on larry king now america's favorite pastor joel osteen i know i'm not a traditional pastor in terms of i'm just going down still teaching scripture by scripture because what i would teach would just be more how to live a great life there's a feeling that you're supposed to be poor and humble and to show god that you're humble be to be sort of i call it being defeated i think as a representative of christ i'm supposed to excel pretty big of a new pope i like his fact that he's you know he's reaching out to the catholic church and he made a statement about you know what we're turning into a little bit a chapel because we're pushing everybody away plus that steve marriage annoy you know it doesn't annoy me from a scriptural point of view i don't think it's you know what my faith would teach but doesn't annoy me it's all next on larry king now.

great pleasure to welcome to larry king now an old friend frequent guest with us on our previous showed joel o'steen he's been hailed as the most watched inspirational figure in america he's pastor of lakewood church in houston usually popular televangelist and in new york times best selling author his latest book is break out five keys to go beyond your barriers and live an extraordinary life will ask about the book and a little while for a couple of facts about mr o'steen past or is now the largest church in america a weekly sermon watch for more than ten million viewers on television seen in one hundred countries has a podcast that averages ten they have million downloads a week the church has sixteen thousand seeds did you ever think early on you would have all this and if your father was a preacher and my father was a preacher and i work behind the scenes for him and i didn't want to preach i don't want to get in front of people because it just i didn't think it was in me but when

my dad dad nine hundred ninety nine suddenly i stepped up to pastor the church but never dream. it would grow i thought i'd just try to maintain what my dad it be always is when your father it had about six thousand people on a sunday when that is still a large church but but never dreamed well how did it go what what happened well you know it's interesting larry i can i don't know how to put my finger on it you know i was forty years younger than my dad and i think all the sudden a young minister was up in front of a large congregation my dad had a local television program that i was on there and you know it just seems like people to call me maybe it's just coming through younger voice did you have once and started a natural affinity for preaching i think that i was you know even though i was nervous and not you know i didn't really know what i was doing out somehow i had i had a connection with the audience that's all i can say not not bragging or maybe just something i didn't know i had it but i think i thought you know the church is growing people are coming so i don't know what it was always you classify that type

of a good friend billy graham has been close to for years he preaches you know come down be saved or turn this over to the lord give you so hopeful that you don't do that well and do it some but he did that for a time like we call it in our circles and in angeles right we're going to our event oh no i'm more a pastor because i'm talking a lot of times to the same people so when i talk about is how do you live the christian life in other words how do i forgive or how do i have a good attitude or how to have how to reach my dreams i like to talk about you know how do we live out the christian faith and not just you know the revivals no not necessarily where you a fan base is not just christian right it is then you have muslims even atheists i've explained that you know why would an atheist be if well no i think what they like larry is when you know the principles that we teach are from the scripture but they help they can help anybody you know to reach dreams or to forgive and to have a healthy you know good self image so you know i know i'm not

a traditional pastor in terms of i'm just going down to teaching scripture by scripture because. you know a lot of my you know what i would teach would just be more how to live a great life be a play amuse beaches or you call me go speeches while growing up we called the sermon people sermons people come speeches and just i have no set you know routine i just see what i feel you write about i write about myself what day of the week well i'll start on wednesday so i'll take wednesday and just study and try to figure out what i want to say you know if i want to talk about what it whatever it may be then thursday and friday i'll write it out to type it out a lot of people turned up which yeah. well i think in the past you know we're just in general sometimes religion is about you doing this wrong and you do and you know you can't measure up and you know i get people criticize me because i want people to leave church feeling better than they were before i think people already have enough guilt in condemnation or beaten down by life so you know i think

a lot of people at least the ones i've talked to that grew up in a church where they just you just feel more guilty and you could never measure up adding to larry it's some of it's even it's it's police sometimes it's political they see you know for a while even jellicoe which you know technically i guess i am one in a way that was why republican against this against that and people people want for that the religious right yeah takes a bad rep do you consider as so in the religious right i don't i don't i don't get political with it all but i mean our church is filled with democrats republicans whites blacks i meant and you know they're all good people they all love god as much as you know each other but they have different political views sauced stay out of it as we know we've done this letting you know they're outside of agnostic you sure when you talk of god yes. who what is that a person listening to you but my wife she prays every night she would talk seven me father to whom is she talking well there's nobody up there come on there's nobody

