Televangelist Joel Osteen only opened his church doors to use as a refuge for flood victims after a vast public outcry. After he did, he first said he couldn’t because of the flooding, and then, when someone proved that is not true, said it was the city of Houston’s fault for not making him open the doors sooner. Even when he finally did open his doors, Osteen immediately began asking for donations to his church instead of to Hurricane relief.
In a video from a Saturday service at Lakewood Church, his sister Lisa Osteen Comes asks for the Hurricane Harvey survivors to stand up so that people could “touch” and “lay hands” on them. Before she does that though, she sends the ushers into the auditorium to start passing around collection plates. As they do, she throws out false words of comfort and carefully avoids ever telling these poor people that the church would help them. Instead, she keeps saying that God will.
“All these people who stood tonight, they have needs, and financial needs, and you know, I just feel like we should pray for them that God is going to bless them with unprecedented favor in the next coming days and the next coming weeks and the next coming months because you know they have a lot of calls to make, they have a lot of work to get done, and their lives were so interrupted, but you know what we can trust God that it will go smoother than anyone could ever imagine.”
Comes then called for the congregation to “touch them, hold hands with them…let’s touch them, let’s just let them know we’re praying for them and let’s believe right now that God is going to move supernaturally in their favor.”
She went beyond, and at one point, said that the “spirit” told her personally that some of the victims would actually have better home when God decides to work his mojo. Suggesting to the vulnerable survivors that if they give money, God will reward them with even better luxuries than they had before the flood.
The church is collecting money and literally telling them to rely on divine intervention but refuse to say that they will help in any way.
Osteen is worth between $40 and $70 million, and asked for more money when he just tried to close his doors to people in need.
We thank you for your generosity over the years…-would the usher’s please come forward??
This article is incredibly misleading. Churches take offering at almost every gathering and I see nothing in this video that explicitly called the victims to donate.
@JSMITH Think about what you just said…does it not make you feel like your statement just makes the church look worse? “Churches take offering at almost every gathering” sounds like the church is a money-grubbing entity that will use any opportunity to gain wealth (which it does, in large). “[N]othing in this video that explicitly called the victims to donate”, then why do it at all? If your attendees for this occasion are most, if not all, evacuees, then why would you send around the offering plate anyways? I hope those baskets remained bare…
So money-grubbing at every turn is distasteful – compare this to the Red Cross taking in hundreds of millions and building 2 houses in Haiti, the pentagon “misplacing 2.3 trillion Day before 9-11 — sending billions to Israel every year while American cities are poisoned from their poor conditions, how about government taxation or the Clinton Crime Machine Money Laundering Foundation Service?
Fucking hypocritical troll shills.
There’s a big difference between churches taking offerings and churches taking offerings during a city wide disaster recovery.
You are right. But when evacuees take refuge in your church, is it not shameful to ask them to donate with a ceiling of $50.00? Grab whatever nature disaster left to the people to buy food for them to survive. I don’t think this could come close to be a semi christian.
Hello, the very active of passing the baskets around and the long drawn out false promises laden speech based on God rewarding better things soon during this basket passing process is as explicit as it gets. You are apparently easy game for brain washing by these self enriched ingredients religious programs. There is absolutely something wrong with a pastor becoming worth 10’s of millions and churches becoming so opulent. Time for that church and the OLSTEEN’so to give back to those in need that made them that way don’t you think? They should be passing baskets full of money out to the people now I this dire situating not preying get on their vulnerability will well scripted speeches designed by money mongering professionals.
At first he didn’t open the door to accommodate the evacuees, the changed his mind and opened it and when the evacuees were inside, out came the collection plate. Jesus said, when I didn’t have shelter, you put a roof over my head. With Joel Osteen, you can come in if you donate $50.00
Fake news. This is an offering for church attendees to give.
Everything you don’t like is “fake news” these days. IF most of the attendees are victims and they JUST got done praying for them to help them in their situation, why not abstain from asking for donations even once? Jesus Fucking Christ. The church doesn’t need more money. The church should be giving BACK to them, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Those megachurches and their people are filthy rich.
“Fake news. Doesn’t fit my narrative, so it’s fake. Baahhh. Baaaahhhhh!”
^Fake reply.
boy u retarded they some money hungry snakes you blind as fuck
Did it say that much? What I read is, the evacuees where seeking shelter in his church. It didn’t say there was a regular service going on.
