A rebuttal of Ch. 11 of Your Best Life Now

Chapter 11: Be Happy With Who You Are
Rebuttal

The title of this chapter is somewhat misleading. No one is arguing that it is a bad thing to be happy with who you are; it’s the how and why of being satisfied with oneself that comes into question. Right off the bat, Joel makes a sweeping statement that many of the world’s “social, physical, and emotional problems” are caused simply by “the fact that people don’t like themselves.” Granted it’s not a good to have people constantly wish that they were more like someone else or being insecure, but there is a line here. I challenge anyone to name five problems that were caused solely by someone’s low self esteem. Hitler had wonderful self esteem, he was sure that what he was doing was the right thing to do. Besides that, liking who you are is not a good thing if you are someone not worth liking. A healthy dissatisfaction with oneself can be very useful when one is engaged in or desperately needs rehabilitation for chemical dependency or is living one’s life in a manner that is destructive to others. While it is no doubt a good thing to be satisfied with who one is, I sincerely doubt that the absence of such a feeling is the cause for many of the world’s problems.

Next, Joel reminds us that we don’t need to look good in order to feel good. He says that wishing we were built differently or had a different personality is a wasted effort, and he is right. Where he errs is when he claims that “some people spend three-fourths of their time trying to be someone else.” How could he possibly quantify this? He cites no study or survey to support this “fact” and just assumes we’ll eat it right up without question. Joel extols us to enjoy the fact that we are different from other people. He reminds us that in so doing we should also be open to the advice of people wiser than ourselves and that we should not be foolhardy or rebellious. There’s nothing wrong here. However, the idea that “we never have permission to live an ungodly life” is false. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12 that “‘everything is permissible for me’- but not everything is beneficial. ‘everything is permissible for me’- but I will not be mastered by anything”. Instead, Paul says in chapter ten, verse 31 of the same book, that “so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Over the next few paragraphs, Joel tells us that we are special just the way God made us, that we don’t need the permission of others to express ourselves and be who we want to be. This is all true. Joel tells us not to compare ourselves with others, and that “God has an individual plan for each of our lives.” This is also correct. Joel admits that he might never be the best preacher, husband, or father, but “as far as I’m concerned, I’m number one!” This is taking it one step too far. According to Psalm 25:9, “he guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” According to Proverbs 3:34, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Finally, James 4:10 says that we should “humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” While it is only beneficial to be satisfied with oneself, the idea that everyone should think that they’re “number one” borders on pretentious and is not what the Bible teaches.

To some hilarious effect, the very next thing that is written after Joel’s claim to be “number one” is “that is what the Scripture teaches. It says ‘Let each one examine his own work.’ In other words, quit looking at what everyone else is doing and run your own race.” The text that Joel uses as support in the above quote is from Galatians 6:4 in the New King James Version. Here Joel quotes only half of the verse; the entirety of it in the NIV reads as follows: “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.” This verse appears to support what Joel is saying in this chapter, and to some extent it does, just not in the way Joel is using it. According to the New Interpreter’s Bible, “Paul is convinced that authentic faith manifests itself in action” and therefore that “to test one’s ‘work’ is to examine whether it really embodies the loving character of Christ.” It is odd that the second half of the verse, which Joel omits, can be used to support the points he makes in this chapter, but he chooses to use the first half of the verse out of context to support a flawed assertion.

Joel tells us not to give in to peer pressure and that we can’t and shouldn’t try to please everyone; we need only please God. Joel also tells us that we should not hesitate to ask for the advice of people we know and trust. All of this is true. Joel, to bolster his point, claims that the Bible says, “there’s safety in a multitude of counselors.” This is another one of Joel’s made up verses; the closest thing to it is Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” It’s a pity that Joel either made up or mutilated a verse to support a perfectly valid point, especially when there are actual Bible verses that will do the job. For instance, Proverbs 12:15 says that “the way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”

Joel asks us, “Are you being the person God made you to be?” Who else can we be but the person God made us to be? To be someone other than the person God made us to be would mean that God’s plans can be circumvented by our own thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Joel says that we shouldn’t try to live life with the objective of pleasing other people or trying to emulate their own lives, and he is right. He refers to Joshua taking on the role of the leader of Israel after Moses’s death. He quotes Joshua 1:5, inferring that “as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you” is God telling Joshua to be who he made him to be, “and then you’ll be successful.” Once again, Joel is using only half of the verse. The entire verse reads, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Contrary to what Joel would have us believe, God is telling Joshua that he has his back, so to speak; not encouraging him to be different and be his own man. This is another instance where Joel uses scripture out of context to support a point that could be just as easily bolstered by a verse used in context.

Most of what Joel says in Chapter 11 is true; he just takes it one step beyond legitimacy. It is mostly where he tries to use scripture that he fails in making arguments with any veracity. This concludes Part Two on developing a healthy self-image, and we are on to Part Three: Discover the Power of Your Thoughts and Words.

