Posted on 06/29/2015 6:39:59 PM PDT by Gamecock
Six people were arrested and charged with criminal trespass Sunday after heckling Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church.
Houston's ABC News Affiliate reports the disruption began following the praise and worship.
"The praise and worship was good. His wife had just delivered a quick message. And the moment he started to preach, somebody gets up and they yell, 'Joel Osteen,' you're a liar,'" said Anwar Richardson who posted a video to Twitter of one of the arrests.
Richardson, his wife, and son were visiting from Austin, Texas. With thoughts of the June 17 shooting at Charleston, South Carolina's Mother Emanuel AME church in mind, the family decided not to stay.
"After the sixth time that it occurred, my son was sleeping in my lap, and I looked at my wife and she was nervous and we just decided we have to get out of here," Richardson said.
"All I could think of is you don't know what's going on, and I just can't wait to find out, so I've gotta get out of there," he said.
Osteen reportedly told the crowd, "Thank you all for your patience, and we'll just continue to receive what God has for us. It's a good day to be alive."
Another witness commended Osteen for his composure. "He kept on going. He really got the message out and he said no weapon formed against me shall prosper. So kudos to him for delivering a good service."
A Lakewood spokesman said the hecklers were from The Church of Wells, a controversial religious group from Wells, Texas labeled by some as a cult. The church made no mention of the incident on its web site or social media outlets.
The Houston Chronicle reports people from The Church of Wells were prevented by Lakewood Church's security from entering the worship center in a separate incident approximately a month ago.
The newspaper quoted another Twitter user from Houston who decided it was not safe to stay at the June 28 service: "Had to leave @LakewoodChurch because of people randomly jumping up and verbally assaulting @JoelOsteen and it was 1st visit. Still shaking."
Osteen himself has long been the subject of controversy for preaching what many call a "prosperity gospel" message.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler said in a blog post last fall that Osteen's message of prosperity does not differentiate between Christians and non-Christians, fails to mention sin as a fundamental human need addressed by the Gospel of Christ, and does not take into account that for most of church history Christians lived with poverty and persecution and still do in many parts of the world today.
"God's pleasure in his human creatures centers in His desire and will that they come to faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. The great dividing line in humanity is not between the rich and the poor, the sick and the well, or even the happy and the unhappy. The great divide is between those who, in Christ, have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God's glorious light," Mohler wrote.
Members of The Church of Wells -- described by some as reformed with puritanical leanings -- have been involved in various disputes with police and have been accused by some family members of "brainwashing" vulnerable young adults. While some maintain it has the markings of a cult, others have said its leaders are young and "misguided."
Whether they had the right or not, doesn’t justify jail time.
IMO, they were wrong for what they did, but I would like to know how it was illegal and how it warranted jail.
I have a hard time seeing this as a "worship" service..it is more of a motivational gathering.. No preaching of the cross.. ....
Funny they never say that about Rome
did he get there by way of whale...
The countersite URL is interesting, lol
Whale?
Nope.
And neither did Jonah.
In a nutshell, if they were asked to leave, and did not leave, it becomes trespassing...Which is, of course, illegal.
So this is a case of the pot (Wells) calling the kettle (Osteen) black?
I never said what they did deserved jail time, only that they were in the wrong for disrupting the service.
“So this is a case of the pot (Wells) calling the kettle (Osteen) black?”
Well, maybe, but it seems more sinister on the CoW (Church of Wells) side. Yes, Osteen teaches a touchy-feely gospel. (But all Protestants do). I think Osteen’s heresies are no worse than some of those that CoW believes, but, at least Osteen’s church never came across as a cult that wanted to separate children from parents. And at least Osteen, no matter what his own failings, or his wife’s, or his version of the gospel, at least Osteen did not encourage his followers to disrupt some other group’s Sunday services. CoW seems to be a cult.
Re: “I have a hard time seeing this as a “worship” service..it is more of a motivational gathering.. No preaching of the cross.. ....,”
You may be right, but is that my or your decision to make? Would you go into another church’s or religious group’s meeting who were minding their own business and disrupt it? I don’t think you would. I totally disagree with Islam, and even aside from the fact I might wind up dead for doing it, I wouldn’t go into one of their meetings to disrupt it, would you?
(But all Protestants do)
Do we? Have you been to all 32,589 denominations?
Oh come now, he only has one pool. Well, outside anyway.
No, they do not.
If you'd read the RF comments with open eyes, you'd see precious little support from most of the non-Catholics here for that very reason. He does not preach the gospel.
So your claim that ALL *Protestants* preach a touchy feely gospel has been effectively debunked.
**You may be right, but is that my or your decision to make?**
Actually, yes it is.
But you are correct in saying that this group should not have interrupted the pep rally.
Osteen preaches the health and wealth gospel. It’s a false
teaching.
No, not all Protestants do that. Where in the world did you find that idea? None of the churches I have attended have done that. Not a one. You need to do some research. I knew Osteen was a fake the first time I came across him. There are others, too. You should have attended a few of the hell and brimstone churches I attended as a kid. None of this feel good junk. That is not what the Bible teaches.
“Do we? Have you been to all 32,589 denominations?”
Don’t have to (and there are more than that anyway), because if it’s a Protestant gospel, it’s a novelty, not the real thing.
“No, they do not.”
Sure they do. They have to - they’re Protestant.
“If you’d read the RF comments with open eyes, you’d see precious little support from most of the non-Catholics here for that very reason. He does not preach the gospel.”
None of you Protestants do. You can’t believe in the real gospel and be Protestant. Those two things are mutually exclusive.
“So your claim that ALL *Protestants* preach a touchy feely gospel has been effectively debunked.”
Nope. Not even close. And I think if you really believed that you would not feel - apparently - compelled to call all your fellow anti-Catholics to your rescue.
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