Joel Osteen says 'no way' his wife assaulted flight attendant

The pastor of America's biggest mega-church, Joel Osteen, said in court on Friday that his wife did not assault a flight attendant over a spill on the seat of her plane.

Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown is suing Victoria Osteen for 10 per cent of her net worth over allegations that the mega-church pastor's wife shoved her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the chest after becoming angry that a spill on her first-class seat had not been immediately cleaned up, according to Associated Press.

Joel Osteen testified to jurors for nearly two hours after being called to the witness stand by Brown's attorney, Reginald McKamie.

He said that the incident before the start of a flight to Vail, Colorado, in 2005 was "an unfortunate misunderstanding", according to the Associated Press.

"We would never disrespect authority or disrespect (Brown). There's no way in the world" Victoria Osteen assaulted Brown, Joel Osteen was quoted as saying by AP.

Joel Osteen frequently preaches on the "favour of God", his belief that Christians can expect good things from God whilst non-believers can only hope that they may happen.

It was a message McKamie picked up on in court.

"You feel that you're entitled to the favour of God ... to do things other people can't do," McKamie said.

"All of God's children are," Osteen said.

Ms Brown also claims that Ms Osteen had to be physically restrained after trying to enter the cockpit and was finally removed from the plane in an incident before the start of a 2005 flight to Vail, Colorado. Hardin says that Victoria Osteen left the plane voluntarily with her family, reports AP.

In addition to financial damages, Ms Brown is asking that Victoria Osteen apologise and pay for the costs of her counselling. She claims that she was injured by the hit to the chest and that the incident caused her to suffer from anxiety and haemorrhoids, according to the Associated Press. She also claims that her faith suffered as a result.