Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen
Joel Scott Osteen is an American preacher and televangelist. He is the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church, the largest Protestant church in the United States, in Houston, Texas. Osteen's televised sermons are seen by over 7 million viewers weekly and over 20 million monthly in over 100 countries. His sermons also broadcast 24 hours a day on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Channel 128. Osteen has written seven New York Times Bestselling books. He has been widely nicknamed "The Smiling Preacher"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionClergyman
Date of Birth5 March 1963
CountryUnited States of America
We can all control our own destiny. And I think sometimes it's a copout to say, "Well, it's this person's fault or another person's fault."
Some people keep God in a Sunday morning box and say, 'Hey, I did my religious duty.' That's fine, but the scripture says to pray without ceasing. And I think that means all through the day you're talking to God. Even if it's in your thoughts.
Our whole message is it's easy to just keep preaching to the church and people that already come.
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 is called the good news. My message is a message of hope, that's God's [message] for you. You can live a good life no matter what's happened to you.
There's plenty about God that I don't understand and can't explain. But I come back to my core belief that God is good, that He's for us.
I think Bible principles are principles for life.
I do know this... I seem to reach a lot of previously unchurched people. So many people have told me they never went to church until they heard our message of hope that God is a good God who desires to bless those who are faithful and obedient to Him through Jesus Christ.
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.
You're not really free until you're free from trying to please everybody.
A lot of psychological principles and even medical principles, you see them coming around to what the Bible said hundreds of years ago: a merry heart is good like a medicine.
You will never change what you tolerate.
Associate with people of vision. Be around those who inspire you and motivate you to reach your dreams.
Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you're doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you.
It's amazing what people will do when you see the best in them, when you honor them, when you respect them. It not only strengthens the relationship, but it will help that other person rise higher.