joel osteen scares me

The other night, before I quit TV, I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 3:30 AM. I was flipping channels, and Joel Osteen was on. I decided to watch for a few minutes. I didn't realize that he would be so far off - indeed, preaching lies! - and so creepy. I had watched him before but he must not have said anything that made me feel such disgust. Besides his weird eye fluttering (??), he isn't preaching the Gospel. The Lakewood Church has over 40,000 people that go every week. That's incredible. But it was so sad for me to hear Joel Osteen talking about God's power as something so small and limited to issues some people are concerned about. He talked about how it was a great victory that the church obtained the arena that they now meet in after lawsuits and such. He told people that they can have "complete victory" and that includes finances.

Additionally, he doesn't quote much scripture - he sees himself as a "life coach". He wants to tell people how they should live their life. Yikes! Why will people just choose to follow what he says instead of reading their Bible and praying and being changed by God? It's hard to choose to follow something if people don't know why or who is commanding something.

Psalm 119:33-37

33 Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
35 Make me walk along the path of your commands,
for that is where my happiness is found.
36 Give me an eagerness for your laws
rather than a love for money!
37 Turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me life through your word.

He thinks people can be "totally free" - free from pain, discouragement, poverty, low self-esteem... Uhm... I believe that Jesus was in pain, was discouraged, was poor, etc.

But Joel Osteen apparently doesn't think that just having a relationship with Jesus Christ is satisfying enough. How wrong is that!

Video (don't worry about their comments really)

People need a relationship with Jesus. Not Joel.