Cult traits emerge as Hillsong call Royal Commission “extremely unfair”
29 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in Associations, Hillsong Associations, Hillsong Scandal, Houston, News Headlines
Tag Archives: a current affair
Hillsong’s “trespasser” releases information on charges
10 Friday Jul 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
a current affair, court, Driscoll, Hillsong, hillsong conference, Hillsong Conference 2015, Hillsong cult, John MacArthur, levin, Mark Driscoll, tanya levin, trespass
Brian Houston – shamed by God for his stupidity
It’s interesting that the offenses of Mark Driscoll are court-worthy considering his defamation, plagiarism and alleged misuse of church building funds, while Tanya Levin’s questionable minor offense against Hillsong has landed her in court.
The scriptures say,
“If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!” 1 Corinthians 6: 1-6
The anti-biblical stance of Brian Houston on such issues is rather telling of where he stands with biblical Christianity, Once again Houston exposes himself as a law unto himself.
Recently, Tanya Levin was arrested for supposedly trespassing on Hillsong property.
Brian Houston’s Inclusive Jesus rejects Tanya Levin
Tanya Levin wrote the following on Facebook,
“Yesterday I was contacted by NSW Police and informed that the Fact Sheets following my arrest last week at Hillsong Conference were ready for collection, and that a court date has been set in around 6 weeks’ time.
Below is a copy of the charges, which is a matter of public record. It’s not for me to comment on the details of the fact sheets at this stage. What I can say is that police have monitored my social media activity and one needs to be wary about such things.
And that I never thought that ‘The Accused’ would ever really mean anything more to me than a fine Jodie Foster film.
Source: Tanya Levin, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ilikelevin/posts/989455431117061, Published 09/07/2015. (Accessed 09/07/2015.)
Brian Houston’s Inclusive Jesus rejects Tanya Levin
02 Thursday Jul 2015
Posted in Hillsong Conference
Tags
a current affair, ACC, Brian Houston, Hillsong, hillsong conference, hillsong conference 2016, houston, levin, live love leave, people in glass houses, tanya levin
Brian Houston’s tantrum over the media may land him in hot water among the media, those he accused personally or even Hillsong members or conference attendees. In the meantime, we would like to alert our readers to the controversy surrounding Brian Houston’s accusations against former Hillsong member Tanya Levin.
Her presence at the Hillsong Conference 2015 event caused the Hillsong authorities to get antsy and have the police remove her off the property.
One common deceitful tactic Brian Houston attempts to pull on people is ‘distance’. When it was his father’s paedophilia crimes, Brian Houston distanced him and his church from the scandals, saying that it not only happened only in New Zealand but that it happened thirty years ago (which was proven to be untrue). Below you see Brian Houston pulling the same scheme in two different cases.
LIE: TANYA “HAS NOT BEEN TO OUR CONFERENCE FOR OVER 20 YEARS”?
Brian Houston said in his below statement,
“Furthermore they [A Current Affair] have engaged in a cheap publicity stunt by bringing a so called “Hillsong insider” who has not been to our church for 20 years, to our conference today.”
The following is a Facebook post made by Tanya Levin (click to read her letter):
“Hi. Home safe and a little shaky. Yes, the real policepersons arrested me and charged me with tresspass today. No, it was not a media stunt. I was born in South Africa and have a healthy terror of authority. Not supposed to incriminate myself here. So I just have to turn to Tex, as you do, as you should.
https://www.facebook.com/tanya.levin/posts/10154048561103957″
LIE: HOUSTON DISTANCING HIM & HIS PEOPLE OF TANYA’S “BEHAVIOUR”?
Brian Houston also needs to explain why he said this untruth about Tanya Levin:
“We are advised that her behaviour outside the venue resulted in her being apprehended by police at the request of the arena’s security staff (not Hillsong staff).”
So how would they know who she was and what made Tanya Levin the target by police? How did the police know that Tanya Levin was not allowed to attend and how would they know if she was trespassing?
