Joel Osteen

[CelineDion]

I just want to know from the person who attends Lakewood ...Does Joel ever preach on holiness ( what's right and wrong specifically) and living righteous before the Lord?

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

I wouldn't say that what he teaches in his half-hour TV sermons is complete, and it's true that he doesn't open his Bible that often on the show... but it is all good stuff and all based on Biblical principles. I don't know how well his flock at Lakewood is doing, but I know listening to Joel sometimes does me a lot of good.

 

[arielette]

He seems to be a feel good pastor. Usually starting out with a joke and basically telling everyone to have a good attitude because God is with us. I don't believe I have ever learned anything from him.

 

[marke]

I wouldn't say that what he teaches in his half-hour TV sermons is complete, and it's true that he doesn't open his Bible that often on the show... but it is all good stuff and all based on Biblical principles. I don't know how well his flock at Lakewood is doing, but I know listening to Joel sometimes does me a lot of good.

Me too. His message was excellent last week.

 

[marke]

He seems to be a feel good pastor. Usually starting out with a joke and basically telling everyone to have a good attitude because God is with us. I don't believe I have ever learned anything from him.

That's so sad.

Perhaps you will the next time.

God bless.

 

[marke]

I agree!



Yes, this is the first step to having a relationship with Christ. But does he ever preach the importance of having Christ as your best friend? Like not just a paragraph, but a whole sermon or something.

Also, I have his book and have been reading it. I'm up to chapter 11 now. I've noticed that when he quotes the Bible a lot of the time he won't put the references in..which can get annoying, but more importantly I feel he takes the verses out of context. A lot of them are referring to Heaven but Joel makes it seem as though they're refferring to earth.

The kingdom of heaven is within according to Jesus.

You too can find it. Open your heart and experience the joy of the Lord.

God Bless.

 

[marke]

Better, how often does he teach WHO GOD IS... other than a heavenly genie up there waiting to shower blessings on you if only you'll "hang in there" and WAIT a little bit longer for your motherload to come in.

Most of the deeper teachings of scripture are ignored. Serious issues & information we need.

Just yesterday I watched a tv sermon by Bayless Conner? It was what causes people to fall away from God (steps to apostacy)... He gave scripture backup & listed how these things creep in our lives & steal us away from where we once were.
& since I took notes, I'll share them:

1) false teaching -1 Tim 4:1-2
2) disobeying your conscience 1 Tim. 4:3
3) persecution Mt. 10:34, Mt 24:9-10 (turning into a coward upon attacks and shrinking back from service)
4) love of the world (Lot's wife looking back) 2 Tim 4:9-10, 1 John 2:15-17

Now, THAT was a helpful sermon; warning us of the pitfalls - how we can start to stumble & fall away from God. THAT IS MEAT of the word. That is teaching to grow by.

Encouraging isn't enough, what good is encouraging if you're starting to crumble in any of the above conditions?
Just HANG IN THERE, it'll get better? People NEED meat of the Word to KEEP FROM the problems or how to recognize the problems and/or symptoms.

That is what a true Shepherd will bring his flock on a continual basis.

If you will not Hear the truth, No one can tell you.

 

[marke]

I work with many Hindu's and saw a Joel Olsten book on the desk of one of my Hindu friends. I asked about it and he said He and His wife saw Olsten on TV, and it made them want to know more about Jesus. They on the verge of acceptng Jesus. They are deeply spiritual in their Hindu culture, so it is no small step. I am picturing them converting, and then spreading the Gospel to the entrie Hindu community around here. Now wouldn't that bring Glory to God.


Joel took over when his father died. It won't do much for you if you are looking for a hard hitting bible teaching sermon. Lakewood Church is more of a "Lukewarm" Laodicean church.

This ministry did not start out as the mega televangelist that it appears. The church was founded by John Olsten in 1959 in a converted feed store.

I would like to see him dive into scripture, but I guess for a 30 minute segment, he just caters to the seekers.

I hope the Hindu folks will be saved.

I feel so sorry for those who are trashing Joel. God put him in that position just as God put "W" in his job. I note many defend the actions of "W" and trash Joel for his actions. Man, I wouldn't like to be them on the day of Judgement.

Sad, sad, sad.

God bless and thank you for the encouraging word about the Hindu folks.

 

[marke]

(not directed at this post) -
I think we should get one fact straight, GOD CAN USE THE SAVED & LOST, GOOD AND BAD to reach people.