up there well you know larry it's all about faith and you know we talked before but yeah you know what i just a lot of his way i was raised but you know what i believe there's a creator of the universe i call him god or by my heavenly father and it's just it's the faith that you believe that though what way is someone there someone listening yes i believe i believe god's always listening in oh it's even gets more confusing because i believe god can live in you that the holy spirit lives in you a part of him lives in you so now believe that that god is there any hears you know him in the scripture talks about he knows your thoughts he knows your words and so there's billions of people on the planet how does he keep up with all that well that's the that's the you know the magnificence of god and my belief is that god is concerned about each one of us got a plan for our life and you know that's what takes faith because you know it did to make sense always do you mind. when you were given a new pope i like him i was a people of i know well i like i like it's fact that he's you know he's reaching

out for the catholic church and he made a statement about you know what we're turning into a little bit chapel because we're pushing everybody away and that's been a big part of our ministry that's you know again that's what people some people don't like but like they have a big wide net what are your views on homosexuality you know that and that the same that they've been that i don't i believe the scripture says that it's a season but i always follow that up by saying you know what we're not against anybody but if you call it a sin are going to be a sin if we don't know what causes it we don't know why you don't know why your address sexual now you don't know why you're tossing and there's such a lot of things larry that i don't know i don't understand so you know i don't i was preaching and i don't preach about it it's only comes out during the interviews i stay on the things that i was doing berridge annoy you know it doesn't. noaimi i just i don't you know from a scriptural point of view i don't think it's you know what my faith would teach but it doesn't annoy me i mean when you read the bible as what is what is fact and

what is parable you know if you believe the lies of rose up well if you believe that's not well i believe that you know there are some in here i do but i believe you know i believe it is literal but you know there are parables in there is well you know i'm not i would say i'm not a scholar on it all but i try to stick with the things that i do believe you do you interpret the literally though i do i do and they're hard some days some days boy isn't it yeah it's hard because i don't understand it all you know but it's still preaching it and so if i'm questioning it should you have answers for way well i think i can have answers on the thing to understand so and that's what i try to stay in my lane of here's what i can be you know certain things that i believe that that i'm good at that i do understand i don't know that anybody understands it all but maybe somebody's death is your sixth book yes or are you writing the same thing over and over again well i think a lot of my mouth a lot of my theme comes out and it's god's good it's have faith it's moved forward

so that some of it is but you know i'm been doing this for fourteen years and you grow you learn more you mature and i think i'm better than i am i believe i'm better than i was you know years ago so i feel like it's my best book who's it for it's for anybody that wants to just move forward it's a call it up a faith building book it's easy to get stuck in a rock and think well you know this is as good as it gets so it's just really something to give a boost in our faith and when i say faith you know have to be a religious person it's principles in there that will help you to think bigger to have the right perspective things like that so someone can use this book without being a churchgoer up being religious i think so many people watch that are like that the book deals with self-imposed limitations you put limitations on yourself i think we all do i mean when my dad died larry i. i thought i could get a pass for the church i've never been to cement here i've never spoken in public before so i had to say you know what i don't feel like i can do it a lot but i believe that i have what it takes and you know you have to change your

thinking or i wouldn't be here today when you think your father was a free soria now and he saw the church and he saw all that's happening is looking at this program yeah well i think my dad would be very proud i'm sure he'd be smiling down my dad loved watching you one of his favorite things to do and be proud very proud of you ah thank you now with your success and you've heard this before has come considerable money how do you relate that to let me bruce my old friend dead lenny bruce told me was any leader i mean religious leader who speaks the word of god who has more than one suit while someone has no clothes is a copout. you know larry i just don't see it that way you know it is that i don't see it that way i just that how do you answer how do i answer it is that not obl leave first off i say this i believe we are blessed to be a blessing to help others and that's what the tour and i do that's what we teach

