Posted on 12/23/2005 4:39:24 AM PST by truthandlife
Victoria Osteen, the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen, said an incident that delayed a Continental Airlines flight for two hours earlier this week was "a minor misunderstanding."
Osteen posted a "Letter from Victoria" on the church's official Web site Wednesday, saying the Monday incident resulted from her choice "to remove myself from the situation."
Osteen left the plane, Continental Flight 1602, with her husband and their two children. The family took another flight to Vail, Colo., where they are taking a ski vacation.
A church spokesman said the family left the plane voluntarily.
However, FBI Special Agent Luz Garcia has said that the Osteens were asked to leave the jetliner after "an altercation."
Garcia also said that Victoria Osteen "failed to comply" with instructions from a flight attendant.
The FBI said the airline contacted the agency about the incident. The agency decided not to investigate.
Continental Airlines spokeswoman Julie King declined any further comment about the incident Thursday.
"There have been various accounts of an incident that occurred on one of our flights, and I have issued earlier statements about that," King said. "We can confirm that there are no remaining issues between Continental and those passengers. ... Both parties feel no further comment is necessary."
King declined to comment on Victoria Osteen's explanation of the incident.
In her letter, which can be read at at www.lakewood.cc, Osteen stated:
"Regardless of how some have portrayed the situation, please know that it was truly a minor misunderstanding and did not escalate into what you saw or read in the news. Contrary to those reports, it was my choice to remove myself from the situation. Nonetheless, it was a most unfortunate event and I truly regret that it happened."
Osteen's letter continued, "The last thing I would ever want to do is let any of you down. And I promise you that I did not act in any way that would cast a bad light on you, my family, Lakewood Church or our Lord Jesus Christ. I value the position that God has placed me in and I can assure you that I will always walk in love and integrity. While I am not perfect, I will always seek to be a peacemaker and seek the high road."
The incident apparently stemmed from a spilled liquid on Osteen's seat in the first class section of the airplane. A church spokesman said the spill was not cleaned up to Osteen's satisfaction, and the family left the plane voluntarily.
Joel Osteen is a nationally known author of self-help books, including the best-selling Your Best Life Now. He became pastor of Lakewood Church in 1999. The church, in the former Compaq Center, is one of the nation's largest with more than 30,000 weekly participants in church services.
Too late. She may have thrown a hissy fit, but sometimes nothing but a hissy fit works, you know? :') The Airlines is being too quiet about this.
I doubt that. All men preach. She probably will hear nothing but private sermons this weekend.
"Cafeteria Christianity" --that's an appropriate phrase. My husband and I have visited a few of the larger churches around town, and it amazes me that people have preference for one over the other, because they're all the same fluff entertainment with nothing substantial to offer.
My intuition is correct 99.9% of the time... Documenting with evidence -ah, theres the rub...
Seems like the Osteens are graduates of the Benny Hinn School for Snakefondling Rubevacuums.
How would you delay a flight for two hours? Possibly by making such a scene that you were advised to leave after 90 minutes or face arrest?
What would you do with spilled liquid near your seat? Scream bloody murder for over an hour, or at some point go the lavatory and get some paper towels to clean it up yourself?
I guess it all depends on how much of a b**** you want to be.
At some point, her husband should have intervened and offered to clean it up himself rather than delay the entire plane. Apparently, he chose not to do so.
The whole episode is shameful.
Now that's a brilliant post! I can tell by your informative post that you are very familiar with both of these men and their ministries, and that you are a diligent student of the Bible. I applaud your intellect. Thank you for your post. NOT!
"As loose as the Osteens are with the truth..."
There seems to be some truth missing in your posted link...
I think they are all being too quiet in this affair. What another poster said upthread, about having to replace seat cushions because it's common for people to pee in the seats, sounds like a likely scenario. Why else would they all be keeping so quiet? If Victoria Osteen was as obnoxious as being assumed here, they would have hauled her off to jail, pronto. This whole situation is based on assumptions, of the people who like the Osteens and they people that don't. Not many in-betweens here, I'm noticing.
Sounds like money has gone to Victoria's head. A spill not cleaned up to 'her satisfaction' and in a first class cabin, to boot.
"The Airlines is being too quiet about this."
See post #199.
"All men preach. She probably will hear nothing but private sermons this weekend."
As a man, I had to laugh...LOL
Okay, if you want to believe that first class passengers commonly pee in their seats instead of using the bathroom reserved for them, and that this was indeed pee, and the flight attendants refused to help and she was unable to help herself, and her husband was also incapable of helping her, and the only alternative to making a scene for 90 minutes was to sit in a pee bath all the way to Vail, then I guess I can't argue with that.
Fine. Send 'em a Christmas card in Vail. And cash. Enclose lots of cash. Down-home preachers need lots of cash to ski in Vail.
Okaaay, so I guess the person up thread, who was a worker in the airline industry and where I got my information, is just a liar. Made the whole thing up.
I'm not going to assume the worst here. Could be the Osteen's fault, could be the airlines fault, could be a combination of the 2. I do think that if Victoria had caused as big of a stink that's being assumed by some, they would have hauled her very quickly off to jail. Drunk and banging on the cockpit door? yeah, right.
"Okaaay, so I guess the person up thread, who was a worker in the airline industry and where I got my information, is just a liar. Made the whole thing up."
You are misrepresenting the other poster. It was her opinion and she stated as much. You decided to read selectively. Now, you are outraged that somebody pointed out the implausibility of that explanation.
I believe the figure is 13,000 plus housing.
Do you have something that refutes the above? I've looked and can't find a source of fact for the $13,000.
I'm outraged? Wow, I didn't know that. I do know that I'm not jealous of them and I don't begrudge them their wealth.
NONE of us know what happened on that plane. The airline ain't talkin', the FBI ain't talkin' and the Osteen's ain't talkin'. We, all of us, are going by assumptions. I've read 14 different stories and scenarios about what happened, have read opinions of people in the industry and base my opinions on those options, the same as everyone else on this thread. I simply choose not to go on the attack, call people names, make wild accusations and assumptions, based on hearsay.
Now, I've got to go get ready for a houseful of company coming tomorrow. I wish I didn't have more important things to do than debate what goes on in airplanes, but unfortunately, I do.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Tuffy
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