Christian megachurch minister and motivational speaker Joel Osteen has landed himself in the spotlight after a plumber reportedly discovered bags of cash hidden in the wall of his megachurch bathroom.
The report comes courtesy of NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston. A plumber in the city, identified only as “Justin” called into popular radio morning show at 100.3 The Bull to share his story.
According to Justin, he arrived at the church on November 10 to repair a loose toilet.“ There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” he said. “We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall, and I was like ‘Oh wow!’”
Justin investigated the envelopes to discover some contained cash — others had checks.
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“I went ahead and contacted the maintenance supervisor that was there, and I turned it all in,” he added.
The discovery is significant as Lakewood Church, the megachurch overseen by Osteen, reported $600,000 stolen in 2014. Houston Police have said the case is still open, with a $25,000 reward offered in connection with the case. Justin claims he contacted both Houston Crime Stoppers and Joel Osteen about the reward. Crime Stoppers claimed that the statute of limitations has expired on the reward, while Osteen has yet to reply to Justin’s query.
A spokesperson for Lakewood Church, meanwhile, has confirmed the discovery of the money hidden in the wall. The church has not, however, confirmed that it is the missing $600,000.
“Recently, while repair work was being done at Lakewood Church, an undisclosed amount of cash and checks were found,” the church representative said. “Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation. Lakewood has no further comment at this time.”
If the money found in the wall is the missing $600,000, the question remains who would or could hide it there. Given the connection to Osteen, the shadiness of the situation shouldn’t be surprising. In the past, he has preached “prosperity theology,” a doctrine that claims God rewards good Christians with material wealth, which they are entitled to keep. Jesus preached poverty and charity, for the record. Last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Osteen and Lakewood Church also accepted $4.4 million in PPP loans.
In the past, Osteen has also spoken out against homosexuality, referring to it as “not God’s best.” He later elaborated saying he doesn’t “dislike anybody” and that LGBTQ people are welcome in his church, even if their lifestyle is sinful. We’re pretty sure he’d happily accept money from queer people in his collection plate, too.
Don’t be surprised if it turns up in a wall.
barryaksarben
Well, I know what they didnt find in this asshats church and that is GOD
G-Man
That’s for sure!
Cam
Stolen money wouldn’t be walled up i the same thing. More likely they are laundering money.
ROTHERS
l can only hope that if Mr.Osteen has some experience in donating to charities,
complementing & aiding other charity work. i.e. to those who provide health/protective services to children
Mr. Stadnick
God said hide your dodgy cash behind the toilet.
James
HE SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE MONEY AND NOT GIVEN IT TO THAT CREEP OSTEEN.
Heywood Jablowme
Yes! Osteen “has preached ‘prosperity theology,’ a doctrine that claims God rewards good Christians with material wealth, which they are entitled to keep.” So according to Osteen, an honest plumber who’s a good Christian should just keep the money. God hid the money in the wall in order to reward him. Or something like that!
winemaker
For those who don’t know, this guy lives in a mega mansion and is very wealthy yet in this day and age, there are people who still follow this asshat and phony balony and believe his BULLSHIT. This guys just like that sun moon cultist in Oregon many years ago. These are most likely people who still believe in the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. Am I the only one who fails to see the charm of this liar, thief and charlatan? I don’t know any religious minister ( I’m referring to a single minister not a church ) with this much wealth, does anyone else here feel different? This guy osteen is a cultist just like brigham young and joseph smith and look what happened there. Ask any Catholic priest or Protestant minister about osteen and they’ll call him a phony and his so called ‘church’ nothing more than a money laundering cult. And even more outrageous, this guys so called ‘church’ is tax exempt. Wow where do i sign up to become a so called minister , church or whatever that exempts me from paying taxes?
winemaker
Bottom line psteen got caught with his pants down, yikes, what a revolting and disgusting thought if I do say so myself.
jayceecook
I’m just sitting here trying to figure out why they chose the bathroom to hide the money. Why put it in a place that is usually one of the most highly trafficked places in a public building? One prone to renovations and repairs. Can’t fix stupid.
Openminded
Maybe a dim witted church secretary thought the slot in the wall was a bank depository, or the glory hole in the men’s room required donations for services rendered.
Seriously, why would you keep stolen checks? No bank would cash a check after this long of a period and there is the obvious paper trail if they did. Deposit them in the church account or shred them maybe, but don’t keep them. This makes me think some foul play may be involved in the theft. Maybe someone in the church caught the thief and sent him to meet the big Guy before he would tell them where the cash was. If the money never left the building, is it still theft?
jayceecook
If it can be proved that JO and/or the folks who reported the money missing actually hid it then they could be in big trouble. Especially if there was any kind of insurance coverage on the donations. At the very least it would be filing a false police report.
Jim
Hey if I give this shill money will god bless me?
JRamonMc
Give the plumber the 25k he’s due for finding the 600k that was stolen. If it weren’t for him, it would still be stuck in a wall behind a toilet. Unless that was part of your rainy day stash Joel?
Creamsicle
For real. A statust of limitations on rewards for an unsolved crime is bullshit.
Musk
Just like Julian of Norwich, only different. *guffaw*
cuteguy
This is what cults do, hide money so the cops can’t get their money when they get raided