our church but i just don't think that we're supposed to there's that feeling that you're supposed to be poor and humble to show god that you're humble be to be sort of i call it being defeated being i don't think i think as a representative of christ i'm supposed to excel as only be rich but look good and think right and be a leader in what i do and so you know you go back and we you make arguments both ways but god started you know the whole covenant with abraham and it says he was the richest man in the east and i think god why did you choose the poorest man but he didn't i don't think it's about money has never been our goal i never i never knew i was going to write a book that sold millions and millions of copies and so i don't take a salary from the church now but it's about you know money is simply a tool to fulfill your destiny but at teach people you give money away do we give millions of dollars in victorian it not never dreamed that we'd be able to do to be able to bless people like this so it's never been about you know how wealthy can we

become you say that god has already written all of our days and god has a plan i mean those are the plan why have any control of the plan well i believe you do not believe god is all knowing but i believe that you know we have to each day be our best honor god be good to other people move forward i think that's how you can i think you can limit yourself you can not reach your full potential you have a doubt your faith. i never do though i never do nowadays some things in the world that i know they say have a free will but how about things that are not free will could dream is not free will now and in kids born you know we have you know i'm dealing with kids that are born with diseases and all that you know free will no it's not you know i don't doubt it i go back to this that. you know we're not in the perfect world i believe heaven will be a perfect world but we're not we're in a fallen world is with that the scripture teaches and so there are things that we don't understand and so i just come back to the fact that you know i have to tell

count my congregation all the time members that i've lost a loved one or a teenager killed in an accident i don't understand it but i believe god can give you the grace and the peace and the strength to get through is that the hardest thing for preaching to do when you deal with the death yet it's very hard and because you know my heart right more than i do because you know you've got you've got parents down there with a little girl this got cancer i'm going through treatment and you know i have no explanation except that you know what god can give you peace and we're going to pray we're going to believe and i don't think anybody has all the answers that you think happens when it would you think you know you can't know you know you can't know but what i believe that again being a you know a person of faith i believe that there's there's a i haven't and then there's that or there's a hell as well there's an afterlife i believe that you know are the real person inside here lives on forever i mean the scripture it really gets confusing i don't understand it says that god knew us before we were formed before we were born in our mother's womb so i don't know that understand it all but i do believe you know

that you're a spirit that you're going to live all and you've had people on to this i've talked to as well that you know had a heart attack and they're looking at themselves outside their body so you know that's i'm a believer in that up that i've seen seen by millions each week what's it like when he isn't preaching droll talks about life away from the pope but. i marinate join me. in that in part and. carry on for a bit and much like. always on the bus and always.

the badly jolo stain the new book does break out or there's about what you make of call outs this different type of pastor you know i like karl he's a friend of mine of known him for years and you know he will reach people that i won't reach him and he's not in or yeah he's not in a suit and tie got a mohawk and tattoos but you know what i'm for everybody you know do you ever break away from being jolo steam what does jolo steam do when he's not doing doing jol you know i have still i don't feel much different than i did fourteen years ago i still like to play basketball hang out with my family ride bikes i don't i don't

live a very pressured life i'm just more it's been you know i love sports what do you do for fun well for fun i like to i think with my family my son and i we lift weights and play basketball together the good old yeah both you don't discuss your politics though now i never do i never do but i always vote and encourage people to vote how do you handle people you don't like you can't like everyone you know but you know what. i was going to say and odd perhaps that i had but i don't know i had to act and to see the best in people and there are people i don't care for but you know what i feel like my philosophy is like this too short to live it negative and depressed or discouraged or let somebody else take your joy so i don't i don't really give that much time to those who suit usual being soft on theology you been accused of getting the gospel wrong you didn't go to seminary a fellow pastor rick anderson of the south mountain community church in draper utah was it one of the critics of the respond. well again i don't think much about it i

just believe that you know god it was god's plan for my life for me to do be doing what i'm doing are soft on theology i feel like i stick with things that are really no make in the making god good and relevant in the scriptures because the best if you go to seminary well you can become a pastor i mean i trained under my father for many years so you can be ordained from a church of more dane from like wood so there's not you can be like you know you have a fear to miss something but not go into some of it well after i have friends that go to seminary and i encourage people that want to get in the ministry to go but i feel i for my for my life it was the right thing you know i just sometimes you can i don't come at it from a theological point of view and i think that's part of my success and it i'm not trying to just explain scriptures or you know sometimes you can know things that would would taint how would minister and so i like the fact that i believe it was god's plan for me to not go to seminary so you believe there are plans for people

