It is good to see that Brian Houston has offered an official statement. The Christian Post has the statement at the end of their article. We will be looking further into Brian Houston’s clarification in another article.
We would like to add one correction to the Christian post. They said we said, “But we know that he can’t preach the Christian gospel because he doesn’t know it”. We did. However, we provided the following link to justify our serious claim:
“But we know that he can’t preach the Christian gospel because he doesn’t know it.”
With that corrected, the Christian Post reported the following,
Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston Denies Promoting ‘Chrislam;’ Says Sermon Taken Out of Context
Critics Blast Megachurch Leader for Saying Christians, Muslims Serve Same God; Houston Insists Flub Caused Misinterpretation
Brian C. Houston, leader of one of the world’s largest Christian churches, is denying allegations that he promotes “Chrislam,” a theological blend of Christianity and Islam, after stating in a December 2013 sermon, “Do you know – take it all the way back into the Old Testament and the Muslim and you, we actually serve the same God. Allah to a Muslim, to us Abba Father God.”
With a firestorm raging online among his critics for more than a week, the influential Sydney, Australian pastor of the 30,000-member Hillsong Church finally issued a statement Thursday night (or late Friday morning his time) regarding allegations that he was promoting “Chrislam.”
“The spirit of the message was exactly the opposite of what some critics are claiming. If you listened to the message in its entirety, my point was that; who a Muslim extremist believes God is, determines what they believe God does, and what they believe God loves,” Pastor Houston insists in the statement, titled “Correction of Misinformation,” which can be read in full below.
Houston attributes his remarks about Muslims and Christians serving the same God made during the 2013 sermon, titled “Living for the Master’s Well Done, Part 1,” to a flubbed delivery. He also expressed doubt that critics would accept his clarification.
“Those propagating these false statements have taken one sentence from an entire message out of context. I realize that some critics WANT to believe their interpretation, but my prayer is that reasonable people will take my comment in context, accept my acknowledgment that I did not explain this sentence as I intended, and judge me on 40 years of pointing people to Jesus – not one sentence,” explains Houston, who recently joined U.S. megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes at his annual Pastors and Leadership Conference in Miami, Fla.
Original uploads of the Pentecostal pastor’s sermon appear to have been scrubbed from the Internet, although severalcopies were still easily found during a Web search. The troublesome part of Houston’s sermon has him stating:
“Do you know – take it all the way back into the Old Testament and the Muslim and you, we actually serve the same God. Allah to a Muslim, to us Abba Father God. And of course through history, those views have changed greatly. But let’s make sure that we view God through the eyes of Jesus, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the beauty of a Savior, the loving open inclusive arms of a loving God. And that way we’ll lead out of that and you’ll be purposeful about your leadership and you’ll draw people just like the Lord Jesus always does through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hillsong Church Leader Brian Houston Teaches Chrislam from Now The End Begins on Vimeo.
Vimeo
Critics have been questioning Houston since early last week when videos of his sermon started circulating. Houston’s accusers claim his remarks on Muslims and Christians indicates that the Assemblies of God leader preaches a Gospel other than the Christian one.
“If Brian Houston does indeed preach the Christian gospel as he claims, then he would know that the Muslim and Christian faiths are incompatible,” states the Hillsong Church Watch website in a viral post on Houston’s sermon. “But we know that he can’t preach the Christian gospel because he doesn’t know it. Brian Houston’s comment is just as offensive to Muslims as it is to Christians and is essentially doing more unjust damage to both faiths.”
The “watch” website, part of several self-declared discernment blogs targeting high-profile Christian leaders and their churches and ministries, states that it was started by “a group of concerned leaders, pastors and elders from various denominations around Australia on Facebook.”
While Islam acknowledges Jesus as a prophet, the Quran denies His deity as well as His crucifixion, an event essential to the Christian teaching on salvation. Despite other theological conflicts, such as the Christian confession of Jesus as the Son of God, advocates of “Chrislam” insist the two faiths are compatible.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., also has been denying allegations for years that he practices or promotes the syncretistic teaching of “Chrislam,” a movement which reportedly started in the 1980s. Warren, calling the allegation “a lie that won’t die,” occasionally points concerned supporters to documents meant to clarify his fidelity to the Christian faith.
