Not sure what is in that JOM Blue Tumbler of yours, but I wouldn't drink from that cup if I were you.
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."
Dude reminds me of the old “Reverand Ike” whose radio show used to tout his motto— “You can’t lose with the stuff I use”. Meaning money... but had double and triple entendre.
Jesus had the right to confront the money-changers on the Temple grounds for several reasons:
1. He was God and Jewish - humanly speaking, as an adult Jewish Male, He had a right to be there in the Temple, and as God He knew what was appropriate activity for His Temple.
2. The Temple was a place to pray and worship God, not engage in business.
3. I’ve read that the area of the Temple where the money-changers were doing business was supposed to be reserved for Gentiles to worship God. I couldn’t prove that off the top of my head, but I do believe that was the case. Either way, these businesses were not supposed to be doing what they were doing in that area. The Temple was a place of worship, not for conducting business.
4. On top of all the above, these businesses were cheating people to boot.
So, how does that have any bearing on these people from an outside church, who came in and disrupted a worship service of another church? Whether they had a legitimate doctrinal issue is beside the point - this was not their church - it was none of their business to disrupt another church’s worship time just because they disagreed with the guest speaker. These people were being jerks.
It was Osteen’s house of worship.
Thanks. I wasn’t sure if it was his church or one he had been invited to.
More like an outhouse.
This jerkoff is a con man and money grubber.
He just messed up real bad by having his hecklers arrested.
Should be the end of him, but then there are so many morons in this country I doubt it.
The faithful were commanded to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah, not go in and heckle the doomed
What is their website, we should judge them ourselves and not by what the media or others accuse them of
So much for all the love Osteen preaches about.
While their behavior could be called into question, it’s not criminal trespass to go where the public is invited in.
Their website?: http://www.thechurchofwells.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Wells
a counter site?: http://www.thechurchofwells.org/
http://www.thechurchofwells.org/threatening-phone-call-predicting-the-death-of-his-childs-mother/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/is-the-church-of-wells-a-cult
ABC news video: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/church-wells-tracking-controversial-religious-group-23210454
A Protestant view: https://carm.org/church-of-wells
Jonah was commanded to go to Ninevah.
Not sure what is in that JOM Blue Tumbler of yours, but I wouldn't drink from that cup if I were you.
It is not criminal trespass to go where the public is invited in, but it would be criminal trespass if they are there just to, only disrupt and when they actually do nothing but disrupt.
I would guess that your church welcomes any and all people who are not members, but are perhaps interested in becoming one or wanting to learn about your church’s teachings. But inviting them in doesn’t give them free reign to disrupt the services. If they have questions or even disagreements about your church’s teachings, standing up and yelling and protesting during the actual church services, is not the way to go about it. Would you not agree?
If someone came into our church to disrupt, I have no doubt the elders would converge on them and escort them out.
I HIGHLY DOUBT that the church would press criminal charges and have them jailed.
I cannot imagine the leadership of my church taking that kind of drastic action unless it was escalating over a period of time and it was apparent that people’s lives or property were in danger and no other course of action worked to stop it.
And at that point, they’d more likely get an order of protection first.
I guess Joel thinks some peoples best life now involves prison.
Re: “While their behavior could be called into question, it’s not criminal trespass to go where the public is invited in.”
Good point. I meant that to enter the service for the purpose of disrupting the service, which their actions did, seems like trespassing to me. They didn’t come to fellowship or worship, they attended with the intent to confront/disrupt someone on private property. Maybe it wouldn’t be trespassing, but rather disorderly conduct.
Not quite yet. I would agree that chaos is around the corner, but the more I read about what it was really like to live in Europe during WWII, I can assure you this isn’t chaos yet.
The Greeks? They are on the front end of chaos, but just wait.
Parts of Baltimore, check. Detroit has entire neighborhoods that have been reclaimed by nature and populated by animals.
We’re getting there, but we aren’t there yet.
You think I follow Joel Olsteen?? Also, the passage you quoted from is referring to the Temple in Jerusalem. I was not comparing Joel Olsteen’s church to God’s Temple - you were.
I only explained the passage in context that Jesus had every right to be in the Temple and to do what He did. These people from another church Had no right to do what they did in disrupting the service. They had a right to participate in the service, they have a right to their own opinions and beliefs, but they didn’t have a right to disrupt. Joel Olsteen needs to be confronted, but this was at the wrong time and the wrong place. All they did was show what jerks they were. Shades of Westboro Baptist church.
Jesus, son of God, probably has the right to be anywhere in the universe!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.