Joel Osteen tour to visit NLR on March 15

— Joel Osteen, the pastor of the nation’s largest church, will hold “A Night of Hope” at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on March 15.

Osteen and his wife, Victoria, have held similar worship gatherings in more than 100 cities across the country, often drawing sell-out crowds.

An average of 40,000 stream into Lakewood Church in Houston to hear Osteen preach each weekend. His smiling face and upbeat messages are seen by more than 10 million television viewers each week, according to Nielsen Media Research. Then there are his popular audio podcasts, daily inspirational e-mails, Tweets on Twitter and best-selling books.

All this, and Osteen never set out to be a preacher at all.

The native Texan grew up listening to his father, John, preach at Lakewood Church. Despite his father’s repeated requests to preach, Osteen always turned him down, preferring to work in the church’s television ministry airing his dad’s messages.

“I would tell him, ‘Dad, I’m not a preacher. It’s just not in me,’” Osteen said.

That is, until early in 1999, when he felt the urge to say “Yes.” He preached his first sermon Jan. 17 and lost his father to a heart attack the same week. The church was left without a senior pastor and Osteen said he suddenly had a desire to step up and lead.

“It didn’t make any sense,” he said. “I hadn’t been to seminary but it was on the inside. I didn’t know if people would listen or if I’d be any good, but I had this attitude of ‘I’m going to try this and if I heard God wrong I can always go back.’”

Osteen said he never imagined the ministry his father started would grow into the colossus it is today or that he would be comfortable preaching to a crowd of tens of thousands.

He admits his first sermon — the one he preached prior to his father’s death — was hard.

“I only spoke about 20 minutes,” he said, adding that he spent about half the time telling stories about the family. “I was so nervous.”

These days the nerves are gone. Whether he is speaking with celebrities, politicians or throngs of churchgoers, Osteen said, he focuses on being himself.

“What helps me is I’m not a performer or an entertainer,” he said. “I just try to be myself and be what God wanted.”

Osteen said he uses the story of his own life to inspire others.

“It’s part of my whole message,” he said. “You have things on the inside you don’t realize you have — gifts and talents. That’s why it’s easy for me to encourage people because I never dreamed I could do this.”

Osteen is no stranger to Arkansas. His brother lived in Little Rock for several years and Osteen said they visited often. In 2006, he preached at what was then Alltel Arena.

This time his message will be one of hope.

“I’ll talk about my core message — that God is good. He’s on our side and even if we make mistakes God can still get us where we need to be,” he said. “It’s simple things but it’s amazing how some people are stuck in a rut in life. My goal is to give a boost to their faith and shake them out of that rut.”

The Osteen ministry isn’t just about Joel. He and Victoria serve as co-pastors at Lakewood Church and they’ll preach together at the North Little Rock event.

“She can reach people I never will,” he said. “She encourages people.”

Scott Thumma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut and an expert on megachurches, said Osteen draws a crowd like no other preacher can today.

“At this point no other megachurch pastor can draw crowds like he can,” Thumma said. “There was a time pastors like T.D. Jakes could, but now I think it is Osteen alone.”

Thumma said Osteen’s television ministry is seen everywhere, which leads to national exposure and interest.

“Second, his message is one of such hopefulness and self-empowerment that he leaves the audience feeling good about themselves and like God is on their side,” Thumma said. “It’s hard not to feel uplifted and like you can and should accomplish great things after you hear him speak. It isn’t exactly great theology but it sells.”

Osteen said he’s not sure why so many people, many of whom aren’t churchgoers, come to hear him preach but he thinks they are looking for hope.

“Part of it is there are a lot of things in life pushing people down and our message is always positive and hopeful,” he said. “I try to make the Bible and God relevant to people who may not have been raised in church like me.”

Osteen said he takes the events seriously and prepares for them with prayer and study.

“People have traveled a long way and I really try to put my whole heart and effort into it and ask God what he wants me to say,” he said.

Tickets for “A Night of Hope” are $17.50 and available at the Verizon Arena box office and ticketmaster. com or by calling (800) 745-3000. Group sales are available at (501) 975-9131.

Religion, Pages 12 on 12/22/2012

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