Dr. Paul Osteen: Man Of God, Man of Medicine

In the beginning there was Lakewood Church.

Original Lakewood Church
Opened Mother’s Day
May 10, 1959

A humble beginning at that.

But still, the spark of a dream for John and Dodie Osteen.

Faith, prayer, hard work, focused ambition and belief in the vision they both shared soon had John and Dodie looking for a larger facility.

The Second Lakewood Church Facility

How the Osteen family and ministry grew.

Oldest child, Paul Osteen was born on November 16, 1956. Three years before Lakewood Church was founded.

(Paul has five siblings: Lisa Osteen, Tamara Osteen, Joel Osteen, April Osteen, and half-brother Justin Osteen. Justin is born of Pastor John’s first marriage to Emma Jean Shaffer.)

Rather than following in his father’s footsteps as a pastor, Paul Osteen set his heart on the practice of medicine.

He attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and received his M.D. along with others in the first Oral Roberts medical school graduating class.

 

Oral Roberts University is, of course, the school evangelist Oral Roberts brought to the world. Prayer is an integral part of the university’s mission.

Dr. Paul Osteen (’78, ’82 M.D.) was on ORU’s first missions team. He spent 17 years as a surgeon before joining the pastoral team at Lakewood Church in Texas. Paul Osteen is the older brother of Joel Osteen, lead pastor of Lakewood. Paul serves at the church, providing insight to the pastoral team. He has been pivotal to the growth of Lakewood and is a constant support for his brother Joel. Osteen and his family have been called to serve around the world at mission hospitals, schools and orphanages. Each year, he spends months in Africa, caring for patients, performing surgeries and visiting orphanages with his wife Jennifer and their children.

ORU RECOGNIZES 50 LIFETIME GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

In this video, Dr. Osteen shares what a day is like serving at a mission hospital in Zambia, and he ends with this thought, “If you want to have a challenging life and if you want to have a rewarding and satisfying life, consider some part of being involved in medical missions around the globe. The needs are great, the opportunities are great, and the reward and satisfaction are quite unbelievable.”

Following graduation from Oral Roberts, the new-Dr. Paul Osteen completed his residency in General Surgery at the University of Arkansas Medical Science Campus in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He was the Robert M. Bransford, M.D. Outstanding Chief Resident in Surgery (1987). He was in private practice of general and vascular surgery in Little Rock for many years.

He married a nurse, Jennifer Osteen.

Jennifer Osteen, Wife Of Paul Osteen

He and Jennifer have four children.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, Paul trained and practiced as a general and vascular surgeon for over seventeen years

After Paul’s dad, Pastor John Osteen, passed away from a heart attack in 1999, Paul felt a calling to work in the ministry. He moved with his family to Houston, Texas, and started helping at Lakewood Church, founded by his father and led by his brother Joel Osteen, as an associate pastor.
Lakewood Church grew remarkably under the next generation’s guidance, and moved into a huge new church building.
Lakewood Church As Seen At Night

Interested in learning more about the dynamic growth and blessed history of Lakewood Church?

Read here.

Dr Paul Osteen, in addition to pastoring duties at Lakewood Church, also felt called upon to go on medical missions to provide medical care for underserved populations, especially in Sub Saharan Africa.

Sub Saharan Africa Depicted In Green

 

Dr. Paul Osteen With One Of Many Patients In Africa

A look back at the amazing work God did through the 2019 Medical Missions team led by Paul Osteen, M.D. in Zambia, Africa. [Sensitive viewers are advised that this video contains medical photos.]

  • Paul also hosts the annual global medical missions conference, which gathers medical professionals who have a vested interest in going on missions and providing support and resources in impoverished areas.
  • He saw the need for such a conference when he spent time in Zambia, and was informed that he was the only surgeon in an area as big as the state of Louisiana in the United States.
  • Since then, Paul has been on missions all over the world, from Cameroon to Iraq to Kenya.
  • In 2015, he founded Mobilizing Medical Missions along with Jennifer Osteen, his wife, which organizes the M3 annual conference.

Dr. Paul Osteen Partners With Outstanding Groups Such As Samaritan’s Purse

  • Paul is the voice of the audiobook version of his late father’s book, Your Words Hold a Miracle.
  • His mother, Dodie Osteen, is a liver cancer survivor.
  • Paul was inspired by his mother’s former career as a nurse to go into the medical field, and now combines the passion of his mother and his father in his mission work.
  • He spent a decade outside the operating room fully dedicating himself to Lakewood Church, and then returned to surgery on his first mission trip. After that first trip, he kept getting asked to return on further missions.

Dr. Paul and Jennifer Osteen share their heart for missions and serving in the remote areas of the world, where medical resources are all too scarce. It is out of this heart that the Mobilizing Medical Missions (M3) Conference was birthed.

