The Prosperity Gospel is a damnable heresy custom-made for materialistic Americans, it`s the belief that God will bless you financially and with good health as long as you donate to Him, and televangelists are the instruments that the Almighty uses to collect his tithes and offerings.
Prosperity theology pays tremendous dividends to the televangelists and pastors of megachurches who unselfishly collect millions in the name of Jesus.
Not so much for the elderly who live on fixed incomes, residents of trailer parks and other poor folk who support these predatory Gospel television ministries. Sending a check to a Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar or a Joel Osteen is like buying a lottery ticket, maybe they will get lucky and God will reward them with a BMW, a split-level home and a designer wardrobe.
Joel Osteen is one of the most successful prosperity hucksters, the Good Lord has rewarded him with a multi-million dollar mansion, a fleet of luxury cars, Lear jets, and a wardrobe fit for a pimp or a wealthy evangelist.
Osteen`s church building, the Lakewood Church campus, is an arena where the Houston Rockets used to play, and it`s located in Houston, Texas.
When Houston was inundated with a flood of biblical proportions the Lakewood Church building, which seats 17,000, would have made the perfect shelter from the storm.
But Osteen didn`t open his church to the suddenly homeless residents of Houston, after all the wet and dirty victims of the flood would have ruined the carpet and stained the cushioned pews.
Although the demographics of Osteen`s viewing audience are the poor and disenfranchised, most of his congregation is made up of the affluent and well-to-do, and they wouldn`t appreciate sharing their magnificent cathedral with riff-raff.
Osteen claimed that Lakewood Church was inaccessible due to flooding and encouraged desperate Houstonians to seek shelter elsewhere.
This blatant lie is as phony as the Gospel that he preaches, not a puddle of flood water seeped into his church. The Lakewood property is a giant complex with many buildings and parking lots, the main arena was untouched by the flood, and the surrounding streets weren`t flooded. There may have been a building or parking lot that had a couple of inches of water, but the Lakewood Church was accessible.
When Hurricane Harvey hit Osteen wasn`t at Lakewood Church flashing his megawatt smile and inviting the poor and the wretched into his sanctuary, he only reversed course when he was pilloried on social media.
Shame on you Joel Osteen, you are a wolf in sheep`s clothing, a con man, an embarrassment to Houston, and the most hated man in America.
Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes
