Joel Osteen interviewed by Barbara Walters
When I started my walk with the Lord, I was watching Joel Osteen regularly. My Pastor always said “Watch what you are watching on TV”
I thought what can it hurt, I just like to watch him and he is so ggod in what he does.
Well after a while of walking with my Father, I alone by myself learned that Joel Osteen is not a teacher of the Gospel whatsoever. If anything he is a motivational speaker, but thats it. And listen how he feels about homosexuality, gay marriages. He says ” This is not what he is called to do. What a crock of you know what!
What are your thoughts?
momlovesbeingathome said,
March 30, 2007 at 3:36 pm
UGH!!!!!!! Well, you already know my thoughts about him, Andrea, since I wrote about him and you named him. haha! How can he call himself an evangelical preacher and then say he’s not “called” to preach against sinfulness!?!? Isn’t that what a preacher is SUPPOSED to do? That prosperity gospel stuff he does just makes me mad. Why is prosperity (or in other words - materialism) being preached in a church??? Maybe we should call it a prosperity cult instead of church!
Can you tell I really don’t like him??
heaintthroughwithmeyet said,
March 30, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Hi MOOOM,
thanks for taking time out to read my posts!
Well like I sadi above he isnt for real. THe only pocket that gets stuffed are hiw own pockets.
Love
Andrea
Yes I can tell!
brent slater said,
April 11, 2007 at 10:21 pm
You guys are got it all wrong. His message, yes, is very light and doesnt reference the bible to a heavy degree but he does base his message from bible passages. He is the only pastor with mainstream tv covage on a weekly bases with only 30 minutes to speak. Because of this he needs to really try and get a positive message out as clear as possible. I feel he does this very well.
You see he realizes his message needs to be geared to non-believers. Bring a positive message to them is always the best way to do that. If he spent all his time getting into the depth of the bible or brought a stern message, he wouldnt be using the time wisely or bring a quality serman. He realizes he needs to be more of a disiple with his time and exposure, then a teacher of the bible. He understands that most christians or true christian that watch his sermons already go to church which should be bringing a much more in depth sermon. He ends his time by telling people they should get themselves into a bible-based church so they can understand the full idea of what the Lord wants us to know. Also he lets people know that true faith is rooted in the Bible which he lets everyone know at the beginning and the end of his time.
His main task is to get in front of as many non believers as possible and let them see the Lord loves them and wants them to walk in his will. He is very smart not answering certain hot button questions because he doesnt polerize himself which allows him to stay infront of more people. Our country is two sided at the moment which makes it so hard to get a message to the other side. By not answering those questions he doesnt allow his message to possible miss those that need to hear it. The funny thing is, that it is you all who now judge him. And if you are christians, I am sure he isnt going to worry about your judgement of him or is he going to allow that to prevent him from helping others.
I am guessing you all judge all christians and how they carry themselve. You judge a man who is helping more people find the Lord than just about anyone else in the world. If you want to judge, I ask, how many people have you help find the Lord or brought his message too? I am guessing, not even close to him.
He might be light but it is obvious there is a reason and it is actually extremely wise. I would guess he is following the Lords will since he seems to reaching lost souls. He has never said, done, or even suggest anything that you can show, that says he is doing anything unchristian or against the Lords word.
You all really need to check yourself and think about your words. I think it is crazy and stupid to find christians bashing him with no idea what you are talking about. Think about what you say, because if one person reads your dumb words on this page, which Joel Olsteen could have helped bring to the Lord, then you are in trouble and it will be known to you not by me. I am sure the Lord will let you know about your stupid words and He wont be happy. Now, wake up and put something on here that is postive and will help others find the Lord. Stop judging other christians who are doing amazing work for the Lord.
This page is nothing but the work of the devil and if you still feel the way you do, at least take this down and post something positve. I am just affraid that you all are the type of christians that sit around and judge and do nothing real for the Lord. Just a guess but it is hard not to think that with this garbage.
Let the Lord be with you and I hope you all think harder about Joel’s situation and his calling. We are have different jobs and I dont think in the 30 minutes Joel has, it is to scare or get to in depth about the faith. He is a positive introduction and a good one. And in these times with the split in our world, he is porbably one of the most important people to the Lords will.
Brent
heaintthroughwithmeyet said,
April 11, 2007 at 10:50 pm
WOW, what a reply. First of all I think I dont judge people at all. The only thing I recognised about Joel Osteen is…that he doesnt preach, he motivates people, when he should be preaching. And I know that people who just starting to walk with the Lord are loving him. But people that are mature in Gods Word will not accept his motivational speaking, because they need more than that. He preaches prosperity and wealth mostly. When he should be preaching about the gospels and the Word ect. I dont judge anyone I think on my blog. And I wont be taking this post down.
