60 Minutes: Joel Osteen interview up next

[Roland99]

The next Falwell?

I saw a bit of his "preaching" this morning while flipping channels. He was going on about how he was blessed with being able to buy an acre lot next to the one he owned and that God wants him and everyone else to be happy and that they too will receive riches, essentially, if they put God first.


Hmm...I don't recall anything like that being taught by Jesus.

This guy is just a slick snake-oil salesman.



Oh, the place he was preaching? The *arena* where the Houston Rockets used to play!!

[NC_Nurse]

1. He's one of those "prosperity" preachers.

The "feel-good, get-rich-through-Jesus" religion. It's a trip. :eyes:

[Roland99]

2. HA...CBS interviewer just asked him if he wasn't just more like a Dr. Phil.

heh heh

[dflprincess]

I prefer it be called the "Gospel of Greed"

I can't recall which part of the Bible the stuff he preaches is in. It certainly wasn't taught at Catechism when I was a kid, but then those silly nuns must not have understand how Jesus really works because they all took a vow of poverty. (And worse than that, they tried to pound the idea that we have a responsiblity to others into out fat little heads - they were practically socialists.)

[Roland99]

11. Well, I recall one verse this morning he pulled from Deuteronomy....

Ch. 8, Verse 18:

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth


But that's only part of that section:



# All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
# And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
# And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
# Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
# Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
# Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
# For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
# A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
# A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
# When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
# Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
# Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
# And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
# Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
# Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
# Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
# And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
# But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
# And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
# As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.



Nice of him to pick parts of Deuteronomy that suit his agenda, forgetting the entire context. And even forgetting other chapters such as Ch. 17:


# If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
# And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
# And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
# Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

[AX10]

3. To his defense, he does not preach the hate that Jerry Falwell did.

[Roland99]

5. But he's gone too far the other way...he's all light and fluffy and nice and good

And how people deserve to have material-filled lives and success in their jobs and not preaching about the need to sacrifice and help others.

He teaches people to be self-centered.

[Submariner]

4. Reverend Goodhair

is the suck-sessor to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Another idiot jesus freak teaching the sheep about imaginary sky people to keep the masses ignorant.

[hlthe2b]

6. Preaching what his congregation WANTS to hear....

and getting rich in the meantime... Yup, that's the definition of snake oil salesman, but better that then selling hate.

[ecstatic]

7. I don't watch his show but I've seen a few clips of him

He seems like a genuinely nice guy. He'd have to take a pretty nasty turn to end up like Falwell. I don't get the impression that he is a hatemonger like Falwell and the other guy from 700 club.

[Hamlette]

10. I agree...he didn't say anything that bugs me about religion

he is more like a happy go lucky Dr. Phil. (And the service looked kind of fun. Coming from a hard core died in the wool 3rd generation atheist......)

[immoderate]

21. Same here.

For a preacher, Osteen seems benign.

--IMM

[Initech]

8. I'm kind of indifferent on Osteen.

On one hand, he doesn't preach the hate-filled, spineless lunacy of Falwell, Hagee, and Robertson. On the other hand, I don't like the way that he's been turning Christianity into a business. His arena-church is proof of that.

[DemoTex]

9. I'm confused. Is Osteen the Jew-converted-to-Christianity "theologian" from Austin?

Is Olsteen the guy who was Bu$h's spiritual rooter during the 2000 campaign? Might have been a University of Texas theology professor? Fundy Christian from a Jewish background?

I think I may be off base on this. Help me out, Texans.

[Critters2]

17. No. Osteen was never Jewish.

His father was pastor of "The Lakewood Church", and Joel took it over when he died. JOel Osteen is pretty much a motivational speaker with a Bible in his hand. He doesn't preach RW hate, because he won't approach any kind of controversy. Doesn't talk about glbt issues, abortion, or anything political. Just "If Jesus really loved you, you'd be rich...like me."

[Gloria]

12. Oh, God, he's on TV here on Sunday mornings....at least, he has

been on a local El Paso station ...I no longer even go that low on my list of TV channels that I watch...

[alarimer]

13. So much for the meek inheriting the earth

These people make me sick.

[Joe Bacon]

14. I see Ayn Rand has a new disciple

Why doesn't Rev Joel just admit that he'$ in if for the money and ju$t rename his ¢hur¢h "The ¢hur¢h of Looking Out For #1 and $¢rewing Everyone El$e"

It's the old Ayn Randian Laissez Fairyland shit. Get Yours and Fuck Everyone Else!

[World Traveller]

15. I live in Houston, Joel Osteen's Home

For those who wonder. I've lived in Houston 30 years. His father started an evangelical type Christian church, and called it Lakewood Church. The father basically started it from scratch and built it into a large megachurch. Father seemd to be be more of an old timey fire and brimstone type preacher, from what I remember. Father was televised at least here locally in Houston. He was much sterner when he preached, as I recall.

Father died and family put up billboards in Houston, about how much they missed him (I know, I used to pass by one). Mother took over preaching for some time.

Then, after a while, Joel took over as leader. His preaching is definitely different from father. Very positive, plus Joel is a lot more charismatic than the father or mother.

