Victoria Osteen classes herself at a Co Pastor at the Lakewood Church that her husband Joel Osteen preaches at in Houston Texas. The Church has a membership of 43,000 and the church venue can seat 16,000+
This article is a closer look at what Victoria Osteen preaches and we dig a bit deeper into her short (compared to Joel Osteen´s) sermons and see what Gospel is being preached and whether it is similar to her husbands. The services are broadcast on TV and are available online after the event.
First of all what is Lakewood Church all about and what are it´s beliefs?
Lakewood Church believes that the entire Bible is inspired by God, and the church bases its teachings on this belief. The church also holds in account the belief in the Trinity, as well as the recognition of the death of Christ on the cross and resurrection.
From the commands found in the Bible, the church practices the following:
Salvation: Each service offers an Altar call at the end in order for people to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
Water Baptism: The church believes the bible asks for this symbol as a testimony to faith in Jesus Christ -in his cleansing power through his shedding of blood on the cross for us. Baptism is practiced every Saturday night in the church's Chapel.
Communion: The church believes the Bible asks for this act of remembering what Jesus did on the cross. It is offered once a month.
Growing Relationship with Jesus Christ: Lakewood believes that every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God's Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
Lakewood Church is known for its Word of Faith teaching. via Wikipedia
All sounds above board and wholesome stuff. Let´s get beyond the Church narrative and see what actually is said in practice by Victoria Osteen as part of this dual Pastor set up at Lakewood Church during one of their so called "services".
Video 1 Victoria Osteen | Do Good for your own self, Not for God | Billy Madison
Video 1 Analysis
Didn´t get that. Here´s the transcript.
So I just want to encourage every one of us to realise when we obey God, we're not doing it for God - I mean, that's one way to look at it - we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy,"
"That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy."
"When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen? Let's open our hearts to Him today."
This video went Viral for good reason way back in 2014 with Christians up in arms and the media had a field day. Victoria Osteen responds via The Blaze and defended her comments and suggested critics were misinterpreting her meaning.
"While I admit that I could have been more articulate in my remarks, I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to Him we will be better for it," she said.
"I did not mean to imply that we don't worship God; that's ridiculous, and only the critics and cynics are interpreting my remarks that way"
"Every Lakewood member knows what I was talking about because they have experienced first hand the joy and victory of a Lakewood Church worship service, and the honor, reverence and gratitude we show God."
What do I Think?
I think even the most inexperienced Christian will realise something is not right here. Basically what she said in her sermon is put yourself first, make sure you are happy and then God will be happy. God is your Genie in a bottle. The Exaltation of self is being promoted. This is not a Christian value and is the exact opposite of meekness and humbleness and humility which are Christian virtues. In her response she states "I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to him we will be better for it." Yes that´s very true and I´m in agreement but why wasn´t that said on the night concerned. There is no way that was inferred or remotely mentioned in her original statement in the sermon. Does "when we obey God, we´re not doing it for God" sound like "when we worship God and are obedient to him we will be better for it." Doesn´t matter which way you slice it. It does not. All she is doing here is preaching a lie and then defending it with another one. We could go on here but the point has been made and the damage has been done.
Headline: Victoria Osteen Replies to Critic
We all make mistakes, moving swiftly on
Video 2 With Our Words and Actions - Victoria Osteen 2 years later July 8 2016
Video 2 Analysis
This video is 2 years later after the disastrous sermon of 2014 that went viral. Things have changed....but have they. The Sermon is titled "With OUR Words and Actions" Here´s some statements from that sermon.
