Tipsheet

Re: Osteen's Asked If They Have Tailored Their 'Prosperity' Remarks

The best definition of prosperity I've heard is this: "Prosperity is having enough of God's provisions to complete his instructions for your life." 

In my mind, that's not a terribly radical thing to hope for.

People love to attack Osteen, but at the end of the day, his message is generally a positive one that would likely have a positive impact those watching.

While I would hope that nobody would make his hour-long TV show the focal point of their weekly religions obligations, there are certainly worse things on television than a guy who encourages people to succeed and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. 

Moreover, Osteen doesn't even ask for donations on TV -- so you can't exactly portray him as some sort of knave. 

Lastly, it also occurs to me that most people would certainly think twice before mocking a basic tenet of Islam or Judaism -- or even Catholicism.  Yet "charismatic" Protestantism is always fair game for attack ...