Posted on 12/20/2005 4:08:06 PM PST by truthandlife
A dispute that involved the wife of Houston's most famous pastor, Joel Osteen, and a Continental Airlines flight attendant ended up delaying a flight for hours Monday. And now, Victoria Osteen's actions on that flight are in the spotlight. Also on ABC13.com: Send us a news tip | RSS feeds | ABC13 E-lert | Info mentioned on air Statements from Lakewood and Continental Following the incident on Continental flight 1602 Monday, both Lakewood Church and Continental Airlines released these statements. The Osteens run the largest church in the nation, so passengers on a Continental flight were shocked Monday when Mrs. Osteen was removed from that flight after a disturbance.
Taking time off from the high profile hustle and bustle of running a mega-church, Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen and his family boarded Continental flight 1602 Monday morning at Houston's big airport. They were bound for the slopes in Colorado.
Their trip was delayed and so was the entire flight by almost two hours. Fellow passengers blame the popular Osteens, specifically Joel's wife, Victoria.
According to passenger accounts, the Osteens were sitting in first class. Soon after the plane's door was closed, the FBI says Victoria Osteen was removed following what Continental would call only a disturbance. The Osteens' spokesman confirms it involved a flight attendant, but that's all. However, one passenger tells Eyewitness News she was alerted to the front of the plane when she heard a commotion.
"She violently ran towards the cockpit, scaring everyone around her," said passenger Knicky Van Slyke. "Everyone was terrified about what was going on. And a bunch of flight attendants ran up and had to restrain her. She was banging on the door."
"Of the cockpit?" we asked.
"Yes."
Passengers say Victoria was removed first. Joel and the children followed. Meantime, everyone waited.
"They unloaded all the luggage to get their luggage and deplaned her, Joel, and the kids," said passenger Dawn Dixon.
Passenger Chad Clay said, "They kept telling us they were waiting on some passengers to find their luggage underneath in the plane, and it was going to be delayed for looking for that luggage."
According to the Transportation Security Administration, federal air marshals were never involved. Local authorities also know nothing of this event. Continental would not discuss details.
The Osteens' spokesman denies a physical altercation, denies Victoria ever banged on the cockpit door, and says she left on her own.
"The account of the event which has come to our attention is inaccurate and overblown. The misunderstanding was minor and was resolved when Victoria voluntarily removed herself from the situation," read the statement.
The FBI says it was not voluntary. Though agents are not investigating, they will review the incident as the Osteens enjoy their Colorado vacation.
The Osteens' spokesman says they took another flight to Colorado Monday.
Nobody has been charged. As for the FBI's involvement, we're told it's standard procedure for them to review all passenger removal incidents. According to Continental, this one is a closed case.
Pastor Joel Osteen preaches to an average of 40,000 people a week at Lakewood Church services. Lakewood opened in the former home of the Rockets, Compaq Center, back in July. It took $90 million and a year and a half of renovations. Osteen's ministry is taped and aired around the world.
For certain, a man (even a minister) can't be held responsible for his wife's actions. Mrs. Olsteen is human and probably lost her temper, and said something inappropriate. Happens to the best of us.
However, if it had been one of "us", the plane would have probably taken off WITH our luggage. It looks like Continental catered to the Olsteens (or showed respect to Mr. Olsteen) by delaying the flight, so they could retrieve their luggage.
I don't think that was a wise move on Continental's part, to inconvenience the rest of the passengers. The airlines may regret it.
Maybe allowing the Olsteen's to get their luggage was Continental's way of admitting that their flight attendant was wrong and over-reacted.
That's what I think happened. Whatever Victoria did or said, some flight attendant with a chip on her shoulder decided to play her upper hand. You know that flight attendants can do that; all they have to say is that someone is not cooperating. And if they told Victoria that she'd have to get off the plane, then Victoria probably agreed and said, okay, let me off.
Jesus preached about money more than He preached about any other topic. (BTW, He had a lot of it.)
Thinning the herd, for one.
I didn't actually count the seats. I was just attesting to the fact that the pews are full. Whatever the seating capacity is, it's always close to full.
One can only imagine the number of servants needed to keep this busy, professional, prosperous, religious household of four afloat and fed.
There's little reason to doubt they have domestic help, given his schedule and the size of the house. But, is there ANY evidence of THIS:
One can also only imagine the budget needed to keep the Osteens cloaked in Neiman Marcus’ finest.
