Before joining these condemning folks in this heinous character assaination and accusations hurled at Joel like the rocks the Pharisees of old threw, maybe you should do a little checking first because your comments make it pretty obvious you haven't done that.
Did you know you can watch the whole Lakewood service streaming live online Saturday nights and Sunday mornings? You would find out, among other things, that THREE TIMES PER SERVICE, Joel prays the prayer with those who want to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Character Assassination - not a chance. Joel Osteen is free to be criticized. Just because he leads many to Christ does not make him exempt. Which Christ is he leading them to? The apostle Paul wrote that many lead to something other than Christ crucified. Joel’s christ is money. His style of leadership some question as a false preacher whom leads some astray. But I know I will get criticized by some that Joel Osteen is a false preacher
THREE TIMES PER SERVICE, Joel prays the prayer with those who want to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Yes! It’s my favorite part!
That said, you want a pastor that will lead you to Christ as LORD and Saviour. Not just as Saviour - but as LORD and king of your life. IF Jesus is your Lord - you will want to know all about Him, and to know what you can do to please and obey Him. The Lord preached more about Hell than any prophet. He spoke about sin and damnation. The Lord, God manifest in the flesh, and being the brightness of the Glory of God the Father, was merciful and gracious to sinners -- but He also told us to go and sin no more.
I have not sat through an entire Joel Osteen 'sermon' - but the portions that I have watched I've seen a smooth speaker with a warm smile. He seemed to be very affirming and encouraging that all things will work out well ... but I have never heard him warn his flock about the dangers in the world. No warnings that sinful behaviour will separate one from God. Just encouraging attaboys.
If he is truly leading you to Christ as LORD and Saviour, and feeding you with the Word - and not just platitudes of the world - then that is good. It is just not what I saw and heard. You may want to checkout some of the sermons on sermonaudio.com, John Greer; or Alan Cairns, for example, but on the risk of being branded a Pharisee (Paul was a Pharisee, by the way) I don't retract my earlier comments. The interposing of the stopping the Sun for a day (Joshua's battle in Canaan), or Daniel's 3 friends in the furnace, as events that happened in Moses' time, is troubling. It is akin to an historian relaying that in George Washington's Farewell address he spoke about how America had defeated the British at Yorktown, and the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. It would tell me that this "historian" did not spend much time reading history, as it tells me that this person does not spend time in Scripture. Could the Lord still mightily use such a person as a Pastor. Sure, but I'd be extremely suspicious. I.e., it is a good part of the Pastor's job to be steeped in the Word, and to feed his flock with it. If he is not, yes, God can work with whatever He has -- but I also know that there are many charlatans and sheep in wolf clothing out there - and we need to be careful not fall under the spell of any of these deceivers. The way we do that is to gauge their faithfulness to the Word of God.
Osteen couldn’t lead people out of the rain.