Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, recently made an emotional announced that the church paid off a $100 million dollar loan last week.
"It's because of your faithfulness," Osteen told his congregation, according to The Houston Chronicle. "You paid it off by the goodness of God."
As reported by CBN News, the church had paid off a $100 million dollar loan from Bank of America that was first taken out almost two decades ago.
"I look back over these 19 years, and there have been great years. I mean, Lakewood has been a lighthouse to the whole world. And it was interesting when we got the facility. You know, it was a basketball arena, like you saw. But, you know, underneath these bleachers, service areas, and locker rooms and where they serve food, it wasn't public areas," Osteen said. "We needed nurseries, and we needed children's facilities. We needed a lot more things."
The mega church pastor explained that the church initially leased the facility for 60 years in 2001 for $11.5 million. Several years later, Osteen looked for bids to have the church undergo renovations, including an indoor stage, redesigning the outdoor facade, and replacing the locker rooms and food areas with rooms for childcare and meetings.
Lakewood Church also had plans to build a five-story building next to the arena, as reported by The Chronicle.
"I got the bill back for the bids, and it was $100 million to renovate. And I thought, kind of, 'God, I didn't sign up for this.' I was 36 years old. And I thought, but you know what, God gives you grace for every season of your life," Osteen said, smiling.
At one point, Osteen went to the bank, where he and his late father John Osteen had accounts for years, to attempt to secure the loans. The bank, however, turned them down.
"Let me tell you, y'all, they were so negative. They were just like, 'Man, it's not gonna happen. We don't think you can raise the money and all this stuff.' And man, we walked out of there and I was discouraged at first until I let it go in one ear and out the other," Osteen said.
Lakewood subsequently tried to secure the loan through Bank of America.
"The first day we were there without even knowing us. They had never seen our financials. They had a check for $25 million that they said we could borrow," an emotional Osteen said.
“I saw that $25 million, I said, 'You all are going to let us borrow $25 million, would you let us borrow $100 million?' They said, 'We'll do it.' Bank of America loaned us $100 million,” he continued.
"So, my big announcement today is that as of Dec. 31 of last year, we have officially paid off the $100 million loan," Osteen said, tearing up again as the congregation cheered and gave a standing ovation.
Osteen noted that in the past 20 years of paying off the loans, the church never cut back on its outreaches.
"We spent hundreds of millions of dollars on media and humanitarian [aid], and helping people all over the world," he said.
Although the church is now “out of debt,” Osteen said there’s still smaller debt on capital equipment.
"What God has done for Lakewood, he's going to do in your life," he said transitioning into his message. "I believe in 2024 you'll see God release you from some things that have held you back. Release you from debt. Release you from addiction. Release you from wrong mindsets. I just believe a year of release. A year of just God's goodness in new ways."
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Bonnie Biess/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.