“I got a legal threat from Brian. My original Facebook article on Hillsong was pulled.”
Source: Steve West, By Michael Fackerell, Dialogue with a former Believer who renounced Faith in God, Christian-Faith.com, http://www.christian-faith.com/dialogue-with-a-former-believer-who-renounced-faith-in-god/, Published 30/05/2013. (Accessed 2/06/2015.)
BRIAN HOUSTON: THE BULLY
The question is often asked why we remain anonymous. This article shows what happens to those who ask too many questions publically. Quite a while ago, we looked at Steve West (formerly involved in ministry at Hillsong) and the Australian media that exposed the problematic behaviour found in Hillsong and its leadership.
“This matter has been referred to our solicitors and any decision we make going forward will be made after prayerful consideration.”
We also found that Brian Houston of Hillsong tweeted back in 2010 the following:
Have been talking to lawyers Source: Brian Houston, Twitter, https://twitter.com/brianchouston/status/19724455742, 1:05 AM – 28 Jul 2010. (Accessd 15/05/2015.)
What did Brian Houston hope to achieve by publicly tweeting this? Is this as an act of intimidation towards Steve West?
We recently came across this letter that Steve West received from Hillsong’s lawyers back in 2010. The articles that Houston has personally responded to in the letter are the articles we have posted from Steve West (listed above).
We act for Hillsong Church and Pastor Brian Houston.
Our client has referred us to Facebook postings lodged by you and in particular a posting made on 9 July 2010 at 11.45 pm. That posting has prompted significant further chartroom dialogue from others.
In very broad terms the 9 July posting by you contains allegations that:
1. Hillsong loses half of its membership every five years; 2. The Hillsong culture is one of intolerance and it behaves in an un-Christian manner; 3. Hillsong is exploitative of its members of its Church; 4. Brian Houston personally profits from gifts by members of the Church to it in a dishonest and improper way; 5. Hillsong is dishonest about its financial dealings; 6. The dishonesty practice by Hillsong Church is deep and systematic; 7. Brian Houston behaves deceptively in statements he makes as the leader of Hillsong; 8. Hillsong “dupes” people; 9. Hillsong is a “con”.
The allegations contained in your post are defamatory of both Hillsong and Pastor Houston. The allegations are extremely serious as they contend that both Hillsong Church and Pastor Houston behave dishonestly and disreputably in their conduct.
Adding to the damage suffered by the making of the allegations alone is the repetition of them in chatroom discussions by other visitors to your Facebook page. The very content of your posting prompts the further defamation of our clients effectively at your request.
Further, we understand that you have been speaking to media organizations in relation to Hillsong and that in part you have repeated some of the allegations contained in your blog posting.
The allegations referred to above are all false as we are instructed. We understand that the material posted by you has prompted further publication of allegations in media outlets in relations to our clients. These further publications are at least in part based on the matters set out by you. Your conduct in the publication of these false allegations has prompted further false matters to be published by media organizations.
Our clients have suffered and continue to suffer significant reputational damage from the post made by you.
We are instructed that both Hillsong and Pastor Houston do not seek to censor or otherwise limit you making observations or criticisms about Hillsong, the Church, the principles it espouses and its conduct generally. Hillsong and Pastor Houston acknowledge your right to disagree with the Church and its followers.
However, both Hillsong and Pastor Houston do not accept the publication of false allegations about them by you in the terms set out above or at all.
We request on behalf of our clients that you immediately withdraw the post of 14 July 2010 and to the extent possible remove any further reference to that post in any response you have received on your Facebook page so that none of this material is available on the internet or at all.
Further, our clients instructs us to demand that you refrain from repeating these allegations in the future. You should not repeat these allegations either in matter you post on the web or in any interview or conversation you have with a journalist or member of the media.
Again, our client does not seek that you make no further comment about Hillsong or Pastor Houston, but that you make comments that are factually accurate and do not contain false allegations.
Whilst our clients reserve their rights in relation to the matters published by you in the past, they have instructed us to send this letter in the expectation that you act appropriately in the future after having these matters brought to your attention.
If you have any questions or require further information please do not hesitate to contact Damian Ward on 61 2 8289 5862 or dward@millsoakley.com.au.
Your faithfully,
DAMIAN WARD PARTNER
Source:
“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Proverbs 10:9
Chris Rosebrough recently reviewed Bill Hybels who spoke at Hilsong Conference 2014. This review only proves yet again that Hillsong Church do not listen to God but invite dangerous men to teach things that counter the teachings of Christianity.
Warning: Some people may find the content incredibly unsettling and disturbing.
Chris opened up hhis review with this introduction:
“What you are going to hear here is, well, not narcissistic eisegesis [narcigesis]. Not psychological eisegesis [psychogesis] but leadership eisegesis. otherwise known as führergesis.” – 59:46 [Emphasis added]
• Birthing Anointings and Conception “Miracles”
• Modern Tower of Babel?
• Sermon Review: Bill Hybels at Hillsong Conference
Source: Chris Rosebrough, Birthing Anointings And Conception “Miracles”, Fighting for the Faith, http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2015/05/birthing-anointings-and-conception-miracles.html, Published 15/05/2015.
In this article I will be looking at how Hillsong operate in secrecy to achieve their own purposes.
CONTROLLING SECRECY
One thing that I noticed which appears to be a common trade mark of mega churches is secrecy.
They shroud their events and conferences in secrecy. They treat us lay people like little kids that can’t wait for Christmas morning to unwrap the gifts and that we are just as thrilled with the “Surprise” element as all the gifts!
The year before we joined Hillsong I was at the leadership conference. I was helping out in the cafe when the lady in charge said: “Oh! Now it’s about time for the grand opening! Let’s turn the oven off and run and check it out! I’m so excited, it’s a big surprise! No idea what they are going to do but the opening is always something to see!”
So we rushed in and remained towards the back of the audience to get a glimpse. We saw the stage was all a glow with smoke and lights. There were two guys on keyboards on opposite sides of the stage dressed in pantomime masks (Like all white faces with no color) and they were playing like trans, disco, echo, high tech effects piano cords. Then a girl with a long, white, flowing robe appeared standing on a box/platform that was very high. This made her like a giant (almost) and was singing notes with her back to us. She was not singing words but just notes, like the girls in the Pink Floyd band.
The girl slowly turns around as she is singing. It’s very dramatic and theatrical. Then the rock and roll praise band comes out with 4-6 lead singers and full band and we are off to a roaring start.
They ended the 3-4 day conference with what they called “the Holy Shuffle”. It did not say in the program what it was but everybody was excited about it! It was some sort of dance night with a DJ, a sort of social ending to the conference. I was appalled by the idea and certainly did not go.
Also for the Easter service… nobody knew a girl was going to descend from the ceiling swinging from silk scarves!!!! Seriously you have more of an idea what to expect when you go to the circus… then you do on any given Sunday at a mega church!!!!
I object STRONGLY to not knowing what is going on.
Now I go to a small church where it is always announced what is going on and what to expect.
I seriously started looking into the Bible on this and realized that God never makes a move in secret. Even when the walls of Jericho came down he told the people what to expect.
In the New Testament when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Lord Jesus had said that he would send His spirit as the Comforter. AND the Lord has told us that when He returns… every eye shall see Him and the trumpet shall sound. The Lord doesn’t work or move in secret. When Jesus was born the angels in heaven sang his arrival! As you can see, we can go on and on with examples.
But look at how Jesus exposes the behaviour of Satan or God’s “enemy”:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.” Matthew 13:24-26
Working in secret is a Hillsong trademark and I don’t trust it. I do not like how it is being foisted on the church and reinforced as though this is how church operates. Hillsong is EVEN invading our churches in secret.
Didn’t Jesus and His Apostles teach that the Christian’s conduct and confession be public, open and honest? Why isn’t this standard in operation in Hillsong’s leadership?
