The sermon of Pastor Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church was unexpectedly disrupted by a group of men who yelled and screamed at the preacher, calling him a "liar" among other things, and consequently disturbing the service, according to ABC 13 News.
The words, "Joel Osteen, you're a liar," echoed throughout the congregation as six men from the audience simultaneously heckled the pastor onstage who went up to deliver his message after his wife concluded her remarks. In a video recording uploaded by one the members of the crowd, Anwar Richardson, it was seen how the hecklers continuously disrupted Osteen as the latter attempted to ignore their insults and move forward with his sermon. Minutes following the first person to disrupt the service, five more men stood and hurled criticisms against the pastor. The incident caused alarm and panic among the members of the audience especially in light of the shootings and massacre in churches reported earlier this year.
Richardson uploaded video clips of the incident via Twitter which provided glimpses of the disruption. His first Twitter post regarding the hecklers was uploaded after the fourth man stood up and shouted insults against Osteen. Richardson wrote, "Sitting in Joel Olsteen's church and it has been interrupted FOUR times by people against him. This is crazy!" This was followed by another Twitter message informing his followers that the sixth person who disrupted the service was already arrested as well. He said, "Crazy scene. Sixth person ejected from Lakewood Church by police and security."
Richardson shared, via ABC 13, ""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.'" He added, "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."
"For a second there I started thinking about the church shooting that happened and I was thinking 'Oh God something bad is about to happen' but they were real quick," shared Casey Eaglin, one of the individuals in attendance of the service, according to TV KHOU. Describing the incident that "terrified" him and the other churchgoers, the witness said, "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."
The six men identified as the hecklers during Osteen's service had been arrested and are reported to be charged with criminal trespassing.
Crazy scene. Sixth person ejected from Lakewood Church by police and security pic.twitter.com/SwGTcH66Qs
"” Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) June 28, 2015
