I had tears of joy when I paid off my mortgage last year.😉
G_d is in His Heaven, and we will all face Judgement.
Of these I am certain.
All the rest are just asking for your money.
And this Prosperity Gospel Con Man is on the top of the list.
Would love to hear ANY of his followers explain.
But you’d just get the glazed over Cult Eyes, and “If you really believed, you’d know” crapola.
Any former followers on FR?
The interest was killing him
I’ve certainly heard of him. Is he a Charlatan?
Not my cup of spiritual tea, but the hate that gets poured out on him defies belief. Christianity is not supposed to be all sackcloth and ashes, right? It called the "good news" for a reason and from what I've seen the centrality of Christ is part of everything Osteen preaches. So I'm not sure what the beef is.
At my old church they had a desire to serve “at-risk” youth. Kids in homes with drug addicts, etc. They started a school held in the church, then in an expanded wing of the church as it grew.
They realized that so many of the kids needed to get out of their family environment (and some homeless) so they wanted to purchase some nearby houses to run as group homes for the kids.
They started with a girl’s house with 6 to 8 girls in the house and a set of house parents to watch over them (the kids are teens).
That worked out so well the plan was to purchase another nearby home for boys, and then over 10 years or whatever to buy more nearby homes. The neighborhood has small, older homes that are getting bought for the land, torn down, and huge mansions filling the lots.
Anyway - that 10 year plan got moved up when something like 8 homes all on the same 2 blocks got put up for sale in the same year. By some miracle the church was able to buy them all with some donations and loans. I think now they have two girls and two boys homes, and the remaining homes are rented out to pastors or workers at the church until they can get the resources to turn them into group homes.
The kids from the group homes are good kids that just need help and direction. It is pretty amazing to hear some of their stories as they get their lives turned around. One of the things they do is community outreach and help the neighbors with yard work, etc.
“You will know the by their fruit” is how we are to judge so before judging Mr. Osteen how about we look at the fruit of his detractors.
Why would he even mention such a thing unless he wanted more donations.
Words and deeds. The word is good. His deeds are bad. Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap).
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks".
"Though Lakewood Church has full attendance each week and Joel even streams his 90-minute services for the public to watch, he doesn't take the $200,000 salary he could as a pastor there. Instead, he makes nearly $55 million each year from his book career and speaking engagements." - Re: https://www.distractify.com/p/how-did-joel-osteen-make-his-money
I've listened to Joel's preaching on TV from Lakewood church a number of times. I never felt compelled or coerced to send an offering. Just because a church is a mega-church doesn't mean it doesn't have a place or purpose in the body of Christ.
For you to say that members of Lakewood are following a cult is just wrong. If anyone wants to know what Lakewood church teaches and believes, I suggest you check out their website: https://www.lakewoodchurch.com/about
All I know is that I have been repeatedly ripped off by beautiful, successful, rich, “found myself / found Jesus” evangelicals.
My favorite was one who took me and my enterprise for a massive sum. He actually said “my word is my bond” and kept waiting to sign a contract while work began, and continued.
We worked almost a year... Then he walked, leaving us high and dry, having done all the work to build what he presently profits from. I remember the “my word is my bond” line, thinking of Jerry McGuire. It was a red flag.
I ignored it. I believed.
I remember he gave me a crucifix as a gift. Me, a Jew. That was creepy, but I didn’t see the red flag. And I will always remember a year’s work, and the heartbreak, and the loss... And I will never trust such a person again.
In any case, he is “forgiven,”right? And I am an idiot for not getting a signed agreement FIRST, right? But I trusted, and believed.
He was not the first but will be the last such person I work with without an ironclad agreement.
Too bad.
Oh well. All he did was rip off some Jews, so I am sure he doesn’t lose sleep over it.
And that was just one of maybe five nightmare business stories with this certain type of self-righteous “Christian.” Not to mention unpaid bills, which seem countless looking back.
Nope... They all consider themselves “forgiven.” It is a daily absolution, and the victims? Well, we’re just part of the routine.
Lets talk about that Pope shall we. Lets talk about your fake piety
How is he a charlatan? He asks people to send him money and they do.