Sunday, December 31, 2006

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It would be in your best interest to purchase an upgraded membership. These allow for larger portfolios, new item types, and less ads. They are affordable and can be paid for with cash or gift points!To find out more, check out the Writing.Com store by clicking on the "Our Store" link at the top of the page.For more information and other Newbie resources, check out "The New Members Directory" [E]For more advanced information, please see "Nick's Newbie Guide 2" [ASR]I hope you find this guide useful. If you have any questions or comments, please email me and I will respond soon.Once again, welcome!Thanks!Nick

Vivekananda Rock

Story of Vivekananda Rock and Cross 12/19/2006 12:11:25 AM V Sundaram, IAS, Retd.
Here is a great and inspiring epitaph to a noble and monumental mission successfully accomplished against heavy odds by a truly great personage of recent past, Shri Eknath Ranade. It is noteworthy that RSS, in its 80-odd year history as an Organization, has produced and nurtured many such Desh-Premi selfless kaaryakars of sterling qualities and character dedicated to the service of the nation. Those Indians and Hindus who dismiss or denigrate RSS as a sectarian, communal or fanatic organization are either blessed by utter ignorance or are woefully lacking in the ability to recognise who are their friends and who are their foes. Hindus especially are cursed by this crucial character-flaw which has in recent times assumed virulent proportions to their great detriment, threatening even the very survival of their distinct and distinguished culture.

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The Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari was inaugurated in 1970. The construction of this memorial started in January 1964 and was completed in 1970. Whenever we think of Benaras Hindu University, the only name that comes to our mind is that of its chief Viswakarma Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Likewise, whenever we think of Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari, we think of only one remarkable individual who was the main propelling force behind the conception and speedy execution of this sacred monument. I am referring to Shri Eknath Ranade (1914 - 1982) who was a Swayamsevak of the RSS and who had served in various capacities in the RSS right from 1926 till he was assigned by Shri Guruji Golwalkar, the Sarsangchalak of the RSS, to look after the gigantic task of construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari in 1962. The story relating to the birth and growth of this great national project reads like an epic story. Eknath Ranade was indeed a Mahapurusha cast in a very grand mould.
In 1962, Shri Dattaji Didolkar was the RSS Prant Pracharak of Tamil Nadu. In the course of his state-wide tour, the Swayamsevaks of Kanyakumari broached the matter to him in these words: "Preparations are going on throughout the country to celebrate the birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda who was born in 1863. It was in Kanyakumari that Swamiji remained in meditation for three days on a mid-sea rock and discovered the mission of his life; what is to be done further. The rock on which he meditated is known as the Vivekananda Rock. Therefore, we should install some worthy memorial on that rock to mark the great occasion".
In January 1962, some leading citizens of Kanyakumari got together and thought of putting up a memorial on the rock off the shore of Kanyakumari where Swami Vivekananda sat and meditated about India"s past, present and future for three days on 25, 26, and 27 December 1892. Thus was born the Kanyakumari Vivekananda Birth Centenary Committee and the declared objective of this Committee was to put up a memorial on the rock and a pedestrian bridge from the shore leading to the rock. Almost simultaneously, the Ramakrishna Mission in Madras also announced its plan of a similar project at Kanyakumari.
What is the historical and spiritual significance of the rock on which the Vivekananda memorial has been put up? As an itinerant monk traveling all over India, Swami Vivekananda reached Kanyakumari in December 1892. He had traversed the vast land of India upon the soles of his feet. He had suffered from hunger, from thirst, form murderous nature and insulting man. When he arrived at Kanyakumari, he was exhausted. Having no money to pay for a boat to take him to the end of his pilgrimage, he flung himself into the sea, and swam across the shark-infested strait and reached the top of a mid-sea rock on 25 December, Christmas day, in 1892. He spent three days there, returning to the shore only on 28th December 1892. At last his task was at an end, and then, looking back as from a mountain he embraced the whole of the India he had just traversed, and the world of thought that had beset him during his wanderings. For more than two years earlier he had lived in a seething cauldron, consumed with a fever ; he had carried a soul on fire, he was a storm and hurricane.
Now on this mid-sea rock, There he meditated not on God but on Mother India who for Swami Vivekananda was Divine Durga incarnate. What a strange meditation ! It was as if all the pages of India"s history opened up before him. The vast panorama of his experiences during his travels past before his mind"s eye. He meditated on the past, the present and the future of India, the cause of her downfall and the means of her resurrection. He felt in his heart of hearts that India would rise only through a renewal and restoration of that highest spiritual consciousness which had made her, throughout her history, the cradle of religions and cultures. He then, sitting at the last bit of rock in the Indian ocean, took the momentous decision to go to the West to give shape to his life"s mission of spreading India"s religion and culture throughout the whole world and also to seek help for the poor millions of India.
To come back to the main story relating to the Vivekananda Memorial. When the proposal for a memorial for Swami Vivekananda became known to all in Kanyakumari in the latter half of 1962, suddenly the whole atmosphere in Kanyakumari got surcharged with conflicting emotions between the Hindus and the Christians in the area. The very idea of a memorial to Swami Vivekananda was not taken to kindly by a sizable population of the local Catholic fishermen. Stealthily they managed to put up a big Cross on the Rock which was visible from the shore. This led to strong protests by the Hindu population who said the Rock was a place of worship for Hindus. A judicial probe was ordered by the then Madras (now Tamilnadu) Government and the finding of this Commission was stated in unequivocal terms that the rock was indeed known as Vivekananda Rock, and that the Cross put up by the Catholic fishermen was a clear case of trespass. Amid all this controversy and acrimony, the Cross was one day removed secretly in the night. The law and order situation turned volatile and consequently the Rock was declared a prohibited area with armed guards patrolling it.
The Government of Madras realized that the Rock was turning into an area of dispute with Hindus claiming it to be the Vivekananda Rock and Christians claiming it as St Xavier"s Rock. The Government made it clear that although the rock was Vivekananda Rock, there would be no memorial constructed on it. The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri M. Bhaktavatsalam, said that only a tablet declaring that the rock was associated with Swami Vivekananda could be put up, and nothing else.
Accordingly, with government permission, a tablet was installed on the Rock on 17 January 1963 to mark the birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda. But the voices clamoring for a full-fledged Memorial on the Rock did not die. In May1963, some Christian elements who were seeking vengeance for the earlier removal of the Cross from the rock, demolished the Vivekananda commemorative tablet and threw it into the sea.
Kanyakumari Vivekananda Birth Centenary Committee, realizing its basic limitations as a mere District Committee, took the initiative to constitute an All India Vivekananda Birth Centenary Committee consisting of prominent persons in the country. This All India Committee felt the urgent need to have an effective and important person to deal with the project and one who could wield his influence in both the Central and State governments. It was at this point of time that Guruji Golwalkar, the Chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), requested Shri Eknath Ranade to devote his whole time attention to the proposed Vivekananda Memorial at Kanyakumari. This happened in January 1964. The first step he took on being asked to take charge of the Rock Memorial work, was to ascertain that this effort had the full support of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. Next, he saw to it that he was made the Organizing Secretary of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee so that he could officially be in charge of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial mission in Kanyakumari. From that moment, this great and sacred project took off with electronic speed, thanks to the dynamic, unshakeable, inspiring and bold leadership of Eknath Ranade.
Another vital management decision that Eknath Ranade took was to requisition the services of a remarkable Swayamsevak Shri Venkataraman in November 1964. Venkatraman had been earlier a Sanghpracharak in Madurai from 1955-57. His name was recommended by Shri.Ramgopalji who today heads the Hindu Munnani in tamil Nadu. If Eknath Ranadeji can be viewed as Kodandarama, Shri.Venkatramanji can be viewed as his Hanuman in every sense of the word.
The first obstacle that Eknath Ranade had to cross was from Shri Bhaktavatsalam who was then Chief Minister of Madras State. He took a stand that he would not allow the memorial to come up on the mid-sea rock on the flimsy ground that it would pose a hazard to the environment by spoiling the natural beauty of the Rock. He was also concerned about hurting the religious sentiments of the Catholic fishermen in the area. Bhaktavatsalam" s view was also endorsed by Shri Humayun Kabir, the then Union Minister for Cultural Affairs, who too had to give his clearance for this project.
To that end, on Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri"s advice, Shri Eknath Ranade camped in Delhi. In three days, he collected the signatures of 323 Members of Parliament in a show of all-round support for the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, which was presented to the Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who in turn directed both Humayun Kabir and Shri.Bhaktavatsalam to give their immediate clearance for the construction of the Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari.
Shri Bhaktavatsalam had given permission only for a small 15" x 15" shrine. Knowing his reverence for the Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Shri Eknath Ranade approached the latter for suggesting the design of the Rock Memorial. Shri Bhaktavatsalam unhesitatingly agreed to the larger design (130"-1½? x 56") approved and suggested by the Paramacharya of Kanchi! Thus all political hurdles for the construction of the Memorial were removed in one stroke by the shrewd move of Shri. Eknath Ranade.
After clearing up all the political obstacles on the path of his goal of speedy construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari, Eknath Ranade saw to it that construction activity at the site began in a methodical and organised manner. On 6 November, 1964, the first stone was cut. Eknath Ranade was a man of tremendous faith in his chosen mission, in God Almighty, in Guruji Golwalkar and Dr Hedgewar.
He often used to declare to those around him almost everyday : "All that I have seen teaches me to trust the CREATOR for all I have not seen". He also derived his Himalayan enthusiasm and energy for completing this gigantic task from his own working philosophy which he put in very beautiful words : "You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will never succeed and live in torment if you do not trust enough".
Swami Vivekananda" s meditation as an unknown monk on the mid-sea Rock in December 1892 and the discovery of his life's mission at that spot were all established facts. Against this background, Eknath Ranade was very clear in his mind about his mission and the field of action that lay before him. As if in a flash, the image of Swami Vivekananda that formed itself in the mind of Eknath Ranade was that of the Swamiji who was ready to enter the field of action with gusto in 1892.
Eknath Ranade communicated this idea and image of Swami Vivekananda to some distinguished artists and sculptors. He also exhorted them to read The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda so as to have for themselves a clear picture of Swami Vivekananda in their minds. The famous sculptor D P Roy Choudhry who had sculpted the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Marina beach He was a very famous sculptor. But he insisted that once he had made the sculpture, it should be accepted. But Eknath Ranade did not agree to that pre-condition. He said, "If the sculpture is satisfactory, it would be accepted. Otherwise, payment would be made just for the work done."
Accordingly, eight sculptures were got done, out of which two were finally selected. When they were placed on the pedestal on trial, the one with the Kamandlam in one hand was disproportionately taller than the other. That taller figure was installed later in Vivekanandapuram, and the other one with Swamiji"s eyes focused on the Sripadam, was installed on the Rock Memorial facing the Sripadam. This, in short, is the story behind the installation of the majestic statue of Swami Vivekananda in the Rock Memorial. The statue which was finally selected for installation was sculpted by Sonawadekar. The construction of the memorial was entrusted to Sthapathi S K Achari by Eknath Ranade on the considered advice of Shri Paramachariya of Kanchi.
Eknath Ranade threw himself into the forefront facing the multifarious challenges that came his way ? to establish scientifically that the Rock for the memorial was structurally sound and could support such a huge structure on it ; the logistics of quarrying and transporting large blocks of stone from great distances, and from the shore to the Rock ; the provision of water and power supplies ; meeting the growing demand for skilled persons, artisans, craftsmen, and labor ; building of jetty platforms on the rock and the shore (the pedestrian footbridge idea to the Rock was dropped) ; the need to ensure systematic de-silting around the jetty platform areas to enable bigger crafts to approach the shore, and so on ? these and several other unforeseen challenges were met by Eknath Ranade with a resolute determination.
The biggest and the most formidable and ever present challenge, however, was that of organizing the financial resources required for the whole operation. Shri Eknath Ranade"s belief in the success of the Rock Memorial mission was so strong, that he never slowed down the pace of work even when there was an acute paucity of funds from time to time during the course of construction of the memorial from 1964 to 1970. He often used to brush aside the pessimistic discouragement of others around him whose belief in his sacred mission was not as strong as his own and went ahead with his fund-raising campaign repeating to himself the words of a great poet : "Act, act in the living present, Heart within and God overhead". No wonder Eknath Ranade succeeded magnificently where others would have failed.
Eknath Ranade fervently believed that the Vivekananda Rock Memorial was a national monument of timeless significance and that every Indian should be invited to contribute to its construction. Shri Eknath Ranade launched the campaign of sale of one-rupee folders throughout the nation, which were used to mobilize the donations of the common man, starting from as tiny an amount as one rupee. By launching such a national campaign for collecting just an amount of Rupee one from every willing citizen, Eknath Ranade succeeded in raising an amount of Rupees one crore. Thus by his grand vision he ensured that so many common people visiting the Rock Memorial could have a legitimate pride that they too had contributed to that splendid national monument.
He also approached and succeeded in persuading almost every State government to make a decent contribution towards the construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. What is amazing is that he succeeded in making even the States of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh participate in the work of construction of the memorial . All the State Governments put together made only a paltry a contribution of Rs.35 lakhs. It was solely on account of the outstanding leadership qualities of Eknath Ranade that the Vivekananda Rock Memorial mission never got entangled in any unseemly political controversy or agitation at any stage during the course of construction of the Rock Memorial from 1964 to 1970. All the petty politicians finally surrendered to his unconquerable spirit.
Eknath Ranade has recorded in telling words about his experiences in dealing with the Chief Ministers and politicians of India : "Leaders of every political party, whether in power or in the opposition became willing partners of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. The only Chief Minister who sent me back empty handed without contributing any amount to the Rock Memorial fund was the then Kerala Chief Minister Comrade E M S Namboodiripad. I can say this much about my abortive interview with him. It was like conversing with a sphinx. It was monologue all the way on my part. Only an empty stare from the other side!".
In this context the beautiful tribute paid to Eknath Ranade by Parameswaran, President, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari is very relevant :It is instructive to know how Eknath Ranade made judicious use of various means at his command for the achievement of his end. Both speech and silence were equally effect instruments in his hands. To know when to speak and when to keep silent is a rare gift. Eknath Ranade possessed this abundantly. While he raised stormy controversies when necessary, he scrupulously abstained from them when they served no purpose. He utilized his contact with the Press for raising the right issues at the right time and also not to raise inconvenient issues that would only complicate the situation. Though he never dabbled in politics, he possessed a high political acumen of which any successful politician would feel envious.
In the beginning, the estimated cost of construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial was Rs 30 lakh. Then it increased to Rs 60 lakhs, then later to 75 lakh. Finally the total cost after completion worked out to Rs one crore and thirty five lakh. Just think what a great achievement it was to mobilize such a huge sum of money forty years ago and complete the work in six years!
The Vivekananda Rock Memorial was inaugurated on 2 September, 1970, and dedicated to the nation by V V Giri, the President of India. Kalaigner Karunanidhi presided over the dedication ceremony. There can be no doubt whatsoever that without the catalytic and stellar role of Shri Eknath Ranade, this grand national monument could never have been completed in such a record time. Emerson, the great American thinker of the 19th century said, "A great and timeless institution is the lengthened shadow of one man". If that be so, I have no doubt that the final verdict of history will be that the magnificent Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari is the lengthened shadow of Eknath Ranade.
I had the unique privilege of enjoying the friendship of Eknath Ranade for almost six years from 1976 to 1982. As a District Collector, I met him for the first time at the Collector"s bungalow in Thirunelveli in November 1976 when I was introduced to Eknath Ranade by S G Subramaniam, who was another great stalwart in the RSS. Later I got to know Eknath Ranade more intimately when I became the first Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust in April 1979. We used to have lunch sessions from time to time at Tuticorin and I remember distinctly his talking with animated passion about the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. He was indeed a Mahapurusha who combined in himself the qualities of gentleness, strength, simplicity and faith. By his life and example he showed that making the simple complicated is common place ; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's indeed creativity. He demonstrated that simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought and that simplicity of character is no hindrance to subtlety of intellect. He showed that life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. True eloquence consists of saying all that should be said, and that only. Eknath Ranade did just that.
Eknath Ranade was a man of tremendous vision and right from day one he had planned to achieve two inseparable objectives. The first major objective was to complete the work of installation of Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. This work was started in 1964 and completed on September 2nd 1970 when the memorial was dedicated to the nation by V V Giri, the President of India. The second major objective of Eknath Ranade was to establish VIVEKANANDA KENDRA ? the Living Memorial alongside the stone-structure of the rock memorial. After going through a carefully planned process of groundwork for nearly nine years, Vivekananda Kendra was officially founded by Eknath Ranade on 7 January, 1972 which marked the 108th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda by the Hindu calendar. On that day, as the sun rose, a saffron flag with Om inscribed on it was unfurled in the serene atmosphere on the Vivekananda Rock Memorial so as to herald the founding of Vivekananda Kendra? a spiritually oriented service mission of non-monastic order.
This second phase of the Memorial for Swami Vivekananda was not just an afterthought which arose in Eknath Ranade"s mind. The establishment of Vivekananda Kendra was conceived by him as early as in 1964. To quote the exact words of Eknath Ranade in this context: "As a whole timer of RSS from 1938 to 1962 , for about 24 years, I had a fund of experience. I had come across many people who were not full-timers as they were leading family life. But all the same, there was a great dedication in their lives. Sometimes it occurred to me, "This person is having a family ? is having children ? is in service ? is doing business. Still, with what a great dedication he is leading a householder' s life? Suppose he was free of all domestic worries, what great amount of work he would have put in? We can have a particular order of workers in whose case marriage need not be barred and who can marry if they want. If we can provide for all their basic needs, we may get a fine class of workers out of such dedicated people we see all around". But what that work could be? I started discussing this proposal with Swami Ranganathananda, Secretary of the Institute of Culture. He welcomed the establishment of a LAY ORDER of life-time workers to work for the cause of Sanatana Dharma as expounded by Swami Vivekananda by his life and example. Likewise I had discussions with Dr.Radhakrishnan, the President of India, Shri Jayaprakash Narayan, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri and several other national leaders and all of them applauded and approved of the idea. The then President of the Ramakrishna Mission gave his concurrence to my proposal for the establishment of VIVEKANANDA KENDRA".
Great faith is not like an exact mathematical formula which can be agreed to if the weight of evidence favors it. Vigorous questioning can always propel a restoration and deepening of conviction. Paradoxically, it is the very questioning that causes the rubbing that polishes the pearl. This is what exactly happened with Eknath Ranade whose faith in his mission was invincible. He passionately shared Einstein"s affirmation that anyone who is not lost on the rapturous awe at the power and glory of the mind and the spirit behind the universe "is as good as burnt out candle".
During his last meeting with me in June 1982 when he was fighting against the machinations of some Christian clerics in Kanyakumari, he told me with calm determination: "It is your own assent to yourself, and the constant voice of your own reason, and not of others, that should make you believe. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Faith has to be kept alive in us so that it gathers strength, more from practice than from speculations. Faith is not a series of gilt-edged propositions that you sit down to figure out, and if you follow all the logic and accept all the conclusions, then you have it. On the contrary, it is crumpling and throwing away everything, proposition by proposition, until nothing is left, and then writing a new proposition, your very own, to throw in the teeth of despair". As it was for his master Shri Guruji Golwalkar and in turn his master Dr Hedgewar, faith was the antiseptic of Eknath Ranade"s soul. Vivekananda Kendra was an outgrowth of such a kind of faith.Thanks to the faith and vision of Eknath Ranade, the glorious tradition of penance established by Swami Vivekananda on the mid-sea rock in December 1982 has been continued by young men and women coming as Karyakartas of Vivekananda Kendra to spread the immortal message of Swami Vivekananda: "A hundred thousand men and women, fired with the zeal of holiness, fortified with eternal faith in the Lord, and nerved to lion's courage by their sympathy for the poor and the fallen and the downtrodden, will go over the length and breadth of the land, preaching the gospel of salvation, the gospel of help, the gospel of social raising up, the gospel of equality". Everyday, at sunrise the saffron flag with Om is hoisted on the Rock Memorial and lowered at sunset.
The twin objectives of Vivekananda Kendra are man-making and nation-building. With great foresight, Shri Eknath Ranade decided that Vivekananda Kendra should be a cadre-based organization. Young men and women whose hearts long to serve the nation should be provided the opportunity and the right platform to serve God in man. As envisaged by him, carefully chosen lifetime workers called Jeevanvratis are properly trained and posted to different parts of the country. They work without any salary. However, their upkeep and wellbeing? Yogakshema ? are taken care of by Vivekananda Kendra. The mission statement of Vivekananda Kendra was given by Eknath Ranade in these words: "The remedy for the ills of our country, therefore, lies in launching a mighty movement of right thought sweeping the entire country. It has to be a two-pronged move. On the one hand, it is to be aimed (I) transforming our people"s inherent God-wardness into right spiritual urge rising out of the teachings of the Upanishads , namely, (a) each soul is potentially divine and (b) faith in God, in turn means faith in one"s self, ie. In one's potentiality to rise to divine heights. On the other hand, it is (II) to convert the spiritual fervor thus released into works of national reconstruction" .
During the last 34 years Vivekananda Kendra has grown from strength to strength covering different parts of India like Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Developmental and Welfare activities in the field of pre-education, primary education, secondary education, public health and various other aspects of rural development have been undertaken to initiate a new process of development in the remote and backward areas in order to open out to the poor people in those areas opportunities for a richer and fuller life.
There are two mid-sea rocks off the shore of Kanyakumari. One of the rocks is the Vivekananda Rock, on which a memorial has been constructed and nearly 12 lakh of people visit this memorial annually. There is another smaller rock, not very far from the Vivekananda rock, and many of the Christian missionaries laid their claim for constructing a small church or a statue of Jesus Christ on this rock in 1979. Eknath Ranade showed his clairvoyant vision by persuading Dr MGR, the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, agree to the installation of Thiruvalluvar statue on this rock. The foundation stone for the Thiruvalluvar statue was laid by Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister of India on 15 April, 1979. Eknath Ranade was a great statesman and he used the good offices of Prabhudas Patwari, the then Governor of Tamilnadu to make Dr MGR agree to this proposal. Like Mahakavi Bharathi, Eknath Ranade was a true nationalist and a true Tamilian rolled into one. Prabhudas Patwari was persuaded by the inspiring words of Eknath Ranade. "Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand it". Eknath Ranade dared and succeeded.
After leading a glorious life of unexampled service and selflessness as a Karmayogi, Eknath Ranade passed into immortality at Madras on Vinayak Chaturthi day on 22 August, 1982. The main theme of Eknath Ranade"s life was to take the message of Sanatana Dharma to every home and pave the way for launching in a big way the man-making programmes preached and envisaged by great seers like Swami Vivekananda. By establishing the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari and by creating Vivekananda Kendra, Eknath Ranade has indeed made the following words of Swami Vivekananda come true in letter and spirit: "We want thousands of men and women, who will spread like wild fire from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, from North Pole to South Pole ? all over the world. Let those who have come for child's play be off now, while there is time, or they will surely come to grief. We want an organization. Off with Laziness ! Spread ! Run like fire to all place. Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good for man, for the welfare of all".