I´m going to help someone else, that will make God happy
I don´t just want to talk that talk I want to walk that walk God...I want to make you happy. See there is a profound affect that takes place when you change your thinking and you change your act of Gratitude and you express it in this way
We need to take the limits of God today, .... let´s dream for some big dreams, what could you do for your family they can´t do for themselves
"
This sounds a change from Video 1 where "You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy" we have now moved to "I´m going to help someone else, that will make God happy"
Check the wording on these 3 sentences, just like Joel Osteen the words I´m, I, You, Your, We..they are rampant. Statement 2 has these words of the Self mentioned 8 times. What is being preached here is pretty much the same as Joel Osteen. We change our thoughts and actions and God will bless us to bless others. It´s as if God is some sort of Supernatural tool we can use or a Genie in a bottle. Keep him happy and blessings will come. She mentions helping others or the family. The Bible says help those in need "Widows, Orphans, The Poor, The Naked, The Sick, The Homeless" No mention of those words in this sermon, no mention of the needy whatsoever. Change your thoughts and God will bless you so you can bless other people is pure self motivational talk and not Christianity and is promoting "Works". Sure God wants you to keep his statutes and commandments and do good deeds AFTER you have been SAVED but to earn Salvation this is done by faith and repentance of sin. Again three words absent in this sermon. What is being preached here is some sort of Salvation by Works and as we know Works will not get you saved "they are as filthy rags" as is stated in the Bible
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
If you are truly in the faith God Knows you are thankful, he knows your thoughts and that´s the reason for prayer. Helping somebody else is something most people do even if they are not Christians. Helping the old lady across the road is an example of works. God blesses those who have faith in God, not those who have faith in themselves and do good deeds to seek favour with God to get that warm glowy feeling being preached here.
Moving onto the next video
Video 3 Living in Shalom - Victoria Osteen
As long as we live on this physical earth there will always be something that is trying to steal our peace and try and take that Shalom
The Bible says we are to seek peace and pursue it Psalm 34:14
We have to seek it, maintain it and stay with it, pursue it and don´t let it get out of our sight
God says I have given you my peace and we have to pursue that peace in every area of our life
Jesus said before his crucifixion "My peace I give you" "Don´t let your heart be troubled I have overcome the world"
Peace has nothing to do with what´s on the outside but what is on the inside
You need to figure out why the peace has gone
I had the peace then talked myself out of it
Video 3 Analysis
I got to about 7 minutes of this video and had to turn this thing off!
Let´s talk about peace. If you are a TRUE Christian and have the Holy Spirit you will have the following qualities NO MATTER WHAT. These qualities will be meekness, kindness, patience, humbleness, humility, love, caring and PEACE amongst many others. You will have this peace no matter what, it´s an internal thing not an external one influenced by external factors.There is simply no confusion of this issue.
She quotes Psalm 34:14 "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it" probably just plucked out of thin air as it fits in with the sermon. I was Born Again or Saved last October, before that I used to lose my temper on a daily basis, I mean really LOSE IT. After being "Saved" I haven´t lost my temper once ever since....that´s 9 months now. There is an inner tranquility I never had before. That´s PEACE. There is no figuring out if the peace has gone, nothing will steal your peace, there is no need to seek peace because you already have it,and because you have it internally, you don´t have to worry about it getting out of your sight.
She then states the only single truth of the whole sermon and if you´re not careful and you blink and you miss it that "Peace has nothing to do with what´s on the outside but what is on the inside" which is true. BUT there is no mention here of what it is on the inside and how it got there, a peace brought about by faith and repentance. All the other statements in this Shalom sermon bury that one line of half truth and leave you confused about what Peace really is. This is how False Teaching works by burying the truth, creating confusion and ultimately creating deception......keeping you away from ultimate goal of the Bible which is THE TRUTH.
Finally a person is know by their fruits?
Video 4 Civil jury finds victoria osteen did not assault flight attendant
This actual alleged attack took place way back in 2005 and the court case didn´t hit the headlines until 2008. The details are clear in the video but Victoria Osteen was found not guilty of attacking the flight attendant in FIRST CLASS and therefore no damages were payable. It´s not made clear whether it was "air Rage" or "Racism" or that nothing happened at all, but something must have happened otherwise why go through all this hassle with a court appearance. It is noted the flight attendant as stated in another video, had only one lawyer, Victoria Osteen had an army of them. Form your own opinion on this. Either way this is something that is stamped on her passport of life and unfortunately is one of her fruits.
