Replies

I was talking about the guy not the building he uses for his church. I know other preachers rent out his building like Joyce Meyer as an example. I took about maybe three minutes of his preaching and just gagged.

He is very popular with people who want to hear that their prosperity is the proof od their virtue.
I remember Reverend Ike. In the 70s I had a small house on the southside of St Petersburg where my family and the ancient guy next door were the only white residents for many blocks around. We got flashy fliers on our doors whenever the Rev came through. He took the Prosperity Gospel to its farthest extension. The slick pamphlet was full of pictures of him with multiple diamond rings and a BIG gold watch. The underlying message was Send Me Your Money and God Will Return It to You Manifold. Many people in the neighborhood sent him their money. I didn't see any subsequent new Cadillacs or house remodellings, though, and nobody moved to Snell Isle.

"I was talking about the guy not the building he uses for his church. I know other preachers rent out his building like Joyce Meyer as an example. I took about maybe three minutes of his preaching and just gagged."

It seems to me that most of the prosperity preachers are more at home in the Old Testament, where they can find a few nuggets to support their message. But the message of the cross seems pretty alien to his message. He's basically telling people, "Whatever might be happening in your life right now, some day God is going to make you rich." It's like he's offering a Christian version of Lotto.

In the aftermath of the Houston flooding, there were pictures of his house posted here, and Osteen lives like a Saudi prince. I think some of the televangelists are sincere - maybe even Osteen is - but sometimes it seems to me that Christian TV has done more harm than good. For millions of non-Christians, televangelism is what Christianity IS.