Friday, December 29, 2006

Daoist philosophy

Welcome to FFI's forum.
This forum is created for exchange of ideas. It is not for mindless babble of nonsense nor for clashes of personalities. We are not interested to dig more ditches but to build more bridges.
Our policy in moderating this forum is least intervention. In other words we operate this forum based on the Daoist philosophy of governing. The gist of this philosophy is wu wei, or “do nothing”.
There is an order in the nature, but you can’t put your finger on it. It simply cannot be measured or defined. Nature does not have geometric figures and it has no specific shapes but there is order beauty and harmony in it and it is perfect. Look at the clouds, the trees, the mountains or the rivers and lakes and the stars. They all have order but we simply cannot measure or describe it. This is Li - organic pattern.
The Dao is the way nature operates. You cannot find the controlling center of it, because there isn't any.
We humans are part of the nature and our society is a natural evolution. Internet forums are cyber societies and hence part of the nature too. Nature knows best how to regulate itself. So we moderate this forum letting it evolve under its natural impulses. We do not see human society as a factory were you have to plan and control every aspect of the production but rather as a garden with a life of its own, where all you have to do is assure that the trees and plants are watered and occasionally pruned and weeded, and watch it grow on its own.
Society is like an individual. In fact we individuals are only a society of billions of cells. There is no governing organism in our body. All cells know what to do and there is harmony. This harmony is the natural way. It exists in everything. Dao is the path of non intervention. By doing nothing you will accomplish more than by doing a lot.
The rules or the Dao of this forum are the natural rules governing any civilized society.

The Dao of the forum or its 10 commandments

Do not insult other members, Do not utter racial slurs or call for violence against certain groups of people. Clashes of opinions are welcomed but clashes of personalities are not.
Do not spam or flood the forum with too many postings. Limit your postings to maximum seven messages per day.
Think before writing. Quality matters more than quantity.
Do not use foul language nor override the general norms of civility. Let your words be the expression of who you are.
You’ll be “flamed” by other members if you behave unscholarly.
You do not have to be a scholar to participate in this forum but try to act like one.
Do not use an offensive nickname as your user name.
Be considerate of other members’ time and write only if you have something of value to say.
Remember that the membership to this forum is not a birthright, but rather a privilege. We love to see the flowers of all kinds and hues in our garden but the moderators are always on the watch to weed out the “thorny” shrubs that try to suffocate other plants.
This forum is for serious discussions. Please do not register multiple usernames like Muhammad and his Allah whose one alias said one thing and his hidden alias came to his support. We can easily see if you use multiple usernames, do not like it and will reveal your little secret. So don't do that.
Please join only if you agree.
I Agree

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The genocide of Brahmin men women and children by Tipu


Monday, December 25, 2006
The genocide of Brahmin men women and children by Tipu

In independent India, the muslim terrorists explode bombs on Hindu festival days in crowded markets, to kill maximum number of Hindus. This reminds me of a time more than 200 years ago when the muslim ruler Tipu had herded some 700 Brahmin men, women and children and brutally beheaded all of them in the typical muslim fashion on a Deepavali day in Karnataka. The decapitated Karnataka Brahmins belonged to the mandyam Iyengar sect of Karnataka and related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore. Because it was on a Deepavali day that Tipu beheaded these Brahmin ancestors their descendents belonging to the Mandyam Iyengar sect stay away from Deepavali celebrations. Deepavali is the reminder of a black day for this Brahmin sect.