A rebuttal of Ch. 8 of Your Best Life Now

Chapter 8: Understanding Your Value
Rebuttal

In the first paragraphs of Chapter 8, Joel tells us that we must derive our self worth from the fact that we are God’s children. I’m not going to contradict him on this point. He says that if we want to have a healthy view of how valuable we really are, we must move past our imperfections and know that God loves us despite our faults. Again, no argument here. Joel runs into trouble, however, when he tries to use scripture to support his claim. He uses a fairly well known verse, Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Joel says the use of the word workmanship connotes an unfinished product; a “work in progress.” The Greek word used for workmanship here is poiēma. The Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines poiēma as denoting “that which is made,” not that which is being made. The same word is used in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made (poiēma), so that men are without excuse.” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.) Here Paul is telling the Roman church about general revelation, or God’s will revealed to the entire human race, in this instance, through creation itself. When poiēma is used here, the noun does not have a kind of present progressive connotation; creation stopped on the sixth day. Likewise, the same word used in Ephesians 2:10 does not have the meaning of a “work in progress,” but simply something that has been made. Even the English word workmanship does not have the meaning that Joel claims it does. According to Wiktionary, workmanship is defined as “1) the skill of an artisan or craftsman. 2) The quality of something made by an artisan or craftsman.” Merriam-Webster defines it as “1) something effected, made, or produced. 2) The art or skill of a workman; also: the quality imparted to a thing in the process of making.” So, Joel is mistaken when he says that “the word workmanship implies that you are not yet a finished product; you are a ‘work in progress.’” Not that I am arguing against the idea that we as humans should continually work to improve ourselves, but the verse Joel is using to support his assertion here is poorly chosen.

Joel says that the key to future success is not to be “discouraged about your past or present while you are being ‘completed.’” He claims that the Bible says that we “go from glory to glory as we are being transformed into God’s image.” Here he cites 2 Corinthians 3:18, which goes, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Joel does not expound on the meaning of this verse at all; he leaves the definition of glory and the meaning of the verse in the context of what he is trying to say all up to the reader. I think he’s trying to say that things are going to get better, that you have things in you life to look forward to. While this is a comforting statement, it is not what the verse means. The NIV’s “ever-increasing glory” and “being transformed into God’s image” both refer to what happens after one dies and goes to heaven. This does not fit Joel’s message, which would necessitate that glory manifesting itself in the earthly realm.

To finish up the paragraph, Joel tells us that “God is moving you onward toward greater things. The path of righteousness gets brighter and brighter.” Stop right there, Joel. We’ve used this verse before, but it’s so applicable that it bears repeating: 1 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (Emphasis added.) However, Joel does use Proverbs 4:16 as evidence. “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter ‘till the full light of day.” If, however, we take into account the very next verse, the passage takes on a whole new meaning. “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.” So we can see that the righteous are not walking on the sunny side of the street per se, but their way of life allows them to see clearly to learn from their mistakes, unlike the wicked, who “do not know what makes them stumble.” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible.) To bolster my point, I’ll add the following sections of scripture:

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,”

1 Peter 3:17 “It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Joel continues to tell us that God loves us, warts and all. He tells us to remember that “according to God’s Word, your future is getting brighter; you are on your way to a new level of glory.” Here he is absolutely right; after we die and go to heaven, we will certainly be surrounded by the glory of God (Romans 8:17). I doubt this is what Joel actually means, though. Like I said above, this entire book hinges on what happens on this side of eternity. Joel comforts us by telling us that even though disobeying God can and does have consequences, we cannot do anything to make God love us less, just like we can’t do anything to make him love us more. This is absolutely true. Joel tells us that no matter how difficult the times are that we go through, we are still no less valuable. This is also true. The rest of the chapter goes on to that effect.

A lot of what Joel says in this chapter is accurate; his main problem is when he uses scripture to support his points. Let’s hope this is one of many steps in the right direction.

A Rebuttal of Ch. 6 of Your Best Life Now

Chapter 6: Living Favor-Minded

Rebuttal

This chapter expounds on what Joel said in the previous one. He describes in the first paragraphs instances of what may happen if we believe that God will give us preferential treatment. Here we have another problem of post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Just because you read a book and shortly thereafter you get a good parking spot or get let into the fast lane during rush hour or are the first in line when a cashier opens a new register in a busy supermarket doesn’t mean that any of those things happened because you read the book.

To support all this and to say that there is no way that we’ll “be able to outrun the good things of God,” Joel claims that the Bible says that “God’s favor is going to chase you down and overtake you.” Nowhere in the Bible is this written. Joel, of course, cites neither chapter nor verse. The nearest verse to what Joel has written is in Isaiah, chapter 35, verse 10. I’ll include verse nine to give it some context: “No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” We’ve seen this before. Joel is using a passage describing the return of a captive Israel to Jerusalem with no regard to context, genre, or what it meant to its original audience, and twisting it to fit his message. I am, of course, assuming that Joel didn’t just pull this out of his ass, that being a distinct possibility given some key differences in Joel’s version and the actual inspired text.

The first difference and probably the most significant: The subject of the sentence in Joel’s writing is “God’s blessings.” Using God as the source of the blessings at issue creates a misconception that Joel continually purports throughout his work, that God is just like Santa Claus and exists to give us stuff. Not I’m saying that God is not in the habit of blessing, but Joel belabors the point, to say the least.

The second key difference is in the structure and wording of the sentence itself. Since Joel does not give the translation that he uses, let alone the chapter and verse, it is impossible for me to do comparative research on the wording in the original language. (Once again, we are assuming that Joel has twisted Isaiah 35:10 for his own purposes and not pulled something out of thin air.) In Joel’s writing, God’s blessings actively hunt down and engulf “you,” which we are led to believe is the reader. That sounds kind of creepy to me. In the inspired text, it is “gladness and joy” which will overtake “them,” captive Israel. About the only thing these two sentences have in common is the word “overtake.”

