Thoughts on The Preaching of Joel Osteen [blog/article]
What’s the big deal about Joel Osteen? Well, Joel Osteen is one of the most well-known Christian preachers in the world. His sermons are televised across the globe and it is said that his weekly reach spans 7 million viewers. Joel is the pastor of the nondenominational, Lakewood Church in Houston Texas. Lakewood is also the largest church in the United States. With millions of eyes tuning in to watch Joel each week there must be something powerful about his preaching, right?
Over the past few months I decided to study the preaching of Joel Osteen. For roughly 2 months I’ve tuned in to Sirius XM Channel ??? to listen to his sermons every week day while driving to work. Watch the video below as I share my thoughts on the preaching style of Joel Osteen.
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Kelly Wilkins
Apr, 09, 2015 3:45 PMMin. Terrell, I agree that his sermons can be superficial, they don’t dive deep into the Word of God nor address the historical context of the text and how it relates to us today. Also, positive thinking and speaking positively can only get you so far. These are outward activities. God wants us to change ourselves from the inside out. That’s why I said he only deals with the superficial. However, I am not saying you can’t get anything from his uplifting messages. One day I tuned in and his wife and him were doing and a talk session on forgiveness and it pricked my heart. All I could do is praise God while I was driving down the road. But if you want to know about the bible and you want it to speak to all areas of you life then you have to talk about other things besides being successful. You have to deal with your failures and the contradictions going on around us. Which brings to me to considering that Joel speaks from his context and reality. If he’s not been touched by these realities and his congregation has not either he is preaching what he knows. I guess he has not read Luke 4:18-19,18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Mary Burrell
Apr, 09, 2015 8:18 PMIt’s like a motivational speech. It’s too sugar coated and that’s dangerous in my opinion
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Apr, 09, 2015 9:22 PMFor the past two to three decades, preachers like Joel Osteen have increased in popularity. He is a person who tries to appeal to everyone, but he doesn’t really rock the boat in his preaching. We live in an unique time in our world. We face police terrorism, income inequality, environmental issues, poverty, etc. If political leaders have the right to mention information about these relevant issues, then preachers have every right to tell their congregations about these important social matters. There’s a precedent for this too. Many preachers and religious leaders are known for protesting against Jim Crow, standing up for peace, and standing firm in their spiritual convictions. So, Joel Osteen does sugarcoat on many cases, but we do have the responsibility to not only critique, but to help our neighbors too.
Rsmary
Jul, 28, 2015 10:39 PMJust found this.
I love Joel. He is a good man. My parents are both 92. They live at a fancy Erickson community Ashby Ponds, just four miles from my home. They have church there, but since my mom had a stroke, they sometimes cannot make the 10:00 service and stay in their apartment and watch Joel.
Many of us have had our Bible lessons. We love and obey God.
Joel speaks positively to those that need that, like a transfusion of hope.
I am so fortunate, no, LUCKY, to have my parents near me. I am with them every day.
Camille
Aug, 11, 2015 4:34 PMI enjoy his sermons because it isn’t draped in the thick cloak of guilt and shame that other ministers and churches give-off. He is also funny and light-hearted and appeals to the everyday man. His golden ticket seems to be don’t talk down or be too intelligent than your flock, so a lot of his sermons come across as everyday talk and story-telling. It is nuts to think that he is so successful and hardly peels away the layers of scripture for deeper meanings. I also think people like looking at him, he isnt hard on the eyes. In my humble opinion he is no different from a republican candidate in campaign mode, shiny like a new penny with thousands of personal anecdotes to put a smile on faces and appear a lot less rich than he actually is off of their money.