JOEL OSTEEN

A trio of women from Texas Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights protested at Joel Osteen's Texas megachurch on Sunday, chanting and stripping to their underwear.

Abortion activists stripped to their underwear and shouted "my body, my choice" during a Sunday church service at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

On Nov. 10, a plumber found 500 cash and check filled envelopes in the wall of Joel Osteen’s megachurch, Lakewood Church, in Houston.

"My heart stopped, needless to say," the plumber said after receiving a call about the gift.

A plumber who discovered stacks of cash and checks inside the wall at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church last month has been awarded $20,000.

The plumber responsible for finding a large sum of money inside the walls of a Houston megachurch now says he believes he should get a reward.

Authorities are investigating whether cash and checks discovered during repair work being done at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch is connected to $600,000 that was stolen from a church safe more than seven years ago.

About seven years ago, church leaders at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church reported that $600,000 in checks and cash had been stolen from the church’s safe.

Back in 2014, a big headline in Texas involved hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from a safe at Joel Osteen’s megachurch, Lakewood Church, in Houston. Now, seven years later, another bombshell has dropped.

Envelopes full of cash and checks were found behind a loose toilet by a plumber doing repairs at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Texas.

Envelopes full of cash and checks were found behind a loose toilet by a plumber doing repairs at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Texas, according to church officials.

Joe Raedle/GettyA Houston megachurch, whose celebrity pastor is reportedly worth $50 million, has repaid the federal government $4.4 million in pandemic loans after going viral for the outrageous handout. Lakewood Church, which is tax-exempt like most religious institutions, took $4.4 million in taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans at the height of the COVID pandemic last year—all while senior pastor Joel Osteen flaunted his insane wealth. It caused “Osteen” and “Ferrari” to trend o

Initial critiques of the loan said the government essentially handed out grants to fund religious groups which goes against the Constitution.

HOUSTON – Joel Osteen, the pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, has come under fire in recent days after Houston Chronicle reported that the megachurch received $4.4 million in PPP loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Federal Paycheck Protection Program Loan data provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicates that the loan given to Lakewood Church is the third-largest for any Houston-area business or nonprofit. The data shows that Lakewood Church applied for the loan on July 21 and that 368 jobs would be affected by the loan. In order to have the loan fully forgiven, the PPP loan must be used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. Osteen’s Lakewood Church and other megachurches have been criticized by some for taking part in the federal recovery program because of their tax-exempt status.