Joel says that “every time we turn around, somebody’s going to want to do something good for you. Everywhere you go, things are going to change in your favor.” This I know Joel made up. Like I said in previous works, history has not shown this to be accurate. John the Baptist lived a life of poverty and was beheaded by King Herod, Paul’s life basically went shipwreck, flogging, prison for a few years, visit a church or two or three, repeat. Some experts believe he had poor eyesight and epilepsy, as well. Peter was crucified, upside down according to tradition. All the disciples lived lives of poverty and, with the exception of John, all died excruciatingly painful deaths. With that in mind, we can say with certainty that Joel is not working with the correct definition of favor.

Apparently one can only receive God’s favor if one asks for it aloud. Joel writes, “Learn to speak God’s favor over every area of your life. If you’re not experiencing as much as you would like, try declaring it more often. Become more diligent about speaking it out. And you don’t even necessarily have to say it out loud; you can speak it under your breath.” So not only is God just a cosmic Santa Claus, he is powerless to act unless we say what we want out loud.

As another example, Joel gives the example of King David, who, according to 1 Samuel 13:14, was a man after God’s own heart and uses one of his psalms, Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The author’s point here is that David is a prime example of his philosophy that he just couldn’t “get away from the good things of God.” Granted David’s rule was near the high water mark of ancient Israel’s existence, but no where does David say that he expects good things or preferential treatment and therefore he gets good things or preferential treatment. Joel claims that the “Bible is replete with examples of people who were in great need, but then the favor of God came on them in a new way, and their situations turned around.” Joel uses the stories of Noah, Ruth, and Joseph as examples. No one is arguing against the existence of scenarios such as those, it is simply the why and the how that is in question. If we take God’s choosing Noah in context, it should not be Noah’s character or that he was favor minded or whatnot that should be taken into account, rather “divine agony over what to do about the situation,” according to The New Interpreter’s Bible. As for the story of Ruth, it is a prime example of God providing for those he wished to participate in the bloodline of the Messiah. As for Joseph, Joel uses the story to say that when people are mistreating us or when we are going through various difficulties in our lives, we only need to expect God’s favor, and sooner or later it will all turn out better.

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,”

1 Thessalonians 3:4 “In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.”

Joel is only half right. We’re guaranteed to be mistreated and undergo hardships, it’s the part about them turning around, getting better and going away that’s iffy.

Joel uses Job as an example, saying that even in his darkest hour Job declared to favor of God, therefore God restored his home, family, livestock, etc. I used the story of Job as a counterpoint in chapter two of these works, so one of us has to be wrong. Joel says that Job ways restored to his former glory because he continually “declared the favor of God.” However, in chapter 31 Job basically says, “I’m innocent! Why are you doing this to me?” A question he had never before asked. According to The New Interpreter’s Bible, the language Job uses is similar to the “process by which an accused person whose opponent refuses to produce evidence compels his accuser to come to court.” Joel is really upset here. In response, God spends three full chapters telling Job that it is not his place to question how or why he does things. After getting scolded for asking for a reason behind his suffering, Job doesn’t pout or make an angry retort, he hangs his head and apologizes. Joel is conveniently leaving out these aspects of the story. Without said elements, the story of Job can be misconstrued to whoever’s liking, just like a toddler might leave out the part of the story where he threw the first punch. However, and this seems to be the theme of these works, if we take the entire book in context we ascertain its true meaning, that everything happens for a reason and that God always has our best interests at heart.

Joel is right in one thing, however. He says that God doubled Job’s assets, and this is correlative with Job 42:10. Joel’s claim that none of Job’s enemies could triumph over him seems only to be inferred from the text. However, the question we must ask ourselves is this: is this scenario prescriptive or descriptive? In other words, is the text telling us that this is the way it is for everyone and that we should mimic this behavior, such as the Ten Commandments? Alternatively, it may be telling a story that is just that, a story, and to be learned from and reflected on, such as the story of Lot and how his daughters got him drunk and slept with him in order to continue their family line in Genesis 19:30-35. Given that this is the only instance of God doubling someone’s assets after a period of extreme adversity and the lack of corroborative scripture (for that matter, the presence of a great deal of verses that contradict that assertion) I believe we can safely designate this passage as prescriptive.

On the next page, Joel clams that the “Bible says, ‘Hope to the end for the divine favor that is coming to you.’ In other words, don’t give up. Keep on believing, expecting, declaring. Keep living favor-minded, and God promises that good things will come to you.” First of all, that “verse” while it sounds like something that might be somewhere in the Bible, exists only in Joel’s mind and in “Your Best Life Now.” It is not an actual Bible verse. I have claimed before in these works that Joel, in his writings, was being less than truthful, but this is an egregious offense. In my research I have found no verse that even bears a rough semblance. Ergo, there is no alternative here but to conclude that Joel Osteen is making up his own Bible verses because he’s running out of canonized passages to butcher out of context and misconstrue to support his own ends.

Joel tells us the story of how he got the ten o’clock time slot on a national television network by being “favor-minded” and “waiting in faith” for six months. As support for the belief that he got the coveted ten o’clock Sunday night slot due to his belief that he would, he cites 1 Peter 1:13: “If you will hope to the end, divine favor will come.” I have no idea what translation Joel used here, the one he uses certainly looks nothing like any version I’ve read. Take the NIV, for example: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given to you when Jesus Christ is to be revealed.” This is another example of Joel groundlessly substituting a given word in a passage for “favor” to suit the purposes of his message. As you can see above, the two versions of the verse are completely different, and one would almost take them for two different verses. I don’t know what else to say but that Joel, as has been the case before, has obviously done his usual cut-copy-paste with scripture to make a point contrary to the actual message taught by the Bible.

