HOUSTON – Joel Osteen confirmed to KPRC2 he is expecting Kanye West to visit Lakewood Church in the next few weeks.
TMZ first reported the pair are in communication and often discuss faith. Osteen believes West's life is rooted in faith and love, and is proud that the rapper has overcome the sometimes difficult obstacles of the entertainment industry, and has come out a born-again Christian, according to TMZ.
"There is no scheduled date for Kanye to come to Lakewood. Joel and Kanye do talk, in fact as recently as two weeks ago. Kanye does plan to come to a service in the near future, but no date has been set yet," Senior Executive of Joel Osteen Ministries, Donald Illoff said.
TMZ said the pair often discusses faith. Osteen believes West's life is rooted in faith and love, and is proud that the rapper has overcome the sometimes difficult obstacles of the entertainment industry, and has come out a born-again Christian, according to TMZ.
West was set to release a gospel album titled "Jesus is King" at midnight on Friday. The release was delayed to allow the artist the opportunity to correct mixes on three of the tracks.
To my fans
— ye (@kanyewest) October 25, 2019
Thank you for being loyal & patient
We are specifically fixing mixes on “Everything We Need” “Follow God” & “Water”
We not going to sleep until this album is out!
West dropped "Jesus is King" hours later, on Friday morning. The album includes 10 tracks following a religious theme.
Earlier this year, West created an invite-only, church-style gathering called "Sunday Service." The public had the opportunity to experience the event at Coachella on Easter. TMZ reports a crowd of 50,000 festival-goers were in attendance. West's wife, Kim Kardashian shared this gallery of images on her Instagram from the event.
It is unknown if the rapper will bring his Sunday Service performance to Houston. Sources tell TMZ, Osteen did not want to put pressure on the artist to perform so he didn't ask, but would be more than willing to let West take the stage at Lakewood.