On the recordApril 26, 2012
It is my pleasure to be able to introduce our guest Chaplain, Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston. He is a native Texan and attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. For 17 years, Pastor Osteen worked behind the scenes for his father John, who founded Lakewood Church in 1959. In 1999, after his father passed away, Pastor Osteen accepted God's call to service in the church and took over the reins as senior pastor, despite having only preached once in his life. It was soon clear that this new, young preacher had a natural gift for speaking and was able to personally connect with diverse audiences with the inspirational message of God's love. Since that time, he and his wife and copastor Victoria have led Lakewood through extraordinary growth. In 2005, the Osteens moved Lakewood Church from its original home in northeast Houston to the former home of the Houston Rockets basketball team. With this space, Pastor Osteen now delivers a message of hope and encouragement to 38,000 people a week, with millions more across the country tuning in on their televisions. Pastor Osteen has reached millions more as a best-selling author. His first book, ``Your Best Life Now,'' was released in 2004 and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 2 years. His most recent book, ``Every Day a Friday,'' offers commonsense advice on how to be happy by applying the principles of God's word to your daily life.…
