Joel Scott Osteen (born March 5, 1963) is an American televangelist living in Houston, Texas. Osteen's television lecture is seen by over 7 million viewers each week and over 20 million every month in over 100 countries. His sermon is also broadcast 24 hours a day on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Channel 128. Osteen has written seven New Sellers.
In 2004, her first book, Your Best Life Now , was released by Time Warner and debuted at the top of the Best Seller list. The New York Times . This book remains on the Best Seller list for The New York Times for over 200 weeks.
Video Joel Osteen
Early life and family
Osteen was born in Houston, Texas, and is one of six children from John Osteen and Dolores ("Dodie") Pilgrim. His father, a former Southern Baptist pastor, founded the Lakewood Church, where Osteen is the senior pastor today, behind an old food store. He was educated at Humble High School, a public high school in Humble City, Texas, from which he graduated in 1981, followed by Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he studied radio and television communications but did not graduate and did not receive a degree of the divine school. In 1982, he returned to Houston and founded the Lakewood television program, where he produced television sermons for 17 years until January 1999, when his father died unexpectedly from a heart attack.
Maps Joel Osteen
Careers
Osteen's father encouraged him to preach for many years, but he refused, preferring to work behind the scenes until January 17, 1999, when he accepted his father's advice and preached his first sermon. John Osteen died six days later of a heart attack. Two weeks after his father's death Osteen began preaching regularly and later that year was installed as the new senior pastor of the Lakewood Church on October 3, 1999. Since then, Lakewood's presence has increased from 5,000 to 43,000.
In 2003, Lakewood Church acquired Compaq Center, a former home of the Houston Rockets NBA. The renovation cost $ 105 million. The renovation takes 15 months to complete, and includes five floors to add capacity. Lakewood's 2005 grand opening was attended by approximately 56,000 people, including Texas Governor Rick Perry and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The Lakewood Church service is seen in over 100 countries. Osteen was chosen by Barbara Walters as one of the 10 Most Interesting People of 2006. Former presidential candidate John McCain has described Osteen as her favorite inspiration author. The Osteen family attended Easter breakfast hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House in 2010.
The preaching style
Osteen's preaching preparation involves memorizing his words and listening to himself on the tape.
Osteen says that he chose to focus more on God's goodness and lead a life of obedience than to sin. He said that he tried to teach Bible principles in a simple way, emphasizing the power of love and positive attitude. When asked why he did not focus more on sin, demons and hell in detail, Osteen stated in an interview with CBN News:
As I grow up, the devil is the reason why my headache or demon is the reason I am angry today. We always blame the devil. I think today when I say enemy, I want to make it more spacious. Sometimes the enemy can be our own mind. We have trained ourselves the wrong way. Or the enemy can be a lack of our own discipline. Some people preach about hell like you've gone there, and for me the Gospel means 'Good News'. I would rather say that God is a merciful God. So I think people already know what they are doing wrong, and I definitely believe in hell. But for me, when I see thousands before me, it does not come out of me to say, 'You are terrible, and you will go to hell.' I would rather say that God is a merciful God. You have to live a life of obedience, but for every mistake you make, there is mercy there, and I am sure we can do better.
Books
The first book Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Live at Your Full Potential , was released in October 2004, and reached # 1 on The New York Times Best List seller.
He released his second book, titled Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day , in October 2007. It also topped the list of Best Sellers in the New York Times and has a printout first four million copies. Osteen says that this book focuses more on relationships and does not get stuck where we are in life.
As a senior pastor, Osteen says he does not withdraw the salary from the church, which has an annual budget of $ 70 million. Rather, it relies on revenue from book sales.
Personal life
Osteen married a Lakewood Church priest in Victoria Osteen (nee Iloff) on April 4, 1987. They have sons and daughters. Her older sister, Paul, Lisa, and Tamara, and her sister, April, were also involved in full-time ministry. Her stepbrother, Justin, did missionary work and was based in New York.
Osteen's net worth of 2017 has been reported between $ 40-60 million. He lives with his family in a large 17,000 square foot home, worth about $ 10.5 million on the Oaks River.
