When you give to the Church, who supports the poor and sends the gospel message around the world, then you are giving to God, period.
When you give and test God, as God requires, then he will throw open the floodgates and there will be a blessing, in which you will not have room to receive it..(paraphrased)
Actually, that is the message. Joel Osteen is an ‘encourager’ in the Bible. It’s a gift to uplift the Body of Christ. Every Pastor or Reverend and all Evangelists have a message from God that is the basis of their ministry...’because the hand is not the eye, etc’ shows all Christians are not to be the same.
“When you give and test God, as God requires, then he will throw open the floodgates and there will be a blessing, in which you will not have room to receive it..(paraphrased)”
The way Osteen delivers this message, it’s no better than a pyramid scheme. Actually, it is worse. At least in a pyramid scheme, the first few tiers will see some return. In Osteen’s scheme, he gets the money, and rest of the people have to hope that God decides to make good on Osteen’s promises.