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I am a huge fan of Joel Osteen.  I use to watch him for atleast 10 years on a television station as I have always worked on the weekends.  Church was not an option for me.

Joel Osteen starts his preaching with a joke and it’s clean and funny.  It really does get the audience to laugh.

Then the audiance says out loud this proclamation:

“This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive; Ill never be the same. In Jesus name, God bless you.”

http://www.christianmonthlystandard.com/index.php/this-is-my-bible-joel-osteen/

The date on my camera is off and I took this photo today on my book shelf.  I am a huge collector of books.

I am also a participant of the A -Z Blogging Challenge 2011, although wordpress has a wonderful one, I found it with blogger.  The idea is to post  with a “LETTER” and today’s letter is “E”

With that said, http://my.recoveringevangelical.com/profiles/blog/list

This blog is one I found that has Evangelical in it and it says so much more than I can say. Here is what she has to say:

Today I need truth.
Contrary to popular belief, there is a such thing as truth, yet  it is not what I once dogmatically defined it to be.

Truth is not a system, a code, a list or a statement.

Truth is a person or rather, a being, the incarnate word, love Himself- Jesus.

How do you live when truth is a being? What does that look like?

It’s hard to capture. I once thought it was doing everything by the book. Just do _____ and you will get/be_____________.
But, I am thankful the reality is a lot more like poetry and less like a step-by-step manual.

It’s more like holding a newborn baby and watching an orange moon rise and less like attempting to be the standard of excellence and honor.

It looks like love.
It looks like love that shatters, consumes, overcomes.
It looks like believing.
It looks like believing in something secedes a signed paper commitment, a legal binding, a cause and effect threat.

It looks like relationship that has far deeper substance then what someone can bring into my life, how they make me feel, the things we can accomplish.

It looks like believing in love when I can’t believe in anything else.

It looks like new life: abundant life; messy, bloody, squirming, crying, beautiful life.

How does truth set you free, and what does it look like?

Truth sets you free looks a lot less like announcing that your thoughts line up with a particular statement, and more like a stepping into the light of love where nothing where nothing is hidden.
It looks like not simply the initial removal of chains, but the constant remembrance that while you may rub your wrists and feel that handcuffs are still on, they have been forever removed.

I was reading the other day about Isaac being born to Abraham and Sarah. Isaac was the promise they waited for for nearly a century; promise they tried to bring about in their own way, a promise they had to be willing to give up before they saw it come to be. In Galatians, the Apostle Paul talks about Isaac being a picture the new covenant, the new order, the old passing away because it brought nothing but slavery and death.

Isaac means laughter.

When God truly set me from the bondage of the old covenant I was still unknowingly living under, I was in hotel room on Gulou street in Tianjin, China.
I could see the chains fall off me as begin to see, begin to believe, began to be set free.

How I’d weep; at times out of anger of feeling so fooled about what I believed the gospel to be my entire life, at times of the irony of the simplicity of it all, but mostly out of joy.
I’d also laugh in my sleep, dreaming of a kingdom of light, a real realm where everyone is forgiven and loved.

It looks like laughter.

Orginal post@ http://brookegale.com/?p=918

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http://www.scribd.com/doc/30331390/Joel-Osteen-The-Smiling-Preacher This is where I wrote all about Joel:

Become A Better You by Joel Osteen Review written by Jackie Paulson © 2010

Pub. Date: October 2007

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

Format: Hardcover, 400pp

Sales Rank: 48,072

ISBN-13: 9780743296885

ISBN: 0743296885

I am a huge fan of Joel Osteen.

Joel Osteen reaches one of the largest audiences in the U.S. and across the globe more than 42,000 people attend his church every week, and millions more tune in by television to hear his words of inspiration and wisdom. His first book, Your Best Life Now, has sold over 4 million copies and is available worldwide in seventeen languages. His message of hope is helping people find a closer connection with God by learning to apply the principles of Scripture to their everyday lives. In this new book, Become a Better You, Joel Osteen offers seven simple yet profound action steps that will help readers discover the better things they were born for…their individual purpose and destiny. As charming and passionate on the page as he is in person, Osteen incorporates key biblical principles, devotions, and personal testimonies that will uplift and enlighten readers. He speaks directly to the hearts and concerns of people from every walk of life. Audiences claim that they love to see Joel in person and hear him speak and read what he has written.  Become a Better you will encourage and inspire readers to want to reach their God given potential.  The book cover says it all!  If you want a better life you can clearly follow your own set of rules or follow a guide provided by Joel’s book.  He gives real life examples of ways to make your life great, and you will want to keep turning the pages.  This book is one that you will want to keep for a lifetime.

Joel Osteen Known as the “Smiling Preacher”

Website: http://www.joelosteen.com

Joel Scott Osteen was born on May 5, 1963 in Houston, Texas.  He is a well-known Non-denominational and motivational Preacher, Author and Televangelist.  He is the senior Pastor of Lakewood Church located in Houston, Texas.   Joel married his wife Victoria L. Iloff on April 4, 1987; and they have two children; Jonathan, and Alexandra.  His parents are Dolores (Dodie) Osteen and his Father John Osteen.  Joel is one of five children including Paul, Lisa, and Tamara, and April which are also involved in full-time ministry.  Joel’s half-brother Justin does missionary work out of New York. Joel’s father, John Osteen, a former Southern Baptist pastor who became Charismatic in the late 1950s, founded Lakewood Church on Mother’s Day, 1959.  Osteen’s father developed Lakewood into a body of approximately 6,000 members with an active television ministry, conferences, missionary support and food distribution.

Joel helped his father for 17 years produce Lakewood’s church television program. At that time Joel was working behind the scenes so to speak, helping his father’s ministry. After his father John passed away on October 3, 1999, Joel began to preach as his father did.

Joel Osteen’s first book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, was released in October 2004. In December 2006, he was named one of the year’s “Ten Most Fascinating People” by Barbara Walters.

Joel Osteen’s second book, titled Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day was released in October 2007, which also topped the New York Times Best Sellers List with a first printing of four million copies. Joel told Larry King the new book will focus more on relationships and not getting stuck where we are in life. ”

Osteen’s popularity led to him being featured as one of ABC News‘ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2006”, and was named “Most Influential Christian in America” in 2006 by The Church Report.

Osteen says that he chooses to focus on the goodness of God rather than sin. In answer to questions raised over why he does not include many Bible verses in his books, he says that he sees himself as more of a life coach. Osteen explains that he tries to teach Biblical principles in a simple way, emphasizing the power of love and a positive attitude.