Tanya’s comment on Houston’s media statement is as follows:
“It really is amazing that Hillsong felt confident to predict what would be on ACA last night. Or that they encourage congregants to censor their own viewing. Or suggest that Channel 9 were unethical regarding minors. If it weren’t so obscene, it would just be ridiculous. But the irony is disgusting, not just offensive.
When HIllsong stops harrassing minors unethically in schools, communities and the church, or bothers to show interest in child protection matters, then it can comment.”
Source: Tanya Levin, FaceBook, https://www.facebook.com/tanya.levin/posts/10154052106188957, Published 02/07/2016. (Accessed 02/07/2015.)
Let the sledge begin.
Brian Houston writes,
Statement from Hillsong Church re: A Current Affair story
1st July, 2015
We understand A Current Affair has been promoting a story supposedly about the Hillsong Conference.
They have also been outside our conference today harassing minors in an unethical manner.
Furthermore they have engaged in a cheap publicity stunt by bringing a so called “Hillsong insider” who has not been to our church for 20 years, to our conference today.
We are advised that her behaviour outside the venue resulted in her being apprehended by police at the request of the arena’s security staff (not Hillsong staff).
The behaviour of A Current Affair is reprehensible and this pending story will be no more than a continuation of their anti-Christian agenda and hate.
This story will be entirely fabricated and contain no truth whatsoever as do all of their stories about our church.
We note that as usual the program has not contacted us for comment.
We urge Christians and all who stand for truth in reporting to refuse to even watch or record this tabloid trash, and not give them the reward of ratings, because in the end this is no more than a grab for ratings.
Source: Statement from Hillsong Church re: A Current Affair story, Hillsong, http://hillsong.com/media/statement-from-hillsong-church-re-a-current-affair-story/, Published 01/07/2015. (Accessed 02/07/2015.)
SMH reports on Hillsong’s “gorilla warfare” against ACA.
27 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in News Headlines
Tags
a current affair, ACA, Brian Houston, gorilla, Hillsong, Hillsong cult, houston, SMH, sydney morning herald
God’s Word says the following about false teachers,
“But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.” Jude 1:10
Do you want to know what Christian love looks like at Hillsong Church? Spiritual leader/CEO of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston was not impressed as to how he was represented in A Current Affair’s recent report.
Hillsong: The multi-million dollar “crazy cult”
Which “tabloid trash” do you believe?
Brian Houston in damage control… again… and again…and again.
“Tabloid trash” exposing Hillsong of lying?
It looks as though secular media are now reporting on the conduct of Hillsong’s spiritual leader.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports,
A Current Affair versus Hillsong: the coffee challenge
It was a Goliath and Goliath story. Channel Nine’s nightly current affairs program versus Australia’s best known mega-church, head to head, in the Twitter arena.
A Current Affair last week aired a 16-minute special report detailing explosive revelations that the controversial Hillsong Church made a lot of money but, like every other church in Australia, paid no tax.
Hillsong was making a concert movie set to rake in millions of dollars tax free. Parishioners regularly gave up to 10 per cent of their income in a practice known as tithing. The church was making it so easy to collect tax free dollars through tithing that it was even developing a giving app.
ACA said the church had not responded to requests for comment, a claim denied by Hillsong in a statement the next day that called the segment “tabloid trash”.
A day after that, Hillsong founder Brian Houston laid down a boldfaced challenge to ACA reporter Ben McCormack.
@benmccormack9 Hey.. How about coming to have a coffee with me one day? You got the guts to do that? Just you and me.
The proposed coffee date sounded more like the pastoral equivalent of “Do you wanna take this outside?”
McCormack wasn’t backing down.
@benmccormack9 Hey.. How about coming to have a coffee with me one day? You got the guts to do that? Just you and me.
@BrianCHouston love to meet. Why not do an interview on camera & answer some questions too? You got the guts to do that?
