Posted on 02/16/2007 8:12:07 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Out of a cancelled storm watch in Houston and into sunny California, Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church - one of the largest churches in the nation - is getting a refresher before heading into another weekend of services with some 40,000 attendants.
Thu, Feb. 15, 2007 Posted: 14:31:19 PM EST
Out of a cancelled storm watch in Houston and into sunny California, Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church one of the largest churches in the nation is getting a rare refresher before heading into another weekend of services with some 40,000 attendants.
After giving the first part of his day to God, which he encourages his church to do for a positive and productive day, Osteen spoke with The Christian Post Tuesday morning talking about megachurches, megapastors, and what a typical day for the pastor looks like.
CP: Your second book is coming out this fall? You said you wanted to expand your outreach with this book and you've already reached millions. What is it in this new book that will reach out to even more?
Osteen: Im just covering some different subjects that I didnt in my last book so Im just excited just for a new way to touch peoples lives and hopefully plant a seed of hope in their hearts.
CP: Do you have a title yet for your upcoming book?
Osteen: I dont have it 100 percent yet. I probably would rather not just say it yet.
CP: I saw a broadcast of one of your services and it seems your wife Victoria has a strong presence on the pulpit as you do. I heard shes also coming out with a book. What will she be writing on?
Osteen: I dont think shes totally decided on what subject yet but she is very involved and shes just in the process of getting her thought together on it now. Shes got something coming out on Mothers Day of 2008.
CP: I spoke with your brother-in-law Jim Graff several months ago on his book A Significant Life. He highlights the fact that most of America doesn't attend megachurches. At the same time, megachurches are growing. What does the future look like for American churchgoers? Will more people be in megachurches?
Osteen: I think so; I believe that all the churches are going to continue to grow. I think faith in America is at an all-time high. And I think as we continue to help people and to change with the time, to be relevant and practical. I dont see it going down at all. When I grew up you know Im a preachers kid it was a big deal to have a church of a thousand. But now theres churches all over the world with thousands and thousands. I just see it continuing to grow.
CP: You said that faith in America is at an all-time high. But many Christians believe America is more secularized than ever. What are your thoughts on that?
Osteen: That may be true as well. I just see again from growing up in this, Ive never seen people talking about their faith as much, Ive never seen a city like Houston, we have probably about a dozen churches that have thousands of people in them. So everywhere I go, I can see that people are just hungry for hope and hungry for the love of Christ. Im sure somebody could see it the other side but Ive never seen faith so high and Ive never seen people talk about their faith so much.
CP: Scott Thumma at Hartford Seminary said that pastors of the largest megachurches are in some sense a brand in and of themselves. Do you feel youve made yourself a brand or at least that thats how people in America view you as?
Osteen: I dont really think about it. He may be right. I know its something we havent done intentionally. I think anytime you try to reach out and help people and use the media
you know all my stuff, its just who I am. Im positive and Im hopeful but I dont know that I would disagree; maybe it is [true], but I dont know if its a bad thing. My hope though is that everything points toward the Lord.
CP: On another note, a Barna report came out saying that most Americans and Christians as well don't actually know who high-profile Christian leaders such as yourself are. Does that surprise you?
Osteen: I dont really think about it that much. I just continue trying to do what Gods called us to do. It seems like everywhere I go, people stop me and talk to me. I would like to think were making a difference, but its really not about us being known, its about making God known. I hope none of us are in it for ego or power.
CP: You were voted one of the most fascinating by Barbara Walters and the most influential Christian in America by the Church Report. Youve already accomplished a lot this past year. What are your goals for 2007? What can we look forward to this year from you and your ministry?
Osteen: I think the main thing, I just want to continue to grow and be open to what God wants to do. I got my book coming out in the fall and love to use the media in new ways to reach more people. Its all happened so fast. Ive just been doing this for eight years. I guess my main goal is just to continue to reach people the best we can, hopefully help impact their lives and just change culture for better.
CP: You just mentioned that youre thinking of trying out new ways in reaching out. Im curious if you have plans to reach out more on a more international scale? Maybe pursue satellite churches or something along the lines of what Rick Warren is doing around the world with his Purpose-Driven model.