Thus ends Part 1: Enlarge Your Vision. The next chapter starts us off with Part 2: Develop a Healthy Self-Image. Please leave any questions or comments or, by all means, if you have found any flaws in my logic, holes in my reasoning, or misuse of scripture, please let me know.

A rebuttal of Ch. 4 of Your Best Life Now

Chapter 4: Breaking the Barriers of the Past

Rebuttal

In the beginning of the chapter, Joel tells the story of how, for a number of years, it was thought impossible for a person to run a mile in less than four minutes. That barrier was broken in 1954 by Roger Bannister. Joel attributes this to the four minute mile barrier being in the athlete’s minds, a kind of pseudo-psychosomatic problem. Let’s take a closer look at this. Joel cites that various “‘experts’ conducted all sorts of profound studies to show it was impossible to beat the four minute mile barrier. And for years, they were right.” He also says that the reason that no one broke it is because they believed said experts.

Here Joel’s argument relies on a premise that says the same thing as the conclusion.

Joel’s argument: experts said no one could run a four minute mile, therefore runners let in turn to negative thinking and none of them could run a four minute mile.

Experts said no one could run a four minute mile: It’s presumably impossible to run a four minute mile.

Therefore:

No one could run a four minute mile because of negative thinking: It’s presumably impossible to run a four minute mile.

Joel is using circular reasoning here, and his argument is clearly flawed.

As for the fact that in the decade after Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile barrier 336 runners followed in his place, health care, life expectancy, and population have all been improving and growing the world over. With those on the rise, quality of life is improving, babies are being born healthier and with a drastically lower mortality rate, and the human race as a whole is better off than it was even a few decades ago. I think we can attribute those 336 runners to the competitive human spirit and to microevolution. Joel is trying to attribute this phenomenon to a kind of pseudo-psychological effect, a sort of psychsomatosis, and it doesn’t make sense.

Joel says that if we think something is impossible, we never will be able to do it. No one is calling this point into contention; if I don’t believe I can jump off a cliff and fly I’m not going to jump off a cliff. Joel uses as scriptural support for this notion a well known verse, 2 Corinthians 10:4 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have the divine power to demolish strongholds.” Joel identifies Paul’s use of the word “stronghold” here as the aforementioned negative thoughts and attitudes that hold us back. While this is very compelling, it fails to take into account several things. The ancient Greek word for stronghold being used here, όχύρωμα, refers to a literal stronghold or fortress, but when used figuratively, refers to intellectual arguments, according to Strong’s Greek and Hebrew Lexicon. Joel is using it to refer to psychological issues that we as people develop during the course of our lives due to various traumatic events, and is mistaken in doing so.

As an example, Joel points out the story of the ancient Israelites. He theorizes that because they were held in slavery for four hundred years, were “mistreated, used, and taken advantage of,” the Israelites, despite God’s plans, “couldn’t conceive it. They couldn’t make room for it in their own thinking. Instead of moving forward with an attitude of faith, expecting good things, they insisted on going around and around with a poor, defeated mentality”. As I remember it, the Israelites got stuck in the desert for four decades because they could visualize what they wanted quite well: “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’” That’s the first verse of the 32nd chapter of Exodus. Aaron is quick to oblige them and without any objection. Later, in verse nine, God says to Moses, “I have seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.” Sounds kind of harsh, right? Not exactly God poking them and telling them to conceive on the inside. Lucky for them, however, Moses speaks up in the next verse. “But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. ‘Oh Lord’, he said, “Why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand...Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.’”

Two things are worthy of note here: first of all, the text says that Moses “sought the favor of the Lord his God. He does this simply by making a request, not by expanding his thinking or conceiving on the inside. Second, this text points out that the Israelites were not exiled because of their bad attitude, like a 40 year time out, but were sentenced to wander around in the desert until an entire generation died off because, just days after being delivered from Egypt where they had spent four hundred years in slavery, they decided that the God who got them out of there wasn’t good enough for them anymore.

In the following few paragraphs, Joel addresses those of us that have been abused, walked out on, or similarly mistreated. He urges us not to “inhibit the great future God has for you by dwelling on the pains of your past”. He says that “if you keep the right attitude, God will pay you back double for your trouble.” Joel claims that God will tally up all the hurt, injustice, and pain people have caused you and “pay you back with twice as much joy, peace, and happiness. That is God’s desire for you.” While it’s true that you’ll never get anywhere in life brooding all the time, Joel takes this beyond veracity. As scriptural support, he uses Isaiah 61:7, in the Osteen Proof Text Version, “a twofold recompense for our former shame.” (A note: the aforementioned version is a facetious invention of my own; proof text is the practice of using decontextualised quotations from a document, and this verse is one where Joel does not cite the version used.) Instead of explaining that this passage is being used out of context, as can be presupposed by now, I’ll just save space and explain how. Isaiah is a book wherein God is communicating to his people in exile that it’s not going to remain like this forever; that there is a light at the end of the Babylonian tunnel. Joel has already taken several passages from Isaiah out of context, see previous works. In the NIV, this verse reads, “Instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.” Joel uses this verse to support the idea that we will retroactively receive compensation equal to double the amount of abuse/neglect/abject suffering we have experienced. Unfortunately, worker’s comp is not part of the Christian’s benefit package. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (Emphasis added).