CONCLUSION
Can you imagine that these days it’s more upfront to join a political party then a church? At least a political party says what they are going to do when you ellect them. Then they end up not doing any of it and we have the democratic power to vote them out of office!
In a church they just use spiritual manipulation. You have no power.
In this article, I will be looking at how Hillsong asked Oslo Christian Center to join their godfather family in the spring of 2014.
THE HILLSONG TAKEOVER
I was actually not at church the Sunday it was announced to the whole church. One of my friends met me later the same evening and excitedly told me that the church had joined the family of Hillsong.
I thought I wasn’t hearing right! Never in a hundred years did I expect the church to join the “family of Hillsong”!
I thought it was good enough, more than enough, in fact, all sufficient to be a part of the family of God!!! Whatever did it mean to join the family of Hillsong? What were the implications? It sounded like a good ole boys club scenario to me, where you get asked to join the club. It’s like, what on earth had we done to put us in the spotlight, enough to catch the attention of an Australian mega church on the other side of the globe? I realized all the Norwegian church members were really honored and touched that we had been asked to join their family. “Humbled,” in fact, to quote our pastor. That we would make the list and be asked to join was really amazing to the church members. Everybody thought it was very exciting!
I was curious to hear how the decision had played out. Had we voted on it? Or even talked about it? Had I had my head in the sand? How had I not even heard the buzz in the air? Was it really just landed on us with absolutely no warning?
It felt like boarding a train and knowing more or less that you will end up at this-and-this destination, but then midway, without warning, they change the engine and you head off in a completely different direction! You have no idea where the stops will be and much less where the destination is! In short, I felt completely disoriented!
This was a huge decision on the church’s part, international in fact. How was it possible we had not been informed?
AN UNHEALTHY CHURCH MENTALITY
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” 1 Peter 5:1-4 (Emphasis mine)
I did some research and found out that no, indeed, I hadn’t missed a vote or earlier announcement. A couple of members seemed shocked that I even asked about a congregational vote. They explained to me with a wave of the hand that one can’t have all the grannies getting involved to vote on the color of the sanctuary curtains! One needs a team of leaders to make these decisions because otherwise one would never get anything done! I couldn’t believe that was the explanation they tossed me!
I was seriously concerned about going to a church where the leadership made international decisions that they did not even run by us, the lay people, for some feed back. I asked some leaders if they had had prior knowledge. I was told that one month prior to the congregation being told, all the leaders, such as cell group leaders and various team leaders, were called in to a meeting and briefed on the idea. So first, the very top of the pyramid of leaders had discussed this, and when they had considered all the facts and felt it was a good idea, they presented it to the lesser leaders.
It was naturally presented in glowing terms by the top leaders, like it would only be a benefit to the church. We would of course keep our church name and own identity and operate church as usual. Joining Hillsong family would not affect our finances. But being part of the family of Hillsong would probably give us more access to Hillsong material and speakers and conferences and discounts of sorts. The leaders said at the meeting that they were open for feedback and thoughts around this decision.
It probably felt a bit like being a guest at a wedding. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.” Maybe some of the wedding guests have a certain gut feeling this marriage might not go well or are afraid the couple have not been entirely honest with one another or that they should give the relationship more time before they rush into this decision, but the doubting guest knows that the couple have made up their minds and nothing they say will probably stop them from taking their vows. Also, if they were to speak up and the couple got married anyway and lived happily ever after, then they would go down in history as the doubting guest with no faith in the couple’s commitment. Who is really going to risk their reputation and go out on a limb like that?
So I can imagine it was something like that at that meeting. Any silent objectors stayed silent and hoped for the best! Just sprinkle some good faith over it and it will work out for the best. I mean, hey, what’s not to like about it? It’s a win win situation! It’s a warm wall at our back! I mean, who in their right mind would turn down such an offer? It’s too good to be true! To get to be a part of famous Hillsong but still be our own identity?! Well, I wondered if it was just that: too good to be true.
Sadly, I personally think this decision says lots about our leaders faith and trust in our congregation; our congregations faith and trust in our leadership; and most importantly, how we as a church have put our faith and trust into Hillsong to love, grow, comfort and support us rather than God.
How is joining Hillsong helping us if we are faithfully preaching God’s Word daily? What power do they have that we don’t already have? Why the pressure to join? What are we saying about our church and leadership now that we’ve joined Hillsong? That we were incompetent?
HILLSONG’S OPERATION BEHIND THE TAKEOVER
So what did I know about Hillsong? About what every body else does. They are famous for their praise and worship music. I had an album of their music that somebody had given me and I knew others who rushed to get their newest albums as they cranked them out. We all sing their songs at some point in our various churches of all denominations. It’s this big church and popular Bible school destination. I mean, who with money doesn’t feel God calling them to a year of Bible school in exotic Australia???!!!! That’s really about all I knew about them. I mean, they are way over there on the other side of the globe. There are enough church goings-on to keep up with over here. Why pay any special attention to Hillsong other than their music?
But if we were becoming a member of Hillsong family, that must mean we line up with their doctrine and way of doing church. So I felt I better research the Hillsong pastors and see what they were up to, as I assumed we would be hearing more from them in the near future. As I looked into Hillsong, absolutely everything alarmed me.
Bit by bit I pieced together our involvement with Hillsong. Apparently we had history that went way back. Our pastor had studied at the Hillsong Bible School himself! So did someone at Hillsong Bible School give him the idea that he can convert his church into a Hillsong Church? If so, what Bible School would do such a thing? Why not hand over the church and start his own Hillsong Church upfront in Oslo?
When he returned to Norway, his father, who was the senior pastor and founder of Oslo Christian Center, gave him the opportunity to start a church in downtown Oslo. So the son started up a brand new church that was a branch of his father’s church. They rented Victoria Theater on the main drag in Oslo, a couple blocks from the palace. It was a theater that was a bar and concert venue the rest of the week. As I looked into Hillsong campus churches world wide, I noticed that seemed to be their trademark, renting secular theaters for church services. So we were apparently a chip off the old block! I guess it’s too embarrassing and uncool to meet in traditional churches. I assume this does not really accommodate the whole stage effect that these hip young “churches” are into.
I was told that Brian and Bobbie Houston had been emotionally and spiritually supportive about our young pastor starting this church. They had really prayed over him. Then when the son took over as senior pastor when his father retired they also really prayed over him again!
One year later, after he had been functioning as senior pastor of the three campuses of Oslo Christian Center, Hillsong invited us to join their family.
I hate to be so nonspiritual that I just look at the cold hard facts of finance and business opportunities, but all the same, I found myself pondering some things. Hillsong has a campus in Stockholm and Copenhagen… why not Norway? Norway is the most evangelical country of Scandinavia, so the market is big for a church like Hillsong. We have one of the best economies in the world and the highest standard of living. From a purely financial point of view, who wouldn’t want a piece of that pie?
Well, we were already here. So we would have been stiff competition for Hillsong, to be perfectly honest. So maybe Hillsong thought if you can’t beat them, join them. Whatever the case, I couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling that this was a great strategy on the part of Hillsong.
It wasn’t only our church that joined the family of Hillsong. A few months earlier, Intro Church also located in downtown Oslo, joined the family of Hillsong. We joined the family of Hillsong in the spring of 2014 and that summer, Norway was the most represented country at the London Hillsong summer conference.
A couple months before we joined the family of Hillsong, Pastor Clark from the London Hillsong campus, spoke at our leadership conference. That must have been a key weekend for all the leaders that were in the know! The following year after we had become members, they had three Hillsong pastors as speakers at the leadership conference: Hillsong pastors from Stockholm, Copenhagen and London.
The latest checkup on the OKS.no website shows that they now have various groups you can join, such as, “The Creative Team,” “The Kingdom Builders,” and “The Sisterhood.” These are ideas that come from Hillsong.
IS OUR CHURCH LOSING IT’S IDENTITY?
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” Galatians 3:1 (Emphasis mine)
I remember the first Easter service I was at the church, the sermon our pastor preached was really good and strong. It was an excellent service and had an impact on many. In fact, the people that I invited to that Easter service ended up coming back because it made such an impression!