Houston shot back:
@BrianCHouston love to meet. Why not do an interview on camera & answer some questions too? You got the guts to do that?
@BenMcCormack9 The Q’s are not the issue. It’s your skewered editing & underhanded tactics that are the problem. So no..!
McCormack repeated his offer of an interview before Houston repeated his mano-e-mano cappuccino challenge. McCormack suggested that, like Hillsong followers, the ACA team “lived to give”.
A bitter stalemate ensued.
On Monday, not content with having had the last word only once, McCormack tweeted:
@BenMcCormack9 well my offer of a coffee with no hidden recording or cameras stands. It’s not as though ACA is known for its credibility!!
@BrianCHouston “credibility”?? Hillsong issuing false hysterical misleading press statements. It’s you with the credibility problem Brian.
Houston may be frantically trying to come up with his own put-down. But maybe he has taken another tack to win this stoush.
As he tweeted the day before it began:
Love is a very compelling argument!!
Source: By Patrick Begley, Sydney Morning Herald, A Current Affair versus Hillsong: the coffee challenge, http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/a-current-affair-versus-hillsong-the-coffee-challenge-20150427-1muarj.html, Published 27/04/2015. (Accessed 27/04/2015.)
Does Brian Houston’s response to the ACA report, represent the actions of a godly shepherd or are we seeing the responses exposing the behaviour of a false teacher.
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” 1 Timothy 3: 1-7
“Tabloid trash” exposing Hillsong of lying?
26 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
a current affair, ACA, Ben McCormack, Brian Houston, crazy cult, cult, exposed, Grimshaw, guts, Hillsong, Hillsong cult, houston, lie, lies, statement, Tracy Grimshaw
LOVE, LEAD, LIE
We noted in our previous article Brian Houston retweeting Hillsong’s tweet of their ‘Hillsong Statement’ about the A Current Affairs (ACA) report. This is what the Hillsong Tweet read:
Statement by Hillsong Church on A Current Affair story: http://hil.so/qzpw
Source: Hillsong Church, https://twitter.com/hillsong/status/590754683674853376, 10:51 PM – 21 Apr 2015. (Accessed 24/04/2015.)
We have already reviewed this “Official Statement” from Hillsong:
Which “tabloid trash” do you believe?
Brian Houston in damage control… again… and again…and again.
What occurred after Hillsong issued that statement was breathtaking.
THE REPORTER AND THE RORTER
One of the issues that the A Current Affairs report highlighted was the fact that Hillsong pressures people to give money.
Hillsong have continually lied to the general public about this issue and this is a lie that we at Church Watch have exposed repeatedly.
We would like to remind our readers that Brian Houston himself pressures his members to give money so they can be right before God and be in the will of God. (This false teaching absolutely perverts the foundational teachings of Christianity and is in fact a damnable heresy.) As you can see, Houston is scamming people financially into believing that they can only prosper in God if they give money to God/Hillsong.
On the 22nd of April, Tracy Grimshaw from A Current Affair tweeted ,
@FArimado we ask Hillsong constantly to talk to us about how the donations are spent. They will not. “If only” they would..
Source: Tracy Grimshaw, Twitter, https://twitter.com/tracygrimshaw/status/590997174332227584, 2:54 PM – 22 Apr 2015. (Accessed 25/04/2015.)
It was this phrase from Brian Houston that caught our attention:
“It’s not as though ACA is known for its credibility”.
Who is lying? Who’s credibility is at stake here? Sadly, many people are tweeting that this is not a good look for a church. And as @Dan_Nolan9 observed, “Not a good look for a church – creating falsehoods in a statement accusing ACA of falsehoods”.
This because ACA responded to Hillsong’s original tweet alerting people to the Hillsong Statement. The statement claimed “the program made no attempt to contact us to get the facts – or even hear our perspective – before airing this piece of fiction”.
Ben McCormack from ACA tweeted a few times to people who accused ACA of not contacting Hillsong.
@hillsong this statement by Hillsong is false. ACA contacted the church by phone and email and we got no response.
