We here at Smart Pastor have no illusions about being unbiased.  We have ministries, people, books, and ideas we like as well as ministries, people, books, and ideas that we do not.  So most of what we post under the umbrella of being a "smart pastor" is smart as we define it.

When we are posting about something or someone we do not feel fits under the umbrella of "smart" we want to make sure the piece is thoughtful, moderate in tone, and in the spirit of Christ.  (Note - We freely toss out those guidelines when it comes to posts pointing out the lazy thinking, judgementalism, anger, and bad hair of the folks at the Slice of Laodicea. 

In a nutshell…Smart Pastor wants to be positive…even when we are negative.

I ran into this morning a piece on The Internet Monk taking aim at Joel Osteen and I believe fulfills my criteria for being thoughtful and in a right spirit.  It is on Joel Osteen and questions the orthodoxy of his ministry.  Here is a excerpt from the story:

This has not been the case, and Osteen has continued his trajectory away from any recognizable form of evangelicalism. In his speaking and writing, Osteen continues to be a positive thinking guru and motivational speaker who uses the trappings of a Christian pastor and preacher to tap into a gullible, compromised audience whose great commonality seems to be their agreement that Joel is personally charming and “Your Best Life Now” sounds a lot more interesting than “take up your cross and follow me.”

You can read the whole piece at:

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/osteen-redux