Joel Osteen preaching the Gospel in Seattle. Preacher gets $336 per seat in the Key Arena. No free section for poor people. You have to be affluent (maybe even white) to hear Joel's Gospel.

Oh God, Bless this church
and help me sell these $336 tickets
so that I can save souls for you!
Love, Your Servant, Joel O$teen

By Maurice Lacunza


Well, Joel Osteen was teetering on the fence of respect for me. I know that he thinks gays are "not God's best plan" which puts a lot of my friends in a bad spot. OK, let me try and overlook that for just a minute. Then I saw an ad for his upcoming crusade in Seattle. Oddly, the advertisement kept mentioning something about getting "tickets" to the event.

Is it a Concert? A Football Game?
No. It is The Gospel of Jesus
for only $40 to $336 seat

I called the toll free number. They said that I could get tickets for $16.00 each. I said, OH. I thought it was preaching. So this is a concert then? No. It is preaching. But why do you charge money for the gospel? OH. It must be a football game then. NO. It is Joel Osteen preaching. Well, what about poor people I asked? I asked if they had a section for poor people to at least be able to stand in. No she said. No such free area. She said that the arena costs money and Joel has to charge for it. She asked how many tickets I wanted. I said I couldn't afford to pay for the gospel. She said I could call the Key Arena and see if they had a free section for poor people. I thanked her and said that I I won't be able to buy any tickets. She gave me a God bless you and we hung up.

Next, I went to the Joel Osteen Website and submitted the following comment:

For $40, you can hear the Gospel
of  Christ. For $336, you can
sit in the aisle seat near Joel Osteen.

"I tried to get a ticket to hear Joel preach the Word of God in Seattle. Apparently the tickets are $40 to $336.00.  Are there some free tickets so that poor people like me can hear the Word preached? Or, if there is a free section for poor people to stand in, how will I be able to find out? Please let me know because I live in Seattle and I respect Joel and Victoria and would like to hear the Word preached."

It's hard to tell the difference between rich
old world religion and modern
greedy preachers.  Most Religion is all
about: the money.

"I have many poor friends who also would like to hear the Word of God preached but don't have any money to pay for it. Please help me if you can."


This comment came back today from the Joel Osteen Ministry: "I am glad that you contacted us about tickets first before purchasing then on the internet as there are many internet scams like the ones you have seen, that are re-selling Joel Osteen Night of Hope tickets for $50-$350. Please do not be fools (fooled?) as our tickets sell for $15.00 + tax.

December 6, 2011 update. I received another email from Joel Osteen today: Thank you for your e-mail to Joel Osteen Ministries. We are aware of the ticket scams that are taking place. Unfortunately we are unable to remedy this situation. Please know that Ticketmaster is the only company that is authorized to issue tickets to any Joel Osteen Event. Tickets should only be issued at $15 per ticket.

Nothing for the poor. I think that Joel has joined the ranks of the mega preachers who are in it for the money. Jesus told his disciples that they should go out and not worry about money. The preacher is billing the event as "A Night of Hope" and the byline beneath it is...Buy NOW! I swear to God, the byline really says "buy now." Click it for yourself and see.

Here is my final thought: How does a non-profit church get away with charging money for a non-profit god? They pay no taxes on their god activities. They gather millions from the followers of their god, and, they live lavish lifestyles.