Comments on: Reactions to the “60 Minutes” Joel Osteen Piece

By: Terri

Terri — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:59:01 +0000

Jeff,

wow..I never checked back on this comment thread to find your comparison of me to Helen Reddy. How that has anything to do with my actual point is beyond me.

But thanks for the kind reminder that it must be all in my head. I’ll be sure to remember that when I listen to Reddy next time.

By: bhl

bhl — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:04:35 +0000

“Perhaps the gospel’s messages are too old and stale and need a new interpretation”

Yikes. Vicki, I can only pray that one day you will understand why you need Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that His message was not to make you feel bad or better, but to direct in how to truly live a life that is reflective of the Father.

By: Crystal

Crystal — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:07:50 +0000

God left us his words; it’s up to us to make them work for as long as we need them. We shut down God every time we divert from our true purpose – the gift He sent us to experiment LIFE. Live and allow others to live – help others to live as well. Fill HIS purpose and you will feel GOD inside

God gave us His Son, His Holy Spirit, and Himself..not to use for whatever works best for us..but for a wonderful and awesome eternal relationship.. Vicki..if you do come back here, I want you to know there is so much more past RIGHT NOW.. eternal life is guaranteed in Christ Jesus, but Joel doesn’t tell you that…

I pray that you will find yourself in a place where you need the life giving blood of Christ and that you will be able to say Jesus is enough..

God Bless

By: Vicki

Vicki — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:15:08 +0000

Who cares if he preaches the Bible messages or not. Perhaps the gospel’s messages are too old and stale and need a new interpretation; after all God hasn’t spoken again. I like to hear Osteen’s messages of hope and hard work because he propels you to look inside yourself and fix things up; don’t wait for God to do it for you; take charge, take responsibility and move on. The Gospels appeal to the poor or anyone that is not satisfy with life because they offer hope, but I never see Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or the like needing or looking for gospel messages. I like Osteen’s new hope. I don’t have to feel guilty for wanting something better for my family or myself. Osteen is not preaching envy and jealousy, but hard work and desire to conquer the barriers to carry you or me to the next level. It’s a new message of giving our gift “purpose” here on earth. Don’t wait for resurrection or eternal life, give it now. We don’t have any warranties that we’ll make it to the “eternal life” if any. Personally, I’m tired of others having what I desire and need the most while waiting for “things to get better with eternal life.” God left us his words; it’s up to us to make them work for as long as we need them. We shut down God every time we divert from our true purpose – the gift He sent us to experiment LIFE. Live and allow others to live – help others to live as well. Fill HIS purpose and you will feel GOD inside you like never before.

By: BobbE

BobbE — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:05:17 +0000

My input is that everyone has the right to believe or feel the way they want, remember this is America. With that, it doesn’ matter to me what any of you think about Joel Osteen, whether you are a Christian, Theologian, or whatever. The bottom line ‘for me’ is that out of all the ministers i have ever listened to in my life, Joel Osteen is the first preacher ever that i feel excited to listen too and I recieve a christian heart felt message that applies to my everyday life. If preachers would stop preaching about the old days (BC) boring, and begin preaching about today, maybe more people would start attending chruches and want to give back to churhes. Joel Osteen defintiley is not even paid enough for the great work he does every week.

Love Ya Joel! Keep doing what you are doing, there will always be critics when you are doing something great, i think you are ‘outstanding’.

Bobb

By: Marianne

Marianne — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:55:42 +0000

The funny thing is I had no idea about who Joel Osteen was until I heard about him on i-monk. I generally pay no attention whatsoever to those who fall into the categroy of “evangelist”.
Then I happened to see a book on my assistant’s desk, and just vaguely thought the name was familiar so I glanced again.
JOEL OSTEEN. Hmmm..I had heard that before…. then I mentioned the name to my cousin and husband…seemslike they had heard of him also!

Got on Youtube last week and have been watching everything on the guy. The sheer volume of his audiences is really amazing to me but I am not familiar with mega churches in general, being from NYC.