But a year later, around the time we were joining the Hillsong family, the Easter service was very different. First of all, our pastor did not preach, even though he was present. The pastor from Stockholm Hillsong preached. I just didn’t understand why the Hillsong pastor wouldn’t want to be preaching at his own church on Easter morning. And why would our pastor move over on such an important Sunday? This is the big Sunday they encourage everyone to invite guests and people that maybe don’t normally go to church. If I had invited anyone to church that Sunday, they wouldn’t have gotten an impression of our own pastor. The sermon was so unmemorable. I can’t even remember the main points.
But worst of all, was that they had a trapeze artist swinging from silk scarves hanging from the stage ceiling as the praise and worship band played. It was a total show! It did not at all help me to think about the real reason of “Resurrection Sunday.” The show took over and as our pastor got up to do announcements, he said, ” Wow! What are we going to do next Sunday to compete with this?!!” And I thought, “Yes, what are you going to do? You have whet an unstoppable appetite. The show must go on. You have brought cake and circus to the church. Now you are going to get up and bore us with a sermon? Well, at least keep it short and sweet and peppy and fresh!”
When they tantalize our senses with so many experiences, they do not prepare us for a serious sermon. We just want more of the fun stuff. Oh please!
Don’t we have enough entertainment on our T.V., internet, Facebook, and iPhones? Do we really come to church for more of the same stuff? Like trapeze artists swinging on silk scarves to the music of praise and worship? Talk about caving into the carnal desires of the flesh!
WHY can’t we stick with the simple Gospel? The King of the universe was born in a stable. When Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, came to Jerusalem for the Passover, which we now refer to as Palm Sunday, He rode in on a donkey. Just one Easter service at our church cost more then both of those events put together! I couldn’t help thinking about the churches being burned in Pakistan and Egypt. Our dear brothers and sisters in Christ suffering and being martyred for the sake of the Gospel. Meanwhile we just pumped more and more money into presenting the simple Gospel to wealthy, high-maintenance western Christians.
That was one of the last Sundays I was at that church. The next Sundays I came only to fulfill my cafe duties through to the end of the spring semester. I simply could no longer with good conscience support the theology which is of course the backbone of any church–what they believe and stand for and put the focus on. I want to follow Jesus and not be a part of some big namebrand church that pumps loads of time and energy and money into entertaining the crowd.
HEADING DOWN HOUSTON RD
It was easy to see where Hillsong was headed. The Hillsong Praise Band has performed and worshiped with practicing Roman Catholics and partook in their pagan rites at the national Catholic World Youth Day, Sydney Australia.
That is called ecumenism. Hillsong work with other faiths that teach things that are not in the Bible, like praying to saints, and worshiping Mary. And then the Catholics in turn let all other forms of faith on the stage, like Buddhists and Hindus and Shamans.
Hillsong also shared their stage with Brian and Jenn Johnson of Bethel in Redding, California. Hillsong let Brian and Jenn Johnson’s praise and worship band open up their 20l4 summer conference in London. Brian Johnson openly joked in an interview at a Hillsong praise and worship workshop, that the “Glory cloud of God” mostly shows up when it’s his song!
I find it toxic to be in an environment that openly laughs and jokes about holy things like the presence of God. The glory cloud of God is no laughing matter! We need to get back to, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
Hillsong pastor of the New York campus says he has “conversations” about a sin like homosexuality. There is no “Thus saith the Lord” unless it’s important issues to them like tithing and new prophetic statements. Also, how anybody can find the Hillsong promotional video for their 2015 summer conference inspirational, I will never understand. They make God sound very far away, as if we can hardly hear Him in the “violence of silence, brutalizing the senses”. We are “drawn by a whisper that waits for our response.” What does this mean? It’s nothing but pagan mysticism presented as Christianity!
At no point do the creators of the promotional video say we actually have the words of God in our hands. A book called the Bible. A living book that we are meant to open and read. And every “whisper” that we hear blowing out in this vast universe is meant to line up with the word of God. And if it that “whisper” does not line up with the word of God, you chuck it out!
Hillsongs vision for 2015 in their own words is a “dangerous declaration, a new manifesto.” I would have to indeed agree with them: Hillsong has a new dangerous declaration that I want to stay far away from. Their new manifesto is another Gospel, another faith and another Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Above are just some of the unsettling truths I came across. I am still learning more frightening information about Hillsong as I write. Hillsong’s takeover of Garden City Church should concern Christians globally.
There is nothing ethical about the way Hillsong is undermine and take over churches like mine. These are people’s lives after all that will be affected. We need to be careful who we put our trust in. I personally, feel betrayed with my church’s conduct. I felt pressured and manipulated and I am sure others felt the same way.
To me, I wish my church was more forthcoming about this takeover in advance. Why could they not trust their congregation in voting on this very important issue? Why did the congregation blindly hand over their trust to the pastors to make this decision for them? Why the secrecy? While I discovered that it wasn’t hidden knowledge that my pastor studied at Hillsong and met with Brian Houston on some occasions, why was it decided that the entire church would be influenced from the top down in secret?
Everything was so carefully managed and orchestrated. Was our church informed about Hillsong’s history in Australia and New Zealand? There had been some scandals involving Pastor Frank Houston, Brian Houston and other Hillsong leaders. Are we to embrace their theology?
And what would happen if we became a proper bonefide Hillsong “Church”? Who will own the assets? What if my pastor realised that he made a mistake? Will Hillsong simply see him as an asset and discard him the way Hillsong has dealt with leaders or troublemakers in the past?
These are tough questions that I hope I will find answers to.
When a person’s “image” starts to be bought into question through their own conduct, it’s not uncommon for that person to automatically kick into damage control mode. Brian Houston is doing just this over the recent A Current Affair report.
As a result of this report, Hillsong published a very lethal statement lambasting the media and even political figure Nick Xenophon. Houston retweeted the article from Hillsong:
RT @hillsong: Statement by Hillsong Church on A Current Affair story: http://hil.so/qzpwSource: Brian Houston, Twitter, https://twitter.com/BrianCHouston/status/590987698384560128, 2:17 PM – 22 Apr 2015. (Accessed 23/04/2015.)
The statement and our analysis of it can be read here:
The problem with Brian Houston’s damage control is that it actually is doing more harm than good. For instance, the more he says, the more easier it is to spot his hypocrisy online. For example, Brian Houston tweeted the following:
However, Brian Houston seems to think that when he throws words around like “love”, “grace” and “leaders goal”, it means Mr Houston can be justified to say things like this:
When A Current Affair lie and malign @hillsong (which they have done regularly) they insult the intelligence of the thousands who attend. Source: Brian Houston, Twitter, https://twitter.com/BrianCHouston/status/590990488259420160, 2:28 PM – 22 Apr 2015. (Accessed 23/04/2015.)
It’s sad seeing Tim Costello become involved by aligning not only himself but World Vision in this story as well.
In closing, there’s an important question still to be asked.
Why didn’t Brian Houston call out Reverend Bill Crews for his strong statements against Hillsong during his interview on the ACA segment?
Rick Xenophon has been quite vocal for years about addressing cults and religious movements and their impact on families. What is the difference between Rick Xenophon and Reverend Bill Crews in their appeal for truthfulness from these ministries making mega millions of their “flocks” while their leaders lead lives of luxury and comfort in a very rarified atmosphere?
Did the Reverend Bill Crews miss out on an attack from Brian Houston because he (Brian Houston) operates under the false teaching of “not touching the Lord’s anointed” (Reverend Bill Crews)?
This person contacted us the same Tuesday night they attended this Hillsong event (Tuesday, 10 Feb, 2015). The email has been slightly edited to help assist readability, to make shorter and to ensure anonymity.