Have you ever considered how much money he is making by his little 30 minutes? have you EVER seen a report where this money is going? Do you know how much his wages are? Do you know that Billy Graham was offered lots of money for his preaching he does, and he refused and said ” I can live on less than that” Which wasnt much more than about 40.000 a year? BG gives his money to further the Kingdom of God, he gives to the poor, builds homes, churches, helps missionares.
When I once heard that J.O went to get his cellphone exchanged for a newer one and he ended up buying his daughter at the age of 7 a cellphone (ended up buying 5 in all) that was just it for me. He talked about that on his little time of 30 minutes on TV.
No, you are wrong he should be preaching most pastors have a week to get ready for their 30 minute sermon on sundays. They also want to reach the lost and they still preach the Word and not this crock what J.O. speaks!
Zach said,
September 30, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Preaching a limited saccharine sweet “name it and claim it” form of Christianity which amounts to “You too can be rich, successful, self-fulfilled, healthy and happy!” The implicit notion that success is defined in material terms is a total anathema to the Gospel. Even a child can grasp this truth. Joel is the latest and currently most popular cheerleader for the false Word of Faith gospel. It is an abomination and God will severely bring righteous judgement to these charlatans who would debase and use the Word of God for their own selfish machinations. If you think this is Christianity it is the most superficial veneer which would go up in smoke at the slightest heat! Jesus promised us tribulations if we earnestly follow Him. We will be mocked and scorned for His Name sake. And guess what this itself is not some onerous burden we must run to “Pastor” Joel to fix, it is actually a blessing. Osteen is misleading tens of thousands, and sadly I fear many more into a very incomplete cookie cutter idealized version of Christianity. Read Christ’s exhortation in Revelation to those who would subtract God’s World. The only Gospel is the full Gospel with all of it’s truth and ramifications which will absolutely be in direct conflict with a hyper-materialistic, positive platitude message which Olsteen perpetuates. He is committing deep blasphemy against God and I’d quake to be in his place. Yes God blesses His people, yes faith has transcendent power through Christ alone and yes we should use the gifts God has blessed us with and use them for the good of the Kingdom but we are not sorcerers and conjurers who can get any carnal desire satiated just by invoking the correct sequence of faith-words which God is obliged to answer (and answer 10-fold no less). Some believers are given healing, others don’t. Some are wealthy and live a life of material comfort (though this will not make anyone more spiritually mature - usually the opposite is true) while other believers spend their entire lives in abject poverty. Was one rewarded by God and the other punished? I think not. God’s ways are mysterious and it is rank arrogance to presume a Christian has a deeper faith, a better prayer life or knows God Word better if they are wealthy, have a big house, a new car every X years, a gorgeous mate [Sidenote: So often Word of Faith teachers don' t say you will get a godly woman of God or a smart and grounded mate but rather a special emphasis is put on the superficial beauty; it's always a "beautiful lovely wife", a "handsome husband" etc. This itself is very telling and sad.], a high level professional career, etc. God does not use such metrics. If we are living and serving God faithfully through Christ with all our heart, mind, body and spirit we may have a comfortable life or we may not. And often what the world sees as a curse, a problem, an affliction is used by God as a blessing to reveal something to us we would not have otherwise discovered, to further mature our faith, to facilitate His Will being accomplished. It’s also no surprise that most of the big mega churches pushing Word of Faith (Joyce Meyers, Olsteen, Creflo Dollar, etc.) and the faith healers like Benny Hinn have less than stellar financial and accounting transparency and disclosure policies. These people are making literally hundreds of millions of dollars every year. What could $300,000,000 applied in a faithful, God-mandated way do in a country like China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Somalia, or even in the desensitized, spoiled, self-absorbed West who have hardened their hearts to the true Gospel message which challenges their sin and convicts them by the work of the Holy Spirit. But it’s easy to go hear a nice positive sermonette that doesn’t challenge you, doesn’t exact a sacrifice or cost to you in real terms, it just bolsters your ego, gives you some professional advice any non-Christian professional in various fields could do and lets you go home feeling you are such a wonderful faithful Christian and because you have such great faith God will soon be sending you all your hearts material desires. Yes the carefree life of ease is closer than they think. No need to worry about complex, negative, distracting things such as serious rigorous theology, careful exegesis and exposition of God’s World (all of it not just the happy-clappy cherry picked select verses!), the suffering and brutal persecution of Christians all over the world today (Olsteen could buy every member of his church a lifetime subscription to Voice of the Martyrs with his pocket change. Hey there’s an idea Joel!), broken marriages with deep seated problems, abused children, people barely making it financially in spite of their hard work (even Alan Greenspan is now worried about the current income inequality) and on and on it goes. I pray God will open the eyes of the Church to these false prophets and bring true revival to America.
In Christ,
Zach