"You know, you get people that wanna criticise, 'You’re not doing enough of this, enough of that.' Well, we're not perfect,” he continued.
“But to have ... hundreds of people tellin’ ya 'You changed my life’, ‘I haven't been in church in 30 years', or 'You saved my marriage' ... you just feel very rewarded. You feel very humbled ... that you could help impact somebody’s life," Osteen said after getting emotional.
In the months leading up to this weekend’s anniversary celebration, Osteen has pushed forward with a number of new projects, including a collection of greeting cards that feature his inspirational messages and the Hope for Today Bible that features insights, notes, and encouragements from Osteen and his wife.
He also recently held the first non-baseball event in the new Yankee stadium in New York – a one-night inspirational event that drew nearly 42,000 people.
“Overall, the week was a tremendous success and the highlight ... was when over 20,000 people stood in Yankee Stadium to dedicate their lives to Christ and renew their faith in Him! We couldn't have asked for a better night,” Osteen exclaimed.
Though it was under Osteen that Lakewood grew from 8,000 attendees to 38,000, the popular preacher said Wednesday that he and his wife, Victoria, merely “picked up the baton” and continued the work that his parents had started.
“[M]y dad used to talk about how one day he was going to build a sanctuary that could hold 20,000 people. He prayed. He sacrificed. He and my mother stayed in faith year after year. When he went to be with the Lord, it looked as if the dream had died. It looked like as if it wasn't going to happen. But when you live a life of faith, when you honour God and go out each day being your best, you are storing up favour for future generations,” he stated.
Osteen succeeded the position of senior pastor from his father in 1999, more than eight months after the elder Osteen died of a heart attack. Before his father’s death, Osteen had only preached before a church once in his life – the week before his father died.
Today, aside from being the pastor of the largest church in America, Osteen is also author of two bestselling books. His first book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, remained on the New York Times bestsellers list for more than two years and has sold more than four million copies. His second book, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, was released in October of 2007 and was an instant New York Times bestseller, remaining on the list for more than seven months and selling more than 1.6 million copies.
Osteen is also the most watched inspirational figure in America, according to Nielsen Media Research, and was featured as one of ABC News' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2006".
According to Osteen’s ministry, more than one million people each week download audio and video podcasts of Osteen’s messages, making his podcast consistently one of the top five in the world.
