PART 2 (due to word limits):…read more
To my surprise Joel then walks back up on stage and starts an actual sermon. It was almost 90 minutes in and the actual sermon hadn't even started yet. WTF. Maybe these attendees aren't as lightweight as I thought.
Joel starts talking about how we have to let go of the chains holding us down, whether it's negative thoughts, addiction, past mistakes, etc. Interestingly enough I had been really unusually down lately with negative thoughts after some negative experiences with someone who I thought was my friend. Joel said that if I made God my first priority, none of these chains could hold me down. I thought about it for a bit and he was right. As an exercise I tried to do what he was preaching and I legitimately started to feel better.
The sermon continues, largely focused on the primary message, without straying or going too unnecessarily deep which I think a lot of sermons make the mistake of doing. Especially in 2025 the age of Tiktok, Instagram, etc. I briefly find myself tempted to check my phone but decide to continue listening.
Joel then starts to talk about a story in the Bible about a guy who used to have a family but now he was poor, alone, mentally unstable, and hurting himself by cutting his body up. What a psycho story to bring up on this Easter Sunday. Joel quotes various Bible verses along the way, probably 5-10 of them, which reversed a previous assumption of mine that his messages are loosely based on the Bible.
Joel goes on to say that we can sometimes be the poor, mentally unstable man who is cutting himself. But instead of physically hurting ourselves we do it mentally. Wow. That was me that weekend. Joel was right. At this point I'm drawn in as ever and it's as if he's speaking directly to me.
The sermon goes on for maybe 25 minutes total and by the end I'm embarrassingly fighting back tears. I wish this review was anonymous because it's embarrassing to say but I feel like I should say it. I'm basically this grown man in my 30s, all alone and sloppily dressed at church on an Easter Sunday, luggage in hand, and I'm here bawling with my lips quivering like a kid. The dude wasn't saying anything particularly technical or extensive but it was hitting all the right parts of my mind and now I'm bawling. I can't even remember the last time I cried. I came to the church to make fun of the attendees and here I am one of a handful of people standing up (out of 10,000), embarrassing myself instead. Joel said if you're not ashamed to stand up for God, he won't be ashamed to stand up for you. And while the devil may be telling you to sit down, or to stand up some other week... that week might never come. It was a trip.
Joel goes on to say that after the sermon, he'll be outside waiting to greet anyone who wants to talk to him, as he does every week. And sure enough when I walk out of the congregation there he is shaking people's hands and taking selfies with 100 people in a line that eventually gets closed. It struck me that he does ~3 sermons back to back every week and each time afterwards like clockwork he's there to greet people afterwards, just like some of my favorite, IMO must humble heroes like Rafael Nadal. This sounds crazy but I'm somewhat famous in a niche industry too so I know how exhausting it is to shake hands with long lines of 100+ strangers eager to meet you. But this dude was doing that multiple times a day, week after week after week.
Is Joel Osteen and Lakewood this fake church out there looking to prey on people's money and weaknesses? Maybe. I don't know, I just attended once before my flight home and I'll probably never be back in Houston anytime soon. But that message hit me deeper than any other message I've heard in my life and I've attended all sorts of churches (with extreme skepticism) over the years. The donations were completely optional, were asked one time, then forgotten. I didn't donate myself.
But right now I'd be lying if I said I didn't believe he was the real deal. Maybe all the rumors online were fake or misinformed. I'm curious to see how long this high lasts. Heck I might even buy one of his books or listen to his podcast. One thing for sure is I'm moved enough to pay $8 to Southwest on this long flight home so I can have internet to type up this review.
Shoot, maybe I did get scammed by this fake preacher. I'm a skeptical enough person to still consider that possibility. But at this point, does it even matter? I'm here riding this spiritual high that I've rarely gotten from dozens of other "real" preachers and I got it all for free. There has to be something special about that.
I guess my parting thought for you who's skeptical and curious is, try to attend the service yourself and make your own opinion. I can say for myself, seeing it all firsthand really changed my opinion on things, and I was extremely cynical about the church beforehand. Give it a shot.
