Is Joel Osteen Phoney or Legit?

Question

Have you read his books?

Answer 1

Joel Osteen is legitimate. He's coming to Tampa on December 1st and I'll be there. His whole family have been devoted to God. His mom's book, Healed of Cancer, is something which my Dad has bought and given to many people in my church who have struggled through cancer.

Anybody who knows his mother's story as revealed in Healed of Cancer can see God's power as real. What happened with Dodie, Joel's mother, is better than my mother's end of her battle. However, my mother found her way home a little faster.

Dodie's late husband was pastor of Lakewood Church before her son took on leadership. Somehow her family has faithfully continued in the way of the Lord. I am hard-pressed to find many families who have inspired more than this one.

Your Best Life Now by Joel is a good one, which I gave to Dad as a gift recently.

Answer 2

Joel Osteen is as phoney as every other televangelist/preacher.
Lakewood Church is the largest church in Houston, I believe. And I have one way to discern true Christianity.
As long as there is one hungry person in your neighborhood, you cannot afford to build a fancy building.
I realize it was first pastored by his father but he continues to waste money on foo foo to impress somebody while there are hospitals, homeless shelters, homeless people, jails and a lot of other things that would have given God glory. That is why I know in my heart he and all the others are as phoney as a 3 dollar bill.

Answer 3

I have not read his books but I have seen him on the tube. I hate to say that someone is not legit, but he seems to preach the old message that if you believe enough, you prayers will be answered. I don't hear him talk about the fact that God's plan for us may not include comfort and luxury. The bible says that we may have very difficult lives. Hardship and poverty are not always bad things. I wish he would preach that it may be part of God's purpose, for some of us to be used in more humble ways than others. If we are poor, we should find joy in the knowledge that we are still fulfilling God's purpose. I will not say that this makes him illegitimate, only that I believe he is mistaken.

Answer 4

eeewww...he's creepy. He comes across as really fake on television. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity, but I think his preaching is largely misguided.

He's part of the crowd that has watered the gospel down into a self-help, feel-good therapy session. Osteen makes Christianity seem so selfish - that if we want to have "our best life now" we just have to follow the recipe. The gospel is not a recipe for self-esteem or success in life; it is a constant challenge for us to die to self - to cast off our own selfish desires and to truly live for others.

Answer 5

I don't care for him personally. Any Christian who will not stand up and say Christ is the only way to heaven isn't a Christian. After all, Christ is the foundation of Christianity.

Answer 6

I HAVE SEEN JOEL OSTEEN AS HE MINISTERS ON THE TV SET AND I DO BELIEVE THAT HE IS REAL BUT HE CERTAINLY HAS A LOT OF TEETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

I have read "your best life now". I am not a religious person at all, but I love the guy. Im always sceptical of religious people on tv, but I was never of him. I think he can really draw people in. He is just a happy guy.

Answer 8

Here is his interview with Larry King.. decide for yourself and do some other research too.. lots of stuff out there on his teachings.

KING: But you're not fire and brimstone, right? You're not pound the decks and hell and dam nation?

OSTEEN: No. That's not me. It's never been me. I've always been an encourager at heart. And when I took over from my father he came from the Southern Baptist background and back 40, 50 years ago there was a lot more of that. But, you know, I just -- I don't believe in that. I don't believe -- maybe it was for a time. But I don't have it in my heart to condemn people. I'm there to encourage them. I see myself more as a coach, as a motivator to help them experience the life God has for us.

KING: But don't you think if people don't believe as you believe, they're somehow condemned?

OSTEEN: You know, I think that happens in our society. But I try not to do that. I tell people all the time, preached a couple Sundays about it. I'm for everybody. You may not agree with me, but to me it's not my job to try to straighten everybody out. The Gospel called the good news. My message is a message of hope, that's God's for you. You can live a good life no matter what's happened to you. And so I don't know. I know there is condemnation but I don't feel that's my place

KING: Do you share Billy's (Graham) beliefs of life after death in a sense of going somewhere?

OSTEEN: I do. I do. We probably agree on 99 percent. I do. I believe there's a heaven you know. Afterwards, there's, you know, a place called hell. And I believe it's when we have a relationship with God and his son Jesus and that's what the Bible teaches us. I believe it.

KING: But it doesn't quote a lot of biblical passages until the back of the book, right?

OSTEEN: It doesn't do a whole lot of it. My message, I wanted to reach the mainstream. We've reached the church audience. So I just try to, what I do is just try to teach practical principles. I may not bring the scripture in until the end of my sermon and I might feel bad about that. Here's the thought. I talked yesterday about living to give. That's what a life should be about. I brought in at the end about some of the scriptures that talk about that. But same principal in the book

KING: Because we've had ministers on who said, your record don't count. You either believe in Christ or you don't. If you believe in Christ, you are, you are going to heaven. And if you don't no matter what you've done in your life, you ain't.

OSTEEN: Yeah, I don't know. There's probably a balance between. I believe you have to know Christ. But I think that if you know Christ, if you're a believer in God, you're going to have some good works. I think it's a cop-out to say I'm a Christian but I don't ever do anything ...

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.

CALLER: Hello, Larry. You're the best, and thank you, Joe -- Joel -- for your positive messages and your book. I'm wondering, though, why you side-stepped Larry's earlier question about how we get to heaven? The bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light and the only way to the father is through him. That's not really a message of condemnation but of truth.

OSTEEN: Yes, I would agree with her. I believe that...

KING: So then a Jew is not going to heaven?

OSTEEN: No. Here's my thing, Larry, is I can't judge somebody's heart. You know? Only god can look at somebody's heart, and so -- I don't know. To me, it's not my business to say, you know, this one is or this one isn't. I just say, here's what the bible teaches and I'm going to put my faith in Christ. And I just I think it's wrong when you go around saying, you're saying you're not going, you're not going, you're not going, because it's not exactly my way. I'm just...

KING: But you believe your way.

OSTEEN: I believe my way. I believe my way with all my heart.

KING: But for someone who doesn't share it is wrong, isn't he?

OSTEEN: Well, yes. Well, I don't know if I look at it like that. I would present my way, but I'm just going to let god be the judge of that. I don't know. I don't know.

KING: So you make no judgment on anyone?

OSTEEN: No. But I...

KING: What about atheists?

OSTEEN: You know what, I'm going to let someone -- I'm going to let god be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell. I just -- again, I present the truth, and I say it every week. You know, I believe it's a relationship with Jesus. But you know what? I'm not going to go around telling everybody else if they don't want to believe that that's going to be their choice. God's got to look at your own heart. God's got to look at your heart, and only god knows that.

Answer 9

Legit and lead by God.

Answer 10

I've seen him on the telly. I think he's for real. (from Texas so hard to tell) lol