I've caught his TV sermons on occasion (moreso now that I attend Sat PM services at my new church and I'm not a fan. He's Robert Shuler for the new millenium, imho. (For the record, I said that last sentence and then decided I really needed to read the IMonk post. Nice to know I'm not alone in my snap assessment of Osteen as Shuler.)

I disagree with Bill that betrayer is too strong a word. Osteen is providing a great disservice to his congregants and television viewers because he does not preach the full Gospel message - full including sin, Jesus, Jesus' death and resurrection. He does a weird "alter call" thing for the TV folks, but there's no context, and it's the same every week. The few times I remember him quoting Scripture it was all Old Testament stuff - not that that isn't good and relevant, but he never points to Christ.

Then there's the odd little mantra they all have memorized about their Bibles - it's not the memorization of Scripture but some catchy thing that on the face sounds good, but with deeper thought smacks of near cult-like behavior.

I've expressed my concerns about Osteen and Lakewood in the past. As I said, I'm not a fan and I appreciate Spencer's challenge. I wish some evangelicals would have done the same with Shuler in the 70s-80s.

I think the interviews iMonk links to at the start of his post (and which he encourages folks to read beforehand) are a critical reference point for his remarks.

If you're just going by the two or three bits of sermons you've heard Osteen preach on TV (which was all I knew about him back when I was reluctant to criticize him so openly), you might think his criticism is overboard. Heck, it still might be, but it is based on Osteen's actual remarks and practices. Not just an impression of the man.

I don't know what to say about imonk's challenge. I read the interviews and was uncomfortable with the way Osteen danced around the subject of Jesus. I don't know if he is always that reluctant to mention Jesus by name but...

As I said in an earlier post, I am preaching through the book of 2 Timothy. In this mornings passage, Paul tells Timothy to "remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, the offspring of David, this is my gospel." He goes on to say that he is bound like a common criminal, why, for preaching the gospel.

Now I know we are not Paul, but we should be. A man who was willing to suffer, if that is what was required, just so he could tell people about Christ and he reminded his young apprentice to do the same.

I know this is long and windy but I just think this guy had a chance to "remember Christ" when directly questioned about him and he didn't. I hope he is not the new mouth piece for evangelicalism. I don't know what this whole comment means but I just want Christ to be at the forefront of a "preacher's" message.

Kenny, you are right. One question stood out to me in particular because his answer was all about "my message" rather than God's message of Jesus Christ.

Jared, I appreciate your update to the post. Your point about contentment and sacrifice is good - somehow a segment of Christians today are living under the impression that life should be comfortable and pleasant at all times or you are not living it right or in God's will. I'd like to point them to Job and Jesus and Paul and the apostles - none of them lived comfortable lives yet they were all seeking to live Godly lives.

Book excerpt from the very first chapter of: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
http://www.parable.com/parable/item_0446532754.htm&ct=Chapter_Excerpt

Chapter One
Enlarging Your Vision

I heard a story about a man on vacation in Hawaii with his wife. He was a good man who had achieved a modest measure of success, but he was coasting along, thinking that he'd already reached his limits in life. One day, a friend was driving the couple around the island, showing them the sights. They stopped to admire a gorgeous house set high on a hill. The property was replete with beautiful palm trees and lush green gardens in a picturesque, peaceful setting with a panoramic view overlooking the ocean.

As the man gazed at the magnificent home, he commented to his wife and friend, "I can't even imagine living in a place like that."

Right there, something inside him said, Don't worry. You won't. You will never live in a great place like that.

Startled at his own thoughts, he asked himself, What do you mean?

As long as you can't imagine it, as long as you can't see it, then it is not going to happen for you. The man correctly realized that his own thoughts and attitudes were condemning him to mediocrity. He determined then and there to start believing better of himself, and believing better of God.

It's the same way with us. We have to conceive it on the inside before we're ever going to receive it on the outside. If you don't think you can have something good, then you never will. The barrier is in your mind. It's not God's lack of resources or your lack of talent that prevents you from prospering. Your own wrong thinking can keep you from God's best.

Your own wrong thinking can keep you from God's best.

You, too, may have assumed that you've already peaked, that you've reached your limits in life, that you will never be more successful. I'll never achieve significance, do something meaningful, or enjoy the good things in life that I've seen others enjoy.

Sad to say, you are exactly right ... unless you are willing to change your thinking. That's why the first step to living at your full potential is to enlarge your vision. To live your best life now, you must start looking at life through eyes of faith, seeing yourself rising to new levels. See your business taking off. See your marriage restored. See your family prospering. See your dreams coming to pass. You must conceive it and believe it is possible if you ever hope to experience it.

To conceive it, you must have an image on the inside of the life you want to live on the outside. This image has to become a part of you, in your thoughts, your conversation, deep down in your subconscious mind, in your actions, in every part of your being.

Envision Your Success

Good grief. I think I've read enough. But if you read the rest of the chapter you will see misuse of Scripture and more of the same "if you can visualize it, it's true" nonsense. From this chapter, I don't see him ever defining success or what kind of things the Christian should strive for. Every example given, seems to be about luxury, stuff, and bigger=better. What about the Kingdom, man?

Oooo...this kind of drivel makes me SO mad!

I don't want to say mean things about the guy, but true things, that's a different story. He has it all wrong. What we need to invision is a lost world on a hill. Goodness...we don't need to even invision it, we just need to open our eyes!

It reminds me so much of the one year my husband and I sold Amway.

Now I must go sing "May the Mind of Christ My Saviour".