BOOK: Love YOUR Life: Living Happy, Healthy, and Whole
Another fruit. Say no more!
$600K stolen from Lakewood Church (2014)??
Conclusions.
Victoria Osteen is yet another one of those preachers or Pastor´s that can tell a good story, throw in a few bible quotes and get you nodding your head in agreement thinking this is great stuff, why don´t other churches do this. On the surface everything looks wholesome, you are being told what you want to hear and you come away with a nice warm fuzzy glow, feeling all righteous and highly motivated ready to put those words into action into YOUR life with the blessing of God and ready for YOU and YOUR family to be a load of happy blessed bunnies. Not forgetting of course reaching deep into your pockets in appreciation for this amazing life transforming information gift that you have received. Got to be worth 100 bucks at least?
The problem is the Happiness, as in the smiling version with Brilliant White Teeth assured in the Age of Osteen, doesn’t last, cannot satisfy, and often is not even real. What´s wrong with the Victoria Osteen and her husbands theory on Christianity......... if you can call it that?
Vid: A video featuring the owner of this website sheds some light titled 15 Signs of a False Preacher
1. There is a watering down of the Gospel, a common tactic amongst Prosperity and Word of Faith preachers commonly known as False Preachers. It sounds good but there is no meat on the bones and therefore has little or no meaning.
2. There are no religious symbols in the Lakewood Church such as a Cross, Picture of Jesus or anything to do with Christianity, just some more business like looking logos and a massive rotating globe. You could be in a Business Conference Centre you wouldn´t know the difference.
Recent Interview on Patricia Sheridan she asked Victoria Osteen´s husband Joel Osteen why there are no religious symbols in his church and what is the Lakewood logo all about
Q: So why no religious symbols on the stage at Lakewood?
A: It's never been intentional. We believe in the cross and the resurrection. It stems back to when my father started the church. He was very mission-minded and wanted to spread the good news all over the world. He started with a map, then it turned into a globe and so we just continued it.
Q: And the symbol on the pulpit?
A: It is the Holy Spirit, and the flame and circle represents the globe and it's got the dove and it even has an "L" in it. You can kind of read different things into it. It's a little deeper than I am, but anyway that's what they tell me (laughing).
Basically the Lakewood Church and the Osteen Empire is a branded entity. A profit driven corporation disguised as a church and it is amazing how many are too ignorant to understand that. The logo is called the Lakewood lamp. It features the Eternal Flame. Fire or flames are the primary symbols used to represent Lucifer, the “bringer of light”. The eternal flame is representative of the Illuminati’s immortality. They see their organization as eternal and impossible to destroy. The Globe and Circle in the Logo are both representative of The New world Order. The Joel Osteen Ministries Logo is similar employing Illuminati symbolism used by many major Corporations, Hollywood and the Music Industry. If you look at the Lectern it´s an upside down pyramid another powerful and blatant Illuminati symbol.
3. Preaching "Make God Happy" and "Works Salvation" no mention of Faith, Repentance or Sin for Salvation. No mention of Suffering, Persecution , Hell or Satan either?
4. Look at the Congregation in the videos. Do these look like Christians to you or people at some sort of Motivation and Positive Thinking Business Lecture?
5. Apparently not much in the way of Holy Music, not even Gospel. They have a rock band that plays about 5 songs at deafening levels according to a visitor who left a review on a forum.
6. Check her hand signals. I´ve been to many churches and they just stand behind the lectern, some hold onto it throughout the sermon, you may see some hand motions occassionally to prove a point but they are a rarity and not this constant waving the hands around in different formations, some are quite difficult to do and look intentionally deliberate as in the still video grab photo of Victoria Osteen above proves. Something is not right here just like Paula White?
