Update — Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 3:45 p.m. EDT: Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church announced they would open their doors to victims of Hurricane Harvey after they received a massive backlash on social media.

"We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need. We are prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity. Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm in helping our fellow citizens rebuild their lives,” a statement from the church read Monday.

Original story:

Pastor Joel Osteen apparently refused to help victims of Hurricane Harvey, the storm that killed at least five people, injured more than a dozen and displaced tens of thousands of people. Instead of opening up his church doors to victims, Osteen canceled services at Lakewood Church and locked the doors. The megachurch is an arena that could seat nearly 17,000 people and was not flooded by Harvey.

“Due to the weather impact of Hurricane Harvey and concern for the safety of our members, all Lakewood Church worship services for this weekend, Saturday, Aug. 26th and Sunday, Aug. 27th have been canceled,” a statement on the church’s website Saturday read. Although we will not be having a live service, we will be streaming a previous Lakewood Church service and message by Pastor Joel Osteen titled ‘Pray For Others’ at LakewoodChurch.com, the Lakewood Church mobile app and SiriusXM channel 128. Our Spanish Pastor, Danilo Montero, and Young Adults Pastor, Nick Nilson, will also be ministering via previously streamed messages at each of their respective services as well.”

READ: Joel Osteen Net Worth: Pastor Closes Megachurch During Hurricane Harvey

The post added: “We here at Lakewood are praying for your safety during this time...”

Osteen took to his personal Twitter account to write about the superstorm, though he did not offer to open up the doors of his personal home to help victims.

Joel Osteen
Pastor Joel Osteen was criticized by some Twitter users after he didn't open up the doors of his megachurch to the tens of thousands of Houston residents that were displaced by Hurricane Harvey. Above, the televangelist is pictured Feb. 5, 2016 in San Francisco. Getty Images

“God uses people to push you to where you’re supposed to be. Without them, you couldn’t fulfill your destiny. Victoria & I are praying for everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. Please join us as we pray for the safety of our Texas friends & family,” he tweeted Saturday. “Give people the grace to change. Don’t judge their whole life on one season, one mistake.”

Osteen continued to tweet the following day. “There’s a simple phrase you have to get down in your spirit, ‘God’s got this,’” the pastor wrote. “God is still on the throne. He brought you through in the past; He’ll bring you through again. Jesus promises us peace that passes understanding. That’s peace when it doesn’t make sense.”

Twitter users generally weren’t pleased to find out Osteen was tweeting from the comfort of his home instead of helping the displaced victims of Hurricane Harvey. Many called Osteen out for being “non-Christian” and riding out the storm in the comfort of his luxury estate. Some of their responses have been posted below:

At the time this article was written, Osteen had not responded to the criticism.

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