The muslim king, Tipu had ruled his kingdom only for sixteen-and-a-half years, from December 7, 1782 to May 4, 1799. The territory of Malabar was Under his effective control only for a short period of eight years. He had a treacherous Brahmin Divan by name Purnaiyya. Purnaiyya had managed to gather some 90,000 soldiers, three crore rupees, and huge quantities of gold ornaments and precious stones from the Hindu population for Tipu. Seeing this wealth Tipu wanted to rule South India and wanted to become an Emperor of India. Tipu had to defeat first the British to become an emperor. Superstitious Tipu consulted many Hindu astrologers in Sree Ranganatha Swami temple. These astrologers did not see Tipu becoming an emperor, but suggested that if some of the suggested remedial Hindu rituals were performed; he could achieve his cherished ambition. Believing the astrologers the idiotic Tipu performed all Hindu pujas in the Sree Ranaganatha Swami temples as suggested by the astrologers. Tipu gave costly presents to the astrologers. This act is being widely interpreted by leftist and minority historians as the love and respect for Hindu religion and traditions by Tipu. But there is a long list of Hindu temples that were desecrated and razed down by Tipu and his muslim army in South India and in Malabar. On the eve of Tipu?s death there was only two Hindu temples left standing with in the Sreerangapatanam fortress. Tipu did not consider the Hindu rulers of Maharashtra, Coorg and Travancore or the Muslim ruler Nizam as impediments. He was afraid of only the British. Tipu was convinced that he could easily become the Emperor of India if he could somehow vanquish the British. Because of his intense anti-British attitude, the leftist and minority historians of Congress have made a vain attempt to paint Tipu as a great national hero. Opposition to foreign powers need not be always due to one?s love for the country. To achieve his selfish goal and to face the British forces, Tipu sought the assistance of another foreign power, the French, who were maneuvering to establish their own domination in the country. How is it possible, therefore, for Tipu to be an enemy of foreign forces when he himself had sought help from Napoleon who was then a prisoner in St. Helena Island and also from the French King, Louis XVI? Besides, Tipu also wanted to establish Islamic rule in the country. To achieve his Islamic empire he had to defeat the British first. For this purpose, Tipu solicited the assistance of Muslim countries like Persia, Afghanistan and Turkey. It is true that Tipu did not harm the Raja of Cochin or anyone for that matter who surrendered and pledged loyalty to him. But this was only a tactic of the typical muslim ruler who wanted to establish first, before eliminating the Hindu Kingdoms of the south. Tipu was never a friend of Hindus. Tipu and the Hyderabad Nizam were the only Muslim rulers in the Deccan at that time and hence he wanted to avoid any dispute with the Hyderabad Nizam. When Tipu was a teenager, his father, Hyder Ali Khan had asked Hyderabad Nizam?s daughter in marriage for young Tipu, but that marriage proposal was rejected by Hyderabad Nizam. With the ambition of becoming a muslim emperor, Tipu asked a daughter of Hyderabad Nizam for his own son. But the Hyderabad Nizam, considering Tipu as an upstart with no aristocratic heredity, refused the proposal. As if to spite the Hyderabad Nizam, Tipu got another of his sons married to the daughter of Arackal Bibi of Cannanore mainly to secure the loyalty of Malabar Muslims for subjugating the entire Malabar region. The family of Arackal Bibi, though converted to Islam was following the matriarchal system and Tipu who was a muslim fanatic was totally against it and wanted to change it.

Tipu's rule was that of a typical muslim fanatic. In a deliberately designed taxation scheme, the religious prejudice of Tipu Sultan became quite clear. His co-religionists, Muslims, were exempted from house tax, commodity tax and also the levy on other items of household use. Also those who were converted to Islam were given similar tax exemptions. Tipu made provisions for the education of the muslim children only. Tipu had deep hatred towards all non-muslims and stopped appointing Hindus in different administrative and military jobs as practiced by his father, Hyder Ali Khan. During the entire period of sixteen years of his regime, the Brahmin traitor, Purnaiyya was the only Hindu who had adorned the post of Divan among a group of muslim Divans under Tipu Sultan. Two years before the death of Tipu not even a single Hindu was present in Tipu?s top 65 senior officials. All the Mustadirs were also Muslims. In 1789, when the Hyderabad Nizam and other Muslim rulers decided that only Muslims would be appointed in all Government posts, Tipu Sultan also adopted the same policy in his Mysore State. Just because they were Muslims, even those who were illiterate and inefficient, were also appointed to important Government posts. This attitude of muslims prevails even today against non muslims. In 1996 the Dubai Sheikh had issued an order to all heads of the government departments, who were mostly local mullah?s or from the royal relations, that only muslims should be appointed in Dubai government jobs and those non muslims working already in various government departments should be terminated upon the completion of their contract without the usual automatic extension and if need be they should be removed saying that they are inefficient in the jobs.

Even for getting promotions, one still had to be a Muslim under Tipu Sultan's regime. Based on the writings of Tipu's son, Ghulam Muhammad it is known that all the records relating to tax revenue, were ordered to be written in Persian rather than in Marathi and Kannada as followed earlier. He even tried to make Persian the State language in place of Kannada. Ghulam Muhammad had written that all the Government posts were filled by lazy corrupt and irresponsible Muslims. A Muslim historian like Kirmani?s writing also confirms Tipu?s Islamisation policy. As a consequence the Hindu population had to suffer a great deal because of these incompetent and corrupt Muslim officials. The Muslim staffs at all levels were totally corrupt and dishonest. Tipu had changed even the Hindu names of places as Tipu could not tolerate Hindu names. Mangalapuri which is the present day Mangalore was renamed as Jalalabad by Tipu. Kanwapuram which is the present day Cannanore was renamed as Kusanabad. Vaippura which is now known as Bepur was renamed to an Islamic name Sultanpatanam or Faruqui. Mysore was renamed as Nazarabad, Dharwar to Quarshed-Sawad, Gooty to Faiz-llissar, Ratnagiri to Mustafabad, Diridigul to Khaliqabad, and Kozhikode to Islamabad by Tipu. After the death of Tipu the local people reverted to their old names.


The cruelties committed by Tipu on the Hindu population of Coorg have no parallel in history. On one occasion, Tipu under the threat of beheading them forcibly converted over ten thousand Hindus to Islam. On another occasion, Tipu rounded up and tortured more than one thousand Hindu Coorgis and forcibly converted them to Islam before imprisoning them in the Sreerangapatanam fortress.


Against the solemn oath given to the Raja of Coorg, Tipu has shown the barbaric muslim trait and he forcibly abducted a young princess from the Coorg royal family and made her his wife against her will.


The atrocities committed by Tipu in Bidnur in North Karnataka during and after its capture, were most barbarous and beyond description. Kumaran Nambiar from Chirackal Kingdom was captured and circumcised and forcibly converted to Islam by Hyder Ali and was given the name Ayaz Khan. Ayaz Khan was later appointed by Hyder Ali as the Governor of Bidnur. Hyder Ali?s son Tipu was jealous of Ayaz Khan from the very beginning because his father Hyder Ali considered Ayaz Khan more intelligent and smart than Tipu. When Ayaz Khan learnt that Tipu was scheming to kill him secretly, he escaped to Bombay with plenty of gold. Tipu then went to Bednur and under the threat of sword, forcibly converted its entire Hindu population to Islam. After Tipu captured Mangalore, thousands of Christians were forcibly sent to Sreerangapatanam where all of them were circumcised and converted to Islam.

The heroic queen Rani Lakshammanni wife of Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar who lived most of her life under house arrest made relentless battle for the restoration of her throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Though Lakshammanni begins her quest for the restoration of the throne from the ascension of Hyder Ali to the throne, she started negotiating with the British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumalaiengar and his brother Narayan Row. Queen Rani Lakshammanni had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the income of the state as their salary in perpetuity, should they succeed in their endeavor. On coming to know of this, Hyder imprisoned all their relatives who were belonging to Bharadwaja gotra known as mandyam Iyengars. This Brahmin sect is related to Tirumaliengar, the Pradhan of Mysore. Mandyam Iyengars were living between Mandya and Srirangapatna area, and it was known as Tirumala Row.

Tipu in 1790 came to know of an agreement between Gen. Harris, the then Governor of Madras, and Tirumaliyengar. Tipu immediately herded all the relatives Tirumalaiengar some 700 in total, for butchering. The torture and beheading of the Brahmin men, women and children were carried out on the Deepavali day on the specific orders of Tipu. After the genocide of these Brahmins of Karnataka, their descendents till date have not celebrated a single Deepavali festival. The cruelty inflicted on the innocents has parallel only to the christian Nazi concentration camps of the second world war. The Karnataka Brahmins belonging to the mandyam Iyengars observe Deepavali as a Dark Day.

The Mogul historians downwards to the historians of the British colonial and the subsequent historians selected by Nehru tried to glorify the muslim terrorist rule in India. Nehru always installed muslims to head even our Archeological Survey of India so that truths like the Taj Mahal was Tejo Mahalaya, is in fact was a Siva Temple that existed long before Shajahan was born not revealed to the Indian public.

As per the reputed historian, Lewis Rice, who wrote the History of Mysore, he states Tipu as a muslim fanatic. As per Lewis Rice on the eve of Tipu?s death there was only two Hindu temples left standing within the Sreerangapatanam fortress. It was only for the satisfaction of his Hindu astrologers who bluffed Tipu that he will one day be an emperor that Tipu had spared those two temples. The entire wealth of every Hindu temple was looted before 1790 itself by Tipu.

The result of Tipu?s brutal conversion of Hindus in the south India is there for everybody to see. Mini Pakistans have come up in all those areas where Tipu ruled. If Tipu had not secured the assistance of a traitor Brahmin Purnaiyya, there would not have been so many terrorist muslims in the states of Kerala and Karnataka. Hindu population and prosperity was reduced in the areas where Tipu ruled. In these mini Pakistans, muslims raise Pakistani flags, and run a mini Islamic state. When these muslims in these areas earn seven rupee per head the Hindus who are outnumbered earn just one rupee per head.
2:34:49 AM
Posted By Kumar Bharat Comments (3) Society

Monday, December 25, 2006

Where angels fear to tread

Where Angels Fear to Tread by Alex J. Morrey sets out an alternative understanding of what we perceive to be the universe, the world in which we live. Instead of following the current trend of assuming it to be a consequence of objective fact independent of humanity, it is shown how it can be thought of as a consequence of collective belief entirely dependent upon humanity; a ‘dream-like’ world.
With this alternative way of thinking about space, time and what we perceive to be real, we take a fresh look at the nature of matter, light, the gravitational and electrostatic fields, etc., and why we perceive the speed of light to be about 186,282.4 miles per second. We can even give significance to the so-called Dark Energy that fills the universe. It is shown how humanity itself creates the ultimate Reality beyond space and time. Science is shown to involve studying just one segment (our world) of a very large multi-segment array of ‘dream-like’ worlds.
In this new way of thinking, God is thought of and experienced as the spirit of Reality where Reality is a non-conflicting logical structure beyond the reality of our world of space and time. It is shown how the spirit of Reality relates to the gods of the various religions. We as individuals can live in Reality by living in our Real self as an integral part of Reality much as did that controversial historic figure, Jesus of Nazareth, who demonstrated a direct interaction with Reality.
Have you ever wondered if everything you think you know is really true? Is it possible that there might be a better, more complete understanding of how the world works than what we unthinkingly assume? Do religious leaders and scientists really know what they are talking about?
If you are seriously prepared to have your assumptions challenged, Where Angels Fear to Tread by Alex J. Morrey is essential reading for you. We assume the universe in which we all live to be a consequence of objective fact. What if, instead, it is a consequence of collective belief? There is no noticeable difference between living in either situation, but it requires a quantum leap in thought to understand the difference and to come to terms with the implications.
Learn how to examine the truth of human existence, the nature of reality, and the meaning of God from the viewpoint of physics and science. Understand reality/Reality as never before.
Shake off that complacency and get ready to start thinking in an entirely new and very exciting way! Discover exciting new answers to a range of intriguing old questions.
Is faster-than-light travel, or time travel possible?
Are UFOs mere hallucinations or are they real objects?
Can extra-terrestrial life forms really exist anywhere?
Are crop circles more than just natural phenomena?
What is that mysterious ‘Dark Energy’ that fills the universe?
Why do we perceive objects as solid when in Reality they are not?
Is God real or imaginary? If so, what does God being real mean?
What is the root cause of religion, and where does religion fit in?
Is this life only a dream-like existence?
Are we each influenced by the values and beliefs of the masses?
Can we influence our own life events closer to Reality, and if so, how?
With a degree in physics and mathematics and a revelation from Reality, author Alex Morrey provides answers to these questions in a provocative and powerfully written manner that will broaden every truth seeker’s knowledge and leave readers captivated and greatly enriched.
Author Bio
Alex J. Morrey was born in Leicestershire England in the 1930s. After a childhood spent grappling with illness and myopia, he entered professional life as a carpenter and joiner apprentice, and subsequently as an external student of the University of London, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics via the Leicester College of Technology.
In the summer of 1959 Alex had what could be described as a revelation from Reality which became the basis of Where Angels Fear to Tread, an upgrading which is available to everyone.
In 1963, Alex and a colleague started a successful business producing printed circuit boards. By 1985, Alex was freed from business and able to travel. He spent time in Spain, abroad, and in the United States. In 1993, he relocated to the US and formed a computer service company with a friend who was an associate pastor at a church in Athens, Georgia. The odd relationships between congregation members provided Alex with new insights into the nature of Christianity and the quality known as charisma. In 2002, these insights, coupled with his knowledge of physics, culminated into the birth of an idea that led to the writing of Where Angels Fear to Tread.
The author presently makes his home in Winterville, Georgia.