Hillsong Church, founded in 1983 by Houston and his wife, Bobbie Houston, welcomes about 30,000 worshipers every weekend at 11 campuses scattered around the world, with a 12th in Los Angeles in development. In Australia, Hillsong has six campuses and twice as many extension services. The megachurch, also known for its mega-popular and award-winning worship band Hillsong United, states that its mission is “to reach and influence the world by building a large Christ-centered, Bible-based church, changing mindsets and empowering people to lead and impact in every sphere of life.” The Houstons, whose Hillsong Church is affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches (the Assemblies of God in Australia), have three adult children, also involved in ministry.
Read Pastor Houston’s full statement, available at hillsong.com, below:
Recently there have been false claims on social media that I believe Muslims and Christians worship the same God. This is incorrect. Those propagating these false statements have taken one sentence from an entire message out of context. I realize that some critics WANT to believe their interpretation, but my prayer is that reasonable people will take my comment in context, accept my acknowledgment that I did not explain this sentence as I intended, and judge me on 40 years of pointing people to Jesus – not one sentence.
For further clarification, here is the context of my message:
King David said about His God in Psalm 119:68, “you ARE good and you DO good”. Who David believed God IS, determined what He Believed God DOES.
The spirit of the message was exactly the opposite of what some critics are claiming. If you listened to the message in its entirety, my point was that; who a Muslim extremist believes God is,determines what they believe God does, and what they believe God loves.
I was contrasting their harsh perspective of (their) god, with who I believe God is – (a Loving God,the Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ) and therefore what I believe God does and what I believe God loves. The ONE sentence that critics are drawing huge conclusions from was clearly a(clumsy) way of me explaining that though both Christians and Muslims believe they serve the God of Abraham, they are very DIFFERENT ‘entities’ or ‘deities’ in both nature and action.
I have always believed and will always believe that there is only one Way to God and that is through His Son, Christ Jesus. I also believe that anyone – irrespective of their religious upbringing, culture or background – can find grace, peace, freedom and eternal life through Christ.
Brian Houston
Source: By Nicola Menzie, Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston Denies Promoting ‘Chrislam;’ Says Sermon Taken Out of Context, The Christian Post, http://www.christianpost.com/news/hillsong-church-pastor-brian-houston-denies-promoting-chrislam-says-sermon-taken-out-of-context-116966/, Published 28/03/2014. (Accessed 29/03/2014.)
Hillsong Church Watch 
Reblogged this on ABUNDANT LIFE LIVING and commented:
Time will tell.
Brian sounds just like that other Guy from the US … Rick Warren which he had on his platform a few years ago. Both make statements then lie about making them. Nothing surprises me though, since any Pastor who can allow a man like Rick Warren to say what he said at the July 3rd 2006 Hill song conference which was
“Lenin said give me one hundred totally committed people and I’ll change the world, Jesus did it with eleven. It obviously worked, we’re all here. And when they walked into Jerusalem, they said they’ve turned the city and the world upside down. It’s time we turned it right side up, will you be that person, what’s it going to take? Well first we have to accept God’s agenda, and what is God’s agenda? Well it’s not yours. God’s agenda is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is Jesus’ favourite term for His plan in the world.”
The fact he didn’t turf him out of the building speaks volumes.
Brian sounds just like that other Guy from the US … Rick Warren which he had on his platform a few years ago. Both make statements then back pedal about making them. I think the key word in his talk though is “inclusive”. Jesus is not inclusive He is exclusive. Nothing surprises me though, since any Pastor who can allow a man like Rick Warren to say what he said at the July 3rd 2006 Hill song conference which was
“Lenin said give me one hundred totally committed people and I’ll change the world, Jesus did it with eleven. It obviously worked, we’re all here. And when they walked into Jerusalem, they said they’ve turned the city and the world upside down. It’s time we turned it right side up, will you be that person, what’s it going to take? Well first we have to accept God’s agenda, and what is God’s agenda? Well it’s not yours. God’s agenda is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is Jesus’ favorite term for His plan in the world.”
