Osteen’s Secret to Success
“I think the secret to Osteen’s success is this: he teaches self-help but wraps it in a thin guise of Christian terminology. Thus people believe they are being taught the Bible when the reality is that they are learning mere human wisdom rather than divine wisdom. Osteen cunningly blends the wisdom of this age with language that sounds biblical. He blends the most popular aspects of New Age and self-help teaching with Christianity. And his audience is eagerly drinking this in.”
Tim Challies review of “Become a Better You” by Joel Osteen
Amen. For some odd reason the name “Jim Bakker” comes to mind.
I’m not sure I agree wholeheartedly with that assessment by Tim Challies. If you visit Lakewood (being a Houstonian, I have) you can talk to people who believe in Christ as their Saviour without a doubt and do not follow the trail of human wisdom.
Joel’s father, John, was an amazing teacher of the Word. I think this has changed somewhat with John’s passing and Joel’s filling of his shoes.
Some of what Joel teaches is true. God is always there for us and gives us the strength to prevail through hard times. The strength is in Him but it is given to us.
I believe that as long as God is your center and the focus is on Him, the other things will fade into non-issues.
The interview on television last night tried to point out what church “should” be. Joel doesn’t have a pulpit, he has a podium. So what? I have been to churches around the state and the country and seen some that have rock climbing walls and Starbuck’s built-in, to me, that’s wrong. Transformation of men can’t take place in a vacuum, which is what church becomes if you constrict it to the walls of a building.
Sorry for the long comment, just had to get those thoughts off of my mind this morning.