Joel Osteen

[Kabowd]

He annoys me in alot of ways, and I don't agree with him much of the time...however, I try to be careful not to question his heart or his relationship with God. Even though I think he could make better use of the attention he receives, I think it would behoove many of us to pray for him. He's in a powerful position, surrounded by many influences. If he can take this opportunity he has, and use it for God's glory, he could do amazing things. One of the things I pray for is that he'll be surrounded by wise, godly men who will not merely be "yes men". He needs men and women around him who will speak the truth and correct him when he is wrong. He needs to guard against pride and greed too. So...yeah, he's not exactly my favorite person in the world, I find myself criticizing him periodically just out of annoyance. But at the same time, I think the Lord pricks my heart and asks me "How would you handle and balance all of that power, wealth and attention? Would you crumble? Would you honor Me? Would you make mistakes?"

If all of us had someone like Larry King interviewing us or putting everything we say in print, I wonder how many times we'd have our foot in our mouths too. I say enough stupid things on the boards, I can only imagine if I had a chance to speak on national tv! Haha.

[ayin jade]

Thanks WhySoBlind, I can see your point. And I agree that what they teach is unscriptural.

[Keith]

I haven't listened to him, but I've heard of him. To write a book called Living Your Best Life doesn't bode well. Sounds like he is hyping people up to make a buck. The believer's life does not belong to himself/herself. It's not our purpose to be concentrating on ourselves and making sure we're happy and have the things we want. It's not about "self." That's the world's way.

[Kabowd]

I'm certainly not going to defend Joel Osteen, I don't even know the guy personally. But I would certainly be hesitant to judge his motives and intentions with his book. Can you really know that he was just wanting to make money by writing his book? Is it right to criticize something you've never even opened to read?

I think it's fair to disagree with what someone says or does. And it's fair and right to correct them when they say something unbiblical. But to make assumptions about his heart and his motives is beyond what we are given authority to judge. Let's leave the heart analyzing to God shall we?

[apothanein kerdos]

Who says witch hunts ended? We merely changes the definition of what a witch is.

[Keith]

I'm certainly not going to defend Joel Osteen, I don't even know the guy personally. But I would certainly be hesitant to judge his motives and intentions with his book. Can you really know that he was just wanting to make money by writing his book? Is it right to criticize something you've never even opened to read?

I think it's fair to disagree with what someone says or does. And it's fair and right to correct them when they say something unbiblical. But to make assumptions about his heart and his motives is beyond what we are given authority to judge. Let's leave the heart analyzing to God shall we?

#1 I appreciate where you're coming from.

#2 I stated that I haven't listened to him but I should have also stated that brothers I respect find fault in his teachings and they agree that the book is "motivational hype." I stated what I thought the title sounded like.

#3 Just to point out, I've seen some pretty harsh judgments come from some of your posts. What I stated was not a judgment, it was an opinion. There is a difference.

[apothanein kerdos]

Do you have to take offense to everything. Big suprise: you're not the only person that posted on here, so you probably weren't the person she was talking to.

[Kabowd]

I'm certainly not going to defend Joel Osteen, I don't even know the guy personally. But I would certainly be hesitant to judge his motives and intentions with his book. Can you really know that he was just wanting to make money by writing his book? Is it right to criticize something you've never even opened to read?

I think it's fair to disagree with what someone says or does. And it's fair and right to correct them when they say something unbiblical. But to make assumptions about his heart and his motives is beyond what we are given authority to judge. Let's leave the heart analyzing to God shall we?

#1 I appreciate where you're coming from.

#2 I stated that I haven't listened to him but I should have also stated that brothers I respect find fault in his teachings and they agree that the book is "motivational hype." I stated what I thought the title sounded like.

#3 Just to point out, I've seen some pretty harsh judgments come from some of your posts. What I stated was not a judgment, it was an opinion. There is a difference.

#1 If you appreciated "where I was coming from" why couldn't you have said so and left off the insult?

#2 I understand appreciating the opinions of those you respect. But it's my opinion when we level criticism towards someone's heart and motives it should be based on more than heresay.

#3 Honestly, there really wasn't a need for you to take offense and shoot back with an insult towards me. It appears you felt I was pinpointing you, so you fired back with your assessment of some of my own judgments. I won't deny that I am very opinionated and I speak my mind. If you have a problem with that in the future, feel free to address it when it occurs. But throwing that out after I simply posted truth was honestly very immature and unneeded. If you disagree with something I stated, feel free to point it out. But bringing up issues from other topics or posts isn't appropriate here. You can address me privately if I've offended you.

Thanks.

[AnotherTraveler]

I like to hear him, am not in favor of mega churches, and a mansion might be over the top, but the real question is how Jesus feels about it, and He hasn't said tome to be offended by Joel, but rather, to "follow Him." (as in follow Jesus.

As for missing an opportunity to say the right thing on Larry King, who cares? Real witnessing is mostly done face to face in a personal relationship anyway.

Just my opinion

[apothanein kerdos]

Joel Osteen is a weak preacher (in my opinion) but not a false prophet. I have had the unfortunate expirience of being affliated with one of his friends (who is undeniably a friend of his) where I got scammed by his friend. Joel is the one who turned him in later to the cops (three months ago I believe). Thing is, Joel could have banked off of this guys scams and gotten away with it.

He's a nice guy that was thrusted into a hard situation...he's not a false prophet...just not called (in my opinion)...then again, I could be wrong. God could use him in an amazing way...I don't know.