The New York Times Review
Ellen Tanner Marsh, Best Selling Author
What is reality? Is what we see really what is truly there? Not according to Alex Morrey’s thought-provoking new book, Where Angels Fear To Tread. The Nature of Reality and the Meaning of God.
Forget what you think you know about the universe. Our universe, according to Morrey, is a consequence of our collective space-time beliefs. What we see and feel and sense are not really based on objective fact at all, but rather on our shared “universal belief” that reveals to us a reality we’ve all seemingly agreed to accept.
But what about the greater reality, one that encompasses dreams, psychic phenomena and precognitive dreaming? Can we be consciously aware of both the real world and this dream world? And how do we get closer to this ultimate reality, which encompasses both?
Morrey’s book is filled with fascinating accounts of how the human brain can shape our world. True Reality in theological terms. Morrey says, is nothing less than “the mind of God,” with Jesus of Nazareth as an example of how we should aspire to live within it, as a Real self. But can we make inroads to this Reality? Can we heal ourselves and, as good Christians or better still Realists, heal the world as well? Morrey’s prose is clear-eyed, inspirational and so provocatively smart that it’s downright exhilarating. Read this book and you’ll never look at the world the same way again.
###
Press Release
The Universe, although real, is an illusion
Where Angels Fear to Tread by Alex J. Morrey examines the nature of reality and the meaning of God from the viewpoints of scientific and personal perception.
WINTERVILLE , GEORGIA - Where Angels Fear to Tread delves into the universal questions about the nature of reality, the meaning of God, and the truth of human existence from the viewpoints of scientific and personal perception .
Individually and collectively, we take for granted the objective nature of the universe, a world that is supposed to have been in existence for some 17 billion years. Using physics and science, Alex Morrey demonstrates that the universe is an illusion created by a subliminal mind-to-mind “coercive interaction” between all the individual minds that make up the collective mind of humanity. He states that the interaction establishes a shared Universal Belief, which is perceived as reality at the seat of consciousness within each individual human brain. The universe is shown to be of the same nature as a dream world. He further shows how dream-like objects in a dream-like-world, can exhibit mass, inertia, feel solid, and be perceived as real .
Says Morrey, “Reality cannot be contained within a single individual mind; it is just too big. It is in theological terms the mind of God.” He further states that while mankind cannot understand the truth of existence, he can “live in that truth by living in his Real self, which is an integral part of Reality.” He perceives Jesus of Nazareth as having demonstrated this direct interaction with Reality.
What is God? Why do we perceive objects as solid, when in truth, they are not? Where does religion fit in? Are we influenced by mass beliefs? Can we influence our own life events? Where Angels Fear to Tread provides answers to these questions in a provocative and powerful manner that will captivate and enrich the lives of truth seekers everywhere.
Where Angels Fear to Tread is available for sale online at Amazon.com, Borders.com, BookSurge.com, and through additional wholesale and retail channels worldwide.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Joel Osteen - False preacher