Tonight I attended the Hillsong Vision event because some friends wanted to go. I’m not particularly a great fan of Hillsong but I was not prepared for what I was about to witness that night. I had to go home and jot down what I heard straight away. My observations are in no particular order:
2000 years ago, a young first century itinerant preaching from a backwater village in an insignificant corner of the roman empire, announces his own ‘unusual manifesto’, the ramifications of which continue to reverberate down the centuries. With a dangerous brevity, Jesus the ‘hinge of history’, supersedes the many thousands of words that come before and after when He boldly declared in the Sermon on the Mount:
“You have heard that it was said… but I say to you…” Matt 5
Jesus’ manifesto was unusual. The Sermon on the Mount offers a radically different take on the world… a dangerous declaration that upends the status quo and human nature by challenging the idea of “business as usual”. It was dangerous because it was and is so unusual… re-founding the world on love and selflessness instead of hate and self-interest.
As a church, we have never been about doing it the world’s way and we aren’t about to start now. We are about doing things Jesus’ way because we long to see “His will on earth as it is in heaven”. The Church is a preview of the age to come and the Sermon on the Mount forms the constitution of the alternative Kingdom Jesus came to establish.
Our task as the people of God, is to offer an attractive alternative, a new society exampled by the church, built on the grace of Christ’s love. Love is the scandal and the dangerous declaration that can make many people angry, yet is the only thing that can set a sin bound world free.
The Kingdom cannot be enforced by coercion, it must be embodied by God’s people. The reign of God exists wherever we are subject to HIM… where love and the fruit of the spirit are evident there we find the borders of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God is among you. – Luke 17:21
Jesus represents the possibility of an unusual kingdom, an unusual power, an unusual glory and an unusual peace. To declare Jesus as Lord/God and to live in the love and humility of the beatitudes is our dangerous declaration to a world desperately looking for an alternative. It is the announcement of a living, breathing kingdom of grace that unceasingly calls out to the ‘whosoever will come’.
Source: By Hillsong Team, An Unusual Manifesto, Hillsong, http://hillsong.com/blogs/collected/2015/february/an-unusual-manifesto#.VOBKnvmUeSo, Published 09/02/2015. (Accessed 15/02/2015.)
As some have pointed out – Vision Sunday is on this week. This is a time in Hillsong where their fuhrer and visionary leader Brian Houston gets a God-given “Vision” for his church and preaches a “vision-casting” message that demands loyalty and unity above all else throughout his entire Hillsong movement and those affiliated with Hillsong.
The idea is this: to question the vision and the message is to question God Himself. Why? Because Brian Houston received this “Vision” and “Message” from God. It is claiming a prophetic status – that is, Brian Houston is presented to his entire movement as an infallible prophet. (Bobbie Houston claims this same status.) So what does it mean when God gives Brian Houston a God-given vision? What does it mean when God gives Bobbie Houston a God whisper? What does this mean for Hillsong?
Below we will let Brian Houston explain what it means when he gets his God-given vision for Hillsong in his book “For This I Was Born”. (This book is worth any theologian or scholar’s time if they want to research spiritual fascism – see “Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview” by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.) Furthermore, we will be reviewing the below segment in articles to come.
Brian Houston writes,
Chapter 4
_____________________________
United Around the Cause
THE DAY TWO PEOPLE GET MARRIED IS THE start of a powerful partnership for the cause of Christ. Sadly, over the years, Bobbie and I have been forced to watch as the once-happy marriage of some of our friends have broken down, ending in acrimonious divorces. It is tough to watch, and ultimately it is a losing situation for everyone.
Some 80 percent of divorces are granted on the basis of irreconcilable differences. These differences may be due to infidelity, a lack of communications, or a multitude of other reasons, but often the differences are grounded in the fact that the vision that each partner had for their marriage, their family, and their future diverged. The result? Vision became division, and where the there was once unity, there was now disunity.
In Matthew 12:25, when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub (the prince of demons), he responded, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
Jesus here talks about a kingdom, a city, and a house. The point, as it applies to our lives today, is that just as division can bring down a nation (think coup), it can and will ultimately destroy a church, a marriage, or an individual life.
A house full of division is not a pleasant place to be. When we think of division, we tend to think of strife, anger, fighting, and people splitting away.
Division in a church is a little like division in a marriage. When the church is functioning the way God intends, it can be heaven. When it is not, it can be hell.
A house divided does not necessarily mean the people are fighting and punching each other around the communion table, or that a husband and wife are pitching plates and vases at each other. A divided house is one that is going different directions. If we are truly one, we need to be going in a single direction.
The Pharisees were often divided among themselves. John 7:43 and John 9 speak of this division. Legalism and bandage lend themselves to division. But in a house (be it a church or a home) where the people are empowered, released, and have a sense of vision and leadership that inspires, people will flourish.
A single vision united around a cause, be it in a church, a marriage, a family, or a workplace, will help guard against division.
A House Divided Has Divided Motives
When motives are pure, the house of God is awesome. There is a huge difference between people who use their vision to build the house of God and people who use the house of God to build their vision. When people’s motives are to use the house of God in a negative way, division is inevitable.
I never want to be a controlling leader, but I do need to understand and be a discerner of people’s hearts. Failure to do so would put our church at risk and thwart our ability to serve the cause and the kingdom of God effectively.
Take, for example, a businessperson who is using his or her gifts and connections to be a blessing to the house of God. This is completely different from those who come into the house of God thinking about how people in the church can help them build their businesses.
At Hillsong’s profile has gained recognition, people have come who have tried to utilize the leverage of our church’s name by attaching it to their business or ministry. You would be astounded at how creative some people can be. We have become well versed in discerning wrong motives. It is similar to what happened growing up. I was treated differently at school and in the community when people found out that my dad was a prominent pastor in our part of the world.
When your motives are genuinely driven to serve the Lord’s purposes, God will see that his house and your life flourish, but when motives are going in different directions, the house divides.
A House Divided Has Divided Vision
I often tell our church that we have one vision that is outworked in may different ways. Imagine how complicated and confusing, not to mention divisive, it would be if every one of our departments had a different vision.
We would experience utter chaos. There would be no cohesion, and in time, splinter groups would form and go their separate ways. Division in the case of a church will minimize that church’s impact, but division will also negatively affect the people of that church as they are pulled to and fro, unsure whose vision to follow and what cause they are contributing to.
The same can be said of a family or a business partnership in which one spouse or partner is pursuing one vision, while the other is going in a completely different direction. The children or employees in that family or business are put in a very difficult situation, and in time, irreconcilable differences will arise.
When your house, family, marriage, friendships, business, and church have a united vision and a focus anchored on a greater cause, there is a great sense of stability and security because everyone knows where he or she is heading, and people have something to follow.
A House Divided Has Divided Loyalties
Jesus had a disloyal friend named Judas whose divided loyalty caused him to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He is the type of friend Proverbs 18:24 describes this way: “The man of many friends [a friend of all the world] will prove himself a bad friend” (AMP, brackets in original).
Proverbs 18:24 is saying that people who try to be loyal to everyone actually are not good friends to anyone. Judas tried to be both friend to Jesus and to the Pharisees, but he failed at both and ended up hanging up himself.
I am reminded of people who come to church on Sunday and lift their hands in worship, but during the week live like hell. Sadly, in time, this kind of divided loyalty will lead to destruction.
God values loyalty, and undivided loyalty is an important characteristic for all of us. Strength comes when you know where your loyalties lie. Loyalty actually forces you to take sides.
No doubt you have heard of an “us-and-them” spirit. It is one I do not let fester in our church. I ask our leaders, “On which side of ‘us and them’ do you find yourself?” Loyalty always positions itself as one of “them”. You can build the church, a marriage, and friendship on that kind of loyalty.
There will be times when you will have to make a stand about where your loyalties lie, particularly when it comes to the house of God. It is impossible to be a friend to the house of God and a friend to the world simultaneously.
Living for the Father’s cause is about making the tough decisions in life. This includes with whom and what you are “friends.” You need to position yourself to be best friends with God’s house, guarding against division and determining in your heart that nothing will draw you away from building his kingdom.”
