Reply to S/O: I like Joel Osteen. Change my mind.

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Reply to "S/O: I like Joel Osteen. Change my mind."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  So there are some accusations being leveled against Osteen that he is a “prosperity gospel” preacher.  I have watched quite a few of his sermons and none of them have that message as far as I can see.

If you have a link to any heretical messages by Ostend I would watch them.  I think Osteen gets lumped in with prosperity gospel preachers because he does talk about faith leading to “prosperity” but he isn’t really talking about material wealth, he is talking about inner peace, peace in your relationships, being able to cope with crisis and solve problems through faith.  And yes, a lot of people’s problems are material like job loss and being unable to pay the bills.  These are the things people deal with in day to day life.[/quote]

He's not [i]lumped in [/i]with PG pastors, he's one of the most famous.  The "increase" he promises his followers is explicitly about money, not "inner peace."  https://www.ft.com/content/3990ce66-60a6-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e

[quote]In his latest book, Next Level Thinking, Osteen writes: “If you do your part, God will do His. He will promote you; He’ll give you increase.” Osteen writes from experience. The television broadcasts on which Lakewood spends tens of millions each year provide a lucrative platform for his books and a rolling investment in his global brand. He is reported to have received a $13m advance on his second book, Become A Better You, which came out in 2007. He has written several since then.

When I asked Don Iloff, Lakewood’s spokesman and Joel’s brother-in-law, how Osteen’s riches squared with Christian theology, [b]he laughed. “Poverty isn’t a qualification for heaven,” he said. “Look at how wealthy Abraham was.”[/b] Iloff pointed out that all royalties from Osteen’s books that are sold at Lakewood’s bookshop, or from its website, go to the church.
[/quote][/quote]

The bolded isn’t Osteen himself and is a response to criticism about Osteen’s personal wealth.  “Increase” in the quote above isn’t necessarily material or money.  I mean, I have listened to his sermons and they are not really about money.  Money is a part of them because money struggles are a part of everyday life.

I don’t really judge him on his lifestyle because, quite frankly, you could judge a LOT of Christians on lavish their lives are, including myself.  Where do you draw the line?[/quote]

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