Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is someone who likes to look at the glass half full. Even though the ongoing U.S. presidential election process is not as well as people would have hoped, Osteen is still encouraging people to think positively about it.
"Our general message speaks to staying in peace and being respectful and staying full of joy and staying positive," he told North Jersey. "I don't get specific about the politics, but our core message deals with [how] every day, you have to choose to be happy, you have to overlook things that are done wrong and things that are said."
Osteen will be delivering more messages of positivity and optimism during his next "Night of Hope" event, which will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday.
"It's a 2 1/2-hour event, where it's music and inspiration, where my wife, Victoria, and I, we come and we try to inspire people in their faith," Osteen said of the event. "There's a lot of stories. My mom's there. She tells how she overcame cancer. My children are a part as well, so it's a fun night of music and inspiration."
The pastor hopes that after attending the event, people will believe in themselves more and get rid of whatever negative thoughts that are plaguing their minds.
"Some people don't even know it, but it's 'I'm not as talented as my brother,' and 'I'm not that smart,' and 'I'll never get a good break,' and 'I got a poor hand dealt to me in life.' These negative thoughts are playing, and I think a lot of times, that limits what God can do in our lives," said Osteen.
He added that if people believe in God, then all things are possible. Hopefully, when people start believing in God, they'll start believing in themselves, too. "[B]elieve that you're a person of destiny and that you have greatness on the inside.
That's what I feel passionate about — trying to empower people to be who they really are," he said.