What Joel says in the next paragraph would, omitting the word “God”, might cause a reader to believe that it was about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

He knows when we’re operating with integrity, and yet somebody comes along and cheats us out of what should have been ours. God sees every time you’ve been taken advantage of… every time you turn the other cheek and let an offense go by. He sees every time you forgive, or try to restore a broken relationship, even though it wasn’t your fault. God sees all that; He’s keeping a good record (does he check it twice?). And He’s promised to take all the evil that comes into your life, turn it around, and use it for your good.

What Joel is saying here violates one of the fundamental laws of nature: life’s not fair.

He alludes to Romans 8:28, a fairly well known verse, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Joel uses this, purportedly in his own words, having not cited anything or put anything in quotes, to support the above paragraph in box quotes. A proper analysis of this verse reveals that Paul does not state whether or not said “good” will be material or even occurring in this lifetime.

Joel again uses one of his trademark phrases that should trigger red lights in the head of any person who has even a minimally comprehensive grasp on biblical doctrine: “will you take thelimits off what God can do in your life?” (Emphasis added.) It is downright silly to think that we can limit God simply by what we think he can do or by what we want in life. Joel asserts that that El-Shaddai, one of the many names for God used in the original text, means “God of more than enough”. Based on this, he claims that “God wants you to live an overcoming life of victory. He doesn’t want you to barely get by. He’s not ‘El Cheapo’, the God of Barely enough!” Maybe taking scripture out of context isn’t Joel’s problem; maybe he just can’t tell the difference between Hebrew and Spanglish. Not to belabor the point, but according to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the meaning of El-Shaddai in the original text is uncertain. Its various roots suggest that it “means ‘sufficient,’ ‘lord,’ ‘rain-god,’ or ‘mountain-god.’” The Illustrated Dictionary and Concordance of the Bible defines Shaddai as “strength.” Perhaps this is beating a dead horse, but according to the New Bible Dictionary, the Hebrew El is “derived from a root indicating strength or might,” hence Elyon, Elohim, Eloah, all different names with different meanings referring to God. The Spanish El, however, simply means “the”.

A few paragraphs later, Joel explains how we must expand our thinking, and that we must do so in order to experience God’s favor; that God is waiting on us to stretch our faith. Following, Joel graces us with the hidden insight into God’s nature which only he seems to possess: “Notice the words God uses. He says to ‘enlarge, lengthen, stretch out.’” While these words are in the Bible, Joel provides neither text nor reference nor context. It’s really sloppy work for an author, without an exhaustive concordance we’re just taking his word for it, and we have no idea where and how those words are used. There is a second option, though. Joel could be conveying information imparted to him by specific revelation, that is, God speaking directly to him.

Later, Joel asks us “Why not stretch your faith and believe God for more so you can help somebody else in need? God is saying, ‘If you’ll make room for more of my blessings, I won’t disappoint you. Soon you’ll be bursting at the seams.’” Again, Joel gives neither chapter nor verse for this quote. It is absolutely absurd, ridiculous beyond belief, that one could just sit down and write, “I think such-and-such, so I’m going to say that God said something to that effect with absolutely no scriptural support. There is, without exception, no motive to make up things that can be introduced by the words “God said” that does not have a second, self-serving agenda.

This God actually did say:

Acts 9:16

“I will show him how much he [Paul] must suffer for my name.”

Philippians 1:29

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.

Joel goes on to describe the concept of how the sins of the father are passed down through generations. He refers to divorce, incarceration, alcoholism, and others. In order to break this chain of defeat, Joel suggests we start “speaking in terms of victory rather than defeat.” He suggests we pray the following prayer:

I don’t care how defeated this family has been in the past. This is a new day. I boldly declare that we are more than conquerors. It doesn’t matter how broke we’ve been. I declare we’re going to lend and not borrow. I don’t care how big our obstacles are. I declare that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. I don’t care how powerful our enemies are. Greater is He who is in us that he who is in the world. We’re not victims anymore. We are the victors. We are blessed and we cannot be cursed.

In the above quote, Joel alludes to Romans 8:37, Deuteronomy 28:12, Isaiah 54:17, 1 John 4:4, and 1 Corinthians 4:12. As again he neither quotes nor cites, he can bend the language of scripture to his will, as well as take a few creative liberties in translation. This is nothing unusual for Joel, quotes or no quotes, it’s just that this time it sounds to the layperson like the above catechism is of Joel’s own making and, when they read the actual verse later, they think, “Oh, I recognize that. It was in that book I read once, and it must mean something completely different than what it was intended to mean to the original audience.” Besides what he is saying in the preceding paragraph is basically cutting and pasting different verses together that have completely different meanings and contexts and inserting miscellaneous sentence fragments in between them to convey a message of warm fuzzy feelings inside. Joel says that we were born to be great, born to win, and “created to be a champion in life.” How can any of us win or be great or be champions if we are all winners or great or champions? By definition, everyone can’t win, and everyone can’t be a champion.

When I started this project I asked myself if Joel was deliberately misinterpreting the text or was just misguided. There is now no doubt in my mind that Joel is distorting the meaning of scripture for his own ends.

A rebuttal of Ch. 2 of You Best Life Now

Chapter 2 Rebuttal

All verses quoted in NIV unless indicated otherwise.

This is an analysis of the second chapter of Your Best Life Now, and I’m going to try to do one a week. With 32 chapters this should take me the better part of a year, so I guess I'll have something to keep me busy for a while. I think I’ll post them every Monday, so check your local listings.