Lakewood church is a pile of shit.
Lol
These people are demons. Look at all her plastic surgery and jewelry. Yeah, you people are evil. If Jesus came to earth the first thing he would do is decimate that piece of crap “church”.
These people are complete crooks. She did not one time saying that the church would help them. She is giving them false hope. She should have prayed for them and moved on. She did not forget to ask for the ushers to come and take up money. WOW! Those crooks will stand before the LORD one day.
I found her “speech” very telling. First of all, she calls on the ushers (offering takers) to come up and get ready. Then, rather than just passing the plates (or buckets) for the offering, she starts to speak about all that God is going to do for them in the next “days and weeks and months” and how many of them are going to be better off and in a better home and her pitch rises every few sentences, she speaks faster and then she has them all stand and “touch somebody” as if a transmission is going to take place and then, in the prayer, the pitch and the tenor rises some more, you can see a little “Benny Hinn” in her as she rises higher and higher, more emotion is coming through as she tells God what she SHOULD do for those people, the people should not think small, but think big and on and on. Then, right at the crescendo, she says something that she says is “in the spirit” as if God spoke to her and promised that he would do that for the people. Then, she ends and has everyone say, “AMEN and AMEN!” The music starts to play and the buckets are passed. This is VERY televangelist type stuff. You get the people’s EMOTIONS involved by the music, the pace and tenor of the speech and the prayer. She uses that famous Charismatic term, “IN THE NAME OF JESUS” and you can see the people pulling out their wallets and women reaching into their purses. It’s a ploy for the people and a travesty to God for people to do this, particularly “IN THE NAME OF JESUS”. I am a pastor and I grieve that there are thousands of well meaning people who are hurting and they look to the church for help, but they are being FLEECED by these pseudo-shepherds. God have mercy on all of them!!
As a fellow pastor, I agree it appears that this ‘church’ about greed and selfishness. It seems to be about what God can do for me not what God has done for me and how I can live a life of gratitude for that sacrifice. The more you give the more you get mentality in a church is heresy. We give out of gratitude for God sending his Son to die for us and save us from the just punishment for our sins, not for what God will do. We live out of gratitude for Jesus’s death and resurrection and the salvation that he brought. We don’t give because of a promise to get. There should have been no need for the City or any public out cry to get this building open. It should have happened because it is what followers of Christ do. Love God, Love your neighbor as yourself, not because you can gain something.
Money! Money! Money!
Are they quoted on Wall Street yet?
Multi millionaires with Botox faces, have the power and ability to collect for those in need. Instead ask for hand outs for their church. No souls. No class.
“She went beyond, and at one point, said that the “spirit” told her personally that some of the victims would actually have better home when God decides to work his mojo. Suggesting to the vulnerable survivors that if they give money, God will reward them with even better luxuries than they had before the flood.”
Yeah, good ol’ piggy bank evangelism…give your money now, and GAWD will bless you tenfold going forward!
This is the crap that gives Christians a bad name. There is nothing Christlike in combining the collection plates with the observance of the flood victim’s needs. This church is clearly manipulating the situation for their own greed.
This church should step up and declare a massive donation of funds to those in need. None of this false “God provides” in the face of such a disaster. God provides by those “who can” helping those “who have nothing.”
I agree 100% with your comment, this is terrible! To think he ( Osteen) had to be forced to open his doors, then kicking people while they’re down by passing collection plates. He can’t even call himself a Christian because followers of Jesus Christ would never do something like this. If anything, Osteen and his sister should be giving to these victims. Imagine leaving your home with nothing but the clothes on your back, going into God’s house and Jesus standing at the door charging admission! This guy needs a good ass kicking!
He’s a disgusting money hungry 🐷 And a 🐍
Don’t really trust the Osteens or their idea of a church. I do HATE that sites like this one, NOVA, have this exploiive, tacky, tasteless ADs on here about celebs, shocking photos etc. THAT is pretty bad in it’self. yuck
Osteen’s god is green and he folds. This charlatan and his sister need to be tarred and feathered and rode out of town on a rail. Shame on you idiots! How dare you take advantage of people in need.I am going to pray that Jesus hold you accountable for all your fleecing of His sheep. You are truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Jesus said” man cannot serve God and mammon, he will love one and hate the other” YOU JUST WAIT CLOWN!