Joel Osteen

He married co-pastor of Lakewood Church, Victoria Osteen, in 1987. The couple has two children - Jonathan and Alexandra.

He openly claimed that he was against same-sex marriages, justifying his proclamation by quoting religious scripture that deems same-sex marriages as ‘sin’, during an interview with CNN.

Although he preached a lot about religion and succeeded his father in taking over the Lakewood church, he never studied religion or divinity as a subject.

Joel Scott Osteen was born to John Osteen and Dolores, in Houston, Texas. He is one of the five children born to the couple.

At the time of his birth, his father was a Southern Baptist pastor and also the founder of the ‘Lakewood Church’.

He studied at Oral Roberts University, but did not graduate from the institution and quit it in 1981, to set up his father’s television agency and worked alongside his father as the publishing supervisor of their local Houston ministry show.

In 1992, he was ordained as a minister by Lakewood’s six-member board in a hushed ceremony.

In 1999, after his father’s sudden demise, he succeeded him as the pastor of Lakewood Church. Just a week before his father’s death, he had given his first sermon in his life.

In 2004, he authored ‘Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential’, which went on to become one of his best-known works.

He and many of his Lakewood Church personnel journeyed across the nation, giving programs at large venues. In 2005, he moved Lakewood Church into the Compaq Center, which was the earlier arena for the Houston Rockets.

In 2007, the tour continued to several countries such as England, Northern Ireland, Israel and Canada. The same year, he also released his second book, ‘Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day’.

‘Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living Your Life at Your Full Potential’ was released in October 2004 and made it to the New York Time’s best-sellers list. His first publication, this is also regarded as one of his major works. Following the release of this work, he was named one of the ‘Ten most Fascinating People’ and was even ordained as ‘inspirational’ by former presidential candidate, John McCain. The book also earned the significant merit of becoming the ‘fastest-selling nonfiction book in publishing history’.

In 2007, he authored ‘Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day’, which made it to the best-sellers list and sold over four million copies in its first printing. This book is also regarded as one of his masterpieces which catapulted him to fame.