Anyone heard of this church? Apparently it's an international phenomenon. The pastor has been interviewed on Larry King, etc. Well, they moved into the Compaq Center in Houston on Saturday night. I live pretty much right around the corner. It is sheer fucking chaos over here now. Traffic up the ass all day today. What happened to my neighborhood?

I've seen this dude all over the place too. I can't get a bead on whether he is a run of the mill Jebus freak, or something more insidious...but I figure with Billy Graham retiring, that community needs someone beyond reproach.

joel osteen?

just caught part of his sermon on tv, and it's the same guy i watched on larry king so i'm guessing that's him.

and by the way, but unrelated to the fellow above, christian libertarians- explain to me how That works. i may be in over my head here but don't they have completely..antithical philosophies

edit: Antithetical* is probably what i was going for

you fucking texans

Article from today's NY Times on Lakewood.

NP -

I lived on Buffalo Speedway (right at 59) when I was in law school and we used to be able to nearly walk to the Rockets games (way back in 92 when BigShotBob was nailing the 3 for the other Texas team to win it all!). My my how times have changed!!!

I was recently working with a person who goes to Lakewood. It's sort of frightening, just the size of it and everything.

I really wanted to hate Joel Osteen when I first heard of him. He just looks like the pinnacle of the fake televangelist snakeoil salesman. But he's on TV all the time here in Houston. And the few times I've listened to him a little, he's actually been saying stuff I agree with, which doesn't happen too often with me and preachers. He's very positive and seems very keyed in on the true needs of his target demographic, be it religious or not. I once heard him give a whole sermon about encouraging your kids, regardless of their abilities, interests, etc. Which struck me as a very good message for the kind of people who watch this stuff. Typically all you get from preachers when it comes to kids is negative stuff: Keep them away from TV, rap music, members of the opposite sex and public schools or they'll turn into prostitutes, satan worshippers, and rapists. That kind of thing. I heard him give another talk on something completely non-religious like that.

Anyway, there are certain things about Houston that make me feel like I've been on another planet since I moved here. The mega-churches are definitely one of those things. People calling tow trucks "wreckers" and David Carr would probably also make the list. I just can't comprehend these things.