![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/zone\/2012\/z120612joel_osteen.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I avoid talking politics<\/strong> and religion<\/strong> on my blog. \u00a0Instead I focus on [as the subtitle says] a look at the fun stuff<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0This post is going to cross the line a bit and talk about <\/span>Joel Osteen <\/strong><\/span>in Jacksonville<\/span><\/strong><\/span> last Friday<\/strong> night. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When you start to learn about\u00a0Joel Osteen <\/strong>your skepticism meter will probably come on. <\/strong>\u00a0I know mine did. \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Joel<\/strong>\u00a0is a second-generation Texas<\/strong> minister who preaches at the Lakewood Church <\/strong>(a former 16,000 seat arena<\/strong> that used to be called the Compact Center<\/strong> and was home of the Huston Rockets<\/strong>). \u00a0Joel’s ministry<\/strong> is one of the fastest growing<\/strong> in the\u00a0<\/span> I’m very skeptical of televangelists<\/strong>. \u00a0I’ve seen way too many<\/strong> who preach intolerance<\/strong> and their need for money<\/strong> to, uh, spread the word. \u00a0They’ll preach that, “You, yes you!” need to send in a seed [aka money] to show God<\/strong> that you believe in him. \u00a0In return he will repay your investment to you many times over. \u00a0Or they’ll talk to you about family values<\/strong> and then later be caught cheating on their spouses, plundering the church donations for personal profit or, well, you get the idea. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joel Osteen<\/strong> isn’t like that. \u00a0His weekly message, is always<\/span>\u00a0positive<\/strong>. \u00a0It took me a while to be convinced how sincere\u00a0Joel<\/strong> is. I hope he never proves me wrong. \u00a0One thing that I do know is that Joel’s message<\/strong> is always positive<\/strong> and uplifting<\/strong>. \u00a0Every time I watch him I feel better afterward. \u00a0He doesn’t ask for money. \u00a0In fact, Joel’s salary<\/strong> is paid from his best selling books<\/strong>. \u00a0Money donated to his church goes to his church. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My wife feels the same about Joel Osteen<\/strong>. \u00a0So we made the trip to Jacksonville<\/strong> for his Night of Hope<\/strong>. \u00a0It was a wonderful evening. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I’m not big on singing<\/strong>, especially church music<\/strong>, but I don’t mind listening. \u00a0The music was so good at the Night of Hope<\/strong> that I wasn’t ready for it to end. \u00a0[Although I still didn’t sing — my voice may sound great to God<\/strong>, but I know the reality for those around me.] The musicians and singers [including Joel’s son and daughter] were awesome. \u00a0There would be song and then Joel<\/strong> or his wife, Victoria<\/strong>, would speak. \u00a0Even Joel’s mom<\/strong> had a message. \u00a0Local preachers from the Jacksonville<\/strong> area came to the stage to speak. \u00a0There was just the right balance of speakers and music. \u00a0Then at the end Joel<\/strong> delivered a positive message. \u00a0What a great way to end a great evening.<\/span><\/p>\n The event started at 7:30<\/strong> and was supposed to last 1 – 1 1\/2 hours<\/strong> but went almost 2 1\/2<\/strong>. \u00a0I don’t get to church as much as I should. \u00a0When I do go, I start getting antsy after an hour. \u00a0I didn’t look at my watch once during Joel Osteen’s Evening of Hope<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n It was a truly fun evening. \u00a0And that’s why I wanted to tell you about it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I avoid talking politics and religion on my blog. \u00a0Instead I focus on [as the subtitle says] a look at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7527"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26557,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7527\/revisions\/26557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}nation<\/del> world. \u00a0His weekly sermon is broadcast to over 7 million Americans<\/strong>\u00a0and is also seen in over 100 nations<\/strong> around the world. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n