Last Sunday, TheBlaze visited Lakewood to speak with Osteen about his career path, stereotypes surrounding televangelists and the rewards and challenges he so regularly faces. Among the most intriguing discussion points was Osteen’s rise to fame — a story that may not be known by many.
“When my father died in 1999, I had never ministered before except one time and that was the week of,” Osteen explained. “I don’t know how to describe it. I knew I was supposed to step up and pastor the church.”
Osteen recalls feeling that the emotion and urge didn’t make sense, even to him. After all, he had truly never preached in a professional capacity and had little theological training and experience beyond what he had learned from his father. But with the blessing of his family and with the church congregation behind him, he took the stage just one week after his father’s death and the rest is, well,...
Gentlemen implying--Joel Osteen has never ministered is correct. He gives motivational seminars that have nothing to do with Christianity.
2 Corinthians 2 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.---NASB
Joel hates--truth.
Albert Barnes wrote: II Corinthians 2:17: Verse 17.For we are not as many. This refers doubtless to the false teachers at Corinth; and to all who mingled human philosophy or tradition with the pure word of truth. Paul's design in the statement in this verse seems to be to affirm that he had such a deep sense of the responsibility of the ministerial office, and of its necessary influence on the eternal destiny of man, that it led him to preach the simple gospel, the pure word of God. He did not dare to dilute it with any human mixture, he did not dare to preach philosophy or human wisdom. He did not dare to mingle with it the crude conceptions of man. He sought to exhibit the simple truth as it was in Jesus; and so deep was his sense of the responsibility of the office, and so great was his desire on the subject, that he had been enabled to do it, and to triumph always in Christ... [/QU
In the latest Heart Cry magazine, Paul Washer says: "we should never seek to lower the standards or the demands of the gospel in order to gain more converts for God. God does not require or ask for such help from us."
Watered-down gospel leads away from biblical truth. The days of Noah also were watered down with righteouss judgement from the LORD. Welcome to the days of Noah that Christ spoke upon before His return. Laodicea had Him knocking on the door and today man's imagination is manifested in all their actions and decisions.
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