what a joy it is to be with you tonight. we love you guys. joel, welcome. thank you. felt you brought this holy aura to my studio. thank you for that. it s a happier and better place. thank you. when i first came to america a few years ago, i turned on my television in my hotel room and the very first face i saw in america was you. joel osteen. it s like the osmonds were reborn. you were in this huge church with this amazing audience going crazy. there you were like this shiny perfect guy. saying these extraordinary things. all from memory. from inspiring. so i was sort of hooked on the joel osteen bug straightaway. i ve watched you on and off ever since. you have that effect. you are a kind of a rock star,
it s a matter of the standards. and so i just think we re blessed to be a blessing to help others. when you don t make money the focus of your life you got to work hard, you develop your talents. god can do amazing things. you can be rich and poor at the same time. i ve met very unhappy rich people. it s interesting from a spiritual point of view. does money buy you happiness? no i don t think it does. money helps us. it s our exchange system. it doesn t buy you happiness. it doesn t buy you health. i m happy because i have a great husband. i have fabulous children. i have people around me who love me and support me. weren t you happy before that? yes. when you say happy and poor. you re all rich, i don t feel rich. i don t feel rich monetarily. do you? i m so frugal. i spend my money like i don t have anything. 20 million books. however million dvds.
that s the american dream. anyone can achieve anything if you work hard enough. i believe that s true. especially with god s blessings you can go even further. again, i think it s important to go back to this so we don t leave it on us. how can we bless others. how we can help those or fans. how can we build children s homes. how much money have you raised for other people, now? our churches have raised millions. do you know how much? no. how much have we given away? millions of dollars. personally we ve given away millions of dollars too. i want to get off on this is you can you can work hard in america that s what it s about. but don t neglect your family. we re not saying run after riches. we re saying take time for your family. take time for the things that are important. even in this recession, you may be hard up, you may need a job but don t neglect the things that god has placed around.
the parents of the little girl. when i saw that heartbreaking interview. it s hard. it hits your faith hard when you see that happens. there s plenty of things we can t under. i just come back to the fact that i believe that god is good, that he gives us strength in these difficult times. even when i ve experienced the death of my father, you know, and it s not as near a tragedy as that but i felt a peace that was an extraordinary moment in your life. your father says to you, after years of trying to persuade you, i need you to do the service. i want you to do this, joel. you finally agree. you do one service. and you are the stand in pastor. and your father dies the week after. yeah. that s an extraordinary set of circumstances. it really is. i don t believe there are coincidences in life. you don t preach for 36 years. i told him no. i tell him yes. five days later he dies.
25 minutes. so 25 minute address. which you memorize? i do. do you ever use notes? i type what i m going to say. if i go over it in a few hours. it s extraordinary. you wander around. you re very on top of it. very few people can do that on a at the time basis. my mother had a great memory. your memory the more use it the better it gets. you get it down. you know, i type like i m going to talk and i just i try to focus i feel my gift is helping people to live a victorious life a christian life. making the scripture practical for us today. that s what causes people to come out. when you talk about how to have a good attitude in a down economy or how to have peace in the midst of a lot of turmoil. what makes you different? how are you different from other preachers. why have you emerged as the big telegenic superstar? i don t know.