These are all undisputed facts beloved. The best people like Ed Stetzer can muster after facing these facts is to attack the people who rightly criticized and then mutter something vaguely incoherent and irrelevant about whether Lakewood could have successfully functioned as a shelter. I am no math expert but I can compute this -- you help zero percent of the people you do not try to help. Let us also not lose sight of the unseemliness of all of this. This is a man who spreads a false gospel leading people to hell who is worth upwards of 50 million dollars and lives in a 10 million dollar mansion. To my knowledge he has contributed nothing from his own wealth (although he may have chosen to not make it public in fairness) while soliciting donations from his congregation for money and supplies. I do not know how anyone who calls themselves a Christian can defend this. Stetzer closes his article by trying to play junior psychologist and reprimand people who can clearly discern better than he can. Most of it is not worth repeating except this nugget:
"Stop the selective listening. Let's face it. Many already hate Osteen, so they are hungry for a scandal. Here's the tough question: Are we hungry for a strategic or moral failure at Lakewood, too? As I mentioned above, I have serious thoughts about Osteen's theology. But I need not plug my ears so that I can't hear what is true." -- Ed Stetzer
Stetzer's entire premise has been built on some nefarious group of people who secretly hate Joel Osteen. For most, the truth is what matters and since Osteen does not preach the truth he gets called out on it. What is interesting here however is what Ed Stetzer thinks is a tough question. Are we hungry for a strategic failure at Lakewood? That is not a tough question if you love Jesus and His Gospel. The answer is a resounding yes. Joel Osteen is a wolf of the highest order. He preaches multiple heresies, never preaches sin and repentance, and is leading untold numbers of people to the broad path. What happened with this storm is separate from these facts. This weekend was about the world seeing Osteen for the fraud he is. The doctrinal issues are about the church seeing him for the fraud he is. It is a shame that the world is ahead of the church on this one. No one is suggesting that you need to plug your ears. Just open your eyes.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- August 30, 2017