Osteen: Well, we definitely do. I dont think theyre formalized as much as like Ricks and in his P.E.A.C.E. Plan. But I feel like our strong, our gifting is through the media so we really look at opportunities to put our broadcast and our message all over the world. So thats probably our biggest thrust right now and [see] what other markets are open. Were looking strongly at the Philippines and South Africa. We already air in Australia and Europe. Were going to increase some of those. Its a smaller world with the media. Were definitely looking at that. Plus, were going to continue to increase our support in India. My father started that years ago and Ive been there with Victoria many times. We support orphans and native pastors over there. Thats kind of where the large part of our international thrust is.
Plus, were translating our weekly broadcast into different languages now. One goes out through Spanish and were looking at several other languages.
CP: Have you heard of satellite churches?
Osteen: We definitely have. You know at this point its not something I really feel like Im supposed to be doing. We have a lot of people ask us all the time. I dont know. Even in our city, my friends, a lot of them have four or five campuses. You know Gods given us that big new facility and its pretty centrally located. I feel like thats right for us now. There may be a day where typically you can do stuff in cities all over the world. I know people right now watch us over the Internet over in China and other places, they watch us live and its 12-14 hours difference, but they still watch us live. I dont feel as strongly about that as I do with the mass media and the broadcast side.
CP: With the new Compaq Center, you had acknowledged that the church had cut back on its charitable giving. You said this is a season for establishing the church and building its base. Could you elaborate on the base you mentioned?
Osteen: What I mean by that is it cost us about $120 million to get into that new facility thats paying the lease and renovating it. We support a lot of missionaries all over the world. But at that time, I was just saying that in order to get us in there and get some of that debt down, we have not grown [in supporting] as much as I wish Id like to. When I say establish the base the more the church grows, the membership, the more funds we have to support people all over the world. Where we were before without moving into this facility we were capped out; we could not take any more people. So now I feel like its a season two, three years. Were in there now, things are going strong, were starting to support again, in fact weve started many of those outreaches already, started them back up. I feel like weve almost gone through that season.
CP: How many years do you project for that new facility to be paid off?
Osteen: Weve paid about $75 million of that 125. I think we could probably pay it off sooner, but I dont put all the money towards that debt. We still spend $30 million on TV every year. We can pay it off in a year if we rearranged the money. But I dont feel good about that. I feel like continuing to press forward.
CP: You emphasized giving the first part of the day to God in a message. What do you do first thing in the morning and can you describe what a typical weekday for you is like?
Osteen: I start off every morning just taking the first half hour Ive already done this part (this morning) to read my Scriptures and just take time to pray. Mainly, I thank God for what He has done in my life, for my wonderful family and all His goodness. And maybe read a little more, maybe a devotional or something like that; I guess it depends on if Im not studying. [On] a typical day, I usually go out and I like to run for half an hour, exercise, lift weights.
CP: What about a typical workday?
Osteen: [For] a typical workday
I would get up and I would spend that time with the Lord and then [on] Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I would probably study; I just spend almost a whole day reading, listening to tapes. I usually start early in the morning maybe about 7:00 and work until about 4:00. Ill take a break and go play with my kids. A lot of times at night well go up to the gym at our church and play basketball, go for a walk with my wife. Typically, I work out of my home; I typically spend most of my time preparing for the weekend. I spend Wednesday studying, Thursday and Friday writing my message and Saturday morning I go over it again and Saturday night we have service. Then Sunday, work all day and usually get home at about 4:00. And then Monday and Tuesday, I try to take some time off.
CP: What tapes do you listen to? Is there any preacher in particular?
Osteen: I just do everybody. I like to get as broad as I can. I probably have 50-60 people and all the different books. I just get as broad as I can.
CP: Its Valentines Day. Do you have any plans with your wife?
Osteen: Were out here in California. Were just going to hang out. Were not far from the beach so I think were just going to have a relaxed time. We dont have our kids with us so were just going to have time getting away and getting refreshed. We try to do it about three to four times a year. Thats sort of what were doing this week. Were just trying to get refreshed.
Terrible grammar in that headline...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1460523/posts
http://www.iam-spirit.com/0502_joelosteen.html
Joel Osteen
By C. Russell Brumfield
A rising star in the new Culture of Christianity.