In chapter 2, Joel tells us specifically how to raise our level of expectations and think positively. What Joel says in the first few paragraphs of this chapter is true to some extent, that what we expect is what we will get. However, it is untrue that if you "dwell on positive thoughts, your life will move in that direction.” Joel suggests saying each morning as you wake up, “This is going to be a great day. God is guiding and directing my steps. His favor is surrounding me. Goodness and mercy are following me, I’m excited about today!” This is just silly; just because you repeat it to yourself in the mirror each morning doesn’t mean it will work or even that it’s true.

Joel tells us to program our minds for success, and then to “go out expecting good things. Expect circumstances to change in your favor. Expect people to go out of their way to help you. Expect to be at the right place at the right time.” If this makes sense to any of you, please let me know. Joel uses Colossians 3:2 to support his assertion, reading, “Set your mind and keep it set on higher things.” Like all the verses he quotes in the previous chapter, Joel does not give the name of the translation that he uses for this verse. The NIV reads, “Set your mind on things above and not on earthly things”. We can see a more than subtle change in meaning here. According to The Interpreter’s Bible, “[t]he Colossian heretics were seeking salvation by a pseudo spirituality, which in reality did not break their involvement in the material world of material forces, material interests, and material values… Paul lifts their minds from the ‘things that which all perish as they are used’ to rest on Christ.”

Next Joel tells us that God wants us to get our hopes up. He says that we “should get up in the morning confidently expecting the favor of God”, that we should “start expecting doors of opportunity to open”, and to “expect to excel in your career. Expect to rise above life’s challenges.” According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, the word for hope being used here is the Greek elpis. This word refers to the confident anticipation of the future. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, elpis means “a favorable and confident expectation”, having to do with the unseen future. While there may appear to be no discrepancy here, the key difference is here: a confident anticipation towards the unseen future vs. a naïve expectation that things will go our way.

Joel uses the converse of this proposition as an example, quoting Matthew 9:29 in the Amplified Translation of the Bible, “According to your faith…be it done to you”. In other words, he says, “have what your faith expects”. This is one of the worst interpretations of any verse I have ever seen. If we look at the entire verse in context, we can see that Jesus is saying something completely different and less nonsensical. Let’s start at Matthew 9, verse 28: “When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him and he asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith, it will be done to you’; and their sight was restored.” As you can see, Joel has taken this verse and shown blatant disregard towards its context and what it meant to the original audience. Instead of coming to unavoidable realization that Jesus is speaking to the two blind men that he recently healed and telling them that because they have faith that they are healed, Joel somehow comes to the conclusion that Jesus is telling them to have faith so they can increase their net worth. That strikes me as a bit of a non sequiter, and not what those two men would have on their minds at that particular point in time.

It strikes me now, why didn’t Jesus put into practice what he was teaching? Why didn’t he “conceive it on the inside so he could receive it on the outside?” Why didn’t he “enlarge his vision” so he didn’t end up spending his 33 years on this earth a working class non-citizen who died by one of the most excruciatingly painful execution methods ever devised by the human psyche?

Joel’s message is captured perfectly in the following paragraph, and I quote, “You can break out of that prison! The door is unlocked. All you have to do is start expecting good things in your life and start believing God for a great future. You do have good things coming!” How ridiculous is this? As I have said before and probably will again, just because I stand in front of the mirror and say to myself, “you’re growing more happy and relaxed all the time,” doesn’t mean I will. Joel also says that “God usually meets us at our level of expectancy”. He writes that if we don’t develop a habit of expecting good things to come our way, then we’re not likely to receive anything good. Obviously he hasn’t read Ephesians 3:20- “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Just as he did in the first chapter of this book, Joel is restricting God to a being who just hands out stuff, and is now further limiting him by the comparatively infinitesimal capacity of the human brain.

In order to live one’s best life now, one must open his “eyes of faith” and start “seeing yourself as happy healthy, and whole.” Joel suggests, when discouraged, praying the following prayer: “God, I know that you are in control, and even though this looks impossible, I know today could be the day that things turn around.”

I’m sure Paul would agree with that:

Philippians 3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

Philippians 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

There’s also the story of Job, who according to Job 1:1 “was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” In short, he had it made. However, in a few short hours, all ten of his children, all 11,500 of his livestock, and all of his “large number of servants” were gone. In response to this he says, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Later, when he is afflicted with sores and sitting in the ashes of his own house, his wife tells him to give up and to “curse God and die”. His response warrants some consideration: “Foolish woman! Should we accept good from the Lord, and not trouble?” A relevant question, I think.

This runs contrary to everything we have read so far in Your Best Life Now. Joel’s premise is that it’s God’s agenda for you to be healthy, have money, and succeed at whatever you do. Christianity is booming in China despite, or maybe because, of heavy resistance and persecution by the government. I can almost guarantee you that Christians in the People’s Republic of China aren’t conceiving and receiving or enlarging their vision, but they are following the teachings of Jesus more accurately than Joel Osteen.