Osteen generally avoids discussing controversial issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and politics. However, when asked, Osteen said that he opposed same-sex marriage. Osteen refuses to preach about homosexuality because of his belief that God loves, accepts and approves everyone. When asked if he thinks God approves of homosexuality, Osteen says homosexuality is a sin according to Scripture, but gay people are welcome in his church. He has said sin is human nature, nothing is perfect, and he does not judge, but God is the judge. Osteen also states that he believes a person can be freed from the lifestyle of homosexuality; it is a process and God can free anyone from any sin or addiction. Osteen also stressed that he does not approve of homophobia, but his faith is based on his reading of Scripture. He said that the church has a tendency to focus too much on single issues (such as homosexuality) to the point of ignoring others.
In an interview on Fox News in 2008 during the Republican presidential election, when discussing whether he thought that Mormon was a Christian, Osteen indicated that he believed them. He further reveals that he has not studied religion. In an interview in 2011, Osteen expressed his support for Israel.
The Gospel of Prosperity
Osteen's lectures and writings are sometimes criticized for promoting prosperity theology, or the prosperity gospel, the belief that the reward of material gain is God's will for all godly Christians. On October 14, 2007, <60 Minutes runs a twelve-minute segment in Osteen, entitled "Joel Osteen Answering his Criticism", where Reformed theologian Michael Horton told CBS News correspondent Byron Pitts that Osteen's message is heretical.. Horton states that the problem with Osteen's message is that it makes religion about us rather than about God.
When asked if he is a welfare teacher, Osteen replies that if prosperity means God wants people to be blessed and healthy and have a good relationship, then he considers himself a welfare teacher, but if it's about money, he does not. He specifically stated that he never preached about money because of the reputation of televangelists.
In an interview with The Christian Post on April 21, 2013, Osteen expressed her feelings when considered as part of the prosperity gospel. "I am grouped into the prosperity gospel and I never thought it was fair, but that's just what it is.I think prosperity, and I have said it 1,000 times, it becomes healthy, it has great children, it has peace of mind. is a part of it, and yes, I believe God wants us to be superior... to be blessed so that we can be a greater blessing to others I feel greatly appreciated I write a book and sell millions of copies, and Victoria and I can help more people than we ever dreamed, but when I hear the term prosperity of the gospel, I think people sometimes say, 'Well, he's just asking for money'. "
Controversy
Harvey Hurricane's Response
During Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, Osteen received significant criticism in response to not making Lakewood Church, a 606,000-square-foot basketball arena, 16,000 seats, available as an emergency shelter for those displaced by the storm. On August 27, church postings and social media accounts of Lakewood Church pastors stated that the church was "inaccessible due to severe floods," and associate pastor John Gray posts further, "If WE get there WE WILL OPEN THE DOOR." In a subsequent interview, Osteen replied to the claim that the flood was closing the church, saying "the church was open from the beginning," and, "We are always open... How did this idea begin, that we are not a shelter and we do not bring in people is a false narrative. "This is contrary to previous statements that the church will be open when other refugee centers are full. On the evening of 28 August, it was announced by Lakewood that it would open at noon the following day as an available shelter, opened for storm victims and emergency personnel on 29 August.
Bibliography
- Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (2004)
- Get the Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (2007)
- Your Best Life Starts Every Morning: Devotion Starts Every Day of the Year (2008)
- Good, Better, Blessed: Living with Purpose, Strength, and Desire (2008)
- Hope for Today Bible (2009)
- It's Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Reach Your Dreams, and Increase God's Help (2009)
- Live in Favor, Abundance and Joy (2010)
- Every Friday: How to Be Happy 7 Days a Week (2011)
- I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life (2012)
- Sign out!: 5 Keys to Beyond Your Obstacles and Living an Extraordinary Life (2013)
- You Can, You Will: 8 Unqualified Winning Quality (2014)
- My Power: The Two Words That Will Change Your Life Today (2015)
- Think Better, Live Better: Great Life Starts in Your Mind (2016)
- Blessed in the Darkness: How All Things Work for Your Goodness (2017)
See also
- Christianity in Houston
- Charismatic movement
- The Gospel of Success
- The Word of Faith
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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