to have own plans go astray well they do on a child dies yeah you know it's hard we don't understand it all but i do you know i believe the scripture says what's meant for harm god can use to your advantage you can come out of that you can you can you know god can use what you've been through to help others you know i was even you know reading you know mothers against drunk drivers that was born out of a lady that lost and lost a loved one and so you know i'm a big believer in that god can take what you know what came against june and use it to advantage the big big thing what we teach is you know you can't get better and that's what i see people doing they get better negative thought came to church i love god i did the right things but i didn't get the job or i got cancer or my to my mother was healed from cancer thirty years ago and you know some people you know obviously they die of cancer now i have to look at people and say well i don't know but don't get it or keep moving forward don't you ask why i am in the to him why did your mother live what about mother. didn't you know what i'd known i would go

drive me nuts and well you know i guess it's because there are just things you don't there's things we're not going to understand in the scripture david said you know these matters are too great for me to understand basically i'm paraphrasing but you know they're just there's too many things we don't understand in you get bogged down in that you you will have faith you have a think maybe there is no god and the reason you don't understand it is there is no understanding you're born you live it that's it you don't have it it's the breaks of the game sure as though it will have the sixty six kid but at five you don't make sense that way now i just i don't i don't reason it like that off the lack of experience god i feel like he's in my heart i feel like i've seen too many too many things that just couldn't be a coincidence in my own life and in other people's lives how you know just how god is connected dots here in there and so it's to me being a person of faith i just i feel like god is real in my heart you're good looking

guy you're wealthy being dressed superbly how do you deal with temptation and don't say it doesn't come well comes to every person but you know just what i teach you get up every day and you say god help me to honor you in my thoughts and in my life and you just you know it's i think it's a part of discipline i think it's a part of staying grounded in you know one thing i'm being good at because there's been a lot of ministers like me and you you know i'm told that haven't made it long term but i'm good about getting up every day and searching my own heart and saying am on the right track and i too i think about temptation i realise you know you've come down a lot faster and you went up and we've seen all that so i just think it it comes from keeping your own heart pure where does your money come from it comes from book sales now need only if the people don't pay to go to church they don't want to ask for contributions well no well there are contribution for church but that goes to run the ministry so it costs you know you make pitches for money on the t.v. show no i don't we never have my dad didn't. either and we did that on purpose

larry because you know there's there's so much that televangelists or ministers on television has to overcome i mean and i realized you know most people are skeptical and they gaze after my money so even start with an idea does go the bloom of yes people do it people have different ways i'm not i'm not to judge them but mine is to keep it clean i'm not asking for your money people send money that i think they see that sincerity of our of our heart of what we're doing but i just chose to stay away from that that because it you know it lessens your influence and i would rather be able to get into people's homes fifty percent of people watch don't go to church they weren't raised in church like me that's why we get an atheist and buddhist and just just good people that say hey i don't want to be religious but i love god and to be spiritual and be religious i think you can i think that's walk a lot of people that you know have been turned off by the religion but like i said they want to relationship with god they feel that connection but they think you know what i don't get involved in

a certain church we discuss salvation on my own so you still believe it's up to god to decide who goes to heaven is their decision point you think on a goal you don't well i believe that yeah i believe that's true ultimately but of course it has something to do with us too but you know god is the ultimate judge you fear death. i don't fear death you got to be kidding well i don't really don't i don't i don't fear it i don't i don't want to die now but i don't i don't know that i fear it you know i'm just i don't i don't feel like a fear i don't wonder about it. now i don't i don't wonder about it i don't really believe in but you do believe you go somewhere i do believe i believe yeah we are social media questions for you a p how tweets you consider yourself a leader and how do you define leadership well i would consider myself a leader just because there's a lot of people watching and following me i think a leader is somebody that you know that leads others that people look up to that that carries a high standard you know defining leadership i guess would be that have to do with

success but it's how you carry yourself your character and you know how other people see. c.j. miller wants to know what you think about obamacare up till obamacare we were the only industrialized nation in the world without health care plan yeah you know i don't know that i understand it all i like the fact that you know obviously as a as a person of compassion we want to see people have health care i don't know if i understand it all but try not to get very involved in the certainly covering preexisting conditions is a pretty good idea i like the fact that you know people being helped. so b.g. fifty via twitter wants to know how in the world you managed to say so positive in a world filled with hate violence and negativity you know it's a good question for all of us but i think you have to you know focus on the good things i have i think you can't let that overwhelm you know or else you become part of the problem then you're negative and bitter and hateful to saw at think you have to get up every day and found some reason to be grateful i believe how you start

