Here are more details from Click2Houston: Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen is questioned after a plumber finds 'bags and bags' of cash and checks stashed in 500 envelopes in bathroom wall – seven years after $600,000 in donations were stolen from the church. 'Bags and bags' of money found stashed in bathroom wall at Joel Osteen's megachurch: report īreaking news: Money, checks found in wall of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, years after $600K burglary – #KPRC2 #hounews #HTX /pGwDelCOMK This article originally appeared at Religion News Service.Seems very nefarious, but that’s just me. “I think I say things that people think but they’re afraid of the repercussions.” I think people are hungry for the truth,” he said. In an interview with RNS earlier this year, Locke compared himself to John the Baptist and said he was “a voice crying in the wilderness.” Locke’s Twitter page notes the suspension and says: “Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.” In his Facebook Live, Locke said that he had been banned from Twitter for short periods in the past and he encouraged viewers to follow him on Facebook and other social media channels. Related article: Ed Stetzer: Feucht, Locke and the Like Are a Sideshow - Quit Letting Them Distract You One all-night session on his stationary bike ended after more than 170 turkeys were donated to the church, in time to give away during the holidays. Locke said that the church has baptizedmore than 1,000 people during the pandemic and he has no plans to stop in-person services.Įarlier this year, Locke told attendees at America’s Revival that his church would resist any attempts to shut down those services, saying the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms would protect their right to worship.Ī natural showman on stage, Locke has backpacked for hundreds of miles to raise money to buy Bibles, spent the night in a boom lift and bicycled for hours in the cold to raise money for the homeless. “Do not get vaccinated.”Ī post shared by Pastor Greg Locke are not going to stop,” he said.ĭespite its lack of masks, Global Vision has drawn large crowds, often drawing out-of-state fans of Locke’s videos. “Do not get vaccinated,” he told his congregation in August.
Locke has also warned churchgoers not to be vaccinated, referring to the COVID-19 vaccine as an “experimental potion.” While the governor of Tennessee has issued past guidelines limiting the size of large group meetings during the pandemic, churches have been exempt from those statewide restrictions. If you want to social distance, go to First Baptist Church, but don’t come to this one.” I am not playing these Democrat games up in this church. “If they go through round two and you start showing up all these masks and all this nonsense, I’ll ask you to leave. “Don’t believe this delta variant nonsense,” he told worshipers at a July service. Related article: Greg Locke Tells Church Members ‘I Will Ask You to Leave’ If They Wear a Mask Again “We celebrate FAITH over FEAR,” the sign reads. The pastor went so far as to post an anti-mask sign outside the 3,000-seat tent where his church holds outdoor services, stating that the church campus is mask-free.
Locke has repeatedly mocked those who wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has told worshipers that anyone who shows up at his church in a mask will be asked to leave. “I’ve just been hanging on for the ride.”
“It’s been a whirlwind,” he told Religion News Service in an interview earlier this year at America’s Revival, a God-and-country conference held in Dallas, where Locke was a featured speaker. His Facebook videos criticizing that decision and follow-up videos about plans by Target to allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice went viral, turning Locke into a social media force. Pastor of the independent Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, just east of Nashville, Locke was a relatively unknown figure until he discovered the power of social media in the wake of the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationally. Welcome to America,” Locke said in a Facebook message posted Tuesday afternoon (Sept. “Twitter just permanently suspended my account. (RNS) Pastor Greg Locke, known for controversial stands on COVID-19 and the 2020 election, has been bannedfrom the social media giant Twitter.