What amazes me. There is a stadium centrally located near downtown that was called the Summit. Seats 30,000. I've been there many times. Rockets basketball games, circus, music concerts, etc.

Lakewood Church bought the Summit and Joel now preaches from there. The "conservatives" tend to live further out, so I never could figure out how he filled it. Then I started hearing stories.

A single friend in her early 40's (immigrant engineer from Colombia, Catholic) told me she had gone to Lakewood Church a few times because it was a great way to meet other singles. A Unitarian minister (I'm Unitarian) at one of our talkfests, said he had visited other churches in Houston to try to learn from them. He said the best church that was truly organized and welcoming for guests and new members was Lakewood. They created a small church feel in the way they are organized to make sure everyone is welcome, attended to, and involved.

So now you know some background and local feedback re: Joel. I could NEVER be a member of Lakewood nor follow its preachings, but in terms of their own goals, they are very good at what they do.

[LiberalHeart]

18. I had dinner with his daddy one night many years ago...

It was in the '70s at a dinner party. Daddy was one of several guests from various religions enjoying a Passover meal at a rabbi's home in Houston (the rabbi's name was Schachtel). For that evening, at least, Joel's dad was a gentle and charming person. I recall that when we were introduced, I was told he had the largest church in Houston. The congregation was in the thousands even back then.

[Roland99]

19. Sounds like our own Six Flags Over Jesus complex...Southeast Christian Church

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=38.228699,-85.547318&spn=0.00606,0.007768&z=17

I have to see that every day on my way to/from work. Nearly $200 million for entire complex so far. Pulls in people from up to 1-2 hours away.

Offers a very feel-good atmosphere and lots of activities like volleyball, kids activities, etc. I hear similar things in that people use it to network or meet someone, all under the pretense of being faithful worshippers of God/Jesus.

Self-centered hypocrites.

[AlCzervik]

23. i used to live in Spring back when Joel had a mini mega church.

[Rockholm]

26. The Summit seats a tad over 16,000.

No way it could even be configured to hold 30K.

[MidwestTransplant]

16. Jesus wants you to have a yacht and a Bentley. So long as you affix his name to both.

To believe otherwise is to believe Jesus doesn't exist.

[NoodleyAppendage]

20. "You are weak. You are powerless. You need a father figure in the clouds." Blah, blah, blah...

So, a college drop out somehow has the "magic formula" for life? All he's doing (as all religions) is letting people feel better about their circumstances and the fear of death by promising them a better life elsewhere. Meanwhile the Earth sinks into ruin and there is no REAL attempt to make things better because of this religion-endorsed, selfish attitude of "fuck it, someone else will take care of the mess."

J

[lordsummerisle]

22. My only question is

why is 60 Minutes now 120 Minutes??

[Roland99]

24. ? only 60 Min. It was delayed due to football though

[lordsummerisle]

25. My cable menu is showing 7-9 Pacific Time n/t

[Roland99]

27. hmm...checked mine and it shows a 90 min. timeframe blocked out.

Season opener? *shrug*

[GreenArrow]

28. He's sort of the "religious" version of John Edwards

.

[Kingofalldems]

29. He supposedly burst into tears during th interview

Funny, but I saw no tears at all. Anyone notice this?

[Roland99]

32. Yeah...he was all head-in-hands and tearing up at being able to help people

or some shit.

[GreenArrow]

30. Living Your Best Life Now with Joel Osteen

Your Best Life Now:
7 Steps With Joel Osteen to Living Your Full Potential

In case you haven't read one of the hottest-selling books in America, we're here to tell you that you're not living up to your full potential. And you'll never know how much potential you really have until you read Pastor Joel Osteen's tome.
Or, for the sake of brevity (and a small savings) we could just tell you here.

· Step One: Enlarge Your Vision
The key here is "your" vision—not God's or anyone else's. Be certain that you stay centered on what "you" desire. As Pastor Osteen reveals, "you" can drive any car you want, even a Lexus (which is what Pastor Osteen drives, thank God!) and you can live in the biggest and best house on the block (like Pastor Osteen) if you just enlarge your vision and dream the biggest dream you possibly can. Of course, you'll also have to dream up new ways to make money, and lots of it, but don't let anyone tell you that making more money is impossible. If you're working at Wal-Mart, get out now and start looking for that job with Donald Trump. Or better yet, become a pastor of a mega-church. That way you'll be certain to have more than one Lexus, just like pastor Joel.

http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/archives/osteen03.html

[More Than A Feeling]

31. From the little I've seen of him, I like him.

He went something like two minutes without mentioning god at one point, and I couldn't find much in the rest of his message on that particular day to disagree with, during the time that I watched. So if you mentally filter out the god and forget you're in church...*shrug*

[TwilightGardener]

33. I watched him from time to time on the tee-vee. He's OK--I'm Catholic, but

he sometimes has a good lesson or message for everybody, and doesn't seem intolerant.

[johnnie]

34. Honestly, I think he is ok

I have caught some of his shows and they are typically decent sermons and he has good things to say. I have never heard him say anything hateful like some other preachers.