Source: Brian Houston, For This I Was Born: Aligning Your Vision to God’s Cause, 2008, Publisher : Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, pg. 45-50.
Edit (03/02/2015): Before publishing this story, we were careful about laying the charge that Hillsong pulled the below article.
However, other articles from the Hillsong website appeared to be fine. Our conclusion was that the article was pulled? Just to be sure, we waited two days before publishing the missing article. Since publishing – we have been notified that the article is back up on the Hillsong site. It would appear that Hillsong may have been aware of the attention this article received and perhaps placed it back in drafts until it was decided what should be done about it?
The attached article below was recently published by Hillsong, written by Hillsong worship leader Jonathan Douglass (JD). Not long after they published this article, someone mentioned part of its content on our site and we started analysing it.
Now we’ve discovered the article was pulled two days later after publication. Why?
Did JD inadvertently give us too much information on how Brian Houston ‘controls’ the worship arm of Hillsong? We know that Houston relies on music to influence churches as they expand/rebrand/takeover them into the Hillsong movement. Note the point that exposes Houston’s control:
2. We are about fulfilling our senior pastor’s vision (not our own)
It is so important that as amazing as our creative ideas might be, if they don’t ultimately line up with what our senior pastor and leaders want, then we happily put them aside.
The church doesn’t exist to build our worship teams… our worship teams exist to build the Church!!
This makes sense considering Brian Houston preaches his sermons from the latest Hillsong songs and pushes his Prosperity, Liberal, New Age or Christianity agendas through them. We’ve also seen Hillsong try to make their music appear more reformed in their musical flavour.
So now we ask this: is Hillsong music out to ‘deceive’ people. Why? If Brian Houston’s 2014 Vision Sunday is the standard of Hillsong’s worship integrity, honesty and faith – then God help Christians everywhere!
Furthermore, the above quote raises an important question (and this in relation to the upcoming Hillsong movie): Considering the fact that Brian Houston is their visionary senior pastor, why is all the credit and focus on the UNITED band on Joel Houston?
Wouldn’t it be more honest to showcase Brian Houston leading the band since UNITED bends their knee to Brian’s prophetic visionary direction?
Here is the deleted article:
5 Things That Should Matter to a Worship Pastor
At the beginning of a brand new year, I always like to remind myself and ‘take stock’ of the basics, and re-focus on what really matters in every area of my life … my walk with God, family life, relationships, health, etc. And of course, the basics in my role as one of our team’s worship pastors.
At the start of a new year, I re-focus myself on the things that really matter! I always find it a helpful exercise, so I thought I’d share some of them with you!
5 THINGS THAT SHOULD MATTER TO A WORSHIP PASTOR
1. Jesus is leading us
We are responsible for leading people into the presence of Jesus… to do this, we need to know how to enter His presence and be very comfortable there… I can’t get past Exodus 33:14 where Moses’ authentic cry to God was that He would lead him! And Moses would not move unless the presence of God went before him! This is how we should approach every day.
2. We are about fulfilling our senior pastor’s vision (not our own)
It is so important that as amazing as our creative ideas might be, if they don’t ultimately line up with what our senior pastor and leaders want, then we happily put them aside.
The church doesn’t exist to build our worship teams… our worship teams exist to build the Church!!
3. It’s an honour to serve
We are servants first… it’s not about what we do! So that means if we have to do things that we don’t want to do, then it’s not a big deal because the truth is that it’s not about us anyways!!
4. We need to get better
Yes, Jesus loves us and yes, we have His grace when we hit the wrong note in a song… BUT with a little old-fashioned hard work and commitment we can get better and minimise our mistakes! It’s not about being perfect but getting better!
The goal is not to play a SONGLIST perfectly, but eliminate as many distractions so that people can connect with the meaning of the songs and encounter Jesus. This is otherwise known as an expectation of excellence! (Read more about Excellence)
Mistakes are allowed but making the same mistake twice… now that should be addressed… (In love) there’s always room to improve!
5. It’s not WHAT you do but WHOSE you are that matters
What we do is very important! And doing it to the best of our ability is also important. On top of these, we must seek our value as WHOSE we are rather than what we do! And we are sons and daughters of the living God that created EVERYTHING… who knows and loves us. When we understand this, it becomes the fuel to do what we do and also means that we don’t make it about what we do, but rather the ‘what’ becomes secondary to the ‘why’!!
These definitely aren’t the only things that should matter to us as worship pastors, but they’re a great place to start!
JD
Source: By Jonathan Douglass, 5 Things That Should Matter to a Worship Pastor, Hillsong, http://hillsong.com/blogs/collected/2015/january/5-things-that-should-matter-to-a-worship-pastor, Published 28/01/2015. (Accessed 29/01/2015.)
The above article demonstrated that Brian Houston was deliberately and deceitfully using God and His infallibility to peddle his own pagan ideas as though they came from God’s infallible decree.
However, Brian Houston further used God through another means to control and groom people to embrace straight out wickedness. This article will try to expose the technique Brian Houston uses on his congregation. We will leave you with the full unedited sermon and the transcript. We had to transcribe this piece just in case Brian Houston and Hillsong try to hide their lies again.
HILLSONG FORCED TO DRINK A SPIRITUAL PEDOPHILIC COCKTAIL?
The best way to think about the following sermon is to liken it to a spiritual cocktail. The tasty and intoxicating ingredients used to make a drink may satisfy your pallet, but the potency of the cocktail can vary. Likewise, Brian Houston uses very manipulative tactics to undermine his church’s “Christian” ethics in order to portray his father, Frank Houston, in a divine light, the end result of which diminishes the glory of God.
To accomplish this task, Brian Houston “pours” Frank Houston, Hazel Houston, God, biblical characters, (including the Apostles), Hillsong members and himself into one big “Pioneer Spirits” cocktail. The problem with what Brian Houston does is that he portrays God and Frank Houston as being one and the same in spirit. This is God’s glory we are talking about. Why would God want his spirit being touted as the same spirit as a serial pedophile? Why would Hillsong members want their spirits seen as the same spirit of a child molester?
If anything, someone who has a “pioneering spirit” usually leaves their past behind them in order to search for something new. They want to start over, and probably for a very good reason. So why is Brian Houston so driven to have his church embrace the same “pioneering spirit” of his deceased pedophile father? Why go there at all?
At the 22 minute mark in the sermon video below you can see/hear Brian Houston showing/talking about Frank and Hazel Houston pioneering Hillsong/CLC church at Sherbrook Hall in Double Bay.
“they were in their mid 50s and they moved to Sydney and just in summer here in Australia… I went to the little hall in Double Bay, the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, where they pioneered…
… So look at what big things, more than what we could have imagined at this point, came out of one little decision and a tiny little hall to pioneer, big things come out of a pioneering spirit, praise God that we have that opportunity in our own lives to believe God to see new and to see big things.”
From this point in the story, you can see the tactics Brian Houston is playing on his audience. Why would he compare his serial pedophile father (who had a pioneer spirit) to Jesus’ Apostles. From a Christian worldview, this is simply wicked and evil.
The point is that this cocktail is lethal. Brian Houston is encouraging people to drink this poison by tempting them with his tasty light shows and dramatic presentations. The audience has not realized that they too have drunk the dangerous idea that they are pioneering alongside a serial pedophile. And this is the cocktail that they are forced to drink. The cyanide is Brian Houston’s claim that God has given him a vision for his church, and if the congregants don’t drink it then they believe that they are refusing to believe God.
It is important to remember, there is nothing lawful using God as a means to hide or downplay the crimes of a serial pedophile. Brian Houston should be publicly shamed by Christianity for using God in such a way where he knows his “vision sermon” cannot be questioned. (Remember – you are not questioning Houston’s vision, you are questioning God’s vision.)
When you witness the cult-like control and brainwashing methods used in Hillsong sermons like this, it explains why you get Hillsong members defending Frank Houston. Pray that Brian Houston repents for his crimes against Christ and His Church.