the day helps determine how the day's going to go do you wonder when you see things like syria do you wonder why people kill people when about the violence yeah i do it's in amazes me in the day that we're living in that you know we can be over here just living life and they're over there killing each other so it does it you know it bothers you and it thinks you know i often think i think like a lot of people you know what can we be doing you know personally and sometimes it's overwhelming but you can pray in any way you can help i think but it does bother me when you think prayer does. i think prayer is what helps you know move the hands of god you know when when you ask god i believe things can happen it's it's your faith being released saying you know god i believe you're up there and i'm asking you to help me in this situation or help our friends in syria but i believe it helps move the hands of god when you say up there up up is where we all are considered to heaven be an up you know in in that have been somewhere so i

don't believe you go up into the sky the do you believe heaven is a is a physical place somewhere and you just assume it's up yes we like to finish the show or do something silly if you only knew ok she loved the first girl you have a kissed i do it was in a well it was victoria. and joel other than my family but it was the traditions of her school every day that whole year i was in my early twenty's i was playing baseball every night claim that to me until i was playing baseball every night will it be my late teens and it was my son's play baseball they're fourteen at the time but they kissed a girl. who i was probably way too stiff but i was too shy to under date it anybody and there but really i really didn't so you sure remember the name of the first girl you kiss a member of mirror as a what's a guilty pleasure you have are you dealing chocolates oh yeah i had a piece of chocolate cake almost every night yeah yeah favre saw

a favorite song i think psalm twenty three you know talks about the lord is my shepherd and he surely goodness and mercy will follow me things that keep you up at night i think what we're talking about the injustice the kids in africa the syria the you know here and here i'm happy and healthy and got a great family and you wonder about that why not say yeah do i do and we could have you know it's just you know i say if the goodness of god that we were born here now how can we help somebody else. t.v. shows your fans would be surprised to know you watch or you know i like that misty i love the dynasty misty i like the voice i watch the boys with my kids you know on a desert island what three things would take well this probably cheating but i'd take victorian my two children favorite band. favorite band is probably you know my my band it like will i like best my surgeon there is well yeah do you have a role model who's not christian. i have not thought about it i'm sure

up i'm sure there are people that inspire me. but nobody's coming to mind now i'm sure there are as one of the first thoughts of christianity is forgiveness right that's right and you good at that i'm good at forgiveness you are feel like i'm good at forgive this enemy of the cheek turn the of the cheek and not caring things from yesterday in did today even you know even forgiven yourself because there's all the things we think i should have done i should have done better yesterday i should have said that i don't hold a grudge i don't hold it let it go you have a hidden talent. now don't now i don't think i don't think that if your a pastor a minister what would you be i would be if i would work in television production i would bet on that tell me something no one knows about you. jol would rather be something that no one knows about me. i don't know really really i don't know anything specific i learned something tonight was that your wife was the

first girl you decided you you were too busy playing baseball so. thank you so much thanks larry it's great being with you thanks to my guests joel osteen break out five keys to go beyond your barriers and live an extraordinary life is in bookstores now remember you can find me on twitter at kings things i'll see you next up. was a. very hard to take. once you get on here a lot that you never had that would that hurt me there's no. place.

for the people. i am the president and i'm a society that case i think corporation trying to convince that to consume consume consume i think the banks are trying to get. all the money and i'm actually sick for politicians writing the laws and waiting for a tax break right. here just to

lead. today society. hello there happy friday i marinated and this is boom bust and these are the stories that we're tracking for you today first up but we're bringing you all the latest from davos our katie pilbeam is in switzerland covering the global economic summit there and she's bringing us the lowdown from the swiss alps you won't want to miss it so stay tuned then a little paramour editor at alternative and folk founder of recession wired dot com joins me live from our new york studio to discuss the ever elusive american dream ever elusive and it's friday which means it's your day here on boom bust at harrison i address viewer feedback your thoughts comments concerns whatever live on air today it's all on boom bust and it all starts right now.