7. Here´s a review from somebody from a forum who´s faith is probably more traditional they had this to say
Good speaker but this is not really a church ... it's a motivational speaker platform, Dr. FeelGood (Osteen) only really speaks about worldly subjects. He very, very, very rarely even refers to Scripture or mentions Jesus, in a church that claims to be Christian in basis. (read the same for Victoria). If you like warm and fuzzy, then this is your place. An extraordinarily wealthy preacher and his wealthy wife who travel in first class while homeless.people live just blocks away. No charity. All about "me". That's not Christian and you won't find it at Lakewood.
8. She never seems to read from the Bible, she holds it up at the beginning, she reads from her notes instead, even Bible quotes?
9. Same Positive Mind preaching as Joel Osteen her husband, Motivational Speaking using watered down versions of Christian Teachings
10. Uses Objective Spiritual Confusion whilst promoting Prosperity Gospel mixed with a New Age Positive Mind focusing.... which does not promote Jesus with limited congregational participation.
11. They give you the truth in limited form, but with that truth comes a lie, it sounds sweet and people love it..... but it is Deception.
12. The preaching is about putting yourself first and developing your own kingdom, rather than putting GOD first and developing and promoting GOD´s kingdom. That´s what truly makes God happy not this "Good Deeds" nonsense to get that blessed feeling that anyone can do, believer or not.
13. The Osteen message does not differentiate between believers and unbelievers — certainly not in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
14. Victoria Osteen’s comments fit naturally within the worldview and message she and her husband have carefully cultivated. The divine-human relationship is just turned upside down, and God’s greatest desire is said to be our happiness. Hence their massive success.
15 Didn´t even get as far as a testimonial. Didn´t need to!
Ending on a positive note.
PLUS POINTS
1. The Mega Preachers Joel and Victoria Osteen have been married for more than a Quarter of a Century, a fine and increasingly rare example to the institution of marriage, which it has to be said is an inspiration and commendable!
BIBLE QUOTES
John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
John 12:25
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Matthew 24:24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; in s omuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
" Peter 2:1-3
1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
This article is a closer look at what Victoria Osteen preaches and we dig a bit deeper into her short (compared to Joel Osteen´s) sermons and see what Gospel is being preached and whether it is similar to her husbands. The services are broadcast on TV and are available online after the event.
First of all what is Lakewood Church all about and what are it´s beliefs?
Lakewood Church believes that the entire Bible is inspired by God, and the church bases its teachings on this belief. The church also holds in account the belief in the Trinity, as well as the recognition of the death of Christ on the cross and resurrection.
From the commands found in the Bible, the church practices the following:
Salvation: Each service offers an Altar call at the end in order for people to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
Water Baptism: The church believes the bible asks for this symbol as a testimony to faith in Jesus Christ -in his cleansing power through his shedding of blood on the cross for us. Baptism is practiced every Saturday night in the church's Chapel.
Communion: The church believes the Bible asks for this act of remembering what Jesus did on the cross. It is offered once a month.
Growing Relationship with Jesus Christ: Lakewood believes that every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God's Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
Lakewood Church is known for its Word of Faith teaching. via Wikipedia
All sounds above board and wholesome stuff. Let´s get beyond the Church narrative and see what actually is said in practice by Victoria Osteen as part of this dual Pastor set up at Lakewood Church during one of their so called "services".
Video 1 Victoria Osteen | Do Good for your own self, Not for God | Billy Madison
Video 1 Analysis
Didn´t get that. Here´s the transcript.
So I just want to encourage every one of us to realise when we obey God, we're not doing it for God - I mean, that's one way to look at it - we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy,"
"That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy."
"When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen? Let's open our hearts to Him today."
This video went Viral for good reason way back in 2014 with Christians up in arms and the media had a field day. Victoria Osteen responds via The Blaze and defended her comments and suggested critics were misinterpreting her meaning.
"While I admit that I could have been more articulate in my remarks, I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to Him we will be better for it," she said.
