Sunday, February 25, 2007

Megachurch, megamessage...

Watched Joel Osteen this morning, the charming pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, the megachurch of megachurches. I don't normally watch pastors on TV, but something about his message shook me. "How to handle criticism" was the message, and it was something I needed to hear.

"Not everybody is going to be your cheerleader," Osteen said. "You have to learn how to shake it off."

He quoted a verse from Matthew (sorry I couldn't remember the exact verse or phrasing), but basically it said "If you are in a place where you encounter criticism, shake the dust off your feet when you leave."

It's a simple concept, but I needed to hear something like this at this time in my life. I'm trying to make something of myself and everywhere I turn I hear people judging me or saying I can't do it. I hear people say, "Oh, that's difficult, are you sure you are up for it?"

I got the perfect approach from Osteen today. He said: "No matter what you do or don't do, somebody is going to be critical. So you might as well do what you need to do and let God handle the critics."

Amen!

2 comments:

Paris David said...

Amen, Tara, amen!

Yes, I love the warm-hearted smile and warm heart of Pastor Osteen.

And it's so true.

Just today when someone left a comment calling me a "stupid nigger" -- what did I do?

Shook it off and let God handle him!

The Precedent Media said...

Have the heart of a champion, as long as you believe in yourself, you'll make it anywhere. You're going to have me start tuning into Pastor Osteen.