Just becuz God can use something to draw you to Himself doesn't mean it's a GODLY person, ministry, group, org., or anything else.
God uses everything for His purposes, dark or light.

We need to stop thinking things like, "well, this can't be bad, becuz people found the Lord thru it". Or, "this helped so & so, therefore, it MUST be annointed by God.
That's totally false.

God used Pharaoh's hard heart to show Israel His power & goodness. God sent lying spirits to work on someone to lead them to do His purpose.
God can use good or bad to reach & draw people to Himself, we cannot just leap to the assumption that it then must be TRUE and righteous.

I agree w/ this post, in that I believe it is one of the churches spoken of in Rev. as in trouble... it's basically led by a Tony Robbin's motivational type speaker who uses some scripture within the message.
I say that becuz anytime preachers of substance preach the Whole truth/counsel of God's word today, they get attacked for using 'hateful' or 'harsh' words... that they aren't "positive enough" or "gentle"... Joel's type of teaching promotes that PC agenda.
So anyone preaching the MEAT of God's word is attacked for being too fundamental or harsh... when it's the gospel message.

Just becuz someone says "GOD" in their sermon doesn't mean they're Shepherds of God or annointed by Him to teach/lead. I'm not judging the man's salvation; that's not my place, but I DO challenge his position in leading a church & his watered down, motivational, pop-psychology messages.

If you will not Hear the truth, No one can tell you.
I just feel so sorry for what you are doing to yourself.

 

[marke]

I would just like to put $0.001 in. If everyone would take a look around and see what is happening in the world, all people need to hear and/or be reminded that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation and there are reprocussions for those who choose not to believe. I do not watch Joel Osteen. I have a few times and have even read the book. I think it is great that he motivates people towards the promises that God has for them. That is a good thing but sheep in any fold also need to be motivated as to what could and will happen to many if they do not know Jesus. Even in Rev. somewhere Jesus says, "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord..."

A pastor once told me that God places great responsibility on pastors because it is a pastor's job to feed His sheep... I do not know if Osteen is "feeding" his sheep or "scratching" their ears... God has a purpose for Osteen, let Him handle it. If he does not work for you or you do not follow his teaching, move on to someone else. He is reaching someone for the Kingdom, I hope; and if not, the blood of the flock will be on the hands of the shepherd/pastor if God's people are not fed correctly...

g

I guess I will have to see for myself if Osteen's teachings are biblical or not. He may be a motivational kind of person. Thequestion that comes to mind right now for me is,"Is Joel teaching milk or meat?"

Good, no, excellent points that need to be said. It seems like some here just can't wait to condemn themselves as per Romans 2.

This thread is SO UNREAL. How can these people trash someone they may or may not have even watched who is helping people to find their way to God? It's UNREAL. No, more like a nightmare.

I feel so sorry for these people. My stomach turns to see what they are doing to themselves trashing this person who is bringing people to Jesus.

Thank you for your excellent post. To bad many will ignore it and condemn themselves further. You got to let go and let God, but I sure wouldn't want to be them come Judgement Day.

God Bless.

 

[marke]

That statement is a scary one...

Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth


If that statement is a true statement, I will be sure to keep my distance from Lakewood, its teachings, and give my book of "best life" away to a new believer...

g

So you are just going to take the word of some person.

How about using your own brain? Your own discernment. Your own Bible.

Do you know and respect this person whose comments and opinions you are afraid of? Or is this person just someone, somewhere in the world who made a comment that could or could not be correct.

Read the book, watch the program and make up your own mind. Blind people following blind people all fall into a ditch. Discover for yourself if these people are blind or not concerning this man. God gave you that gray matter for a reason. Use it!

If you will not Hear the truth, No one can tell you

God Bless.

 

[marke]

He should of did that on Larry King.

You who are without sin, step up and cast the first rock.

And please don't forget you get what you give.

God Bless.

 

[Nadiine]

You who are without sin, step up and cast the first rock.

And please don't forget you get what you give.

God Bless.

That sounds more like Karma than grace & mercy to me, doesn't it marke?

And the truth is this, his message hasn't changed any since this interview... it's not just something he made a mistake & choked on & now he's back to where he should be. His messages continue to lack the message of Jesus Christ & proper spiritual diet for Christians to grow on.

I said this before & I say it again, if Osteen was a drill sargeant in the Military - to oversee new trainees to prep them for an ongoing war in Iraq, I can assure you his motivational sermons would render some of the most Ill equipt soldiers on the face of the earth.
& that's about the condition his congregation will be on when placed on this continual diet of fluff and modern philosophy sprinkled with some encouragement.

