Monday ¿Mande?

Mande (mon - like the word on- day) is Spanish for "say what?" or "come again?".
or as I often say, "What the que?"

This morning I had the, eh hem, privilege of hearing a particular Mr. Joel Osteen confound me and confuse the word of God in an interview with local NBC news reporter Lauren Freeman.

If you are not familiar with who Mr. Osteen is, I shall call you blessed and tell you. He is the "pastor" of Lakewood, a church that is considered a mega-church here in Houston.

His second book "How to Become a Better You" goes on sale today, with a record setting 2.5 million pre-published.

The title alone would serve me fine as the Monday ¿Mande?, however I do have something else in mind.

During his interview with Lauren, clips were shown of him preaching sermons, reason being this is how he describes what his new book is about, his sermons, Lauren said "fleshed out" if you will. Ha, how apropos. During one of the clips he says:


"Really, mercy is loyalty in action."

¿Mande? You are in church and we are talking about God...tell me, just who is it that God is loyal to Mr. Osteen? Biblically speaking, mercy is not getting what you deserve.

As you can tell I am not a fan of Mr. Osteen (I am sure his multi-million dollar ministry is just crushed by that). I really struggle with so much of what he says and could post several pages worth about it. And I am sorry if I coming across mean here, however he really disturbs me to no end.

As my friend Sharon said, if you are looking for a self-help or motivational book this one will do great. However what he writes and what he 'preaches' are both marketed and packaged as "Christianity" and "Christian Living". And neither Mr. Osteen's books nor his sermons hold true to the Word of God, the true Gospel message.

And yet, he has such a large following from every corner around the world. Sad.

You can watch the entire interview here.

If you are a fan, I am open to discussing this with you. Email me at emailmoya@gmail.com.

8 comments:

  1. Sadly, my sis and brother-in-law go there - mainly because his parents go there and will buy them lunch, plus they get out in time to watch football. Good reasons, huh? I happened to mention to my sis last night that they really need to find a new church and she immediately got defensive and beligerent with me. Please pray for Stacy & Steve to see the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not a fan either, and I'm very passionate about not being a fan. i have lots of friends who go there, and lots of friends from small towns that are mesmorized by lakewood because it's the biggest church in houston. i pray that they will truly listen to joel and see that he is not everything they think and the world says he is. it greatly saddens me. i could go on and on about why what he says is not what God says, but that would be way too long!

    ReplyDelete
  3. i've tried to watch joel osteen on tv and i don't understand the appeal.

    i prefer joyce meyers

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am very torn on which one to purchase and would really like some illumination on the issue. What I would like Mr. Osteen to clarify is - What exactly is the difference between having my best life now and becoming my better self? Please help!

    Furthermore, as a friend once told me: "he has got to be the most famous person with a mullet to date".

    ReplyDelete
  5. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
    For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

    It's a scary thought to think how many people are filling up that church each Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, Joel. Joel, Joel, Joel. *sigh*

    I could write a very impassioned treatise about why Joel is full of hot air, but I will spare you. I actually kind of feel bad for the man, because I really don't think he KNOWS he's full of hot air. He's just as deceived as the people he is deceiving.

    Our wonderful pastor here in Boston actually preached a sermon one time that gently proved that "Your Best Life Now" is far from Biblical.

    My husband just about had an aneurism when we moved to Boston and saw Joel on TV even here, and he just about has a stroke every time he runs across him on TV. I have to flip through the channels really fast....

    The sad thing is that I know some really wonderful Christian people who like him a lot.

    And I agree with Jaclyn--that man has a MULLET. Why hadn't I noticed that before???

    ReplyDelete
  7. makes me sick just reading the post. i didnt even give myself the chance to run across his face on tv this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm just a little freaked by all of these TV preachers. It's not my cup of tea and I do believe in God and have a strong sense of faith. Last year, I went to see Joyce Meyers live with my best friend who adores her and never misses a morning watching her on TV. I tried to remain open minded but sitting in a huge arena with jumbo screens flashing her products for sale just left me feeling a little bewildered. When people couldn't get their checkbooks out fast enough to throw money at her, I really felt something about the whole scene was disturbing. Seriously, every 5 minutes there was something thrown in about her latest book and upcoming movie deal. I don't mean to offend anyone here it's just that I don't get it. For me, a relationship with God is private and personal and involves no exchange of cash or purchases of coffee mugs.

    ReplyDelete

and remember, words are my love language...