"I did not mean to imply that we don't worship God; that's ridiculous, and only the critics and cynics are interpreting my remarks that way"
"Every Lakewood member knows what I was talking about because they have experienced first hand the joy and victory of a Lakewood Church worship service, and the honor, reverence and gratitude we show God."
What do I Think?
I think even the most inexperienced Christian will realise something is not right here. Basically what she said in her sermon is put yourself first, make sure you are happy and then God will be happy. God is your Genie in a bottle. The Exaltation of self is being promoted. This is not a Christian value and is the exact opposite of meekness and humbleness and humility which are Christian virtues. In her response she states "I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to him we will be better for it." Yes that´s very true and I´m in agreement but why wasn´t that said on the night concerned. There is no way that was inferred or remotely mentioned in her original statement in the sermon. Does "when we obey God, we´re not doing it for God" sound like "when we worship God and are obedient to him we will be better for it." Doesn´t matter which way you slice it. It does not. All she is doing here is preaching a lie and then defending it with another one. We could go on here but the point has been made and the damage has been done.
Headline: Victoria Osteen Replies to Critic
We all make mistakes, moving swiftly on
Video 2 With Our Words and Actions - Victoria Osteen 2 years later July 8 2016
Video 2 Analysis
This video is 2 years later after the disastrous sermon of 2014 that went viral. Things have changed....but have they. The Sermon is titled "With OUR Words and Actions" Here´s some statements from that sermon.
I´m going to help someone else, that will make God happy
I don´t just want to talk that talk I want to walk that walk God...I want to make you happy. See there is a profound affect that takes place when you change your thinking and you change your act of Gratitude and you express it in this way
We need to take the limits of God today, .... let´s dream for some big dreams, what could you do for your family they can´t do for themselves
"
This sounds a change from Video 1 where "You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy" we have now moved to "I´m going to help someone else, that will make God happy"
Check the wording on these 3 sentences, just like Joel Osteen the words I´m, I, You, Your, We..they are rampant. Statement 2 has these words of the Self mentioned 8 times. What is being preached here is pretty much the same as Joel Osteen. We change our thoughts and actions and God will bless us to bless others. It´s as if God is some sort of Supernatural tool we can use or a Genie in a bottle. Keep him happy and blessings will come. She mentions helping others or the family. The Bible says help those in need "Widows, Orphans, The Poor, The Naked, The Sick, The Homeless" No mention of those words in this sermon, no mention of the needy whatsoever. Change your thoughts and God will bless you so you can bless other people is pure self motivational talk and not Christianity and is promoting "Works". Sure God wants you to keep his statutes and commandments and do good deeds AFTER you have been SAVED but to earn Salvation this is done by faith and repentance of sin. Again three words absent in this sermon. What is being preached here is some sort of Salvation by Works and as we know Works will not get you saved "they are as filthy rags" as is stated in the Bible
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
If you are truly in the faith God Knows you are thankful, he knows your thoughts and that´s the reason for prayer. Helping somebody else is something most people do even if they are not Christians. Helping the old lady across the road is an example of works. God blesses those who have faith in God, not those who have faith in themselves and do good deeds to seek favour with God to get that warm glowy feeling being preached here.
Moving onto the next video
Video 3 Living in Shalom - Victoria Osteen
As long as we live on this physical earth there will always be something that is trying to steal our peace and try and take that Shalom
The Bible says we are to seek peace and pursue it Psalm 34:14
We have to seek it, maintain it and stay with it, pursue it and don´t let it get out of our sight
God says I have given you my peace and we have to pursue that peace in every area of our life
Jesus said before his crucifixion "My peace I give you" "Don´t let your heart be troubled I have overcome the world"
Peace has nothing to do with what´s on the outside but what is on the inside
You need to figure out why the peace has gone
I had the peace then talked myself out of it
Video 3 Analysis
I got to about 7 minutes of this video and had to turn this thing off!