Ministries
Joel Osteen False Preacher / Teachingsreport by Robert Wise
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FWM: We get a lot of criticism for discussing Joel Osteen, but Joel himself said the following:LARRY KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?JOEL OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong.FWM: Every CHRISTIAN knows that if you do not believe in Christ, then you are WRONG!
Joel Osteen took over for his father John Osteen when John passed away in 1999. Even though John Osteen insisted that God told him he was going to preach into his 90s, he professed healing on his death bed to no avail. He told his parishioners that God was going to give him new body parts and that he was going to be healed. He passed away against his own beliefs that he would not for years to come.
Joel took over the Ministry even though he readily admits that he did not want to. His love was for TV production and marketing, but he felt he had no choice but to step into the pulpit after his father's demise.
Joel's teaching are nothing short of sweet bread for the pew sitters. He admits that he does not want to talk about anything negative. Sin, hell, God's wrath onto the unbelievers at the end time are not part of his vocabulary. He admits that he just wants people to feel good and to feel good about themselves. The sad part of this is that he then should have become a counselor not a preacher. Also see: Joel Osteen's Rock Show Joel Osteen Blogger comments
Here is an article from http://www.discernment.org/LeavenLakewood.htm that I found very interesting and I couldn't have said it better so I ask permission to reprint it here. My thanks to Rev. Robert S. Liichow.
The Leaven of Lakewood
“‘I don’t want this to sound arrogant, but I believe one day we’re going to have 100,000 a weekend,” says Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston .’”[1]
By Rev. Robert S. Liichow
The Kudos
I want to begin this article by giving credit where credit is due. When it comes to the Lakewood charismatic mega-church there are aspects of this ministry which must be cited as worthy. To begin with the church was originally started by John Osteen, who was originally a Southern Baptist pastor but after receiving the “baptism” in/with the Holy Spirit he became enamored with the charismatic renewal movement in its early stage and eventually became associated with the Word of Faith (WOF) cult. The following commentary was taken from the official web site of Lakewood Church :
The late John Osteen served the Lord Jesus Christ as pastor, evangelist, author, and teacher for sixty years. Ordained as a Southern Baptist, he received the baptism in the Holy Ghost in 1958, an experience which revolutionized his ministry into a worldwide outreach…John Osteen began Lakewood Church in a dusty, abandoned feed store on Mother's Day 1959…John Osteen was driven by an amazing love for people of all ages, races, nationalities and walks of life.[2]
One thing is certain in a time of racial division John Osteen opened wide the doors of his church to all people, and all shades and classes of people came. John, even though he had rejected his Baptist theology (he did actually earn a Masters degree from Northern Baptist Seminary) he never lost sight of the need for foreign missions and his congregation supported and still supports a great deal of foreign mission work. At the time of his death Lakewood Church had risen to 8,000 members.
I must be honest with you; out of all the WOF teachers my wife and I listened to we enjoyed John Osteen more than most. He did have a genuine pastor’s heart and a desire to see people come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We have many of John Osteen’s books and tapes in the DMI archives. It seems that his seminary education helped keep John from espousing some of the most heretical doctrines that are commonly taught by WOF teachers today.
However, I am under no illusions regarding the WOF “leaven” which John propagated and is unfortunately being further magnified through his son Joel Osteen who took over as Pastor when his father died in 1999. John was a big crusader for the error of positive confession. This is a metaphysical belief that we can either create or change our reality by the power of our words, for example he stated the following:
When they say like they did to Smith Wigglesworth, "How are you feeling today?" He said "Listen, I don't ask my body how it's feeling; I tell it how to feel." And your words should not be to describe the situation; your words should be given to change the situation. And so, read it, meditate upon it, and speak it[3]
I am the sum total of what I have been confessing through the years. My children are the best children that ever lived on the face of the earth. They are blessed of God. They are the sum total of what Dodie and I have confessed and loved them into being[4]
Osteen is on record as fully endorsing the WOF errant concepts surrounding financial prosperity:
It's God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It's God's will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. It's God's will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life[5]
In the above sermon we can see the Health & Wealth “gospel” summed up three sentences. So despite the good things that John Osteen did as a Pastor he got ensnared by the subtlety of false teaching and ended up misleading millions before his death.
Jesus in speaking to His disciples warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees in the following discussion:
Mt 16:6,11-12
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees… How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Even though it seems to us that His disciples were a little slow on the “uptake” at times Jesus makes His point crystal clear to them --- He was warning them to beware[6], to be on guard against the danger of their doctrinal errors, which Jesus likens to leaven in bread. Jesus knew that if left unchecked, like leaven in bread, their doctrinal error would spread. The leaven of false doctrines which he instilled in his son are now expanding and misleading more people than John Osteen could have ever imagined.
The Concerns
Joel Osteen Master of Marketeering
Joel Osteen has absolutely no biblical training or experience to be a pastor. Charismatic pulpits are filled with people who feel “called” to the pastorate and that is enough for them and those who follow them. They attempt to build congregations on the “strength” of their calling. Some charismatic leaders may go on to some unaccredited “ Bible School ” for a year or two, none (which encompasses a large group of ministers) that we were ever acquainted with attended any legitimate seminary.
Would you allow a surgeon to operate on you because he felt “called” to be a surgeon as a child, but never went on to medical school? Or would you allow someone to build your house who firmly believed God had called him to be an architect yet had never gone on to college to study architectural design? Of course not, it would be the height of foolishness!
Yet millions of professing Christians are more than willing to follow a man (or woman) who says “God” has called them and has supernaturally equipped them to be ministers. These especially anointed men and women have no need to study Church history, hermeneutics, systematic theology and struggle through Greek and Hebrew as other ministers do. They hear directly from God (this is especially true for the sign-gift[7] pastors, most seeker-sensitive churches are led by seminary educated individuals).
So my first main concern is that we have a man in the pulpit of the largest congregation in America , being beamed around the world that has no biblical education or training for the vocation he says he has! To me we have a clear case of the blind leading the blind (read Luke 6:39) with the end result being masses of people falling into the ditch of spiritual ignorance, abuse and/or extremism.
Joel Osteen made the following statement which ought to be enough to drive 1,000’s of people away from his church:
Osteen’s upbeat style is deliberate and authentic. ‘Make church relevant,’ he says. ‘Give them something to be able to take away. I find today people are not looking for theology. There’s a place for it, [But] in your everyday life you need to know how to live.[8]
That statement is loaded with seeker-sensitive “code.” My wife and I left a North American Baptist church of over 1,000 members which had as its acronym “GPARS” which stood for: (1) Grace; (2) People; (3) Authenticity; (4) Relevance and (5) Small groups.
Of course Osteen’s “style” is upbeat, would you expect negativity from a positive confession devotee? No! Deliberate, absolutely, he really believes much of the WOF nonsense his father taught him all his life, not to mention whatever offbeat spirituality he may have gleaned from his two years at Oral Roberts University . Authentic? Without a doubt! What you see is what you get. Joel Osteen is a man without any biblical education but an admitted talent for marketing.
To be a success in marketing you have to know where people itch and scratch it. Or, you have to create a desire in them by creating a hunger for something they currently do not have nor formerly knew they needed. All commercials can be condensed down to one of these two truths.
So to become a mega-church a pastor has to make church relevant. He has to give the people what they want, something that soothes that spiritual itch. In order to be a “success” (i.e. large masses of people and money) pastors must preach unchallenging messages that uplift rather than convict. He must pander to the lowest common denominator and make sure that whatever is taught does not offend anymore at anytime. What we are seeing is really nothing new, it is a simply fulfillment of 2Ti 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
This is exactly where multitudes of people are spiritually today. The above text also helps explain the phenomena of people like Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and now, Joel Osteen.
Osteen goes on to say that “I find today that people are not looking for theology.” Well that is obvious because if they were they would not find any sound theology at Lakewood ! Although he does not reveal to the readers where he found this astonishing fact out, it appears the folks he has talked to have no interest in theology.
Lest you think me a bit harsh let me remind you that theology simply means “the knowledge of God.” In essence Osteen has said that people are really not interested in learning about God. Somehow (undoubtedly due to his lack of biblical education) he has made a disconnect between knowing the God of the Bible via sound biblical theology and “knowing how to live.”
Brothers and sisters, my wife and I can testify to you that the more accurately you understand God within the biblical context the better life you will live before Him. Tracy and I have a daughter, she does not like to eat certain vegetables but we MAKE her eat them from time to time. Why? As her parents, even though somewhat distasteful to her we know that eating them will be beneficial.
The same is true for every man who mounts a pulpit! God does not tell us to feed the sheep what they want to eat. Jesus told Peter “feed My sheep,” (see John 21:16). Jesus said “feed” the sheep not “entertain” them! We are to give them the Word of God in its totality. Any pastor can fall into the trap of becoming a people pleaser. This is why Paul, through the Holy Ghost warned young Timothy in the verse just above the one I cited: 2Ti 4:-2
I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Timothy is WARNED to be steadfast in his proclamation of the Gospel to be ready and in his preaching to: (1) REPROVE; (2) REBUKE; (3) EXHORT the people according to the Scriptures. How? We are to preach with all longsuffering (because such preaching is unpleasant to people’s carnal nature) and with doctrine. GASP! Doctrine? I can hear the seeker-sensitive pundits saying “oh come now, Rev. Liichow, surely you know preaching doctrinal messages is passé?” Osteen would do well to heed the word of the Lord from a genuine prophet who stated: Eze 34:2 -3
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel , prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe [be] to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: [but] ye feed not the flock.
There are many biblical themes which are very “unpopular” and even politically “incorrect” yet the faithful pastor/teacher will expound on these topics as well so that the flock under his care is receiving a balanced spiritual diet and is able to walk in the full light of God’s Word and not in the shadows.
What is Joel’s educational background and experience? Since we know his training is not theological, what is it? He did attend Oral Roberts University for two years, but his area of study had to do with television production and marketing.
Meanwhile, son Joel, one of six children, was learning the business of television… ‘Growing up, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be involved in TV production,’ he says. ‘That was just my passion.’ In 1981 he came home from Oral Roberts University (ORU) to start the Lakewood TV ministry.[9]
For seventeen (17) years Joel was behind the scenes handling all the television and marketing of his father’s ministry. The next statement from the Charisma article is very revealing:
The younger Osteen’s television-marketing talents and his dad’s preaching skills resulted eventually in the church churches being aired on stations nationwide and in more than 100 countries.[10]
Joel Osteen had the ability to get his father’s heavily WOF influenced message out all over America and into 100 foreign markets. Due to this dynamic-duo of folksy preaching/teaching and highly visible presence on television Lakewood Church grew to close to 8,000 members at the time of John Osteen’s death in 1999.
With his father sick in the hospital, John asks his son, Joel, to preach for him that Sunday. Initially Joel balked at the idea and said “no.” He then relented and here are Joel’s own words concerning his preaching that day:
I just got up there and told stories. I was so glad when it was over, I said, ‘I’ll never do this again in my life.’[11]
That was the beginning of his public ministry; he just got up and told “stories.” Joel has been telling stories that have been tickling the ears of the multitudes ever since. Here is how the article describes Joel’s style of preaching:
The appealing style of Osteen’s personality in the pulpit is unmistakable. It is part of the reason for the Lakewood ’s current level of success.[12]
Everyone agrees Osteen’s preaching is a key ingredient. Descriptions of his style include ‘simple,’ ‘down-to-earth,’ ‘practical,’ ‘relatable,’ ‘easy,’ ‘folksy,’ ‘humble.’[13]
It’s 10 a.m. when he began his sermon. The theme is practical as he gives example after example of the importance of following God’s timing rather than one’s own. He keeps the tone cheerful, optimistic. ‘God doesn’t want anybody walking out of here today heavy-hearted and downcast,” Osteen says.[14]
Joel Osteen is charismatic in his personality. He is not a bad looking man, his delivery is as non-threatening as the positive messages he delivers. Perhaps I am reading in to much yet when I read “practical” it makes me think that he believes teaching theology is somehow “impractical.” The example after example simple means he tells a lot of stories and anecdotes that somehow relate to the message in which he may cite one or two proof texts to make his point.
It also concerns me when a pastor can make the statement that God does not want anybody walking out of here “heavy-hearted.” My Bible says “godly sorrow worketh repentance…” (see 2 Cor. 7:10). At times God does want us to walk out of a service “heavy-hearted” if we have been sinning against His will. We should allow the Word (when properly expounded) and the Spirit (when genuinely present) to break us, to convict us of sinful attitudes and practices.
However if all you hear is “upbeat,” “cheerful,” and “optimistic” messages there is little opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work conviction in the hearts of the hearers. This folksy down home non-confrontational type of message also goes a long way in explaining the huge crowds that gather to be entertained.
Let Us Entertain You
Entertained? Oh yes, it is not only Joel’s preaching style but the music of Lakewood is an important ingredient in drawing large hoards of people. Once Joel took command of Lakewood ’s already large congregation (between 6,000 to 8,000 members) he began to expand the musical talent as well.
Four years ago, when Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff --- former member of the Dove Award-winning Cruse Family gospel group --- became Lakewood’s minister of music, the church had only one Sunday morning service…Soon after Cruse-Ratcliff arrived Lakewood expanded when two Sunday morning services were added…’The growth was extremely rapid,’ says Cruse-Ratcliff, who still serves on the 200-member Lakewood. Staff.[15]
“Star power” brings people to churches as well, especially musical stars and Joel is not ignorant of this fact. As minister of music Ms. Ratcliff knows people in the contemporary music scene and she no doubt help add to the musical strength of this mega-church by helping bring in some more musical talent:
Helping to spice up that mix are two of the most prominent names in worship music. Marcos Witt, who fills stadiums in Latin America for worship concerts was tapped in 2002 to pastor Lakewood ’s 3,000 member Hispanic congregation. Also adding diversity to the Lakewood staff is Israel Houghton, whose soulful worship anthems are sung around the world.[16]
The music at Lakewood is contemporary. They have musical stars that appeal to Hispanic (Witt), African-American (Houghton) and Caucasian members (Ratcliff). The musical team writes many of their own songs and nothing in the article is ever mentioned about hymns.
This is not surprising when you consider that (to our knowledge) no seeker-sensitive or WOF congregation use hymnals at all, apart from the occasional singing of Amazing Grace. The charismatic movement’s brand of music has infiltrated almost all evangelical congregations that have forsaken the use of the historic hymns. At our former seeker-sensitive Baptist church we sang songs that originated from the Toronto “revival” and from the Vineyard movement, two examples of some of the wildest expressions within the renewal movement.
Musically speaking there is a method “to their madness” at Lakewood and other mega-churches. They have a strong emphasis to cut all ties with traditional Christianity. The classic, highly theological hymns and hymnals virtually scream out the dreaded word “traditional.”
Out With the Old, In With the New
