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."
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I wonder who the "some" are?
A. I STILL love that gif; it NEVER fails to bring a smile. ;)
B. Gaystapo pestering him?
No, they were actual real Christians who were calling him out for his prosperity gospel and Tony Perkins style preaching.
Tony Robbins. My mistake.
Don’t get me wrong - I am loathe to support these Mega Churches. My sister belongs to one and it’s totally nutty.
Have you ever read, ‘One More Sunday’ by John D. MacDonald?
A very good read.
Heck, read ALL of his novels...and thank me later. :)
LOL! That was Day and Night bad.
Chuckle.
I am not a Joel Olsteen fan, but this type of disruptive behavior in someone else’s worship service is not Christ-like. What goes around, comes around and it is going to be ugly enough for the church without Christians doing this kind of thing.
Jesus threw out the money changers on the Temple grounds because the area they doing “business” in was supposed to be a place of prayer for Gentiles who wanted to worship God (it was the only area near the Temple that Gentiles could have access to.
What these people were doing was criminal trespass.
The Church of Wells has the reputation around here as a cult. Think Westboro Baptist Church.
So if someone is preaching a heresy like the prosperity gospel, we should just let them? Osteen is leading many people to the gates of hell with the idea that since God loves all he will forgive all. When has he preached repent from your sin and turn from your wicked ways and nail those sins to the cross?
John 2:13-16
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.
15And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
16and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."
Pretty much, yep. No one is forcing the people to attend or watch him on TV. The same way you don’t run into Jewish temples or muslim mosques and disrupt a service. This stunt didn’t win anyone over to their side and even if it happened every Sunday wouldn’t stop Osteen from preaching what he preaches.
Nah, he is harmless to them.
“No, they were actual real Christians who were calling him out for his prosperity gospel and Tony Perkins style preaching.”
If you look them up, you’ll see that they sound like a cult.
I don’t care for Osteen myself but we are descended into chaos now.
Truly descended into chaos.
**Jesus threw out the money changers on the Temple grounds because the area they doing “business”**
Maybe they were in the bookstore?
Re: “So if someone is preaching a heresy like the prosperity gospel, we should just let them?”
If someone is preaching doctrine that is heretical to Biblical teaching in your church or my church or on the street corner or in a public forum, then yes, absolutely it must be confronted. That is not what happened here. This was in a church (what kind I do not know) that apparantly invited Mr Olsteen to speak during their worship service - that is not the appropriate time to or place to confront him - unless you are the pastor or member of that particular church.
There are religious groups that meet all the time whose doctrine is heretical according to Biblical teaching (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Unitarian, etc.) - but it is on their property and I have no business or legal right to trespass on their turf and disrupt their services. And, again, what goes around, comes around.
There is a time and a place for vigorous debate but not during someone else’s worship service. Religious freedom is not a one-way street. If you want the freedom to worship God as you see fit, you must allow even those you disagree with the same freedom - especially on their own property.
No— Tony Perkins might be right-— “Psycho”.
Know what you mean— we call the “services” shows, because the people sing and jump around with “Garth Brooks” headphone microphones on.
Has nothing to do with redemption or scripture— it’s about money.
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