Move over Robert Schuller, the Church of Laodicea has a new star on the rise in the world of positive motivational Christianity. It's Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, whose motto is "Discover the Champion in You." He is the son of Pentecostal preacher the late John Osteen. But where his dad lacked in charm and charisma the 39-year-old son makes up for it in the style of a Tony Robbins with the
In 1981 he quit college to set up his father's television ministry and worked side by side with him as the editor of their local Houston television ministry show.
In 1958 his father John Osteen received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and started Lakewood Church in an old feed store on the poor east side of Houston. John and his wife, Dodie, grew the church and filled all of the 234 seats.
Host of television program Lakewood Church; which can be seen in 92 percent of American households.
Osteen made the list of the Top 20 Influencers of the Pentecostal/charismatic community in the Jan/Feb 2003 Issue of Ministries Today magazine. He was listed with other notables such as Kenneth Hagin Sr., Tommy Tenney, C. Peter Wagner, and Joyce Meyer. "There is no arguing that the following 20 leaders have inspired us, challenged us and in many ways caused us to rethink what it means to "do church" in today's culture," the article boasted.
Joel Osteen has quickly become a leading voice for a new generation of ministers. After becoming Senior Pastor in October of 1999, Lakewood Church has more than quadrupled its weekly attendance and is one of America's most diverse churches. According to Forbes.com and Outreach magazine, Lakewood is the largest and fastest growing congregation in America with over 25,000 in attendance each weekend.
Joel Osteen can be seen via his weekly television broadcast on six national cable networks, including ABC Family and Black Entertainment Television (BET), Trinity Broadcasting and the Daystar Television Network. The Program can also be seen internationally in over 100 nations including CNBC Europe, Vision Canada, and CNBC Australia. Joel's program is also carried on prominent local network affiliates in the Top 30 markets in America. Recent Nielsen Media Research rated Joel Osteen's broadcast as the #1 inspirational program nationally, based on average television viewers per market.
Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Lakewood is America's largest church; averaging around 25,060 weekly attendees as of 2004.1 Lakewood was founded on Mother's Day 1959 by Joel's parents, John and Dodie Osteen. The church's first meeting was held in an abandoned feed store. While the church began with a small number of parishioners, it did have a large vision. John had a dream that propelled Pastor Joel and Lakewood to its position today. That dream was to reach the ends of the earth with the message of God's love. John's famous words shed light on his intense passion to fulfill the dream: "Great it is to dream the dream, when you stand in youth by the starry stream. But a greater thing is to fight life through, and say at the end, the dream is true."
20.25
