What "Gospel" doesn't talk about Jesus?

You know, I'm not a big fan of what I've heard about him, but for some reason, both my parents like him right now. So, if my highly-educated, theologically sound parents like him, he can't suck too bad.

Then again, maybe they have been on the fore-front of small-towndom for so long that they are willing to hear and enjoy anything that is positive.

Anyone with as much success as Osteen has is going to earn the ire and jealousy of anyone who is looking to have the enormous mega-church in the future. I haven't heard any of his sermons before, but if people need to really strain to catch Jesus mentioned in it, that can't be a good sign. Internet Monk ( http://www.internetmonk.com/ ) has been particularly critical of Osteen in the past... of course... imonk is not a fan of the Evangelical movement in general it seems, so take it with a grain of salt.

My problem with "feel good" sorts of things is that these sorts of messages seem rather bland/"wide-easy-path-to-destruction" sort of thing. A real Christian walk is down the narrow path and it's fraught with all sorts of trials and tribulations. If someone takes out all the hard stuff like the cross and suffering and Jesus, is it any longer Christianity? The first century martyrs sure didn't die for the easy path. Of course, maybe I should actually listen to the guy myself before being too critical of him.

I've breezed through the book. I have to say it is pretty much unchristian. The whole idea is that we have all of this inner power to unlock. It's a very psychological approach. God has very little to do with it.

Rather than emptying ourselves and learning to rely more on God, we are to learn to depend on ourselves and the hidden powers we have within us. It's garbage.

There is also blatant misinterpretation of scripture (just because you can use one of Jesus' metaphors to illustrate your point doesn't mean that's what jesus meant by it!).

There is a great critique of the book by Vineyard leader Don Williams on the kingdomrain.net website (under "First Response"). Williams points out that what's most "dangerous" about the approach is that it is very likely to yield results. Pscyhological empowerment can indeed help you live a better life. But it probably won't help you live a more godly life.