TRANSCRIPT: Hillsong Church – Vision Sunday 2014
[Words on screen] il-lu-sion – something that deceives the eye by appearing to be other than it is. Something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
[Words of screen] “The Drum Major Instinct” – Martin Luther King Jnr 1968
[Voice of Martin Luther King Jnr] ‘That is deep down in all of us, an instinct, It’s a kind of drum major instinct. A desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first. This quest for recognition, this desire for attention, this desire for distinction, is the basic impulse, the basic drive of human life. This Drum Major instinct. Oh I see… you want to be first? You want to be great? You want to be important? You want to be significant? Well you ought to be!’
[Words on screen] There’s far more here than meets the eye…
The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 2 Cor 4:18 (The Message)
[Voice of Martin Luther King Jnr] ‘Oh, I see you want to be first, you want to be great, you want to be important, you want to be significant, well you ought to be! Don’t give up this instinct; it’s a good instinct if you use it right. Keep feeling the need for being important. So Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness if you want to be important, wonderful, if you want to be recognized, wonderful, if you want to be great wonderful, but recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be a servant. That’s a new definition of greatness.
Keep feeling the need for being first; but I want you to be first in love. Yes you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice and say that I was a drum major for peace, I was a drum major for righteousness.
Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world.
[Words on screen] Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, And to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:43-45 NIV
[Words on screen] In 1978 a young couple left their homeland of New Zealand and settled in Australia. By 1983 they pioneered a new church in the Hills District of Sydney. Today we live in the legacy of all that God has done.
[Voice over] ‘When has so much come from so little? The least and unlikely wed, the untested and unqualified. We were pioneers, going where not many have gone.’
[Footage of Brian Houston 1984] ‘We have so much to thank the Lord for and my wife and I have been involved in pioneering churches before and God just gave us a burning vision for the Hills and for the Western suburbs and the Northern districts of Sydney and by the grace of God I’m believing to see a mighty revival in this part of the city.’
[Voice over] ‘It was never about making something for ourselves and building monuments of legacy.’
[Brian Houston voice over] ‘When we started this church, I was having to work overtime and extra time cleaning shop front windows and I would scrap up enough for us to pay our rent, so we could go into small towns preaching and teaching. The cost seemed so small when there was the joy of serving Jesus Christ.’
[Voice over] ‘For we didn’t do this and we never could have. We merely followed the path of the original one. If our past is a shadow of our future and a whisper of those things yet to come, then it’s only once walked that you can look back and clearly see all that He has done.’
[Brian Houston voice over] ‘I love the idea of not just pioneering once, Bobbie and I pioneered a church 30 years ago. But living with the spirit of a pioneer, we are always wanting to re-invent, you’re always believing for new things, where your always wanting to look ahead’
[Voice over] ‘These are the days for the everyone, the brave and afraid, those who wonder in the mystery, unmoved in the unknown. Still we cast our nets out into the deep. For these outposts of grace, we pioneer and pioneer again. We do not go alone, for the few are joined by the many, and the many moved by one and pioneer again.’
[Words on screen] Be alert, be present I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badland. Isaiah 43:12 MSG
[HOUSTON STARTS “PREACHING”]
Thank you Jesus! You’ve set me free.
Happy New Year, I haven’t seen most of you yet this year so big and Happy new year to everyone. 2014 a great time to pioneer again.
We’re just linking right now not just around Australia with all our campuses. [Kisses tech guy & laughs] Just a loving pastor, just a pastor’s heart, but indeed all around the world.
Right now we are linking to 102 services across the day, in 46 locations and in 16 countries. So I guess that’s come a long way from a little school hall in the North Western suburbs of Sydney.
So a big hi to all our locations globally, of course Australia, where ever you are, I know where Australia is, I meant where abouts in Australia that you are. In London, in Amsterdam, in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Kiev and Moscow, Germany, Paris, Barcelona, South Africa, Cape Town and Pretoria and the USA, New York City and in times to come, prophetically Los Angeles. Pioneering again.
So praise God for every single one of you. [Prays] Father I thank you that you build your Church and the gates of Hell will not, cannot, shall not prevail against it. Lord I thank you that where ever people are gathered today around the name of Jesus, those who are part of Hillsong Church, those who are visiting today they’re important to you. Lord you have a purpose and you have a plan for every life and Lord you have a purpose and a plan for every room of this house of God. We thank you for all you have done, we thank you for what you are doing, we thank you for what you are about to do. Lord I pray that we will always keep that raw pioneering spirit. Not looking back, but looking forward and to all that’s ahead. We thank you for that opportunity, in Jesus name, Amen.
The Bible’s full of pioneers, I want to speak for a few minutes about a pioneering spirit. The original pioneer whose name is God, who pioneered the heavens and the earth. Throughout the Old Testament, you have Noah who pioneered boating, unfortunately, Adam and Eve who pioneered sin.
I wonder what in our lives we will pioneer. You have the chance in your own family perhaps, to pioneer a new generation. There are people you will be first generations, followers of Jesus Christ, for some maybe, historically, in your lineage, in your family, maybe just long line of divorce or a long line of abuse or a long line of alcoholism or some other thing that’s bound generations and you can be a pioneer of a brand new day that changes not only your children but the generations to come.
Pioneering can be for us each individually, where we pioneer constantly in terms of the Will of God in our life and it may be in your career, your ministry, your home, your family, in your dream, whatever it is, never lose that looking forward pioneering spirit.
Bobbie and I pioneered a church 30 years ago along with a team of people, some of whom are still with us today. And I’ve got in my hand a little card that we handed out in Australia, it says on here established 83, that’s when it was, 30 years ago and I’m so excited that we have never lost that pioneering spirit and were are talking now after 30 years about the next 30 and more and we’re talking about pioneering again.
Where ever you are around the globe pioneering, you can think of people who have been innovative. Here in Australia in the early 1980’s there was a Dr, his name was Victor Chang. And Victor Chang, if you were to Google his name, it calls him a heart transplantation pioneer. He was literally amongst the world’s leading transplant pioneers. Unfortunately in 1991, through a failed extortion attempt, he was murdered, he lost his life, but he was a pioneer.
I grew up in New Zealand, New Zealand was pioneered, it was discovered by a Dutch explorer, for all our Amsterdam campus, a Dutch explorer called Able Tasman. Able Tasman, he found Moraceous, a little drop in the Indian Ocean, he found New Zealand a beautiful country but not exactly the biggest place on earth, he found Tasmania, but he missed something really big, he missed Australia mainland and he missed the biggest island in the world and in fact the only one continent, sorry one county/continent in the world, but he pioneered again. And pioneering again, he came across the North West coast of mainland Australia; he came across something really big.
If we ever lose that pioneering spirit, I wonder what big thing we would never know we missed out on this side of eternity. If you ever lose that raw edge that pioneering spirit, I wonder what big things God has for you, in Jesus name. So it’s in the DNA of Hillsong Church, we are a pioneering church. Not always by having to do new things but by finding God doing fresh things, by just doing what we’ve always been called to do, which is build his church. See people connect to Jesus, disciple people, see people grow in terms of God’s purposes for their lives, it’s amazing how that doesn’t have to get stale because within it there can be that great sense always, a moving forward and pioneering which I love.
1977, my parents, they were in their mid 50s and they moved to Sydney and just in summer here in Australia, over Christmas I went for a ride on my motor bike around the Eastern Suburbs, which I don’t get too much chance to do these days and I went to the little hall in Double Bay, the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, where they pioneered. There may be a picture we can put on your screens, there it is. That was called Eastern Suburbs Christian Life Centre. It’s interesting to me how it’s got across the doors ‘Local History Centre’, that where in many ways it all started.
There was one Sunday, in that building, if you look at it again where the care taker never turned up so there were no steel bars on the window in those days so we managed to get the window open and put a chair down their so every single person who came to church had to stand on a chair and climb through a window to get into church and then had to get back out the window and onto the chair to leave church. They were raw, rough pioneering days.
