OMG! I attended Lakewood!
Jul 15th, 2008 by Gordon
To my own surprise, this past Saturday evening, I found myself attending Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church. My daughter needed a ride to check out the Koinonia Singles meeting at Lakewood. My plan was to get Kristy there towards the end of the main service, in time for the after-service Koinonia meeting. But, before I knew it, we were there and parked and walking into the service. So, not having been to LW since they took over the Compaq Center, I thought it was time I saw for myself what LW had become under Joel’s leadership. I hadn’t been to LW since my family attended years ago when John Osteen was the pastor.
Karan and I attended LW at the former location for a few Saturday evening services simply because it was much easier for us to get there on Saturday evenings than it was to get to a Sunday AM service at any church. One of the things we experienced back then was that we could drop in, worship, and then leave without being obligated or involved in any way. It was like attending a free concert or performance where you can be entertained or inspired without being a committed member of anything. I used to feel a bit guilty about being so un-committed to church and just receiving the benefits of the meeting without giving of myself beyond a token offering. My view of church has matured in these years, however. I no longer feel even a twinge of guilt over not being committed to organized religion.
But, I understand and appreciate the social benefits that church has to offer. Therefore, I supported Kristy’s need to explore the social possibilities of the singles ministry at the new Lakewood. Besides, her generation seems to have a greater need for friends to ‘hang out’ with. It is possible to become isolated and alone, even in our frantic, hyper-speed culture, so social networks can be beneficial. But, I am digressing….
My impressions on the ‘New’ Lakewood:
It was a Saturday night service, so parking was a snap, the top balcony sections were blocked off, and I assume the worship team was not the full-complement the Sunday services enjoy. But, the worship portion was as good as it gets in church these days. Besides, I was paying more attention to the production than the music and singing. I kept watching the boom camera and the huge plasma screen images, as well as the guys with the hand-held cameras sneaking around the platform area. Lakewood may just have the best media technology of any church anywhere, probably due to Joel’s experience in this field, and his continued involvement as the producer of the church’s TV programs.
I noticed that the entire bandstand dropped out of sight during the sermon segment, and that the band’s music stands were actually plasma screens on end, displaying a gradually changing live color graphic.
There was obviously a smoke machine somewhere, though I wondered why smoke was necessary, unless the intention was to simulate heaven’s clouds of glory, or some similar dumb effect. It was unnecessary in my opinion, but as I said - Lakewood leaves nothing out when it comes to media, except for the absence of flashpots and lasers; but, all their video is clearly HD.
The special music was presented by a Children’s group, but given the professionalism of LW’s sound crew, I was shocked when the lead singer’s mic was not on! A stagehand quickly resolved that problem. A stream of kids lined up on the stage, and it was delightful to watch (with the help of the boom and hand-held cameras) these kids having such fun singing and dancing! I guess that’s just my Grandpa heart, but I love to see kids being free and playful. (”Unless you become as little children, you cannot see the Kingdom of God,” Jesus said)
Anyway, once all the ‘production’ settled down and Dr. Paul Osteen (not Joel) started speaking, I was moved by the ministry that doctors like him provide to so many sick and injured people in third-world countries. I was especially moved to see how they used medicine and surgery to help children with cleft lip & palette, as well as those suffering from malnutrition or infection.
I left Lakewood with the feeling that it is a church that everyone should visit at least once. I’ve seen it on TV numerous times, but it is far better in 3D. Being there is a completely different experience than watching it from your sofa.
Although we didn’t get to hear Joel preach, I was not disappointed. I’ve heard him many times, and what he says is not that new to me. It was encouraging to hear his prayer reminding me of victory, well-being and the blessings of God on my life. His prophetic word that 2008 will be the best year ever for us, rang true to my heart because of my own specific place on my journey.
It was disappointing, although not surprising, to hear him push tithing during the offering. I reminded myself that church corporations need tithes to pay the bills and their debt, and LW has a HUGE payroll, a massive electric bill, and enormous debt on the building. Collecting ‘dues’ from the members is to be expected, and I had to admit that I got admittance to an intriguing production for free. I probably should have dropped a few bucks in the bucket as it went by, but I was only there because I was my daughter’s driver for the evening.
Amazingly, I will be returning to LW this Wednesday to take Karan to hear April Osteen Simons share from her new book. I haven’t heard April since she was the cute and spunky Youth Pastor’s wife many years ago. She was the one kid John and Dodie Osteen worried about the most, because she was the most radical and least likely to live status-quo. A girl after my own heart! So, I’m genuinely looking forward to hearing April again after all these years.
Get yours today!