Obviously the guy is hitting a nerve in the
collectibe conscious. Translation: People love him. why do we always kill the messenger? If his message did not resonate with people on some level, he would have NO ONE in his stadium. Obviously, people are hungry for his message. People are hungry for possitivity, for affirmation, for speech that is uplifting and loving.
I heard a very moving podcast of Onsteen’s called, “Be loving toward yourself”. No mention was made of money or prosperity. But it really cut to the core about self-love. in listenign to it hey, I realized that I needed some of what he said.

Perhaps for many of his followers, Onsteen is just a piece of their overall spiritual journey. Looking at things positively has helped me a great deal in my journey over the last few years, I know that. The lens though which I previously looked at life was really negative. Now I really trust God, (ok not always but trying) and believe that he supports me no matter what I “see” in the physical. Now, I did not get THAT from the RC church or 16 years of catholic education. I got that from the “new agers” which some people on this list judge and criticize so harshly.

I cannot judge at the moment if Osteen is
some greedy slick bastard or if he really loves what he does and wantes to help people. Right now I am just watching the movement, the zeitgeist.

One other thing and I shall end this tome… and this is just from my own personal experience…I have learned and been uplifted by the bible quotes he uses, and I have heard only a modicum of his material. In this way, I have heard the word of God and been brought closer to it.

By: April

April — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:23:18 +0000

I have been changed by this “faith” message. I have no degree other than a high school diploma, so I am sure this may seem to be a simple reply:
the websters college dictionary say’s that prosperity is 1. sucess 2.a period of economic well being 3. state of good fortune.
By embracing this gospel I am very rich.
A small business owner mother of 3 and wife of a wonderful husband of 21 years. We are very rich and prosperous. Even though we earned 50K last year. My point is this message is about the gospel, Strongs meaning “the good news” Not about how much you have in the bank. Even though we enjoy being debt free, who the Son sets free shall be free indeed.
I would like to close with the gospel it speaks for it’s self. Beloved I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers 3John 1:2. I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly John 10:10 If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Matt 7:11 Do not touch God’s anointed. Do my prophets no harm. Psalms 105:15
Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against (Joel’s)good behavior in Chris may be ashamed of their SLANDER.

By: sdf

sdf — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:40:10 +0000

Jesus,Paul, and the Apostle John spoke about the dangers of false prophets. We should follow their example. Does Joel Osteen’s message compare to the message in Scripture? Because believe it or not that is the standard (The Bible). Lest we forget. Jealosy is not the issue here. The issue here is the countless souls that are not hearing the true gospel message. They are deceived into thinking that they need to “feel good”, when they need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
And by the way, 1 Tim 3 gives the quallifications for the “man of God” and two of them stick out for me. First of all, he should be able to teach(and he does not teach from the Bible) and second, he should not be greedy for filthy lucre(how much money is enough). To me, that disqualifies Joel Osteen.

By: Brown

Brown — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:50:59 +0000

Oh by the way, he doesnt motivate me at all! I think that he allows me to focus so much on me that its depressing because I fail myself at times. But the fact of the matter is that when I can focus on the giver of life, lover of my soul-Jesus I find true hope

By: Brown

Brown — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:46:52 +0000

I feel that Joel does not want to get dirty. He presents people with this hyper-optimistic view of themselves and places value in things that are not eternal. The truth of the Gospel is that we are dirty filthy -(totally depraved)people who need a savior. God’s wrath had to be satisfied because of sin…that is the sin of Adam that was passed down to all of mankind. Joel doesnt address sin and therefore cannot fully address the beauty of the cross. The rugged, bloody, hard cross of Jesus carried the sins of the world. Through the cross full redemption and justification was achieved; thats hope! Not the temporary fleeting nature of cars, money, houses, and just being happy all of the time. The hope of the Gospel is that Jesus grants a life abundantly passed all this (stuff)materialism. The cross is both beautiful and offensive. Joel undermines the beauty of the cross because he fails to address what it earned. Real hope is knowing that because of Jesus my home is not on earth, but in heaven. Derek Webb-”if your sin is great, your savior is great! but if your sin is small your savior and the cross is small” Eph. 2:8 for it is by grace that you’re saved, and this not of yourselves so that no MAN can boast, it is the gift of God.