Lakewood and all seeker congregations do not want to be associated with any denominational trappings or any forms of liturgical worship[17]. Many of these churches have even removed crosses from behind their pulpits lest they appear to be too churchy to the seeker.
In all our time spent among both Pentecostal believers and seeker-sensitive groups we never recited the Lord’s prayer as part of our worship. We never recited any of the historic creeds of the orthodox Church. I doubt there are three people who attend Lakewood who could recite the Apostles or Nicene Creeds, probably few know the Lord’s Prayer. Catechism classes? You’ve got to be kidding! In its place some groups may offer a new member’s class, but these classes are usually just general introductions to what the church has to offer the “seeker.” Osteen being a sign-gift believer offers classes which promote the concept of a second baptism in/with/by the Holy Spirit, but this aspect seems to be soft-peddled as well.
What Is the Key to Osteen’s Success?
Osteen I believe is probably the first of many WOF devotee’s who has melded the successful marketing techniques of the seeker-sensitive mega-churches with their positive confession health & wealth message. The blend becomes a potent hybrid that appeals to both sign-gift believers (sort of “charismatic lite”) and baby-boomer seekers.
The message that God wants to bless His children with complete physical health, to give them great financial wealth and to demand little of them regarding their spiritual life is a highly appealing message. When you combine this with well known Gospel singers, highly orchestrated praise and worship teams in a decidedly non-church atmosphere it will appeal to even a wider audience.
We cannot forget to mix in the vast television footprint that Lakewood church promotes, along with its web site, daddy John Osteen’s books are still in almost all Christian bookstores so it is not difficult to understand how it can gather 30,000 people in Lakewood ’s rented 16,000 seat arena, formerly the home of the Houston Rockets.
What saddens me the most is that one hears little, if any, Law & Gospel proclaimed by Joel at Lakewood Church . To quote something I remember hearing “dad” Hagin say: “how do you poison a dog? You put the poison in with the good meat.” I do not want to press the analogy too far but the reality is that 30,000 people are not being biblically fed a balanced spiritual diet that will promote true growth in their lives. What you do hear is a synthesis of WOF concepts wrapped up in a seeker-friendly environment by a young man with a winsome smile.
Lastly, we cannot lose sight of the fact that a certain synergy builds with any church when it begins to reach such a size. People, who have no solid doctrinal foundation, will want to attend the place where “something” is happening (throw in a coffee bar, ice rink and gym does not hurt either). In America , bigger is better. After all, many posit, if Joel was not being used of the Lord then why would God allow all these people to come to Lakewood church?
Could it be a sign of God’s judgment on His people who have forsaken His ways? Often we think of God’s judgment as some divine catastrophe, yet often, and just as catastrophic, is when He simply allows people to have own way. I believe the words of Jeremiah are applicable to many in the Church today: Jer 2:12-13
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
As much as Joel no doubt believes the growth they’ve experienced is due to the blessing of God it really boils down to three simple things, which have nothing to do with God at all: (1) his father’s legacy and an already existing mega-church; (2) Joel’s slick marketing abilities; (3) a biblically errant, but hugely popular message which appeals to the masses seeking to have their ears tickled and experience a “good time” in church. Please pray for Joel Osteen, like it or not, he currently has a tremendous impact on many people. Pray the Lord open his eyes to biblical truth and may he take as bold a stand to expose error.
Thank you Rev. Liichow
I know that is a lot to digest but the best is yet to come. When Joel Osteen was interviewed by Larry King on the Larry King Live program, Joel sounded like the lost sheep he is. He answered so many questions with "I don't know" and others he just skirted around so as not to have to take a stance of any kind. This is the saddest interview I have ever heard, especially from a man who claims he is now the "Pastor" of over 30,000 people who cling to every word he speaks. Read the whole interview and be amazed and saddened.
LARRY KING AND JOEL OSTEEN INTERVIEW
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Tonight, Joel Osteen, evangelism's hottest rising star, pastor for the biggest congregation in the United States. He literally filled the shoes of his late father who founded the church, and wait until you hear what he had to overcome to do it. Pastor Joel Osteen is here for the hour. We'll take your calls. It's next on LARRY KING LIVE.Joel Osteen is the author of the number one "New York Times" best-seller, "Your Best Life Now." There you see its cover. "Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential." There is now a compendium been published called "Your Best Life Now Journal," a guide to reaching that full potential. Joel Osteen is pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. His father before him. He has been called the smiling preacher. We met.
JOEL OSTEEN, EVANGELIST: Yes. (You will notice later on that Joel claims: "I'm a reverend and a pastor. A pastor of the church. I go by usually pastor", see this link and then later on you will see a conversation about Joel being an Evangelist and his wife Victoria being an Evangelist's wife. see this link). Why did Joel or his wife not correct Larry King about Joel's being evangelist, there seems to be some confusion with Joel and his wife both as to what Joel's calling actually is). By the way, for being a Pastor, Joel does not perform weddings, funerals or visitations. Quite a gig huh?
KING: Long ago with your father.OSTEEN: We did. We met at a charity event for the Heart Association down there with Dr. DeBakey, I believe, or Dr. Cooley (ph).KING: Dr. Cooley -- about seven, eight years ago.OSTEEN: You were my dad's favorite. And you were sitting up at the table and I said, I didn't know any better then. I said, daddy, let's go, I'll introduce you to him. Like I knew you or something. And I did. It just made his day. We didn't meet for 10 seconds, but he loved you.KING: Why are you a preacher?OSTEEN: You know, I never was for 17 years. I worked with my dad there at the church. He tried to get me to minister. I didn't have it in me. I worked behind the scenes. I loved doing production and things. But when my father died, I just knew -- I don't know how to explain it, it sounds kind of odd, but I just knew down to here I was supposed to step up to the plate and pastor the church. And it was odd because I had never preached before. But I just knew I was supposed to do it.KING: Did it come easily?OSTEEN: It did. It came -- it came somewhat easily. I had to study. I was nervous. Still get nervous. But it did. I believe God gives you the grace to do what you need to do. And the great thing about it is the people were so loyal to my father. They wanted one of his sons to take over. And daddy had never really necessarily raised anybody up under him.KING: What do the other sons do?OSTEEN: Well, my brother Paul is a surgeon and he works with us there at the church. He gave up his practice to work with us and I have other sisters and brothers that work, as well.KING: Is -- have you always believed?OSTEEN: I have always believed. I grew up, you know, my parents were a good Christian people. They showed us love in the home. My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that's where a lot of preachers' kids get off base sometimes. Because they don't see the same things at both places. But I've always believed. I saw it through my parents. And I just grew up believing.KING: But you're not fire and brimstone, right? You're not pound the decks and hell and dam nation?OSTEEN: No. That's not me. It's never been me. I've always been an encourager at heart. And when I took over from my father he came from the Southern Baptist background and back 40, 50 years ago there was a lot more of that. But, you know, I just -- I don't believe in that. I don't believe -- maybe it was for a time. But I don't have it in my heart to condemn people. I'm there to encourage them. I see myself more as a coach, as a motivator to help them experience the life God has for us.KING: But don't you think if people don't believe as you believe, they're somehow condemned?OSTEEN: You know, I think that happens in our society. But I try not to do that. I tell people all the time, preached a couple Sundays about it. I'm for everybody. You may not agree with me, but to me it's not my job to try to straighten everybody out. The Gospel called the good news. My message is a message of hope, that's God's for you. You can live a good life no matter what's happened to you. And so I don't know. I know there is condemnation but I don't feel that's my place.KING: You've been criticized for that, haven't you?OSTEEN: I have. I have. Because I don't know.KING: Good news guy, right?OSTEEN: Yeah. But you know what? It's just in me. I search my heart and I think, God, is this what I'm supposed to do? I made a decision when my father died, you know what? I'm going to be who I feel like I'm supposed to be. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Not the end of the world if I'm not the pastor ...KING: Where were you ordained? OSTEEN: I was ordained from the church there, Lakewood, under my dad's ministry.KING: So you didn't go to seminary?OSTEEN: No, sir, I didn't.KING: They can just make you a minister?OSTEEN: You can, you can.KING: That's kind of an easy way in.OSTEEN: Yeah, but I think it happens more than you think. But I didn't go to seminary. I have a lot of great friends that did. But I didn't. But I did study 17 years under my dad. You know ...KING: Are you a pastor? A reverend? Legally what are you?OSTEEN: I'm a reverend and a pastor. A pastor of the church. I go by usually pastor.KING: You can marry people?OSTEEN: Yes, sir.KING: So the church in a sense ordained you?OSTEEN: Right. And then you're ordained through the State of Texas.KING: How'd it grow so much?OSTEEN: I don't know, Larry. I don't know if there was one thing. I think part of it was my dad had such a great foundation. Then all of a sudden here comes somebody 40 years younger, just new energy. New life. You know. I think one thing is my dad had a television ministry to start with. So all of a sudden here I was 36 years old and I was on television. Well, most young men that age, they're building a congregation and it costs a lot of money to be on television and all that. So all of a sudden there was a young minister across America. So I don't know if it's part of that. I think part of it is the message of hope and that I'm for people.KING: You're nondenominational?OSTEEN: We are, we are.KING: Your father, though, was ...OSTEEN: He was Southern Baptist. But he left that way back in the early '60s. And then he just started Lakewood Church. And we've always been independent and just for everybody.KING: Many evangelists feel that the church, the church itself, the religion, has failed. You share that view?OSTEEN: Well, I think in a sense when you see certain things in society you would think that. But in another sense I see faith in America. Faith in the world. At an all-time high today. When I was growing up it was a big deal to have a church of 1,000. Now there's churches of 10,000. So many of them. So I think in one sense I can agree with that point. But in another sense I see a real spiritual awakening taking place.KING: How many people come to your church?OSTEEN: We have about 30,000 each weekend.KING: How do you hold them?OSTEEN: We have multiple services. It holds 8,000. But we're about to move into a new facility. But we just do a lot of services.KING: You work all day Sunday?OSTEEN: We do. And Saturday. We do one Saturday night and then four -- three Sunday and one Spanish. So it's a lot of work.KING: You write all your own?OSTEEN: I do. I do all my own research and do all my own service.KING: And when are you on television?OSTEEN: We're on different times. We're in the top 25 markets on one of the network stations.KING: Sundays usually?OSTEEN: Yes, sir. Usually Sundays.KING: Are you asking for money?OSTEEN: We never have. Never have. Since my dad started. I started a television ministry for my father back in '83. That was one decision we made. We just don't ask for money. We never have, we never will. You know, it's -- I don't criticize people that do. Some of them have to. But I just, I don't want anything to pull away from the message.KING: How do you get the money to get the time on television?OSTEEN: The church supports it.KING: How does the church get the money?OSTEEN: Well, they just give. There are just a lot of them, they're faithful, they're loyal people, they believe in giving. And the other thing too, what's interesting, Larry, we don't ask for money on television. But people see your heart. People send in money like you wouldn't imagine to underwrite it. KING: Really? Without your ever saying order this medal?OSTEEN: Exactly. It's a testament to, you know, I think if people can see your heart is right. I'm certainly not the only one. But I don't get on there and beg for money. People send it in. You'd be amazed.
KING: Do you think there's too much of that, send in this, my new book is out?OSTEEN: I think in general there probably is. Because people are so skeptical anyway. Why are you on there? You just want my money. We just try to stay away from it. I don't know if there is or not. To me sometimes I think, you know. I would -- I think people get on and they have to make the television audience underwrite it. And then they spend their time doing that. (Here we have Joel telling a actual lie on national television. Here Joel is saying that there is in general too much advertising going on with preachers trying to sell their books, etc. on TV and that "We just try to stay away from that". When in actuality you cannot watch one of Joel's television programs without having NUMEROUS advertisements blocking out about 1/4 of the screen advertising either Joel's Book, or an upcoming Tour date which both cost money!)
KING: So it's self-fulfilling. Billy Graham was here last Thursday.OSTEEN: I saw.KING: Might have been his last interview. Is he a hero to the evangelists?OSTEEN: He is a hero to us all. His life of integrity. Somebody that can stick with for that long and just stick with his message. What I love about Dr. Graham is he stayed on course. He didn't get sidetracked. That's what happens to so many people today. It's a good lesson for me, a good example for me to say, you know what, Joel, you may have a lot now but I want to be here 40 years from now sitting with you.KING: Do you share Billy's beliefs of life after death in a sense of going somewhere?OSTEEN: I do. I do. We probably agree on 99 percent. I do. I believe there's a heaven you know. Afterwards, there's, you know, a place called hell. And I believe it's when we have a relationship with God and his son Jesus and that's what the Bible teaches us. I believe it.KING: Our guest is Joel Osteen. The senior pastor for Lakewood Church in Houston, the author of "Your Best Life Now," amazing bestseller. We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: See people are watching you. Especially your children. They're taking in every single thing you do. They are like video cameras with legs. And they are always in the record mode. They learn more from what you do than from what you say. Like that old saying, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.And when you are tempted to compromise and just take the easy way out, I challenge you to think generationally. Know that every right choice you make you are making it a little bit easier on those that come after you.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Our guest, Joel Osteen. Why do you think "Your Best Life Now" did as well as it did?OSTEEN: It surprised me.KING: There's a lot of books about improving yourself.OSTEEN: Yeah. I don't know. I think coming from the Christian base, and I think the fact that I don't know, it's a book of encouragement and inspiration. And to me it seems like there's so much pulling us down in our society today. There's so much negative. Most of my book is about how you can live a good life today in spite of all that. So I think that had a big part of it.KING: But it doesn't quote a lot of biblical passages until the back of the book, right?OSTEEN: It doesn't do a whole lot of it. My message, I wanted to reach the mainstream. We've reached the church audience. So I just try to, what I do is just try to teach practical principles. I may not bring the scripture in until the end of my sermon and I might feel bad about that. Here's the thought. I talked yesterday about living to give. That's what a life should be about. I brought in at the end about some of the scriptures that talk about that. But same principal in the book.KING: Is it hard to lead a Christian life?OSTEEN: I don't think it's that hard. To me it's fun. We have joy and happiness. Our family -- I don't feel like that at all. I'm not trying to follow a set of rules and stuff. I'm just living my life.KING: But you have rules, don't you?OSTEEN: We do have rules. But the main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a live of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that's really the essence of the Christian faith.KING: That we live in deeds?OSTEEN: I don't know. What do you mean by that?
KING: Because we've had ministers on who said, your record don't count. You either believe in Christ or you don't. If you believe in Christ, you are, you are going to heaven. And if you don't no matter what you've done in your life, you ain't.OSTEEN: Yeah, I don't know. There's probably a balance between. I believe you have to know Christ. But I think that if you know Christ, if you're a believer in God, you're going to have some good works. I think it's a cop-out to say I'm a Christian but I don't ever do anything ...KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus. (Since this interview Joel has apologized to his congregation for his failure to express what he truly believed. If Joel didn't actually believe the statements above, then why did he say them to start with. THE TRUTH BE KNOWN, Joel has a real problem on his hands that he is hiding from the public and from himself. I believe that he actually does believe what he said during the interview, but because of criticism he received for making them, he gave an apology. Unless Joel actually changes his belief and not just act like it, he is certainly in for a rude awakening come judgment day).
