Joel Osteen Out of the Closet ... In a good way.

I thought this post was very interesting, the Blog is from New Man magazine.

The New Man Report
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Osteen Out of the Closet ... In a Good Way
I'm not a big fan of Joel Osteen. Not that he needs my support. The popular "smiling preacher" leads the largest church in America, writes best-selling books and has a huge TV ministry. I don’t have a beef with Osteen personally. He seems like a nice guy. It’s just that I find his sermons a little fluffy. To me the brand of faith he promotes seems like Christianity lite. A little biblical truth supplemented with a lot of pop psychology.

Still, I have to give credit where credit is due. And this week I applaud Osteen for a courageous stance he took on the issue of homosexuality.

It all started when son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay and a group of gays and lesbians attended Osteen’s Lakewood Church in an effort to influence the famous pastor’s view on the issue of homosexuality. Jay Bakker is part of a coalition of organizations that advocate for complete acceptance of homosexuality. Osteen welcomed the group and met with them after the service. But according to Lakewood’s spokesman, Donald Iloff, Osteen did not bow to the group’s pressure.

“It was a very cordial, very nice meeting,” Iloff said. “But ultimately through our conversations, we continued to disagree with … Jay's position.”

Additionally, Iloff said that, at the church, they “believe homosexuality is sin” and that “it is disobedience under God.”

Osteen’s stance was important for a couple of reasons. First, the visit to Lakewood was the first stop for the pro-gay group (they’re calling it “The American Family Outing”) in a 6-stop campaign that will move on to other influential churches such as Willow Creek and Saddleback. I’m glad Osteen set the tone by taking a tough stand for biblical truth. It sent a message to the other churches on the gay activists’ list not to be intimidated into compromising their beliefs.

Osteen has been evasive about the controversial issue until now. So in a way the group’s visit occasioned a “coming out” moment for him, a time when Osteen could weigh in on an important topic. And he passed the test. He resisted the pressure.

Osteen may still not be my favorite preacher, but today I’m impressed.


posted by Drew Dyck at 3:41 PM
http://www.newmanmag.com/newmanreport/2008/05/osteen-out-of-closet-in-good-way.html