Joel Osteen Scam Joel Osteen in 60 Minutes  Joel osteen  The new face of religion  Joel osteen with wife He writes books, gives sermons and inspirational advice and has been interviewed by some of the best anchors on TV including Barbra Walters and Larry King. And that’s just the beginning. His sermons have an estimated audience of over 7 million viewers in over a 100 nations. He has given a face to evangelical Christianity in America. He is Joel Osteen. “America’s Pastor.” However with no background in religion, no degrees in Bible studies and no college degree how credible is this pastor? Let’s investigate the Joel Osteen scandal.
It can be said that Joel Osteen is a modern pastor who has revolutionized the way people pray in America. Head of a television ministry, an enormous church, $43 million a year in tithes and another $36 million in mail order donations, this jovial pastor has made his mark with his positive preaching and “prosperity gospel”. He is often called the “anti pastor” since he has little resemblance to those perceived as religious leaders. Joel is young, energetic, modest, joyful and has a co pastor wife. Every Sunday he is somehow able to draw in the crowds by his flawless performance and positive messages. With the use of high definition TV, a rock orchestra, a multiracial gospel choir and a band of nine lead singers Joel controls, guides and inspires thousands and thousands of Evangelical Christians every Sunday. His Lakewood Church is no ordinary place; in fact it is often described as a mega church.
Joel Osteen is without a doubt America’s leading pastor. He is everyone’s favorite with even top politicians offering their support to this religious revolutionary. Osteen took over from his father as pastor of Lakewood Church after producing the church’s television program for 17 years. With no prior experience in preaching, Joel only preached once before his father’s demise. Hoping to keep the loyalty of the 8000 member church, Joel’s preaching instead inspired thousands eventually leading him to preach to over a 100 nations around the globe. Non judgmental and evasive Joel uses the positive messages of love and peace from religion rather than focusing on sins and punishment. And he hardly ever cites passages from the Bible. He has also been criticized for rarely mentioning Jesus in his books, for not displaying the Holy Cross on stage and for his lack of theological training.
And that’s not all. In December 2005, a flight attendant accused Joel Osteen’s wife, Victoria of assaulting the attendant on flight from Houston to Vali. The attendant went on to declare that she was physically assaulted by Victoria who became enraged when some liquid was spilled on her first class seat. For 3 years the case remained undecided. This was a very trying time for the Osteens. Incriminatory words such as “devil”, “cult” and “racist” were used by the accuser however the Osteen’s prevailed in the end. As a conclusion to this fiasco, the Osteen’s were exonerated in the end.
Although he lacks religious training but what he preaches is universal. According to Osteen “it’s better to encourage than condemn.” The theme of his message is simple. It is to thrive where you are planted. This means that you should find happiness in what you are given rather than chasing pipe dreams all your life. “God's got you in the palm of His hand. You won't leave one second before your time. If God wants you to be here, then you're going to be here.”
In his own words Osteen states that he is not a trained preacher and he doesn’t mind. "Billy Graham, his gift was to go out and win people to Christ. It's different being a pastor. I'm trying to teach people – how do you live the abundant life? That's my gift. Some people are good at taking the scripture line by line and talking about how it was written, but that's not my gift… I believe you've got to repent of your sins; you've got to have a relationship with Christ. So I believe all the fundamental things, I just don't focus on that."
So you be the judge. Is Bill Osteen really the answer to the modern day concept of religion? Some who doesn’t judge or criticize nor condemns but sees the good in life and the good in God and brings others to the light. Or is this a talented actor, now a millionaire, playing with people’s faith and feelings all in the name of God. The Joel Osteen scandal has not reached its conclusion yet. Ultimately time will be the best judge of this creative pastor and the catalyst of a million dollars God machine. 
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