Is there evidence that the Osteens are "cloaked in Neiman Marcus' finest?" Or did the writer just make it up?
Maybe he has more that one service on Sundays?
Having been in the theatre for many years, I can spot people who are acting.
Joel is acting. He has Vasoline on his teeth. He's been coached by the best.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
WE BELIEVE…the entire Bible is inspired by God, without error and the authority on which we base our faith, conduct and doctrine.
WE BELIEVE…in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to this earth as Savior of the world.
WE BELIEVE…Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again.
WE BELIEVE…water baptism is a symbol of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ and a testimony to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
WE BELIEVE…in the regular taking of Communion as an act of remembering what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross.
WE BELIEVE…every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God’s Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ.
WE BELIEVE…as children of God, we are overcomers and more than conquerors and God intends for each of us to experience the abundant life He has in store for us
By your statement no one should have been able to question Jim Bakker and that man was a crook.
You can tell them for me that they might consider living more humbly like Jesus.
We see they can fill a stadium.
Let's see them try on a little humility as practiced by Jesus and fly with the unwashed in the back of the plane. They could also show some humility by obeying flight attendants whose lawful duty it is to keep order and maintain safety in the cabin.
If she tries a physical outburst on a plane with some of today's nervous passengers, she could be meeting Jesus face-to-face before she had planned.
When Joel was boasting the baby-killing nancy pelosi on his show, his arrogance was beaming.
That being said, I hear Paul Crouch fell, broke his hip, and punctured a lung today. What a day for the stuffed suit blow dry, televangelists.
I may jokingly throw the televagolsists under the bus sometimes, but I also pray for them. I pray Jesus will convict them, and convict me too for my sins.
Best,
Fine and dandy. You know well going "hmmmmmm" & "smoke / fire" is what happens here.
If this were Kerry's wife going off, how would you be dealing with it? A bit differently, I'll opine.
I don't know the motives of others, but I agree with you on these two.
Whenever I hear a TV preacher talk about "sowing a seed of faith" I never hear him suggest that you do it for a neighbor who can't afford groceries or something like that.
Joel Osteen's wife Victoria's his brother Paul, a physician who gave up his practice to work in the church.
******
Osteen visits tonight
Page 2 of 2
Osteen, now 42, took over Lakewood Church in 1999 after the death of his father, John Osteen, a Southern Baptist preacher who in the late 1950s began to be more associated with the charismatic and Pentecostal movements.
Osteen said overcrowding at his first arena event in Atlanta pointed up the need for tickets at his arena events. When he followed it up with two nights at Madison Square Garden, city officials insisted that the event must have tickets, he said. He began charging $10 per ticket, most of which went to the ticketing service.
Since it's a worship service, there is also an offering taken up, he said.
He said the ticket doesn't cover the cost of the whole event. The TV ministry never solicits donations, he said.
Osteen dropped out of Oral Roberts University after one year and returned to Houston to join the staff of his father's church in 1982. The church's services began airing on TV in 1983, with Osteen working behind the scenes. He never preached until after his father died, but he quickly grew into it.
"I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing," Osteen said.
Osteen and his wife, Victoria, from Columbus, Ga., have been married 18 years. She has relatives in the Deep South, including Birmingham. Many of them will be in the audience tonight, said Iloff, who is Victoria's brother.
snip
Lakewood Church, which already drew 30,000 worshippers to four services each weekend, moved in July into the 16,000-seat Compaq Center, former home of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association.
Not only his weekly church services but his speaking tour draws arena-size crowds.
He drew 57,000 during the first weekend in the Compaq Center. Attendance has been 38,000 to 42,000 combined at the four weekend services since then. It was 28,000 to 30,000 at the old location, Iloff said. The church paid $11 million for a 30-year lease of the arena, then did $90 million in renovations, Iloff said.
http://tinyurl.com/cjyef
Mansions are expensive to keep up
A preacher's family flying first class?! To "the slopes"? Gimme a break. We got to drive to the Adirondacks and pitch a leaky tent on Campsite #10.
Again, I don't know, but if I had to guess, I think this was a case of a flight attendant taking the opportunity to take someone down a notch.
God knows that in the current climate, Flight attendants are some unhappy people. They cant just take the money and run like many pilots did where I used to work.
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