Larry, there a so many jealous assholes pretending to be Christians. It has always been this way. Joel has too many church members and it burns the butts of the dead and dull churches and their members. I like 'em all. The more Christians, the better.
I agree, many of these responses are disheartening. I'm not a fan of Joel Osteen, to be honest I don't know much about him, except that my mother--one of the dearest, most God-fearing persons on the planet--loves his books. His books brought her hope by bringing her closer to Christ. I get tired of this ranting and railing against "Health and Wealth" ministries; much of it is misinformed about what these ministries preach. I remember when Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson (Prayer of Jabez) came out, and there was the typical "shoot insults ask questions never" crowd whining about the "Health and Wealth" ministry, and this group merely confirmed its illiteracy by ignoring the fact that Wilkinson explicitly labels sin and egotism as barriers in the way of experiencing God's blessings.
Corinthians 12:17, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?"
If the whole body of Christ was about condemning sin, where would the hope be? If the whole body of Christ was about love, where would the holiness be? There are different roles to be filled in the body of Christ, and not everyone is an ear, and not everyone is an eye. I don't know Osteen very well, but here's a thought--maybe his role isn't to make people feel bad for his sins, but to remind them that God made each individual in His image, and that God loves His children.
To disregard any message of hope for prosperity in this life as unbiblical, is unbiblical in and of itself--just as any message that ignores the consequence of sin and the call for repentance is unbiblical. The Old Testament (I hate that label, I prefer the Hebrew Bible, because Old Testament implies that those 3/4s of the books that make up the Bible are luxuries instead of necessities and thus inferior to the Gospels and Epistles, a conclusion which would surprise Jesus) is riddled with examples and arguments of how material blessings can result from your actions in this life. Prayers to become pregnant, prayers for deliverance from suffering, blessings of wealth if you bless the seed of Abraham, blessing of long life if you honor your parents, financial advice in Proverbs--there is room for preaching on prosperity. If that's Joel Osteen's role in the Body of Christ, so be it. If he is a shuckster, well he'll have his "reward" too. But judging him based solely on this prejudice against the hope of blessings in this life, that's well, ignorance of God's word.
Not everyone's called to be a prison minister, not everyone's called to serve in the 3rd world, not everyone's called to start a small business, not everyone's called to be a teacher, not everyone's called to be a plumber, not everyone's called to preach hellfire and brimstone, not everyone's called to be wealthy, not everyone's called to be poor. As many cells there are in the body, are roles in the Body of Christ. But one things for sure--you won't know what your blessings are or aren't, if a bunch of stick in the mud Christians has disillusioned your faith by swatting down the notion that God can and will bless your life in some way. Some people need to be convicted of their sins, some need to be given hope. I see too many people in this thread indifferent if not antagonistic towards the latter, and seem to have too much fun trying to execute the former.
John 13:34, "Love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all mean will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Possibly the hardest commandment in the Bible, and certainly one I fall victim to. Love your Christian brother, so that the world may bear witness to your example. Can this honestly be said about this thread, or any of the others on this site? It's hard, because we all believe we have it all figured out theologically, and we just can't trust God enough to think that our ignorance will be filled by His wisdom. I don't mind skepticism towards televangelism, or honest questions of ministry methods, but when are the recriminations in this thread ever justified? So Osteen invited Pelosi to church. Oh no! I cast thee down to Hell, Joel Osteen! Reaching out to the lost, trying to love your fellow neighbor as yourself. What's a good Christian to do?!?
The politics and media pandering of Pelosi and the dems soil my shorts at times at well, but a healthy dose of any experience with loving Christians would help the kingdom of Heaven, not hurt it.
I agree 100%.