> "Considering that he is fast becoming the most popular preacher in the > country, Joel Osteen doesn't act or sound like a preacher at all. > > He has no seminary training and can hardly talk about any religion other > than his own brand of creamy, fat-free Christianity (all the hope, none of > the sin).
I'll warn you first - this is coming from me as a lay-preacher, not as a programmer or podcaster. As an inspirational and motivational speaker, JO is without a doubt phenomenal. He can hold the attention of his arena-sized congregations... but he is ultimately doing them a disservice. The very nature of salvation and the gospel story is wrapped around sin, and to pass lightly on that is preaching a false gospel. I like some of the mega-church preachers, my favorite is Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Tx. He preaches in blue-jeans to something like 4 full churches but he doesn't pull any punches when it comes to human nature and sin. Sure, he's hit some pretty radical topics, like putting a bed on the stage and challenging the married couples in his congregations to make love for one complete week - http://blackchristiannews.com/news/2008/11/pastor-ed-youngs-sexperiment-results-video.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:295776 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