On any given Sunday, 100 million households from Australia, Europe, and across the USA will tune in to view Joel Osteen broadcasting from the 30,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Rated as the #1 inspirational television program by Nielson Media Research, Joel Osteen is preaching a message that certainly seems to be touching home with people all over America. In his much respected best selling book, Your Best Life Now-7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, Osteen outlines a seven-step process for effecting profound change in your life. He speaks in terms of the positive in everyday life. Expect God's favor, live your full potential, realize your God-given right to prosperity, including being happy, building a good marriage, and having good relationships. Accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative are really the basis of Osteen's message. His true gift is in speaking directly to the viewer, almost to the point that the viewer feels that Osteen knows him personally. He talks about everyday real-life issues, using self disclosure from his own experiences and subsequent lessons learned in order to relay a powerful message.
Osteen's story has been often told in recent years. His father was the much-loved and revered Reverend John Osteen, founder and longtime pastor of the Lakewood Church. Father John authored 45 books and was know as the "pastor's pastor," leading seminars and conferences around the country along with running a successful television ministry. Joel Osteen's first experiences were in business and media, becoming a successful producer of his father's television ministry. Upon his father's untimely death in 1999, Joel humbly stepped up to fill his father's shoes, and the rest is recent history.
The amazing phenomenon that we are witnessing with the rise of Osteen is that he has seamlessly incorporated and integrated the long-practiced prosperity principles of the century-old New Thought movement (principles derived from the teachings of Jesus and even earlier teachings) into a mainstream Christian message. A mere decade ago, most of the TV preachers and hometown pastors delivered a message that those in the flock are sinners, undeserving, dust-of-the-earth folks, who could not expect much from God other than a beautiful afterlife. The common teaching did not recognize that we are empowered with making a good life for ourselves. In fact, many would have called Osteen's teachings blasphemy. And some very vocal mainstream Christianity proponents are saying just that. The internet is littered with "outing Joel Osteen" messages, stating that he is card carrying metaphysical teacher not unlike Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Neale Donald Walsch. They say that he speaks the same lingo as the well known self empowerment gurus of today, adding a Christian tint and point of view.
When Osteen is asked who inspires him, he is vague in his responses. When asked which books he reads, he replies that he reads many books and has no particular favorites. When interviewed about gay marriage and other liberal ideas, he has replied that he doesn't get into that. Regardless of where the basis of his message comes from, it is powerful and fulfilling to his large audience. It is quite apparent to any knowledgeable viewer who may have studied New Thought and other metaphysical writings, that Osteen is preaching what philosopher William James called "the religion og healthy-mindedness." He is delving far beyond the power of positive thinking of the Sixties and Seventies. He discusses our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and belief systems. Some metaphysical teachers are feeling cheated, for Joel Osteen is bringing mainstream Christianity down a parallel path of teachings. But what does it really matter? If mainstream Christianity can transform its ages-old "fire and brimstone" fear-based message into one of self empowerment and practical positive living , then it is all the better for humanity. The world's Christians can now feel empowered and happy without the prerequisite guilt that was so prominent in the past.
Joel Osteen is touching a chord in the human spirit in teaching empowerment, betterment, positive thinking, optimism, and gratitude toward God. The overwhelming response is evidenced by blockbuster book sales and skyrocketing television ratings. And this very same phenomenal response is commensurate with the need of the seekers that he is reaching out to.
On a more reflective note, the melding of practical spirituality and Christianity may not be good for the long-term "brand" equity of Christianity. If you can watch presentations by Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson and Joel Osteen side by side and see little difference in the teachings other than terminology, what will be the outcome of the loyalty to one particular religion? All of these teachers are offering a similar message in different packaging. The real outcome of Osteen's rise is yet to be seen. The present conclusion is that he is greatly helping to uplift humanity by teaching self-empowerment, negating victim-hood, and relieving people of the propensity for guilt in striving for prosperity and abundance.
Joel Osteen is definitely a mover and a shaker of the highest nature. His charm and charisma packaged with a succinctly delivered message will only propel him to even greater heights. Expect his to be a household name around the world in the coming years. Whereas Billy Graham delivered a powerful sermon and saved millions of "sinners," Joel Osteen is sure to uplift and elevate the lives of many millions more.
So it's not about Christ, but a self help book.
I shocked!
Yeah someone might steal it!
Rick Warren said the first line of his new book is going to be "What you think you own is only on loan." Catchy huh?
"How to get it your way on a commercial flight."
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