Posted on 02/21/2014 6:03:50 PM PST by Gamecock
Full Title: Joel Osteen's $10.5 Million Mansion, Cross-Less Church and Other Surprising Facts About the Mega-Pastor
Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, and the bestselling author of books like Your Best Life Now and I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life, has been dubbed "the smiling preacher" due to his toothy smile and upbeat attitude. Here are a few facts about Pastor Osteen and his ministry you might not know.
1. Joel Osteen Met Victoria Osteen in a Jewelry Store
Pastor Osteen and his wife Victoria Osteen met in 1985 when he went to a jewelry store to buy a new battery for his watch. Osteen has shared the story about how he met his wife with the Lakewood Church family.
2. Joel Osteen Takes No Salary From Lakewood Church
People magazine reported in a 2007 feature on Pastor Osteen and his family that the megachurch pastor stopped taking a salary from his Houston church in 2005, as his book deals have proven to be lucrative. The same article reported that Osteen was paid an advance of $13 million for one book.
3. The Osteens Live in a Mansion
Houston CultureMap reported in 2010 that the Osteens moved into a home in the River Oaks area of Houston, Texas, that was valued at $10.5 million. The same article reported that the Osteens had kept a former residence valued at $2.9 million while listing a vacant lot near their former home for $1.1. million.
4. Lakewood Church Has No Cross
Pastor Osteen acquired Lakewood Church's new home at the former Compaq Center in 2005. The 16,000-seat arena is home to the nation's largest congregation (43,000 members) and underwent $95 million in renovations, according to a 2005 New York Times article. "Like many new evangelical churches, the building has no cross, no stained glass, no other religious iconography. Instead, it has a cafe with wireless Internet access, 32 video game kiosks and a vault to store the offering," the paper reported.
5. Joel Osteen Was an Extremely Nervous Public Speaker
Pastor Osteen told Esquire magazine earlier this year that he used to be an extremely nervous public speaker, although he does not show it nowadays manning the Lakewood Church pulpit. He overcame his fear and nervousness by pretending that his audience members were old basketball buddies from the local YMCA.
“smarmy” is the word
and “grifter” on a grand scale
Others.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” - 2 Timothy 4:3
Why be profound when your constant cheshire grin earns you a $10.5 million mansion?
Besides, his shallow preaching line appeals to his large audience.
Joel Osteen and that Bishop from NJ should get together and compare their earthly mansions.
No matter what the opinion of him and their megachurch nobody is forced to watch it or donate funds or buy his books. Taxes and crapola from DC and to a lesser extent Austin for Texans gets forced down our throats and we are demanded to pay up. If he lives in a mansion that he paid for with honest revenues then so be it. Godless leftists peddle sewage and make millions while he’s preaching a positive message. Perhaps not the meaty word of the Bible but if it helps some people then so be it.
“4. Lakewood Church Has No Cross “
If I was Jesus, I’m thinking I would avoid buildings that had a caricature of me hanging from a cross.
As to his $10 million dollar mansion: Yes, he paid for it with what he earned from his books, but how would they have sold if he didn't have a a huge televised weekly program to advertise from? What does he give back to his church? They claim to have programs to help the poor and needy, but really all they do is help you find some government source to feed off of.
Is “tithing” a gospel ordinance?
I have stumbled upon his broadcast a few times. Each time I turned the channel and shook my head in a negative manner.
“I came across one and the speaker was talking about the $500,000 addition to some Catholic official’s home in the NE.”
Some catholics like the pope have austere lives...the present one is very selfless. He just happens to like commies, though.
Yeh, it’s cute how his acolytes here stick to the devotional flagged threads. Safe ground.
***preaching a positive message***
Which makes him a motivational speaker, not of minister of our risen Lord.
Didn’t he pay only 15 million for the world class sports/concert hall that he has his services/fundraisers at?
Elvis, Sinatra, Prince, The Rolling Stones, The Rockets, The Aeros, all played there.
He got ripped off on that house.
Wasn’t Tim Allen a convicted coke dealer?
I don’t see Jesus on the cross in the vast majority of Protestant churches. That is a Roman Catholic thing.
The jealousy on this thread is pretty thick.
He’s the CEO of a large enterprise. If he helps people’s lives why can’t he be paid well?
He’s not even taking money out of the offering plate so God bless him.
Didn’t Jesus say whomever isn’t against me is for me?
There is no such thing as a “Gospel ordinance.”
You are confusing categories.
“If I was Jesus, I’m thinking I would avoid buildings that had a caricature of me hanging from a cross.”
A caricature? Feel better with flashing red neons?
I suspect he knows better than to believe in the hereafter....unlike the fools he is fleecing!
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