There’s something powerful about pioneering days. Eastern Suburbs Christian Life Centre became Sydney Christian Life Centre, about five and a half years later Bobbie and I, we moved out to this area where I stand right now in the North Western suburbs of Sydney and established Hills Christian Life Centre, we became Hillsong Church.
So look at what big things, more than what we could have imagined at this point, came out of one little decision and a tiny little hall to pioneer, big things come out of a pioneering spirit, praise God that we have that opportunity in our own lives to believe God to see new and to see big things.
The New Testament is just a story of a whole lot of pioneers. As the New Testament Church is established, it starts in Acts Chapter 1 verse 8, you know when you go to the movies, I don’t know what you think about the trailers but sometimes you feel like they are giving you the whole movie, and so it’s like a short, short sight of everything that’s coming. And that’s what Acts chapter 1 verse 8 is to the whole of the book of Acts, it’s called the Acts of the Apostles, it’s actually some of the acts of some of the Apostles. Because the Acts of the Apostles still is going on around the globe today.
As the Church of Jesus Christ is established, as the Will of God, the Kingdom of God is advanced, but Acts Chapter 1 verse 8 is just in one little snap shot of everything that is about to follow throughout the whole book of Acts. It says ‘you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you’ and ‘you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and ultimately to the ends of the earth.
It’s like concentric circles when you through a rock into a pond, stepping out from Jerusalem further, further, further. And you read through the book of Acts and that’s what you start seeing happen. What starts in Jerusalem spreads to Judea, then Acts chapter 8 Phillip goes to the city of Samaria or a city in Samaria and preaches Christ and the whole city is impacted and the Bible says there’s great joy in that city. And by Acts chapter 10 Cornelius speaks to a Gentile, who then represented what was then known as the ends of the earth.
And really it’s never stopped. Still the work of the Lord goes forward, as hear I sand right now at the ends of the earth, if you ignore New Zealand, Tasmania and Moraceous. Preaching the Gospel, the good news of Jesus.
Pioneering spirit, God does big things with a pioneering sprit. Four things I want you to think about when it comes to pioneering. Here they are, the first thing:-
1. A pioneer takes territory previous considered uninhabitable and realises its potential.
That’s pretty awesome; the thought of what was previously uninhabitable, Phillip takes the gospel to Samaria. While the Samaritans the Samarians they, they were considered compromised Jews. Through mixed breading, Jews mixed with Gentiles. So because they were seen as compromised they were seen as outsiders.
And suddenly as Phillip goes to Samaria with the spirit of a pioneer, what was uninhabited, unreachable was suddenly reached, was the gospel of Jesus bringing great joy to an entire city. And then of course the Gentiles were not Jews at all but because the gospel reached them through the spirit of the New Testament pioneers, today you and I can be part of the kingdom of God. We can know the love of Jesus, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And still out there are big things to be done, there’s big things to be done as we live our lives collectively as a church and individually, with that raw edged pioneering spirit.
2. The second thing, a pioneer reaches the unreachable and includes the excluded.
I love this thought, think about this the first three individuals when the gospel goes beyond Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria then ultimately to the utter most parts of the end, the first three individuals, converts that are mentioned, in other words new believers.
The first one is a wizard, his name is Simon who confounded the people with magic tricks. They were astonished by his magic, he was a sorcerer, a wizard.
The second one, later in Acts chapter 8 is an Ethiopian Eunuch, putting it bluntly, he was castrated. Which I guess made him part of a minority group [8 sec pause to glare at audience to see if they get what he is referring too].
The third one was a terrorist. His name was Saul in Acts chapter 9. The Bible literally describes Saul as breathing threats and slaughter against Christians and not only that, he was described as being in full agreement with Stephen being put to death.
How’s that for an encouraging front row in church? The first three, what have you got? You’ve got a guy who still has his tarot cards in one hand and his astrology charts in the other hands. You’ve got a guy with real sexual identity problems; he’s not sure who he is. And then you’ve got a third person who’s a terrorist. That’s pretty encouraging for the worship team when they look down.
I love the fact that maybe, not terrorists, but I love the fact that still our church is church for whosoever will to the Lord may come. It’s never been built on superstars necessarily, or people who’ve got it all together, it’s rarely reached people at all walks of live the down and out, the up and out, everything in-between and I pray that we will always be that kind of church. And a pioneering spirit keeps that kind of sprit happening in the church.
3. Third thing about a pioneering spirit is a pioneer sings a song that is music to the uninitiated but sounding brassed to the establishment, in other words stepping forward into new ground, not everyone who represents the statuesque or the establishment gets excited about the new thing that God is doing.
In the bible you can see that the uninitiated, those who have just been literally connected to Jesus, there was great joy in the setting. Acts chapter 8, verse 7, there was great joy in the city the bible says, its verse 8 I think.
Great joy, but not everyone thought that way. Couple of chapters before in Acts chapter 6, God was doing an amazing thing, the church was multiplying. They were having quickly to keep up with all that God was doing and so there was a little bit of reorganising the way things could be done so the Apostles could keep in the Word and keep in prayer. And in the middle of that it describes Stephen, Stephen is described as being full of faith.
Listen to it, it’s in Acts chapter 6, verse 8, it says ‘Stephen full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. And then it says there arose some from what is called, it’s important you think about this, they were from what, the Synagogue of the freed man. Tells us where those people were from, so Alexandrians etc, who were disputing with Stephen. In other words they were angry about the new grace, about what God was doing and who are they? They were the Synagogue of the freed man, literally former slaves who had come into new found freedom and had encountered a grace for themselves and yet were opposed to the new thing that God has done.
Often with the spirit of a pioneer you start taking new ground, you start occupying all streets and it’s incredible how often the people out there in the world that get upset about what Gods doing, in fact they’ve got a heart that’s open to it. It’s often people who experience grace themselves, who have known the freedom of Jesus Christ themselves and yet when grace goes into something new, God begins a new thing, it’s amazing how they are the people that are quite often the blindest and the ones that find it the most difficult to see.
Music to the ears of the uninitiated sounding brass, sometimes to the statuesque. I don’t what to be one who has encountered the grace of Jesus myself and misses out when God begins to do new things. I want to keep that pioneer again sprit, so I stay on the edge. I was pioneering when I was 25, 26, 29 years of age and I’m almost 60 and I want to keep looking forward and I want to keep the same pioneering spirit today. Because once a pioneer, always a pioneer.
I love the fact that in New York we’ve pioneered, in New Jersey, that in London we’ve recently pioneered in East London, that in South Africa we’ve extended to Pretoria, I love the fact that in Germany we now not only have Constance but Düsseldorf as a room in the house, because we’re keeping the spirit of a pioneer. And its powerful, it’s beautiful.
4. And the fourth thing, that to me represents the spirit of the pioneer.
Is that a pioneer defies the odds and pioneers again, bringing longevity to the season. They defy the odds. A long time ago, when our church really started to see the praise and worship, not only here in Australia but around the globe have divine favour on it, most would know that 1993, in fact many may not know, 1993 a song came out of our church called ‘Shout to the Lord’, written by a lady called Darlene Zschech. And really in many ways, that was the vehicle that God used to take our influence beyond I guess what we could have already imagined.
I’ve got a pastor friend, still my great friend today, but way back then I remember him as he looked at the blessing and favour on the music and so on and conferences starting to grow, he said ‘Brian you need to understand that this is just a season’. And I’ve always believed that, that this is just a season. However it’s turning into an extremely long season, it’s a long season where in fact the favour and blessing on our praise and worship, all of a sudden we are pioneering new ground.
That song Oceans, such a powerful song and its reaching ground that we’ve never reached before with anything we’ve ever done. And so I love the fact that it can become a long season especially if you think generationally.