In the next paragraph, Joel asks a perfectly reasonable question, “What if I do all that and it doesn’t work?” Unfortunately, he follows it up with two more rhetorical questions: “What if you do that and it does work? Whom are we kidding here?” Not me, Joel. Not me. Next, he tells the story of Brian. Brian is a once-successful man whose health is deteriorating and in consequence he is a shadow of his former self. Upon the counsel of a friend, Brian writes down ten things each day that he is thankful for, and after a while things turn around. This story stinks of post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Just because B comes after A does not mean A caused B. Also, I can tell you with certainty that you do not need to be in perfect health in order to lead a fulfilling life. For example,

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Joel uses another story, the story of Elijah’s ascent into heaven, 2 Kings 2:9-12. Elisha asks as a parting gift a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit. Elijah says to his protégé that if he sees him being taken up that it will be so, otherwise not. Joel suggests we infer a deeper meaning from this passage, that Elijah, in setting the conditions for the receipt of a double portion of his spirit, was in addition telling Elisha, “If you can see it, then you can be it. If you can visualize it in your heart and mind, seeing it through the screen of God’s Word with your ‘spiritual eyes’, it can become a reality in your life.” Joel says that God is very interested in what we see through our “spiritual eyes”, basing that claim on the correct assertion that God asks seven times in the Bible, “What do you see?” However, and there is always a however, in all seven of those instances God is speaking with an Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, Amos, or Zechariah. To be technical, the two instances involving Zechariah concern the former and an angel speaking, so Joel’s off by two. The reason he appears to be asking the question is not because he doesn’t know, but because he wants to be told so he can explain it, like what inedible figs or giant flying scrolls symbolize. In all of the instances where God asks, “What do you see”, he is speaking to someone who is having a prophetic vision and is explaining to them what it means. Example:

Jeremiah 1:11-13 The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied. The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." The word of the Lord came to me again: "What do you see?" "I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.

Yep, this has “spiritual eyes” written all over it. God’s just dying to know what Jeremiah is seeing through his spiritual eyes.

Next up, Joel tells us how we have to change our environment if we want to change our thinking. According to him, we must surround ourselves with an atmosphere of success, to find a place where we can dream big. According to Joel, we “have to envision good things happening” to us, or they never will. He finishes the chapter by saying that if we do our part “continually contemplating the goodness of God, living with faith and expectancy, God will take you to places you’ve never even dreamed of, and you’ll live at a level you have never before dared to imagine.” I think 1 Corinthians 4:9-13 makes an effective counterpoint:

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

I thank you if you have made it this far, and as usual I appreciate all questions, comments, and criticism.

A rebuttal of Ch.1 of Your Best Life Now

All scripture quoted in NIV unless indicated otherwise.


To preface this composition, let me say that in interpreting scripture the three most important things to keep in mind are context, what the message meant to its original recipients, and the genre of the document. Joel Osteen, author of Your Best Life Now and other books, blatantly disregards all three. Consequentially, I am going to do it for him. Below is a synopsis of the first chapter of Your Best Life Now with my own exegetical findings inserted. It’s a bit wordy, but I would appreciate it greatly if you read as much of it as your attention spans permit as well as any and all feedback. Enjoy.

The fallacy here is that we are being told if we want something to be true, it will, and vice versa. He uses an example of a man who looks at a beautiful house and says to himself, “’I can’t even imagine living in a place like that’.” He then hears another voice in his head assuring him that as long as he could not imagine himself living in such an abode, it would never happen. While the idea that if one thinks something is impossible and doesn't bother to find out otherwise, that something becomes a sort of impossible is true to some extent, Joel takes this psychological condition one step further and states that our mere thoughts and attitudes directly affect reality. What’s really atrocious here is that Joel tells us to believe better of ourselves and to believe “better of God”. This assertion is absurd beyond belief, see Deuteronomy 8:18 “ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

The second assertion that Joel makes, that we “must conceive it on the inside before we receive it on the outside”, is equally absurd. First off, where else would something be conceived but on the inside? Secondly, Joel is saying that if we think we can have something, it will appear on our doorstep the next morning. According to Joel, “[y]our own wrong thinking can keep you from God’s best.” Let us again turn to scripture for the correct point of view: Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 “ Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.” God, being all-powerful, doesn’t need us to think he can provide for us in order for him to provide for us.

Joel goes on to tell the story of a young woman who, after a series of failures, changed her attitude and won the Miss Kansas and Miss America pageants. The book attributes this success to a change in attitude; said young woman continually envisioned herself winning the pageant and made it so. There is nothing false with this line of reasoning per se, as long as it is paired with hard work and practice working towards one’s goal. However, the idea that “if you develop an image of victory, success, health, abundance, joy, peace, and happiness, nothing on earth will be able to hold those things from you”. If it were that easy, do you really think someone would have to write a book about it? Don’t you think people would have mastered it by now, if all it took was thinking about it? According to Joel, “God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity”. This is one of the craziest things I have ever heard! Obviously Joel doesn’t care about silly things like using scripture in context or taking into consideration what it meant to its original audience. No, let’s just throw all that out the window and use Scripture to support whatever claims we want to make.

Joel’s school of thought that God wants to “increase you financially” relegates God from creator and master of the universe to a mere Santa Claus figure. What’s more, what do you think is more important in the eyes of an eternal being, the ability to understand the world around us or shiny metal round objects? Let’s find out.

Proverbs 8:10-11 “ Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”

Proverbs 16:16 “ How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!”

Proverbs 23:4-5 “ Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”

Proverbs 30:8, 9 “ Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

Luke 6:23-25 “‘Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.’”

Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Revelation 18:16-17 “and cry out: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'”

In the interest of brevity, I included less than half of the verses on the subject that I found, but you get the point.

