by Cinda Smaagaard

Created on: November 14, 2008

Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria are spreading the Christian gospel through their ministry at Lakewood Church in Texas. Building a faithful congregation of over 38,000 people each Sunday would take more than a simple "feel good" theology. Joel Osteen is not only knowledgeable about Jesus Christ, the Bible and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His ministry is young enough and strong enough to understand the power of television and why his ministry which airs on the Trinity Broadcast Network each week is so important to reaching the world.

After several years of searching for an honest, authentic and uncomplicated faith-based church, I happened upon Joel Osteen's ministry. He consistently welcomes guests into the fold with genuine love and warmth. Every service opens with him asking his parishoners to "hold up your Bibles" encouraging the flock to recognize the importance of the word and searching the scriptures. "Repeat after me," he says, "I am what it says I am, I can do what it says I can do," etc. The beauty of this simple mantra is that he encourages the audience of believers that the word of God, the Gospel, is true and that they can count on the Bible's promises. With so much cynicism and dissatisfaction in the world today, it is nice to have something and someone who can ground you to the truth of God through God's own word. He makes the Bible an important part of the sermon.

Each week he opens with a joke. Although women and blondes fall victim periodically (his wife Victoria is a beautiful blonde), it is nice to see such a famous preacher understand the importance of humor in bringing folks together. With such a large congregation in such a large arena, it certainly is helpful that so many can come together in laughter right from the start. Especially when there are so many who may be in attendance because they are hurting or spiritually needy in some way or feeling alone. Each week he ends with an opportunity to "make Jesus a part of your life" and it is nice to see that such calls for Christ are not outdated since this is the essence of teaching and preaching the Gospel lessons.

Their ministry is one of action. I watched Joel Osteen closely through his 60 minutes interview on CBS television. Although grilled by seasoned and hardened long-time professional journalists who know how to manipulate the media, Joel Osteen came across as an extremely loving and compassionate human being. He even shed a tear on camera when speaking about the enormous challenge

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