Pastor Joel Osteen, whose televised sermons are seen by more than seven million viewers weekly, has been hit with criticism after he closed his Lakewood church due to the severe floods in Texas.
Hurricane Harvey has dumped over 30 inches of rain throughout parts of southeast Texas since it made landfall Friday evening. In the wake of this natural disaster dozens of Houston-area churches, schools and community centers have opened their doors to offer temporary shelter to survivors.However, the 54-year-old’s 17,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston isn’t opening its doors because floodwaters won’t allow it, according to the televangelist. He posted an official statement on Facebook that it was ‘inaccessible due to severe flooding.’
Entertainment publicist Danny Deraney said;
‘You have taken so much money away from your people to live like a king, It’s the least you could do.’
A Twitter user called Phillip Harris said: ‘Where’s Joel Osteen? His church in Houston holds 16,800, and he has plenty of money. Open the doors and help people! Well, guess not eh!’
Pastor Greg Locke reached out on Twitter also as he said: ‘Joel Osteen, as a Pastor you have a huge obligation to show the love of Christ at this very moment. OPEN THE DOORS. #HoustonStrong.’

Source: starrfmonline.com/2017/08/29/joel-osteen-blasted-for-closing-his-17k-seat-lakewood-megachurch/