people than anything you can buy.”  – Oprah.com

We’ve been told for years that it’s the thought that counts.  Maybe now that Oprah has said it we’ll finally start to believe it.

Oprah Winfrey is the highest ranked TV talk show host in history

A 2004 study concluded that the “Oprah effect” of her endorsement of a book on her show equals on average $80million in sales.[1] With such great influence should come great responsibility. Many of Oprah’s viewers are eager to embrace whatever she recommends, so she should use careful judgment when making endorsements on her show.

Recently Oprah began promoting something called “A Course in Miracles” (hereafter ACIM) on her show and website. This course is described on the site as “a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy” and “an educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious.” This teaching, by Oprah’s close friend Marianne Williamson, offers a way to live a “more loving and peaceful life.” What is the origin of this teaching, and what does ACIM actually teach?

Although ACIM claims not to be a religion (the website explicitly states the course “is not a religion”) the teaching has a religious foundation. In 1965 psychologist Helen Schucman claimed she began dramatically experiencing an inner voice saying “This is a course in miracles; please take notes.” With help of fellow professor William Thetford she transcribed what she claimed the Voice was saying to her. The result was eventually edited by Ken Wapnick and published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace (formerly known as the Foundation for Parasensory Investigation) .

Religion scholar Dr James A. Beverley notes, regarding the formative years of the movement, that

“it was regularly claimed that Jesus was the ultimate source of ACIM. In fact, Wapnick stated at one point, “It was very clear to me that Helen could not have written it and I just could not imagine it having any other source than Jesus himself.”” [2]

If true, this would be a valuable resource which would help us understand Jesus’ life and teachings better. What, then, does ACIM teach? Among other things, the course teaches that:

“The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”
“God’s Name is holy, but no holier than yours. To call upon His Name is to call upon your own.”
“There is no sin.”
“The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol … It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray.”
“Do not make the pathetic error of ‘clinging to the old rugged cross.’”

Regardless of what we conclude about ACIM, we must at least admit that the Jesus we find here is nothing like the Jesus of the Bible. Much like The Secret (last year’s New Age fad which was also featured on Oprah’s show) ACIM claims that we are all “God”. Also like The Secret, ACIM sometimes uses Christian language, but changes the meanings of the words so that they convey entirely different messages, and even ends up disrespecting Jesus by remaking him how they would like him to be rather than how he really was.

The New Testament documents, which were written in the first century AD by eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life and ministry (or those who consulted eyewitnesses) describe a very real Jesus (ie not just a symbol) who acknowledged the reality of God and sin, and called people back into full relationship with God. There is no evidence of the ACIM‘s Jesus to be found in the New Testament. Why trust ACIM instead of the Bible, which was written about 1900 years before Helen Schucman claimed to have her visions?

Some who embrace ACIM do so, in part, out of rebellion against the perceived dogmatism, blind faith and exclusivity of the Christian faith. Ironically, ACIM is extremely dogmatic. Its purpose is “thought reversal” and it encourages readers to practice its ideas without exception even if they find them to be unbelievable. In other words, simply believe and follow its exclusive truth without questioning … some of the very things many find distasteful about traditional religions.

As it turns out, all beliefs are exclusive, even the belief that there are no true beliefs… that belief excludes those who think there are true beliefs! The question is: Which beliefs are right and which are wrong? We’ve seen that the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus described in ACIM cannot both be described accurately. Which, then, is true? The question is not merely an academic one; it has practical implications for our daily lives.

Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. How do our lives become this way? Is it the case that, as ACIM teaches, there really is no evil in the world, and that we can all have peace in our lives if we merely believe that we can? Or is the deeper problem that our pain isn’t just imaginary, it is real?

If you sometimes feel guilty, you’re … well, just like everyone else on the planet. Why do we feel guilty? Perhaps we feel guilty because we are guilty. Guilty of what? Turning away from God and living a life apart from Him.

The bad news is that all of the self-help lectures and affirmative thinking in the world won’t save us. A person drowning in quicksand cannot struggle their way out. Their struggles will inevitably just pull them further down.

The good news of the Gospel is that, through Jesus’ self-sacrifice on the cross, we may restore our relationship with God, if we accept the gift God presents to us, renounce our former lives and put our trust in God as the center of our lives. Although we lack the ability, by our own efforts, to bridge the gap between God and us, Jesus, being simultaneously and uniquely fully God and fully a human being, took initiative and the punishment we deserved on our behalf so that our relationship with God could be renewed.

You can start a new life (be “reborn”) right now by faith (trust) through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. Praying gives us the opportunity to begin to know and have a loving relationship with God, who doesn’t answer our requests like a genie from a lamp but instead promises to listen and to love us. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Whatever it is, it would be a mistake to ignore what Oprah promotes. Her TV show, magazine, website, and other media ventures that are part of her massive Harpo Productions corporation have huge readership, so anything she promotes (especially as frequently as she has promoted A Course in Miracles) will result in huge sales.

An article on TheLife.com explores what A Course in Miracles is all about: Oprah and A Course in Miracles. We encourage you to read it, and invite you to post your responses in the comments on this blog.