Joel Osteen

Forty-year-old Joel Osteen now has one of the largest church congregations in America. This has all been done this with no formal Bible training; Osteen says he was learning the business of television. In 1981, he came home from Oral Roberts University to start the Lakewood TV ministry and he became the television producer of his father's program. In his Charisma interview it stated: The younger Osteen's television-marketing talents and his dad's preaching skills resulted eventually in the church being aired on stations nationwide and in more than 100 countries (www.spirittruth.com).

Joel's father, John Osteen, was into the word faith teaching of Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland. In late 1998-99 he became sick. The church that was also trained in word faith philosophies began their positive confessions saying, “God has promised him that he will be preaching into his early 90's, and he is only 77 now. God gave him a vision for “Seven Years of Harvest”, and we are just beginning our 6th year of this special thrust for world evangelism. God has promised our staff that He will bring our pastor's kidneys on a platter of praise. The God who began this universe as a mighty Creator is creating what our Pastor needs in his body”. On the other hand, his wife Dodie Osteen has written a book on how she was she was miraculous healed from metastatic cancer of the liver after doctors had given up hope (it is reported that this was accomplished through medicine) (www.letusreason.org).

In the 2004 Charisma article, -it stated, “With his father sick in the hospital, John asks his son, Joel, to preach for him that Sunday. Initially Joel balked at the idea and said “no.” He then relented and here are Joel's own words concerning his preaching that day: I just got up there and told stories. I was so glad when it was over, I said, 'I'll never do this again in my life” (Charisma, June 2004, p.44). After his father died in 1999 Joel Osteen reluctantly stepped up to become Lakewood's minister. Since then, some things have changed while other things have not. He has become America's perfect model for the mega-church, and is now among the most known TV teachers, having gained the admiration of millions who watch him every week on television (www.spirittruth.com). He cannot be categorised among the TV evangelists, nor would he want to be. Part of the reason for Lakewood Church's success is the charming style of Osteen's personality. So the message is to keep people from feeling uncomfortable, bad or guilty by letting them know what is wrong. Compare this to the great evangelical sermons in the book of Acts and we find how off-base this is in terms of delivering gospel content. Osteen's teaching is like eating sweets with the promise of no fat. And who can't like this young preacher with a smile a mile wide all the time? His personality is effervescent, and he has an upbeat style that connects with the ...