 

 

Joel Osteen: What You Need To Know

Joel Osteen: What You Need To Know

In the beginning there was (just for our purposes here) John Hillery Osteen.

John Osteen
John Osteen

Born in Paris Texas – home of a 65 foot replica Eiffel Tower topped with a cowboy hat. His date of birth was August 21, 1921. The story is that he was ordained before his 18th birthday as a Southern Baptist preacher.

He served as preacher at several congregations from Texas to California, accompanied by his wife, Emma Jean Shaffer.

(Don’t worry, Dodie, wife number two, comes later.)

In a few years John and Emma Jean divorced.

Love struck again, and John Osteen married Dolores “Dodie” Pilgrim on September 17, 1954.

John and Dodie Osteen
John and Dodie Osteen

On Mother’s Day May 10, 1959, John and Dodie opened their Lakewood Baptist Church is a “dusty, abandoned feed store.  (Not long after they dropped the Baptist and became non-denominational.

Original Lakewood Church Opened Mother's Day May 10, 1959
Original Lakewood Church
Opened Mother’s Day
May 10, 1959

John and Dodie’s efforts at Lakewood were blessed with phenomenal. Lakewood Church grew to a congregation of well over 10,000 souls housed in a new building.

John and Dodie Osteen In Israel
John and Dodie Osteen In Israel
The Second Lakewood Church Facility
The Second Lakewood Church Facility

Meanwhile, the family of John and Dodie Osteen grew to include:

Paul, Lisa, April, Tamara, and Joel Osteen.

Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen

Joel began his college studies at Oral Roberts University but soon dropped out.

He then returned to Lakewood Church where he worked behind the scenes for seventeen years. Joel initiated the Lakewood Church television department and faithfully recorded his father’s services for a growing audience.

John Osteen, who dies in 1999, and his son Joel, who succeeded him come from the Word Of Faith or Prosperity Gospel tradition. Neither is without critics.

“They both teach a twisted form of Christianity that teaches obedience, giving, and faith as a way to get things from God. They are both products of what is known as the Prosperity Gospel and The Word of Faith Movement, or the Seed Faith Movement.”

— Rick Henderson

Joel reluctantly stepped into the role of Lakewood Church pastor. His stated preference was for the behind-the-scenes media work.

Reluctant or not, pastor televangelist is the role Joel Osteen was born to fill. Since becoming the head of Houston’s Lakewood Church, Osteen has grown the church’s membership to more than 40,000. Since becoming the head of Houston’s Lakewood Church, Osteen has grown the church’s membership to more than 40,000. The already very large Lakewood Church has grown to over 40,000 members.

And a new church building,  an NBA former basketball arena. Once home to the Houston Rockets it is now home to Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church.

Lakewood Church At Night
Lakewood Church At Night
Interior Of Lakewood Church
Interior Of Lakewood Church

The growth of the church led to the growth of Joel Osteen’s wealth — in the $50 million-plus range. But Joel is not ashamed of his wealth.

God Wants People To Be Rich
God Wants People To Be Rich

In Joel Osteen’s case this includes a $10. 5 million mansion, as well as a secondary $3 million dollar home.

Primary Residence of Joel Osteen
Primary Residence of Joel Osteen

Joel is married to the former Victoria Iloff who hales from Huntsville, Alabama. And yes, her father worked in the aerospace program there. When Victoria was two years old her father took a job with NASA and the family moved to Houston.

Victoria briefly attended the University of Houston but dropped out of college to work in her mother’s jewelry business. It was at the jewelry store that she met a customer who stopped in for a watch battery — Joel Osteen.

The couple married April 4, 1957. They have two children: Johnathan and Alexandra.

Joel and Victoria Osteen Son Johnathan Daughter Alexandra
Joel and Victoria Osteen
Son Johnathan
Daughter Alexandra

Joel’s preaching has made him beloved by millions. Still, critics criticize what they term Christianity Lite.

“I think it’s a cotton candy gospel,” the Rev. Michael Horton, professor of theology at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California said.

“His core message is God is nice, you’re nice, be nice. It’s sort of a, if it were a form of music, I think it would be easy listening.

He uses the Bible like a fortune cookie. ‘This is what’s gonna happen for you. There’s gonna be a windfall in your life tomorrow.’ The Bible’s not meant to be read that way.”

Morgan Freeman, currently fascinating viewer with his “The Story Of God” is not a religious man. But of all the religious people with whom Freeman interacted in the making of the series, it was Joel Osteen who made the biggest impression on him.

 “In a Houston megachurch (Lakewood Church) I connected somewhat. Encouraged to think positive. You don’t just get some things just like that! You have to go do it to get it. God’s plan for us is to succeed. – Morgan Freeman

Joel Osteen quote
Joel Osteen quote

(To Be Continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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