Pastor Joel Osteen was heckled by protesters during Sunday morning worship at Houston’s Lakewood Church, leading to six hecklers being led out of the church by armed security guards and later arrested, WTSP (Tampa) is reporting .
During Sunday’s 11:00 a.m. service, as Osteen was preaching, an individual in the crowd stood up and started heckling the TV preacher. Churchgoer Casey Eaglin was seated just a few seats away when it happened.
“He jumped up with his Bible and started screaming ‘Shame on you Joel, shame on you Joel’ and Joel kind of just repeated scripture and they just escorted them out. I was terrified for a quick second there. After the first guy, I thought oh it’s just a random heckler, but then you start seeing the second, the third.”
As it turns out, several of Joel Osteen’s congregants are cops, and Texas doesn’t have a problem with people bringing guns to church. The armed ushers escorted the protesters out of the building.
Another churchgoer, Anwar Richardson, caught the heckling and the ensuing ruckus on cell phone video, and posted it to Twitter.
Sitting in Joel Olsteen’s church and it has been interrupted FOUR times by people against him. This is crazy! pic.twitter.com/WMP3j8TUeL
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
Crazy scene. Sixth person ejected from Lakewood Church by police and security pic.twitter.com/SwGTcH66Qs — Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
People are leaving Lakewood Church early because of this craziness. I’m one of them! pic.twitter.com/Z0XUBFPMnc
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
This is how Joel Osteen tried to calm the congregation after today’s outburst at Lakewood Church pic.twitter.com/sY9XtTp6sC — Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
This is how Joel Osteen tried to encourage the Lakewood Church congregation after one disruptive person was removed pic.twitter.com/Sy091QhMid
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
The six hecklers were later identified as congregants from the Church of Wells, a firebrand Evangelical Christian congregation that has run afoul of the law — and which, apparently, has a beef with Joel Osteen .
“Joel Osteen [is linked with] T.D. Jakes, Steven Furtick, Rick Warren and other heretical, compromised, prosperity preachers who tickle people’s ears with feel good messages and leave out true Biblical conversion and preaching on true repentance.”
For churchgoer Casey Eaglin, seeing someone causing a ruckus in church brought to mind a recent incident at another church — one that had a much different outcome .
“For a second there I started thinking about the [Charleston] church shooting that happened and I was thinking ‘Oh God something bad is about to happen’ but [the security guards] were real quick.”
The protesters who heckled Joel Osteen were charged with criminal trespass.
[Image courtesy of Getty Images / D Dipasupil ]