KING: The Senate apologized last week for slavery. You think the Southern Baptists and a lot of the churches in the South owe some apology, too?OSTEEN: I've never thought about it. Because I just didn't -- wasn't raised in it.KING: But you know its history.OSTEEN: Oh, absolutely. I think that it would never hurt; anything we could do to make amends, the better it can be. That's what I love about our church. It's made up of all different races. That's what life should all be about. That's what God wants it to be.KING: Doesn't it hurt you that people 50 years ago talking about God and Christ also didn't -- Martin Luther King call 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning the most segregated hour in America? Does it bother you to know that predecessors of yours ..OSTEEN: Yeah, absolutely bothers me. It's not right. It's a shame, and I don't know how they could do it with a pure heart to God but, you know what? It happened.
KING: I want to get to the seven steps. But when the people call you cotton candy theology. Someone said you're very good but there's no spiritual nourishment. I don't know what that means ...OSTEEN: I think, I hear it meaning a lot of different things. One I think a lot of it is that I'm not condemning people. And I don't know, but Larry I talk, I mean every week in our church we're dealing with people that are fighting cancer, that have their lost loved ones. That are going through a divorce. I mean, I talk about those issues, and to me I don't see how it can get any more, you know, real than that. So I don't know what the criticism is. (How about Salvation, repenting of your sins, how about accepting Jesus. Is that real enough? All the things Joel talked about are issues which are certainly important issues but are not the Salvation message that should be preached).
KING: What is the prosperity gospel?OSTEEN: I think the prosperity gospel in general is -- well I don't know. I hear it too. I don't know. I think what sometimes you see is it's just all about money. That's not what I believe. It's the attitude of your heart, and so you know, we believe -- but I do believe this, that God wants us to be blessed. He wants us to be able to send our kids to college, excel in our careers. But prosperity to me, Larry, is not just money, it's having health. What good is money if you don't have health?
KING: Also many in the Christian belief are wary of too much material, aren't they?OSTEEN: Yeah, I think some of them are. But to me, you know, I hope people get blessed if they can handle it right. Because it takes money to do good. You know to do things for people. To spread the good news. So I think it's all a matter of your heart.KING: You think other preachers are envious of you?OSTEEN: If they are, I don't feel it. I've got so many good friends. And the ones I know are encouraging me. I don't hear anything but good things from them. I hope they're not. Because we're all in it together.KING: You want to do this the rest of your life?OSTEEN: I do. I do. I know it's what I'm called to do. I feel like this is why I was born. Even though I never dreamed I'd be doing it. But I know now I never dreamed I'd be able to get to help people like this. I never dreamed it was in me. I didn't know I could get up to speak in front of people and impact people's lives. I didn't know I could do that. I was shy.KING: We'll get to those seven steps in a minute. We'll be taking your calls, as well. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: And our attitude should be, I refuse to dwell on the negative things that have happened to me. I'm not going to go around thinking about all that I've lost. I'm not going to focus on what could have been or should have done. No, I'm going to draw the line in the sand. This is a new day and I'm going to start moving forward knowing that God has a bright future in store for me. If you do that, God will give you a new beginning.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Joel Osteen. The book "Your Best Life Now" a major bestseller. "Seven steps to living at your full potential." The new one "Your Best Life Now, A Journal." It's a guide for the earlier book, right? You used it as a compendium, in a sense. OSTEEN: That's exactly right. It's just something to put your notes in. Kind of help you get along there.
KING: Don't you ever doubt?OSTEEN: No. I don't -- I wouldn't say that I do. I guess I do and I don't think about it too much. (Lord help us! How confused can a person sound in one sentence?)
KING: Well, 9/11.OSTEEN: Well, yeah.KING: Didn't you say what? Why?OSTEEN: You do. You definitely do.KING: And how do you answer?OSTEEN: To me it comes back and God's given us all our own free will. And it's a shame but people choose ...KING: The people in the building didn't have free will.OSTEEN: But the thing is, people can choose to do evil with that will. And that's what's unfortunate. But you know, of course you always doubt. I mean, you have to override it. But we see in the church every week, somebody's coming up and my baby was not born properly and you know, all these other things. You just ...
KING: But don't you want to know, why would an omnipotent -- assuming he is omnipotent -- God permit that?OSTEEN: I don't know, Larry. I don't know it all. (Not only does Joel not have an answer to why God would permit something, he never even corrected Larry King about God being omnipotent!)
KING: A deformed baby had nothing to do with free will.OSTEEN: Exactly. I don't claim to know it all. I just think that trusting God means we're going to have unanswered questions and God is so much bigger than us we're never going to understand them all. And I tell people that have lost a child or that have gone through some kind of tragedy, you've got to have a file in your mind called and I don't understand it file. And you've got to put it in there and not try to figure it out and not let it ruin the rest of your life and not get bitter. And that's what we see so many people do.KING: But you're not asking for blind faith. Don't you want people to question?OSTEEN: Oh, I do. I think you do at a certain point. But I don't think you can let something ruin -- I've seen too many people angry at God and they live the rest of their life that way. You've got to say God, I don't understand why this happened to me but I'm going to move on. The worst thing we can do is wallow around in self- pity. I talk in the book, too, about letting go of the past. I know it's hard. I'm making it sound easy, it's not. But sometimes you've got to say I don't understand it. We were all praying for my dad. He was 77 when he died. You'd think we've got a church full of people praying but I don't know. It was probably his time to go, obviously. But I don't understand until (ph) some of the others.KING: Do you ever involve politics in the sermons?OSTEEN: Never do. My father never ...KING: Never mention President Bush?OSTEEN: Well, only to pray. Only to pray. We prayed for President Bush, Clinton, all of them. But I've never been political. My father hasn't. I just, I have no ...
KING: How about issues that the church has feelings about? Abortion? Same-sex marriages?OSTEEN: Yeah. You know what, Larry? I don't go there. I just ...KING: You have thoughts, though.OSTEEN: I have thoughts. I just, you know, I don't think that a same-sex marriage is the way God intended it to be. I don't think abortion is the best. I think there are other, you know, a better way to live your life. But I'm not going to condemn those people. I tell them all the time our church is open for everybody.KING: You don't call them sinners?OSTEEN: I don't.KING: Is that a word you don't use?OSTEEN: I don't use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don't. But most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don't go down the road of condemning.
KING: You believe in the Bible literally?OSTEEN: I do, I do.KING: Noah had an ark and Adam and Eve?OSTEEN: I do. I do. I believe that. I believe it all.KING: Isn't it hard to accept that one day appeared two people and they ate an apple and ...OSTEEN: It is. But it's also hard, too, to look at our bodies and say, my brother's a surgeon, how could our bodies be made like this? We couldn't have just come from something. It's just hard, when my child was born I thought seeing him in the little sonogram I thought look at that. He's got eyes. How is that developing? It's just, I don't know. I look at it like that.KING: The book describes seven steps to living at full potential. I want to ask you about -- Choose to be happy. Now, how the heck do you do that?OSTEEN: Well, I think, Larry. It's just an attitude we've got to get up and make a decision every single day. I mean, what so many people today do, they focus on what they don't have instead of what they do have. They focus on what's wrong instead of what's right. And I believe that all of us, if we want to, can be happy right where we are. We may not be laughing our heads off but we can get up and say, you know what, I'm in a tough situation, but this is where God has me and I'm going to make the most of it. And I think that that's where so many of us miss it today. We're waiting to be happy one day.KING: How about the Eastern philosophy that says you're not entitled to today. Today is a gift. So -- it doesn't matter if it's raining. It's a beautiful gift today.OSTEEN: I've not heard it. But I'd degree with it.KING: You aren't entitled to today.OSTEEN: Well, that's right. It's a gift God gave us. What if we weren't here? To me, I say it all the time, every day we live negative and discouraged and unhappy, that's a day we've wasted. And I'm not going to waste you know, just because I don't get my way or something happens.KING: Another seven steps -- one of the seven steps is live to give, charity is, in the Talmud, the greatest thing of all.OSTEEN: Yeah. I believe it is. I believe that's the whole spirit of Christianity is, you know, having a lifestyle of giving. Not giving at Christmas, not giving every once in awhile but having an attitude to give. I've always said this, if you'll get up and make it your business to make somebody else's day, God will make your own day.KING: I love to give.OSTEEN: I know.KING: Giving is selfish. You get a great reward.OSTEEN: I know, you really do. That's what life is all about. We were not made to be ingrown. I believe, maybe I'm off. But that's probably 95 percent of unhappiness is selfishness. I'm only focused on my problems or thinking about how I get ahead in my career. And certainly we want to do some of that. But we need to get up and focus on others.KING: Find strength through adversity. Bad is good.OSTEEN: Well, I think the way I believe that god won't let something come into your life unless he's going to use it for your good. Now you've got to keep the right attitude for that to happen. But that helps us in our struggles to, say you know what? God's going to get something good out of this. This is a tough time but I'm just going to believe, I'm going to trust. I may not see it for a year or five years but I believe it's going to turn around. And a great example is in my dad's death. My dad and I were best friends. Worked with him for 17 years. I told before my wife I don't know what I'm going to do when my dad dies. I loved him. We were good friends. But when my father died the darkest hour of my life is when I felt that stinging here, that I was supposed to step up and preach.So I see how in my darkest hour something new was born. I believe that God always opens up a new door.KING: Do you know you're getting through to people? Billy Graham used to know it because they came down and gave themselves to Christ. How do you know?OSTEEN: I feel the same way. I can see it there in the church when I see my book do what it did. And when we go to arenas across the country and every one of them has been sold out (notice he says sold out, not filled up). Its just, you know, we get thousands of letters and stuff. And you know, I feel like we are, you know. I feel like we're making a difference.KING: We'll be right back. We'll include your phone calls for Joel Osteen, senior pastor of the Lakewood Church in Houston. Reportedly the largest, fastest growing congregation in the United States and the author of "Your Best Life Now" and now "Your Best Life Now Journal." Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: And there's nothing the enemy would love any more than for you to go around thinking about your faults and weaknesses, all the mistakes you made last week and all the times you messed up last month.No, don't even go down that road. Quit dwelling on what you've done wrong and start dwelling on what you've done right. You may not be all you're supposed to be, but at least you can thank God you're not what you used to be. And we all make mistakes. But you know what? You need to learn to just be quick to repent. Say God, I'm sorry, forgive me. Help me to do better next time.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Joel Osteen, the pastor of the Lakewood Church in Houston. The author of "The New York Times" best-seller "Your Best Life Now." He's been called the smiling preacher. You like that?OSTEEN: It doesn't bother me. I like it.KING: You do smile a lot.
Fontana, California. Hello. CALLER: Yes -- Joel?OSTEEN: Yes.CALLER: I have a question for you. We're a small congregational church here and we'd like to come and see you next month, but you charge to get in and we're a very poor congregation. Why do you charge to get in to your appearances?OSTEEN: Yes. The only reason we charge -- I hated to charge. The only we charge...KING: You charge at the church?OSTEEN: No, no, never. Never. (Yet their website has an advertisement for their Christmas show that says tickets are on sale now for $10) see Joel Osteen's Rock ShowKING: When you travel?OSTEEN: Yes.The only reason we did is because when we went New York to Madison Square Garden they wouldn't let us do an event without doing a ticketed event because of the crowds. We sold it out two nights and we turned so many people away in Anaheim and Atlanta, it was just a shame to do that.Hey, you know, you need to write the church, because we'll make a way that anybody can get in to those events. I don't like charging.KING: What do you charge?OSTEEN: $10.
KING: To Milford, Delaware. Hello.CALLER: Hi, Joel?OSTEEN: Yes.CALLER: I have a question for you.OSTEEN: OK. Go ahead.CALLER: OK. I heard years ago that your mother was healed of cancer. Do you know why it's not God's will that everyone is healed of cancer?OSTEEN: You know, I can't answer that. I think it's a good question...KING: Do you wonder, though?OSTEEN: Sure, sure we all do. I don't know what it is and I just know that I'd rather believe and just stay in faith and just hope and you know, that's the best thing to do. That's better in case...KING: So, you've never had an answer to why he lives and he dies.OSTEEN: No. We don't. I don't think we do. I think that's in God's hands and I don't understand it. I don't claim to understand it all. I just thank God that my mother was healed and we pray for others and ask for that same mercy on their lives and we've seen it happen. And you know there are others that don't.KING: How do you balance the personal appearances with the church?You need to pastor.OSTEEN: Well, I'm just very careful in that I put my first priority there at the church and I'll take a -- I'll preach the -- a lot of times the same message there at the church on Sunday that I preach on a Friday night event. So, I don't let them take away from the church, but we just wanted to get out and be with the people. So...KING: Are you out every week?OSTEEN: No. We went -- we're out 20 weeks this -- or 20 dates this year, but like 15 weeks.
KING: Like concert tours dates?OSTEEN: Exactly. Just like that.
KING: You're in big arenas?OSTEEN: Big arenas. Big arenas.Yes. It's something, Larry, we never dreamed of. I wanted to do some last year and we -- when we went to -- we picked a couple cities and I told some guys on the team, "I don't know if we should get an auditorium of a thousand, or 5,000 or 10,000 and finally I said, "Let's get a basketball arena and we'll turn off the top, you know, the top lights if nobody shows up. We did it in Atlanta and the building was filled up, you know, an hour before and hey had to shut it down. So, you know, God's blessed us.KING: Do you get a lot of young people?OSTEEN: Yes, lots of young people. It's good. A lot of young people.KING: Studio City, California. Hello.CALLER: Hi, how are you?KING: Hi.CALLER: Hi, my name is Tricia (ph), Joel. How are you?OSTEEN: Good, thank you. CALLER: Good, thank you. I was just interested in finding out: You're such a busy man, how do you juggle family and your personal life and what do you like to do for fun?OSTEEN: What I like to do for fun is to play basketball, play with my kids, hang out with my family. They're my main friends, my family and I think it's just what you said, we just -- you just have to balance your life. I don't -- it's a big church but I have a good staff. I don't -- unfortunately I don't do the weddings and the funerals and a lot of things that a pastor of a smaller church does.So, I just -- you know, I made a decision that I don't want my kids to grow up and not know me just because I'm so busy and on Dr. Graham talks about that -- I just I stay at home.KING: How have you handled fame?OSTEEN: You know, I never think about it. I never think about it. I don't feel like I changed at all. I haven't changed my routine. I haven't, you know, I don't -- I guess the main thing: I feel a bigger responsibility. I spend plenty of quiet time in the morning searching my heart, staying on the right course and just staying humble before God.KING: Not let it get to you?OSTEEN: Not let it get to your head.Because I've seen too many.They've been where I am and way past and they've come falling down.KING: Many people have been calling here telling me -- asking about your schedule. Is it printed anywhere? You know, when you're appearing?OSTEEN: Yes. It can be on -- it's on the Web site.KING: And what's that?OSTEEN: That is JoelOsteen.com. I guess just my name dot-com, I think.KING: OK. You just go to JoelOsteen.com.OSTEEN: Yes. They can get it.KING: And you get the schedule.OSTEEN: Exactly. We're going to be in Anaheim and back to Madison Square Garden. We have quite a few more dates this year. Love to have people come out.KING: Do you ever use a show business term: Bomb? In other words, do you ever not connect? Are you ever speaking and like a third of the way in saying, "I don't have 'em?"OSTEEN: I think so. I think so.KING: Can't be perfect all the time.OSTEEN: Even at my own church, sometimes I feel like: You know what, I don't know if they're receiving this and sometimes it's me because I'm tired. Sometimes when I feel I've done the worst, people come up to me and say, "Man, that was great today."And sometimes, you know, you're looking for a little bit of feedback and if you don't get -- but I just try to stay focused, say, "you know what, I believe this is what I'm supposed to be doing." I'm not perfect.KING: What do you wonder about the most? Now, I mean, you accept things as they are: He gets cancer, she doesn't. What do you -- what though, boggles your mind about this world?OSTEEN: What do I wonder about? You know what, Larry?I don't know. I don't know. Nothing comes to the forefront of my mind. I just...KING: There's no great searching?OSTEEN: There's no great thingKING: Or on going problem?No, no. I just...KING: Let's take depression, it affects over 20 million people.OSTEEN: Sure. Yes, I just think that, you know, I speak a lot about that, and you know, I don't -- I just think, you know, that's just one way that we all have to deal with -- sometimes it's clinically. A lot of times, it's an attitude and it's that we've gotten so focused on, like I said, ourselves and things like that. So, I don't know, Larry. I don't have any great wonderment.KING: "Let Go of the past," is another one of your seven steps.That's not easy to do, since the only thing we have right to this minute is our past.OSTEEN: It is and I should have said let go of the negative things of the past and really my thing is this: You can't receive the new things God wants to do if you won't let go of the old. And bye that I mean, we talk with so many people -- they've been through a bitter divorce and they want to live their life angry. Maybe it wasn't their fault, somebody hurt them and I just think that, you know, dragging yesterday into today, the negative things, is only going to ruin today. So --KING: You think we choose to be angry? OSTEEN: I think we do. I think we do and over time it becomes a habit and all of a sudden, you know, we think that's just who I am.No. That's who we've developed into being, because I don't think we have to be like that.KING: Back with more of Joel Osteen.More of your phone calls right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: Archie and Jack argued for years whether Jesus was white or black. Archie was certain that Jesus was white and Jack was just as sure that Jesus was black. As fate would have it, they both died on the same day and they rushed to the pearly gates and they said, "St. Peter please tell us: Is Jesus white or black? we've been arguing our whole lifetime."About that time Jesus walked up and said, "Buenos dias."