Review: Objective or subjective viewpoint? Read on...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 22, 2012
When I picked up this book, I was neither a fan nor an opponent to Joel Osteen. I am a minister in the Gospel and I always heard the rumors that Mr. Osteen preached a "watered down Gospel" so I never paid attention to his messages on TV. At first, I avoided this book because it was unclear at what perspective it was written. The title suggests a deeper look at the man but doesn't convey if the author is a proponent or opponent to Mr. Osteen. I surly did not want to read a book written from a biased viewpoint on either front, so it took me several weeks to decide if I wanted to get it or not. I was listening to one of my favorite preachers on TV, Joseph Prince from Singapore and a quick video clip indicated that he guest preached at Lakewood church, so I decided to come around and purchase this book to see what I could learn about Mr. Osteen.I opened the book with a bit of antagonism expecting from the author either a rant on how terrible Mr. Osteen was, or that he was the "second coming" himself ready to mount his white horse. But what I found was something completely different. I found an extremely well written and unbiased observation of Mr. Osteen. I was taken aback at how objective the author was and his objectivity is what hooked me. I ate up his book in a day realizing that if I wanted to form an opinion of Mr. Osteen, I would have taken the exact same steps the author had to investigate this well known public figure and pastor of the largest church in the United States.Pros:Well researched unbiased view of Pastor Osteen. The author's objectivity and personal stories of his journey leaves no doubt that he truly wanted to gather all the information and either validate or discredit every rumor out there, and he does an excellent job doing so. The book is well written and edited, and the author's writing style is is easy and fun to follow.Cons:I would have liked to see a subtitle of the book like: "an unbiased look into the ministry of Joel Osteen." This would have at least set the stage and not stir up the antagonism I felt when I first opened the book.  I also would have liked to hear more about how Joel uses or does not use the Bible in his messages. This is the only thing holding me back from giving the book 5 stars. Although he does mention that Pastor Osteen does a "This is my Bible..." speech at the beginning of his messages, so I guess that will be enough for now.Conclusion:I learned a lot about Joel Osteen and I am very happy that I decided to read this book. Most of my questions were answered, and I didn't have to take the several hours or days of research to see if he was either a Christian Knight or Christian Lite. I will not share my conclusions of the author or of myself, for I will let you decide after you read this book. Trust me, if you know very little about the man, you will be shocked and impressed at the research done by this author. This book is well worth its purchase price and an easy read. Therefore, I highly recommend this book.