Joel Osteen

"And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming."
-Ephesian 4:11-14

We all have a role to play in a plan as big as God's. We can't do everything ourselves. We need eachother and we need him. Otherwise, we may be mislead by half-truths.

The prosperity gospel preached by evangelists like Joel Osteen, who is coming to my town next month, is the truth, but it is incomplete. God does want to meet our needs, but he defines those needs differently than some of us do. I can't say I listen to Joel Osteen often because I read his book on a recommendation from a friend and it frustrated me more than any other book I can recall. The parts that stick out in my mind most is when God wanted him to have a bigger house and when he was embarrassed about not dressing up better to go to the grocery store and was seen by some of his followers. Physically, God wants everyone to have appropriate shelter and clothing, but once we use the money God has given us to meet our needs, perhaps we should use his money to meet others' needs and not meet our wants, even though our wants may not be bad in and of themselves. Which is the better good: buying fancier clothes for yourself or donating the money saved to charity to clothe others? I believe I should donate to charity to meet others' physical needs and help meet my spiritual needs, which are more valuable than the physical needs emphasized in the prosperity gospel.

The prosperity gospel seeks happiness. The gospel seeks joy. The temproal things of this world can bring temporal happiness, but they remain dependent on circumstances. True joy goes deeper than circumstance because it comes from God, deep within, which circumstances can't take away from you. No matter what situation you find yourself in, if you accept that Jesus died for your sins and you are saved, it's hard to be down over something so little as whatever earthly situation you find yourself in.