As support for his claim that God wants “this to be the best time in your life”, (why? Why does God want this time, the time that you are reading Joel’s book, to be the best time in all your 87 years, provided you reach the average American life expectancy?) Joel cites Ephesians 2:7, which, in the NIV, reads, “in order that in the coming ages he might show you the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Joel does not quote the entire verse, only a section of it, which reads “His far and beyond favor”, as in “God wants to share with us ‘his far and beyond favor.’” In the Appendix of Your Best Live Now is an index of the scripture Joel uses in each chapter. Some have a translation listed next to them, and some do not. This one does not. I searched no fewer than twenty different versions of the bible reading that verse and none of them matched Joel’s translation. Furthermore, I have yet to receive a response to a letter I sent asking him which translation he used.

Anyway, Joel continues:

In other words, you must make room for increase in your own thinking, then God will bring those things to pass. Until you learn how to enlarge your vision, seeing the future through your eyes of faith, your own wrong thinking will prevent good things from happening in your life. God will not pour fresh, creative and blessings into old attitudes.

This idea is asinine, that we can control God through our thoughts and feelings. Let us again turn to scripture.

John 14:13-14 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

As you can see, we don’t need to think happy thoughts, cross our fingers, or use pixie dust; all that we need do is ask. Make sure you’re sitting down for the next one; it’s what we in the business call a big fat lie.

Joel refers to Jesus’s conversation with his apostles about putting new wine into old wineskins in Matthew 9:17, a fairly well-known passage. The historical context, as he points out, is that as you put wine into a wineskin the wine would ferment and expand. New, supple animal skins used for wineskins could tolerate the expansive force of fermentation, but only to a certain extent. Once a skin was stretched to its limit, putting new wine in it, wine that had yet to ferment and expand, would farther stretch and rupture the old wineskin. With this in mind, what Jesus is saying seems elementary. But as usual, Jesus is speaking metaphorically. According to Joel, he’s trying to convey to the disciples that “you cannot have a larger life with restricted attitudes.” In other words, “you need to open your minds, so you can have more stuff”. Not only does Joel not care about the context of the scripture that he uses, but also not about the extrabiblical historical context, what actually happened to those disciples. Each and every disciple died penniless and was tortured to death by the Roman government with the exception of John, who was exiled to Patmos and wrote Revelation there. If you take the passage in its historical and cultural context, you can tell by the surrounding verses that Jesus is answering a question about fasting and, according to IVP NT Commentaries, that “[t]raditional rituals must never become a straitjacket that hinder us from celebrating sinners' embrace of the good news of God's kingdom.” The Concordia Self-Study Commentary points out the fact that “He is not a patch that can be sewn on the old garments of Judaic piety; he is the new wine that will break the old wineskins, the old forms that cannot contain Him”. The fact that Joel would stretch the meaning of this passage to one no one not looking to make a quick buck would ever have imagined it having would be laughable if it were not for the fact that people actually believe it. It is so absolutely absurd and totally contrary to the rest of Jesus’s teachings that no one in their right mind could possibly come to that conclusion with the interest of correctly interpreting scripture at heart. Let’s take a look at what the Bible really says on that matter.

Proverbs 11:28 “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

Mark 10:25 “’It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’"

Conversely, the Bible tells us numerous times we are to suffer on behalf of our beliefs.

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him”.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.”

1 Thessalonians 3:4 “In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.”

Next, Joel goes on to give personal examples of how he or others thought they could never achieve something, but later “conceived it on the inside” and viola! To support this, Joel cites Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?” Joel takes this to be God “trying to promote us, to increase us, to give us more. Yet it’s interesting God asks the question, ‘do you perceive it?’ In other words, are you making room for it in your own thinking?” If we look at the passage properly, we can see that Isaiah is prophesying to a nation in captivity in Babylon that God had a future in store for them; that they “did not only have a past… it had still a more glorious future. It could expect ‘a new thing’, a miracle so marvelous as to eclipse the things of old (The Concordia Self-Study Commentary). Joel subsequently likens his philosophy to the virgin birth: it’s not something that will come about through the will or power of a human, it will be by the Holy Spirit, a statement which is not untrue. However, every lie is based on a grain of truth. Using the well known verse Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for him who believes”, Joel asserts that if we believe, if we “get rid of those old wineskins. Get rid of that small minded thinking and think as God thinks (how does he know how God thinks?). Think big. Think increase. Think abundance. Think more than enough.” If we follow the preceding, according to Joel we will get all our heart desires because “everything is possible for him who believes.” I hate to break it to you, Joel, but all-powerful does not mean all-giving. Jesus uses the Greek word dunatos here, which is translated as "possible." In the Greek, dunatos means, according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, strong, mighty, able (to do), and in its neuter form it signifies “possible”. Joel is stretching the meaning of the word at best.

In the final paragraphs of the chapter, Joel tells the story of a professional golfer who is invited to play in a tournament by and with the king of Saudi Arabia. As said golfer is leaving for home, he is offered a gift by aforementioned king, whatever he wants. The golfer asks for a golf club and, weeks later, receives a deed to a five hundred acre golf course. The moral of the story is, “[s]ometimes kings think differently than you and I think. And friend, we serve the King of kings. We serve the Most High God, and His dream for your life is so much bigger and better than you can even imagine. It’s time to enlarge your vision!” He was doing fine until about halfway through. While it is true, according to Ephesians 3:20, that God is able to provide us with as much or more than we can ask or imagine, that by no means signifies that what is provided will be of a material nature.

The problem with Joel’s philosophy in this chapter is that he is relegating God’s blessings to strictly material and financial gain, claiming to intimately know the thoughts and mind of God, and using an absolute if/then formula. Joel Osteen would do well to take the following maxim to heart: a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.

Part two coming soon.