Joel Osteen Says Bless Others

Joel Osteen, a Christian author and Pastor of Lakewood church, a church with 38,000 people in attendance every week, recently published the book Become a Better You. You can get it in most bookstores or online as an audio version through iTunes as I did. Everyday, Joel and I work out together while he ministers to me.

In the chapter titled "Being good to people," Joel suggests waking up and not only looking for blessings in our lives, but to be a blessing to others. He believes that you'll end up with so many blessings of your own, you won't know what to do with them all. His thought it that if you bless others, God will bless you.

And it doesn't have to be some monumental thing. Simply holding the door open for someone else or complimenting them can be a blessing to them.

Joel is right. We're all on this merry go around of life together so why be so selfish or self-centered? Why not help someone else along the way?

In an effort to walk the walk, I stopped to talk to a person I know from church in the supermarket. I don't know her real well, but that doesn't matter. I knew she was new to our church and I wanted to make her feel welcome. I even complimented her on her newly done hairdo which looked particularly good that day. Hopefully I brought cheer to her day in some way.

Give it a try. See how many ways you can bless others and then take note of all the wonderful things God does for you as a result.

Wishing you "Blessings from Above,"
Denise

A New Church

My church, The Word, is a fairly new church, only in existence for about four years now. When we first started going to The Word I was little reluctant. Although I knew Pastor Buz for quite a while through a college age group that he use to run called The Bridge, I was a little hesitant to go there because things weren't established. Having been raised in the Catholic church, I was use to things being set in stone. Now I was considering going to a non-denominational church that was just finding its way.

Then I realized that that's what makes the church such a blessing. We're able to create new programs and ministries that weren't in existence before. And there is very little criticism because it's never been done before so there is no comparisons. I am able to step forward and help with things or take the lead on things without being told, "No, that's not the way we do things." In my opinion, that's a great benefit to the congregation. I am glad to be a part of The Word!

Wishing you "Blessings from Above,"
Denise