Joel Osteen was born in Houston, Texas and married Victoria L. Iloff on 4 April 1987. They have two children, Jonathan and Alexandra. Joel, son of John and Dodie Osteen, is one of six children. His elder siblings, Paul, Lisa, Tamara and his younger sister April, are also involved in full-time ministry. Joel's half-brother Justin, does missionary work out of New York. Joel's father, John Osteen, a former Southern Baptist pastor who became Charismatic in the late 1950s founded Lakewood Church on Mother's Day 1959. Osteen's father developed Lakewood into a body of approximately 6,000 members with an active television ministry, crusades, conferences, missionary support and food distribution. He died of a heart attack in 1999.

After 17 years with his father producing the church's television program, Joel succeeded his father on October 3, 1999 as pastor of Lakewood Church. Joel had only preached once in his life, the week before his father's death. Today, Lakewood Church services, led by Pastor Osteen, are seen in over 100 nations around the world. Joel Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, was released in October 2004. In December 2006, he was named one of the year's "Ten Most Fascinating People" by Barbara Walters. Presently, Osteen and several Lakewood Church team members travel across the nation, presenting programs in large stadiums to a paying public. The event titled "A Night of Hope", includes worship music led by the church's music ministry, a testimony by Joel's mother Dodie and a sermon from Pastor Osteen. In 2007 the tour expanded to include stops in several other countries, including Canada, England, Northern Ireland and Israel. Osteen released his second book, entitled Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day in October 2007 under Simon & Schuster publishing, which has also topped the New York Times Best Sellers List. Osteen told Larry King the new book will focus more on relationships and not getting stuck where we are in life.

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The appeal of Pastor Osteen's message has turned into more than 5 million sold copies of his first book. About 10 million people view his weekly TV show which is broadcast worldwide. Thousands of $15 tickets are sold to worship events held mostly in large cities. He has been called the "Most Influential Christian in America" by Church Report magazine.

Osteen's church draws about 50,000 people each week. Nearly half the people who show up as visitors say that they don't go to church or haven't been in a long time. Osteen personally greets the nearly 1,000 visitors each week. He has been criticized for not having a cross on the speaking platform. He says he is merely following the tradition of his father, whose dream was to spread the gospel to as many countries as possible and who kept a simple map on his pulpit. The map has now turned into a revolving globe on stage. Osteen does not draw a salary from the church but makes his income from the sale of books he has written.