The fact he didn’t turf him out of the building speaks volumes.
Rick Warren – the elephant in the room!!
I think a lot of people are concerned where Brian Houston may be heading when looking at the business associations he has and the loose teaching style he uses.
To the more orthodox Christian, “view” of God will be very different to the liberal Christian who has already seized the “inclusive” word.
Being vague and general offends less people, but who knows where you really stand or where the (biblical) lines are drawn?
“Analysis of Brian Houston’s Official Clarification” – a very fair and biblical analysis at the 38 min 55 sec mark on the attached “Fighting For The Faith” program.
http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2014/03/baal-divorce-certificates-cause-record-flooding-in-texas.html
Interestingly Chris points out a problem I have with Brian Houston – his ongoing fellowship with T.D.Jakes (“who recently joined U.S. megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes at his annual Pastors and Leadership Conference in Miami, Fla.”)
I know Brian very well and sometimes in the exuberance of a sermon we all miss speak, Brian is AOG and knows Christ and is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, islam and muslims never existed until 1300 years ago so there was no alah until a dheherd buy became his “prophet” so cut Brian and Hillsong some slack y’all, Brian has done more for the Kingdom than all of Y’all put together, Brian is good people, and I’m not on his payroll, not in his church, not in his ministry, I don’t like all if his music but he is my friend, so knock it off, don’t give the enemies of the cross of Christ to blaspheme
Sorry to say Bruce, that the ‘enemies’ are already blaspheming, and it’s due to the scandals, false teaching and lavish lifestyles that the Houstons and some of their underlings enjoy, which causes the heathen to curse and use the Lord’s name in vain, in regard to Hillsong. Tithing is a ‘doctrine of devils’ – it robs God’s people of the opportunity to give freely, according to the scriptures… Brian calls us Pharisees, but here’s the word of the Lord:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” (Matthew 23:13, 14)
Brian would have to publicly repent of a lot of things before the heathen would stop blaspheming Bruce – flogging people for money, encouraging homosexuals to come to church, without repentance, teaching motivational/New Age crap instead of teaching God’s truths from the Bible, just to name a few… there’s a lot more
Why should we leave him alone when he is proactively deceiving millions of hard working, family oriented people around the globe? These people need rescuing from Hillsong, not being encouraged to join it. Hillsong has been tagged as a cult by former members and the media, with some government departments investigating it in relation to funding rorts in the past…
Your idea of Christianity Bruce, seems more like “churchianity” – it is really because of the Houston’s Bible ignorance, coupled with their false gospel (which cannot save anyone) along with Hyper Faith, Latter Rain/NAR and Emergent influences, that has sunk the Hillsong ship – it may appear to be still afloat, but it is really leaking like a sieve…
Brian may be ‘good people’ in your estimation, but that has not prevented many thousands of people from leaving Hillsong over many years, due to the unresolved issues I have suggested…
“I know Brian very well”
If this is true you would not be defending him.
What’s the gospel Bruce?
Many years ago during our time in a “megachurch”, someone graciously pointed us to a ministry that shook our Christian worldview profoundly.
If just one person listens to the following and has their own Christian worldview shaken, maybe it just might the Holy Spirit extending the same sovereign grace and restoration He extended to us.
Compare this lecture to the one Brian Houston gave above and see who honours God more than “purpose”. See which message lays upon the “purpose-driven” soul, burdens only Christ can carry.
See which message brings comfort.
http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2014/03/friendship-with-the-world-is-enmity-with-god.html
In the lecture above “Friendship with the world is enmity with God”, the main person referred to as having a “code, colouring book and spontaneous baptisms” is Steven Furtick, a keynote speaker at more than a few Hillsong and C3 “Presence” conferences.
Why?
1 Thessalonians 5:21. “Test all things; hold fast what is good”. Nothing about what Houston said was “good”. And this has been found under the testing of it.
I agree with Chris. I listened to the Brian Houston message shortly after it was posted on the internet. It was all bad. Butchering God’s word may draw followers and grow ‘churches’ but it doesn’t lead people to Christ.