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12:08 p.m. - Monday, Feb. 07, 2005 thank-you, jen. I know I walk a line with all this. I know Joel Osteen's church does have various outreaches, which is great. However, I guess what I'm addressing here is what Joel's theological ideas are when taken to their logical end. I can't withold criticism on the basis of some of what an organization does. For example, the local Gospel Mission provides dozens of homeless men and women with beds. That's great. They also regularly mistreat people and make them feel worthless. They enforce illogical rules, and the two people who handle the finances of the whole place are in hot water for possible fraud! Ananias and his wife gave a lot to the church. They were struck dead because they were deceptive and did not give all. It would be easier to criticize if everything a person did was evil, but humans are complex and there is always good peppered in. Ananias and Sapphira didn't have to sell their field in the first place! Joel, nice guy as he is, may be inadvertantly deceiving himself and thousands of others. The gospel is not smiling and feeling good. It is crucifixion. In that, there is joy, yes, but that joy should never be cheapened. I fear that Joel has cheapened the gospel and turned prayer into a form of control and witchcraft. To use God to secure a parking space is sorcery! The parking space story is right out of his book, and there are other equally disturbing stories of "favor." Favor is having the awareness that while I was a sinner, Christ died for me. It is not finding a parking space in front of Wal-Mart. Does God care about the little things? Of course. Should I write a book about how I found a parking space? No! Just say "Thanks" and move on. Love justice. Do mercy. House the homeless. This is the gospel. I don't know Joel Osteen's heart. I want him to be a big jerk who only cares about money, but that is most likely not true. He's a nice guy with a good heart. From what I can discern, however, he is a nice guy with a good heart who should stay far away from the pulpit. In researching my "letter" (yep, I actually researched!) I found this site. It's a little baptist, but I generally agree with their assessment: http://www.discernment.org/LeavenLakewood.htm Further discussion anyone? ---------- an addendum (adendum? andemsome?) I went to the bookstore, and in the interest of fairness, I read the first chapter of Your Best Life Now! Sorry, folks. Witchcraft. Evil. Terrible writing. It encourages people to confuse blind ambition with "expanding your vision." I do hope that in spite of this, good things are accomplished by his church, but this is absolute heresy. What's frustrating is that this is a huge bestseller while really good authors struggle. I'm not just writing this because I wrote him a fan letter with a link to this diary, but go buy anything by Donald Miller. He'll affirm your life and make you forget about Joel Osteen.
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