(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: Some of you ladies have been wearing the same flannel bathrobe to bed every night that your grandmother gave you 30 years ago. It's got holes in it. It's as ugly as it can be, and you know it doesn't do anything for you, and it certainly doesn't do anything for your husband. One of the best things that you can do for your marriage is to throw that thing away, and go down to Victoria's Secret and get something good that you can wear. You wonder why Victoria and I have a great relationship? It's called Victoria's Secret. (This is not the type of language to be used in a Church setting with children of all ages present along with teenagers, etc. Also, does this sound like a man of God or a marriage counselor or psychologist. This type of activity only proves that Joel does not have the Wisdom needed to be leading a congregation of any size let alone one of multiple tens of thousands )(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Good line. Houston, Texas, hello.CALLER: Yes, hi.KING: Hi, go ahead.CALLER: I was just wondering what Joel -- hi, Joel. I just finished your book on Saturday. Actually it was audio that my sister sent me two weeks ago and I think it's the best thing I've ever listened to in my life, and I just wanted to thank you. But my question was, I was wondering how old you were?OSTEEN: I'm 42 years old.KING: You look 14.OSTEEN: Thank you.KING: Bellbrook, Ohio, hello.CALLER: Yes, my name is Matt Maynard, and Pastor Joel, I'm calling to tell you, my grandma Bebby (ph) and I, we watch you every day and we love you so much and your mom and Victoria, Lisa and Paul, and we know you came from behind the scenes to being the pastor of the church, and I would like to know, what gives you strength to get up in front of all those people every single day? Is it knowing that you touched so many people? And do you get nervous?OSTEEN: You know, I still get nervous, and I think what gives you strength is, god gives you the grace to do it. You know, just -- now I've done it for six years, so I've got a little more confidence, but yes, it's...KING: It's only been six years, though?OSTEEN: That's right.KING: Grand Forks, North Dakota, hello.CALLER: Hey, I was calling -- I'm Jerry Lundabee (ph). I attend Bible Baptist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and one of my -- I have a few questions here. I wonder if you might entertain all of them. My first question was -- is, do you believe that the bible is god's inspired word? I haven't heard you answer that question yet.KING: And your second question is what?CALLER: My second question would be -- I don't know -- I heard him talking a little bit ago about how he sees faith getting stronger in America and across the world, and I believe that it's the opposite, that -- we're seeing higher rates of divorce, higher rates of drug and alcohol use among young people, and old, and with abductions, and things like that getting worse and worse.KING: What do you think, Joel? First, inspired word.OSTEEN: Yes, I believe the bible is god's inspired word. As far as the other we kind of talked about, I can see his point, but I think there's another point. How can we be moving our church into our basketball arena that seats 16,000 people? I mean, people are hungry for hope and encouragement.KING: But there's never been more division than now in the United States, politically, certainly.OSTEEN: That is true. That is true. So, I don't know. You can look at it. We could debate it...KING: You're a glass-half-full, right?OSTEEN: I am. I see, like I said, you look back 10 years ago, there was, you know, not that many churches that had over 1,000 or 5,000 people. It's a different day today.KING: We'll be back with more, and later, in a little while, we'll met Mrs. Osteen. Don't go away.(END VIDEO CLIP)OSTEEN: There's been eagles spotted as high as 20,000 feet, up there where the jets fly. The point is if you want to get rid of your past, you've got to come up higher. Don't ever sink down to their level. Don't ever sink down to their level. Don't try to argue. Don't try to pay somebody back. Don't give them the cold shoulder. Be the bigger person. Overlook their faults. Walk in love. Learn to even bless your enemies. Somebody's talking about you. Somebody's doing you wrong. Just bless them and move on anyway. Let me tell you, in the long run, crows can't hang with eagles. You do that and you'll rise above all that junk.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)KING: Hillsboro, Wisconsin with Joel Osteen. Hello.
CALLER: Good evening. Joel, I had the privilege a year ago February of attending Lakewood and got a chance to meet you, and it was really a wonderful experience. My question is, I was just in a conversation with a friend recently, and he said he believed that Lucifer was going to be the last one to enter heaven after the rapture because he believed that god is a forgiving god, and even Lucifer will be forgiven. And that just blew me away. And I wondered what your thought would be on that.OSTEEN: That sounds odd to me. I've never heard that. And it sounds very off-the-wall to me. So...KING: I asked Reverend Graham if god loves the devil. Didn't -- couldn't -- he'd never been asked it before.OSTEEN: I never thought of it either. I don't know.KING: He loves everything. Does he love...OSTEEN: I don't know. I'll leave that for Dr. Graham.
KING: Phoenix, Arizona. Hello.CALLER: Hello, Larry. You're the best, and thank you, Joe -- Joel -- for your positive messages and your book. I'm wondering, though, why you side-stepped Larry's earlier question about how we get to heaven? The bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light and the only way to the father is through him. That's not really a message of condemnation but of truth.OSTEEN: Yes, I would agree with her. I believe that...KING: So then a Jew is not going to heaven?OSTEEN: No. Here's my thing, Larry, is I can't judge somebody's heart. You know? Only god can look at somebody's heart, and so -- I don't know. To me, it's not my business to say, you know, this one is or this one isn't. I just say, here's what the bible teaches and I'm going to put my faith in Christ. And I just I think it's wrong when you go around saying, you're saying you're not going, you're not going, you're not going, because it's not exactly my way. I'm just...
KING: But you believe your way.OSTEEN: I believe my way. I believe my way with all my heart.KING: But for someone who doesn't share it is wrong, isn't he?OSTEEN: Well, yes. Well, I don't know if I look at it like that. I would present my way, but I'm just going to let god be the judge of that. I don't know. I don't know.
KING: So you make no judgment on anyone?OSTEEN: No. But I...KING: What about atheists?OSTEEN: You know what, I'm going to let someone -- I'm going to let god be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell. I just -- again, I present the truth, and I say it every week. You know, I believe it's a relationship with Jesus. But you know what? I'm not going to go around telling everybody else if they don't want to believe that that's going to be their choice. God's got to look at your own heart. God's got to look at your heart, and only god knows that.
KING: You believe there's a place called heaven?OSTEEN: I believe there is. Yes. You know, you've had a lot of the near-death experiences and things like that. Some of that is very, to me, not that you need that as proof, but it shows you these little kids seeing the angels and things like that.KING: We'll take a break, and when we come back, the better half, Victoria, will join us. Don't go away.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)VICTORIA OSTEEN, EVANGELIST/WIFE OF PASTOR JOEL OSTEEN: You see, if you have someone in your life today, and you don't like the way they're treating you, I want to encourage you to take a look at how you're treating them. If you will begin to treat them differently, then you will get a different response. In other words, say your spouse isn't giving you enough love. They're ignoring you. They're not being kind and considerate to you.Well, see, human nature is to give them a taste of their own medicine, to treat them the same way. But when we do that, we're just going to continue to reap what we're sowing.(END VIDEO CLIP)(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: Joining us now in our remaining moments -- the screen obviously improves -- Victoria Osteen, Joel's wife. How'd you two meet?V. OSTEEN: In my family's jewelry store. He came in to buy a watch battery. And I sold him a watch. And he says, I've been taking his money ever since.KING: When did you get into the preaching business? We saw that clip of you?V. OSTEEN: Well, when Joel went through the transition after his father died, I just -- he wanted me to take part in every service. So I do. I take part in every service. I do just a little encouraging piece. And then, this is my fourth Mother's Day message to bring. So that was on Mother's Day.KING: Why do you want her in?OSTEEN: Well, one, she's fantastic. And you know, she just has so much to give. And two, I think it increases our whole reach, to be a team, to do it together. I mean, here's some young people that are excited about God, and you know, there's not a lot of women in the, you know, ministry.KING: Were you always a believer?V. OSTEEN: Yes, I was raised as a believer, yes.KING: What happens when you -- do you two disagree?V. OSTEEN: Sure. We agree to disagree sometimes, you know.KING: You ever disagree on biblical philosophy?V. OSTEEN: No, no. We're very -- we're very much in agreement with the way we believe. And you know, Joel, what's so interesting about Joel's message is that we've been married 18 years. So...KING: Eighteen years?V. OSTEEN: We've been married 18 years.KING: He looks 15 and you look 22.V. OSTEEN: Oh, OK. Golly, you're younger than me. I'm going to have to do something about that. What I was going to say was, what he speaks every week is exactly the way he lives. It's the way he's always lived.KING: There's no phony here?V. OSTEEN: No. And you know, that nonjudgmental, when he sits there and says, you know, I just don't judge that. Do you know that's always the way he's been? He does not judge people. He does not...KING: I'll bet you do sometimes.V. OSTEEN: Well, you know what? I've gotten better. I've gotten better living with him. You can't do a whole lot of judging around our house. You'll get in trouble.KING: (INAUDIBLE) drive you crazy? He's nice. I like him. He wasn't so bad. Don't hang up. He's nice.V. OSTEEN: He's nice. He's real nice. And he always is nice, but I'm getting nicer. And I like myself better.
KING: What did you think about the Victoria's Secret sermon?V. OSTEEN: I thought it was probably we all needed to hear that. We can all do better.KING: Did you think twice before saying go to Victoria's Secret, to prop up the marriage?OSTEEN: I thought about it, because I write my sermons, and I knew I'd get some letters. But I thought it kind of made the point. And I liked it. And I don't know if it was worth all the heat, but it was fun.KING: Was there a hush in the crowd?OSTEEN: No, they laughed. They were dying with me, so.
KING: The natural scheme of life is temptation. It's in front of you every day.OSTEEN: Sure.KING: Have you ever been tempted?OSTEEN: Absolutely. I think we all are, you know. But you have to resist, and you have to keep your mind and your thoughts pure. But I think we all are. And the Bible talks about, you've got to pray to not enter into temptation. It doesn't say to pray that you won't be tempted. We all are.KING: Had a near slip?OSTEEN: I never have.KING: Victoria?V. OSTEEN: No.KING: You get tempted to?V. OSTEEN: Yeah. I eat that pie when I know I shouldn't.(CROSSTALK)KING: I'm not talking about that kind of temptation. V. OSTEEN: No, no. Sexual temptation?KING: Yeah.V. OSTEEN: No, no. I don't. I don't put things in me which, you know, like a lot of times you can watch a lot of things and you can put things in your mind as a seed, and they can give birth to that kind of thing. But we really try to guard what we watch. We guard what we -- what we allow to come in. And you know, I think that's a lot of it. You have to guard your mind.KING: Do you think your children have pressure on them to growing up with a famous pastor?OSTEEN: I don't think so. I mean, maybe they do.KING: Do you want them to be in the church?OSTEEN: Oh, I would love them to do something. But I don't know what. Maybe they'll sing. Maybe they'll make movies. Maybe they'll do something -- maybe they'll be a minister. I don't know. But my father never pressured me, and we don't pressure ours. But I do like to expose them to it. Because to me, it's such an opportunity, and we just have such a heritage.KING: Would you like to do some sermons, just you?V. OSTEEN: Yes.KING: Take a rest one week and why don't you do it?V. OSTEEN: Yeah, well -- I -- well...OSTEEN: As often as she could. She is more than welcome. And she's great at it. And she does those (INAUDIBLE).V. OSTEEN: He's so good, though, you know. I like to sit and watch him.KING: All right, what makes a good evangelist?
OSTEEN: Well, I don't know that I really know, but I think that you have a sincere heart, that you're pure before God and that you've got a relevant, practical message. And I think that's one reason the church has grown is because we've changed with the times. I mean, the music is upbeat. My message is what's going to help you during the week and things like that. back to text
KING: What makes a good evangelist's wife?V. OSTEEN: Helping him keep his focus. Complimenting him.KING: Criticizing?V. OSTEEN: I don't criticize, but I make suggestions.KING: Does he read you his sermon each week before...V. OSTEEN: No.KING: No, you don't know what he's going to say?V. OSTEEN: No. I don't. I could go up to his office and read it if I wanted to. But since I'm going to hear it so many times...(CROSSTALK)KING: You ever get tired of repeating it?OSTEEN: It gets -- it's -- yeah. It's tiring physically.KING: You do it five times?OSTEEN: Yeah, it's physically tiring. But you know what, you just see the people out there, and it's like you said earlier, I realize this is the first time they've come this week. I've got to give it all I've got.KING: What do you worry about the most?V. OSTEEN: Probably my children. My children. I don't -- I'm concerned, you know. Because I'm a mother. And I want the best for them.KING: It's not easy growing up.V. OSTEEN: It's not. But you know, you have to trust. But I fight that. I fight, you know, not being so fearful, and I just -- but yeah, that's -- my kids.KING: Do you have a doubt?V. OSTEEN: I fight doubt, I do, sure. But I resist it. I try to change my thinking. Because it's kind of like this, Larry, you know, Joel says we can choose this. Well, it just makes you aware that there is another way. It makes you aware that there is a possibility. You know, if you've had a tragedy in your life, and you have someone like Joel telling you, you know, you can get over this, and this is how you can do it, you know, it just opens you up to see another way. And unless someone gives you another way to think, you'll never know. So I think that's where it comes, the choosing comes. It's to say, there is another option out there.KING: You're going to win the award as the happiest people ever to be on this program.OSTEEN: Thank you.KING: Thank you, Joel.OSTEEN: God bless you, Larry. My pleasure.V. OSTEEN: Thank you. KING: Joel Osteen and Victoria Osteen. Joel is senior pastor of the largest and fastest growing congregation in the United States, the Lakewood Church in Houston. He's called the Smiling Preacher. And you can see why. And his number one "New York Times" best-seller "Your Best Life Now: Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential." The companion now published, "Your Best Life Now Journal," and Victoria Osteen, as well.
Well, in a nutshell....Joel Osteen really needs to get it right or he is liable to lead thousands if not millions into a false security thinking they are going to heaven just because they are happy and know that God and Jesus exist. That is not enough. Let's pray that Joel opens his mind and heart to the truth of God's Word and changes before it is too late.
Blessings,Robert Wise