I am a big fan of several motivational speakers and I will admit that my position and outlook in life have been changed by these people. Joel Osteen is a motivational speaker, plain and simple. He does do it under the guise of religion, but virtually all pastors are or should be motivational speakers anyhow. He just does it really well. If you look at some of the money made by motivational speakers he is pretty middle of the road. Not saying he isn't a religious man, but his message is less about the Lord and more about personal growth and achievement. And frankly, most people can use that, regularly. A guy in sales or at a brokerage firm thinks nothing of listening to a motivational speaker on tape or in person, but a guy working as a plumber or construction worker would never think or hear of such a thing. OTOH if they hear about a pastor on TV or in person, they might listen and have the advantage of that kind of training (because all motivation is training) . Joel is simply bringing a motivational message to a different consumer.
