Joel Osteen

We were old sinners - but when we came to Christ we are not sinners anymore.

Sometimes what works 40 years ago doesn't work today.

I like sports, and I enjoy playing basketball and lifting weights.

There's pros and cons of a big church. Cons is I don't get to know everybody, I don't get to go to their ballgame, I don't get to marry everybody, but the pros are you get all this community, 800 ushers come in to serve, getting there at 7 in the morning on their day off and coming in on Saturday to make all those wafers.

You may never get to that perfect world that you're waiting for where everything's going to be perfect and you got that much money and your house paid off.

I don't believe we are supposed to go through life defeated and not having enough money to pay our bills or send our kids to college.

I've never preached one sermon on money, on just finances. I want to stay away from it.

Prospering just doesn't have to do with money.

I'm not for gay marriage, but I'm not for discriminating against people.

I don't know what can be so dangerous about giving people hope.

To me, we're marketing hope.

On Sundays when I speak, I hopefully give somebody something that they can use the next day at work or at home.

My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that's where a lot of preachers' kids get off base sometimes. Because they don't see the same things at both places.

You can be happy where you are.

A good thing to remember is somebody's got it a lot worse than we do.

I'm trying to make God more relevant in our society.

I don't mind saying, you know, that I don't take a salary from the church, and God has blessed me with more money than I could imagine from my books.

God's desire is that we excel.

I have always believed in God.

I try to speak in everyday language. I feel like God has gifted me to take Bible principles and make them practical.