Read this excerpt from that interview about why he stuck the bible verses in the BACK of his book:

KING: There's a lot of books about improving yourself.

OSTEEN: Yeah. I don't know. I think coming from the Christian base, and I think the fact that I don't know, it's a book of encouragement and inspiration. And to me it seems like there's so much pulling us down in our society today. There's so much negative. Most of my book is about how you can live a good life today in spite of all that. So I think that had a big part of it.

KING: But it doesn't quote a lot of biblical passages until the back of the book, right?

OSTEEN: It doesn't do a whole lot of it. My message, I wanted to reach the mainstream. We've reached the church audience. So I just try to, what I do is just try to teach practical principles. I may not bring the scripture in until the end of my sermon and i might feel bad about that. Here's the thought. I talked yesterday about living to give. That's what a life should be about. I brought in at the end about some of the scriptures that talk about that. But same principal in the book.
----------------------------
That says it all right there - this wasn't just some SLIP UP we should get over. This reveals a mindset & worldview of his belief that HIS message is the one that contains HOPE, the bible is just secondary to that.
As if his words are more powerful & helpful to people?

He wants to reach the mainstream so lets not use verses thru the book, shove them in back if they want to take separate time to look them up later.
So even if they don't take that time out, they at least got HIS MESSAGE on how to live a better life ---
health, wealth & prosperity using some moral principles.
I'd say the only way to truly have an abundant life is in Jesus Christ & in obedience to His commands whereby you enjoy His favor! (just for starters).

It's alot more than just this 1 interview he choked on - his whole ministry continues this lack of focus on GOD & the MEAT of His word.

 

[pdfiddler]

When I think of Mr. Joel & wife the story of Ananias & Sapphira comes to mind.

 

[Kelly]

but I sure wouldn't want to be them come Judgement Day.

You just judged. Welcome to the club.

 

[pdfiddler]

Gregory Turner -"Is Joel teaching milk or meat?"
It would be wonderful if he did!

 

[PraiseTheLord84]

Like someone else said, we do not know Pastor Osteen personally, so I can not judge him. However, from having watched his t.v. service for the past few years, and having read his book, I don't see anything wrong with him or his way of teaching. Looking over this thread, some were saying that Osteen doesn't tell people they need Jesus, but I disagree. He has an invitation for salvation at the end of every weekly service. People label him as the "happy preacher," but I feel that having a mixture of different T.V. pastors is good. Whether they are happy, prophetic, last days, etc. it doesn't matter to me. As long as they are telling people how to get saved.

 

[Nadiine]

Like someone else said, we do not know Pastor Osteen personally, so I can not judge him. However, from having watched his t.v. service for the past few years, and having read his book, I don't see anything wrong with him or his way of teaching. Looking over this thread, some were saying that Osteen doesn't tell people they need Jesus, but I disagree. He has an invitation for salvation at the end of every weekly service. People label him as the "happy preacher," but I feel that having a mixture of different T.V. pastors is good. Whether they are happy, prophetic, last days, etc. it doesn't matter to me. As long as they are telling people how to get saved.

Ok, they get saved- THEN WHAT? How is he teaching them in depth studies about God's word??
He teaches the SAME crap over & over & over. I can rehearse one of his sermons for you, I know the same points by heart now.

What does he teach about Israel? What does he teach about the Jewish system? Principles of fasting? principles of sin? The lists go on in what he doesn't teach.

If he were training people to equip them to go onto the battlefield ready to fight in the military, their platoons would be the first killed.
They aren't given proper biblical knowledge - they get "how to wait longer for God to bless you". Just HANG IN THERE.... don't lose faith, don't lose patience.....
ad nauseum.
It's not YOUR fault.... don't think negatively......

That is'nt raising people properly. that's the problem AFTER they first get saved.

 

[flyingsum0]

Pesonally I like the dude...I'll admit I haavent read this whole thread though...

OKOK yeah I know Im reading now...

 

[PassionateOne]

Pesonally I like the dude...I'll admit I haavent read this whole thread though...

And judging by your pic, I don't think anyone will mess with you!

All I know is 'I' am one step closer to God, with help from Osteen.....right I was already in my 'walk' but Osteen reminded me everyday, I read his book, to put all my faith in the Lord even when 'things in my life' didn't make sense.