Let´s talk about peace. If you are a TRUE Christian and have the Holy Spirit you will have the following qualities NO MATTER WHAT. These qualities will be meekness, kindness, patience, humbleness, humility, love, caring and PEACE amongst many others. You will have this peace no matter what, it´s an internal thing not an external one influenced by external factors.There is simply no confusion of this issue.
She quotes Psalm 34:14 "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it" probably just plucked out of thin air as it fits in with the sermon. I was Born Again or Saved last October, before that I used to lose my temper on a daily basis, I mean really LOSE IT. After being "Saved" I haven´t lost my temper once ever since....that´s 9 months now. There is an inner tranquility I never had before. That´s PEACE. There is no figuring out if the peace has gone, nothing will steal your peace, there is no need to seek peace because you already have it,and because you have it internally, you don´t have to worry about it getting out of your sight.
She then states the only single truth of the whole sermon and if you´re not careful and you blink and you miss it that "Peace has nothing to do with what´s on the outside but what is on the inside" which is true. BUT there is no mention here of what it is on the inside and how it got there, a peace brought about by faith and repentance. All the other statements in this Shalom sermon bury that one line of half truth and leave you confused about what Peace really is. This is how False Teaching works by burying the truth, creating confusion and ultimately creating deception......keeping you away from ultimate goal of the Bible which is THE TRUTH.
Finally a person is know by their fruits?
Video 4 Civil jury finds victoria osteen did not assault flight attendant
This actual alleged attack took place way back in 2005 and the court case didn´t hit the headlines until 2008. The details are clear in the video but Victoria Osteen was found not guilty of attacking the flight attendant in FIRST CLASS and therefore no damages were payable. It´s not made clear whether it was "air Rage" or "Racism" or that nothing happened at all, but something must have happened otherwise why go through all this hassle with a court appearance. It is noted the flight attendant as stated in another video, had only one lawyer, Victoria Osteen had an army of them. Form your own opinion on this. Either way this is something that is stamped on her passport of life and unfortunately is one of her fruits.
BOOK: Love YOUR Life: Living Happy, Healthy, and Whole
Another fruit. Say no more!
$600K stolen from Lakewood Church (2014)??
Conclusions.
Victoria Osteen is yet another one of those preachers or Pastor´s that can tell a good story, throw in a few bible quotes and get you nodding your head in agreement thinking this is great stuff, why don´t other churches do this. On the surface everything looks wholesome, you are being told what you want to hear and you come away with a nice warm fuzzy glow, feeling all righteous and highly motivated ready to put those words into action into YOUR life with the blessing of God and ready for YOU and YOUR family to be a load of happy blessed bunnies. Not forgetting of course reaching deep into your pockets in appreciation for this amazing life transforming information gift that you have received. Got to be worth 100 bucks at least?
The problem is the Happiness, as in the smiling version with Brilliant White Teeth assured in the Age of Osteen, doesn’t last, cannot satisfy, and often is not even real. What´s wrong with the Victoria Osteen and her husbands theory on Christianity......... if you can call it that?
Vid: A video featuring the owner of this website sheds some light titled 15 Signs of a False Preacher
1. There is a watering down of the Gospel, a common tactic amongst Prosperity and Word of Faith preachers commonly known as False Preachers. It sounds good but there is no meat on the bones and therefore has little or no meaning.
2. There are no religious symbols in the Lakewood Church such as a Cross, Picture of Jesus or anything to do with Christianity, just some more business like looking logos and a massive rotating globe. You could be in a Business Conference Centre you wouldn´t know the difference.
Recent Interview on Patricia Sheridan she asked Victoria Osteen´s husband Joel Osteen why there are no religious symbols in his church and what is the Lakewood logo all about
Q: So why no religious symbols on the stage at Lakewood?
A: It's never been intentional. We believe in the cross and the resurrection. It stems back to when my father started the church. He was very mission-minded and wanted to spread the good news all over the world. He started with a map, then it turned into a globe and so we just continued it.
