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To: fungoking
while not someone who follows Joel Osteen, i think there is a difference between him and Dollar... i found this online about Osteen and his money... at the very least, Osteen does not take a salary, and he has written books that bring in money:

Osteen does not taken a salary from his Houston megachurch. He owns one house — the same one he and his wife, Victoria, have lived in for 13 years — and until recently he drove a 9-year-old car he inherited from his late father. Osteen pays his own hotel bills, and there is no private jet.

Although the upbeat minister does take collections at services, netting an estimated $43 million a year, Osteen does not ask for money on his broadcasts, which reach an estimated 7 million viewers weekly in the U.S. and 100 other countries. Nonetheless, an additional $30 million comes through the mail. His most recent book deal earned him a $13 million advance.

“We make plenty of money from our books,” said Osteen, 44. “But we just live normal lives. We try to be conservative and honor God with our life and with our example.”

The success of these books raises questions about how religious figures should handle the millions of dollars in royalties and contributions.

Osteen is not the only prominent religious figure who tries to navigate these issues and, by doing so, differentiate himself from such controversies.

Warren, for example, has repaid every dollar he has earned in the pulpit of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., and pledged to give away 90 percent of his book royalties. He accepts no speaking fees and is not as reluctant as Osteen to criticize those who are less altruistic.

“The opulent lifestyles of televangelists make me sick,” said Warren, of those ministries now under investigation. The scandals, he said, flow from the “prosperity gospel” that many televangelists preach.

“Success in any area often creates a spirit of entitlement — ‘I deserve this’ — that is the exact opposite of servant leadership,” Warren said.

Osteen agrees, offering his own definition of the prosperity gospel: “I never preach a message on money,” he said. “I do believe that God wants us to be blessed, to have good marriages, to have peace in our minds, to have health, to have money to pay our bills. I think God wants us to excel. But everyone isn’t going to be rich — if we’re talking about money.”

23 posted on 03/16/2015 7:56:09 AM PDT by latina4dubya (wheni have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: latina4dubya
***But we just live normal lives. We try to be conservative and honor God with our life and with our example.”***

As much as you can living in a $10,000,000 mansion and throwing hissy fits on airplanes goes.

25 posted on 03/16/2015 8:31:53 AM PDT by Gamecock (Joel Osteen is a minister of the Gospel like Colonel Sanders is an Infantry officer.)
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