The South will never be the same again

[uwe]

Joel Osteen gives me the creeps.

His church was burgled last year, and one weekend's take was $600,000.

I think he's both unashamedly sleazy and glib in a refreshingly honest way, almost tongue in cheek. But I'm mostly enamoured of his accent on the verge of parody. He's like from a movie about a Southern TV evangelist. Plus he keeps his mouth shut about politics and is not into gay-bashing. I have no issues with the money he makes, he seems to make a lot of people happy, never mind whether with lasting effect or not.

David Miscavige gives me the creeps. I'd prefer to give my kids to Joel and his wife any day, I'm a suppressive person alright.

[Lightyear]

He makes a lot of money of his books - I've never read one.  He, or his wife, do not take a salary - I don't think they need to.  Like I've said not my cup o' tea but there's a lot of folks down here that love him. 

[Highlander]

Don't know anything about this guy... are we talking "God will provide", and does...?

[FrankieTbird]

He makes a lot of money of his books - I've never read one.  He, or his wife, do not take a salary - I don't think they need to.  Like I've said not my cup o' tea but there's a lot of folks down here that love him.

Why would they take a salary?  Then they'd have to pay taxes.   

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I thought Knoxville was cute and that bridge is spectacular, we had dinner by the river. All the downtown hotels were full, so we had to stay at the Airport Hilton which was fine.

That's the Gay Street Bridge, for real. The one about a quarter mile to the west of it, the Henley Street Bridge, has a cascade "waterfall" of fireworks during the Boomsday (Labor Day) and July 4th celebrations. If you're ever this way again, reserve a room at the Oliver Hotel or let me know and I'll kick the cats out of the spare bedroom.

My father died while you were over here so I lost track of your travels. We weren't close for many years: several strokes had taken away his ability to keep from picking fights with me constantly, so I stayed away.

[Pilgrim]

I kinda admire a conservative preacher who doesn't go down the road of hate and excluding others; instead, he concentrates on the classic job of raising money.

There is a purity about a guy who knows that his job in life is getting into your pocket.   

[uwe]

That's the Gay Street Bridge, for real. The one about a quarter mile to the west of it, the Henley Street Bridge, has a cascade "waterfall" of fireworks during the Boomsday (Labor Day) and July 4th celebrations. If you're ever this way again, reserve a room at the Oliver Hotel or let me know and I'll kick the cats out of the spare bedroom.

My father died while you were over here so I lost track of your travels. We weren't close for many years: several strokes had taken away his ability to keep from picking fights with me constantly, so I stayed away.

Sorry for your loss. But I was cut off via my malfunctioning BlackBerry anyway. Even out IT here cannot get it to run anymore, they are completely baffled.

[westen44]

Don't know anything about this guy... are we talking "God will provide", and does...?

My "take" on it is like this.  These are just general impressions.  I haven't watched him very much.  His father was a very successful pastor.  As has been stated earlier, Joel stayed in the background all those years.  When John Osteen died, that left the opportunity for Joel to take over.  But he didn't feel he was qualified & neither did anyone else.  When he started preaching, being a pastor or whatever it's exactly called, his approach was one of being very positive.  Maybe he had a gift for that that had been totally unknown.  For whatever reason, he also comes across as tolerant.  How tolerant I don't know exactly.  I have a first cousin with a master's in theology who absolutely cannot stand Joel Osteen.  He seems to think Osteen is some kind of heretic.  I really don't know why. 

[nofi]

my dad has a masters in theology as well. i doubt he knows who osteen is, or any of those other tv clowns. if its not catholic he ain't interested.

[Lightyear]

My "take" on it is like this.  These are just general impressions.  I haven't watched him very much.  His father was a very successful pastor.  As has been stated earlier, Joel stayed in the background all those years.  When John Osteen died, that left the opportunity for Joel to take over.  But he didn't feel he was qualified & neither did anyone else.  When he started preaching, being a pastor or whatever it's exactly called, his approach was one of being very positive.  Maybe he had a gift for that that had been totally unknown.  For whatever reason, he also comes across as tolerant.  How tolerant I don't know exactly.  I have a first cousin with a master's in theology who absolutely cannot stand Joel Osteen.  He seems to think Osteen is some kind of heretic.  I really don't know why.

Make no mistake about it - he's worth millions.  The church does rake tons of money but it's fairly common knowledge that they spend big time on charities - local and otherwise.  I've read articles regarding his success and, yes, he's tolerant - no fire and brimstone.  A lot of his detractors seem to be upset at his approach but say what you will he's putting 16,000 butts in the pews, or comfy stadium style seating, every Sunday. 

[66Atlas]

Vintage basses are one thing but....A Blackberry?!?! Your collection has gone too far Uwe.

[westen44]

Make no mistake about it - he's worth millions.  The church does rake tons of money but it's fairly common knowledge that they spend big time on charities - local and otherwise.  I've read articles regarding his success and, yes, he's tolerant - no fire and brimstone.  A lot of his detractors seem to be upset at his approach but say what you will he's putting 16,000 butts in the pews, or comfy stadium style seating, every Sunday.

I looked on the Internet and can't find whatever it is that Joel Osteen's detractors are complaining about.  I'm sure sooner or later I'll run into something.  I did find something about his wife in which some people had got upset over some comments she had made.  But to me it seemed to be much ado about nothing.  If this is a scandal, it's about like a movie being moved from G to PG. 

[Pilgrim]

Vintage basses are one thing but....A Blackberry?!?! Your collection has gone too far Uwe.

Uwe is deeply into antiques and vintage equipment, as we know.

[Lightyear]

Uwe is deeply into antiques and vintage equipment, as we know.

EEssSSssssh!   Why anyone that has choice in the matter would still be using a Blackberry is confusing.  My very large corporation has had many thousands of us on BBs for years now - we have written much software that runs on the platform.  When we started out with them they were great now they're nightmarish at best and impossible at the worst.  We are migrating to Samsung Galaxy 5's any week now.  The only detraction for me is size, too damn big, and durability, way the hell to damn fragile.  Still for old eyes the big screen will be nice

[Pilgrim]

EEssSSssssh!   Why anyone that has choice in the matter would still be using a Blackberry is confusing.  My very large corporation has had many thousands of us on BBs for years now - we have written much software that runs on the platform.  When we started out with them they were great now they're nightmarish at best and impossible at the worst.  We are migrating to Samsung Galaxy 5's any week now.  The only detraction for me is size, too damn big, and durability, way the hell to damn fragile.  Still for old eyes the big screen will be nice

Just moved from a Galaxy 4 (dropped onto concrete from a height and smashed) to a Galaxy 6.  I really like the platform and new software version, and Samsung has meddled less with the interface on the 6 than they did on the 4.  But fragility is an issue with Gorilla glass front and back, and a slippery touch. I'm being hyper-careful with it until my protective cases arrive.  From what I hear, the 5 is a very good unit too.

I understand that due to Blackberry's proprietary server setup it was a security-preferred platform at first, but at present it's fighting for life.  Time to migrate out of the steam-powered phone world.