Q: And the symbol on the pulpit?
A: It is the Holy Spirit, and the flame and circle represents the globe and it's got the dove and it even has an "L" in it. You can kind of read different things into it. It's a little deeper than I am, but anyway that's what they tell me (laughing).
Basically the Lakewood Church and the Osteen Empire is a branded entity. A profit driven corporation disguised as a church and it is amazing how many are too ignorant to understand that. The logo is called the Lakewood lamp. It features the Eternal Flame. Fire or flames are the primary symbols used to represent Lucifer, the “bringer of light”. The eternal flame is representative of the Illuminati’s immortality. They see their organization as eternal and impossible to destroy. The Globe and Circle in the Logo are both representative of The New world Order. The Joel Osteen Ministries Logo is similar employing Illuminati symbolism used by many major Corporations, Hollywood and the Music Industry. If you look at the Lectern it´s an upside down pyramid another powerful and blatant Illuminati symbol.
3. Preaching "Make God Happy" and "Works Salvation" no mention of Faith, Repentance or Sin for Salvation. No mention of Suffering, Persecution , Hell or Satan either?
4. Look at the Congregation in the videos. Do these look like Christians to you or people at some sort of Motivation and Positive Thinking Business Lecture?
5. Apparently not much in the way of Holy Music, not even Gospel. They have a rock band that plays about 5 songs at deafening levels according to a visitor who left a review on a forum.
6. Check her hand signals. I´ve been to many churches and they just stand behind the lectern, some hold onto it throughout the sermon, you may see some hand motions occassionally to prove a point but they are a rarity and not this constant waving the hands around in different formations, some are quite difficult to do and look intentionally deliberate as in the still video grab photo of Victoria Osteen above proves. Something is not right here just like Paula White?
7. Here´s a review from somebody from a forum who´s faith is probably more traditional they had this to say
Good speaker but this is not really a church ... it's a motivational speaker platform, Dr. FeelGood (Osteen) only really speaks about worldly subjects. He very, very, very rarely even refers to Scripture or mentions Jesus, in a church that claims to be Christian in basis. (read the same for Victoria). If you like warm and fuzzy, then this is your place. An extraordinarily wealthy preacher and his wealthy wife who travel in first class while homeless.people live just blocks away. No charity. All about "me". That's not Christian and you won't find it at Lakewood.
8. She never seems to read from the Bible, she holds it up at the beginning, she reads from her notes instead, even Bible quotes?
9. Same Positive Mind preaching as Joel Osteen her husband, Motivational Speaking using watered down versions of Christian Teachings
10. Uses Objective Spiritual Confusion whilst promoting Prosperity Gospel mixed with a New Age Positive Mind focusing.... which does not promote Jesus with limited congregational participation.
11. They give you the truth in limited form, but with that truth comes a lie, it sounds sweet and people love it..... but it is Deception.
12. The preaching is about putting yourself first and developing your own kingdom, rather than putting GOD first and developing and promoting GOD´s kingdom. That´s what truly makes God happy not this "Good Deeds" nonsense to get that blessed feeling that anyone can do, believer or not.
13. The Osteen message does not differentiate between believers and unbelievers — certainly not in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
14. Victoria Osteen’s comments fit naturally within the worldview and message she and her husband have carefully cultivated. The divine-human relationship is just turned upside down, and God’s greatest desire is said to be our happiness. Hence their massive success.
15 Didn´t even get as far as a testimonial. Didn´t need to!
Ending on a positive note.
PLUS POINTS
1. The Mega Preachers Joel and Victoria Osteen have been married for more than a Quarter of a Century, a fine and increasingly rare example to the institution of marriage, which it has to be said is an inspiration and commendable!
BIBLE QUOTES
John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
John 12:25
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Matthew 24:24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; in s omuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
" Peter 2:1-3
1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
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