Joel Osteen is author of the month

Joel Osteen, known as The Smiling Preacher is Powerbooks author of the month.

His first non-fiction book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, was released in 2004 and offers exceptional insight on how a person can take advantage of the best possibilities that life offers. The same work propelled him to be picked as one of Barbara Walter’s 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006.

Osteen was born in 1963 in Houston, Texas to Dodie and John, a former Baptist pastor who founded Lakewood Church on Mother’s Day in 1959. He took over his father’s ministry when the latter died in 1999. At presentl Osteen and several Lakewood Church team members travel across the United States presenting programs in large stadiums to a paying public. In 2007, the tour expanded to include stops in several other countries, including Canada, England, Northern Ireland and Israel.

During the same year, Osteen released his second book entitled Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, which topped the New York Times bestsellers list. He was also invited to appear on Larry King Live, where he discussed his book and its focus on relationships and being able to constantly develop one’s own potentials.

Apart from writing books and traveling, Osteen regularly hosts the television program Lakewood Church, which is beamed into 92 percent of American households.