You see with this pioneer again spirit we didn’t stop with just what God was doing in 1993, even as recently as ten years ago, not just a worship band but a worship movement, represented a youth movement called ‘Hillsong United’ came out from our church and breathed fresh wind into the season, brought longevity to the season.
Then in more recent times, not just a worship band called ‘Young and Free’ but a great revival youth ministry, a youth movement called ‘Young and Free’ has emanated from this place and again is taking new ground.
So through keeping the pioneer spirit, you keep fruitfulness alive in your life. I don’t want to die on the vine. I don’t want to pastor a church that dies on the vine. I want us to be people of a pioneer spirit, amen [audience applause].
I’m so excited about Los Angles and what God’s about to do in that city. But it’s not just Los Angles, it where you are, as we all sow in where God has placed us, that we can collective be part of a fruitful season , that often times has an impact back into our own families and lives. So fruitful, so wonderful, so blessed, thank God for it.
You know in the middle of all of this, what I love is Philip. He’s the guy, he’s the guy that God uses to go to Samaria, reach a whole city and then after that he goes out on a desert road because an Angle spoke to him and he hooks up with, meets up with an Ethiopian Eunuch, points the Eunuch to Jesus, that’s what the Bible says, he preached Christ to him. And through that, this ordinary guy, can I tell you something about this ordinary guy, his name is amongst some amazing names.
In Acts chapter 6 where it talks about Philip, right before him it talks about Stephen, full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. Well Stephen, the name comes from Stefan or Stefanos. Stefanos literally describes the victor’s wreath, a winning athlete. You think back to Greek Olympic times, the wreath around the winner’s head.
Think about Caesar or Astrix, comics, the green wreath around Caesar’s head, winner, victor. And after him comes Peter. Peter means rock, he’s got Rocky on this side he’s got winner on this side and as Philip Dooley, our Cape Town pastor likes to remind us, Philip means ‘lover of horses’.
Winner, Rocky, over comer, lover of horses. It’s usually little girls that grow up wanting to pony. Phillip’s just a gentle soul, he’s an ordinary guy. And not only is he an ordinary guy that God uses, he’s an ordinary guy doing ordinary things.
The reason that I’m encouraged is because this church has always been built just on ordinary people, who God has caused to do exceedingly, abundant and above, to be overachievers, simply by a pioneering spirit that trusted God, lived by faith and tried to live by consistency. Just watch what God can do.
Ordinary guy doing ordinary things. This is a different Phillip than one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, this Phillip, the first we hear of him is in Acts chapter 6 where, well the church was growing so fast that problems started to arise.
There were people called ‘Hellenists’, they started to cause hell in the church because these Hellenists started saying ‘well, you’re neglecting widows’ so they just reconstructed things a little and they got seven people. Seven people whose job it was to keep the peace. Look after the widows, serve on tables, and distribute food.
Hillsong City Care, their job was just ordinary people, Phillip. In those days it wasn’t Phillip the Apostle, Phillip the, just Phillip. They named seven people he’s one of them. The first one Stephen full of faith, full of the Holy Ghost, Phillip – lover of horses. Ordinary guy doing ordinary things.
If you want to be a pioneer, sometimes it’s not going somewhere, doing something else; it’s just doing ordinary things, being faithful where you are. We started our Vision Sunday presentation with an incredible narrative with one of the worlds, histories great poet’s in my mind, Martin Luther King. And Martin Luther King, he talks about the spirit of a drum major in the front of a parade.
And he talks about ‘you want to be great’, ‘you want to be first’, ‘you want to be important’, ‘you want to be significant’ then he says ‘don’t lose that’ he said ‘don’t lose it, be first in love, be first in generosity’.
And then while he’s talking about it the depiction of a tower being built, the tower of Babel, people wanting to build something for themselves. And then wonderfully it all turns around when we realise by just sowing our lives together in the work of Christ, we can see the kingdom of God established. We can see the work of Jesus established and to me it’s a beautiful, it’s a powerful picture.
Matthew chapter 20 is where he was speaking from, if you want to be great, learn to be a servant. The spirit of a pioneer is not an isolated, individualistic spirit; in fact try to do things on your own and you perish alone. But when we decide that we are going to be part of something bigger than ourselves, but then not only does that greater thing flourish but our own lives can flourish as well.
Ordinary guy doing ordinary things that God used in an extraordinary way, to reach cities for Christ. To see the Gospel through an Ethiopian Eunuch for the first time, the Gospel of Jesus go toward the continent, the great continent of Africa. Amazing, beautiful.
You should be witnesses unto me first then Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then to the ends of the earth. Sound good? Well let me tell you this part, within the context of the meaning of ‘witness’ there, that word witnesses actually means martyrs.
I remember one time hearing a guy when it came to people being giving and being generous. He’s talking about saying, “God doesn’t want much from you. He doesn’t want much from you.” Try telling Steven that. Full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. And he was a martyr. It cost him his life.
To Bobbie and I this has never just been a job. And it will never be just a job. As a matter of fact, the day it’s just a job, that raw edge faith-filled pioneering spirit goes, that’s the day you might as well put me six foot under. It’s not just a job, it’s our life. We built our family, with that in mind today we’re blessed to see our children and our grand children serving God, now at different places but serving God, part of the house of God.
This church has not just been built on Bobbie and I seeing it as putting our life into this, in fact that’s been the spirit of our team, it’s been the spirit of so many people in this church. And I can tell you a lot has been the grace of God but also has been that pioneering spirit in people who have really put their life.
They have been sacrificial of their time, sacrificial of the giving, sacrificial in so many ways and literally put their life into this and by God’s Grace many have seen the fruit of that in their own homes, in their own families, in their careers. The greatest compliment that anyone can ever give me is when people say, they’ve got a business that may be succeeding, all we’ve done is taken the principals that we have learnt from church and applied them to our business. I love that
I’m going to tell you one story, we started 30 years ago and I’ve got to be telling you those first few weeks, as some of you have heard many times, it wasn’t going good, things were getting smaller every week and to be honest those first few weeks, no one, no one was responding giving their hearts to Jesus, no one was making decisions for Christ.
I used to fast every Sunday, really believed God. For the first few weeks it was a little disappointing, I mean after four weeks we started to grow. Way back then I was 29 and I was preaching one Sunday night, we only had Sunday night services and right where I preached in that little school hall hung two gymnastic ropes. And I guess I got a little too excited preaching, so I grabbed one of those ropes and swung out over the congregation which wasn’t hard cause they only went back two rows, swung back again and just kept preaching.
I didn’t think anything more of it, but there was young guy their whose name was Kuta-ho-hepa?, you don’t forget names like that Kuta –ho-hepa, ‘Kuta’ went out that week and talked to a whole lot of his friends and man you guys should come to church, the Pastor swings on a rope like a monkey. True story and that week he brought nine of his friends to church and all nine of them committed to Jesus.
The second week, he went out again and he invited eleven more people to church and all eleven of them connected to Christ and in three weeks Kuta-ho-hepa lead thirty people to Christ. And at the end of that three weeks, after three weeks of that kind of fruitfulness he was riding his motorbike home from the Naval base where he worked, lost control, hit a tree, was killed. But you know the fruit of Kuta-ho-hepa’s life has never stopped from that day to this.
In my memory I can never remember one single Sunday in those last 30 years where somebody hasn’t given their lives to Jesus. Of course most weeks across our church, here in Australia alone, it’s hundreds of people who connect with Christ every single weekend.
And I don’t believe for one minute that God killed him, but I do know that the fruit of his life has never stopped. I want to live my life so the fruit of my life lives long beyond me, and for that to happen I believe, we’ve got to keep that pioneering spirit. Having a pioneering spirit, never underestimate what God can do, can you say Amen?
There in Copenhagen, Stockholm can you say Amen? Let’s stand together shall we? So much more wonderful, wonderful presentation to come, whatever you do, stay to the very end.
— we wish to acknowledge the person who transcribed this article. Thank you for giving up your time in transcribing this. Your work is greatly appreciated.