Source: Ben McCormack, Twitter, https://twitter.com/BenMcCormack9/status/591090162039279616/photo/1, 9:04 PM – 22 Apr 2015. (Accessed 25/04/2015.)
This tweet included the following evidence to prove that Hillsong’s statement was a farce:
He also tweeted later with the same attachments,
@Markedw @tracygrimshaw @hillsong we contacted them on 4 separate occasions. Don’t fall for more Hillsong dishonesty.
Source: Ben McCormack, Twitter, https://twitter.com/BenMcCormack9/status/591105999525650432, 10:07 PM – 22 Apr 2015. (Accessed 25/04/2015.)
After the news team publicly exposed Hillsong for not being honest in their official Hillsong Statement, Brian Houston contacted Ben McCormack. Do you think Brian Houston apologised for his false allegation?
This exchange took place on the 23rd of April, 2015:
Brian Houston:
@benmccormack9 Hey.. How about coming to have a coffee with me one day? You got the guts to do that? Just you and me.
Ben McCormack:
@BrianCHouston love to meet. Why not do an interview on camera & answer some questions too? You got the guts to do that?
Brian Houston:
@BenMcCormack9 The Q’s are not the issue. It’s your skewered editing & underhanded tactics that are the problem. So no..!
Ben McCormack:
@BrianCHouston now there’s a surprise.
Ben McCormack:
@BrianCHouston our offer of an interview remains open..
Brian Houston:
@BenMcCormack9 well my offer of a coffee with no hidden recording or cameras stands. It’s not as though ACA is known for its credibility!!
Ben McCormack:
@BrianCHouston we live to give Brian.. Just like your followers.
You’d think that excellent leadership could check all their emails or even check with ACA, before publicly accusing ACA of lying. (Especially when the program was being advertised in advance.) Once again, we are seeing another unsound, unwise and poor leadership example in Hillsong Church.
So why should Bobbie and Brian Houston set themselves up as leadership mentors for other churches to follow?
Live Love Lie
Which “tabloid trash” do you believe? (UPDATED)
23 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in News Headlines
Tags
a current affair, ACA, Hillsong statement, Nick Xenophon, statement, threat, threaten, tithes, Xenophon
(EDIT 29/04/2015: We have uploaded another Hillsong document which is a tithing envelope titled:
HOME
building God’s House
Tithes
It comes with an out of context scripture from Malachi 3:10 [NKJV]. It is in this context where Malachi curses anyone who withholds their tithe to “God’s House” or “storehouse”. You can see this Hillsong tithing envelope at the bottom of this article.)
Hillsong released a statement in response to this A Current Affair report:
Hillsong: The multi-million dollar “crazy cult”
Not only did Hillsong issue to Senator Nick Xenophon mob-like threats, apparently “the vast majority of Australians” see the ‘A Current Affair’ report as “nothing more than tabloid trash.” So in response to the minority in Hillsong who read and believe “tabloid trash,” Hillsong writes:
Statement by Hillsong Church on A Current Affair story April 21, 2015
There was no factual basis whatsoever to the story on A Current Affair about Hillsong Church, and the program made no attempt to contact us to get the facts – or even hear our perspective – before airing this piece of fiction. The movie “Let Hope Rise” is being produced by an outside production company who approached us, and Hillsong Church has not invested one cent into this movie. Furthermore, we operate like any other church financially and support people pastorally across the world. This story was yet again, nothing more than tabloid trash and we believe the vast majority of Australians view it as such. It is disappointing that Senator Nick Xenophon, (who presents himself as a champion of the people) has cooperated with such stories for at least the third time. It is poor behaviour and worth noting by church-going voters and people at large in South Australia, who rightly expect their elected representatives to make comments based on factual information rather than conjecture.
Source: Hillsong, Statement by Hillsong Church on A Current Affair story April 21, 2015, http://hillsong.com/media/statement-by-hillsong-church-on-a-current-affair-story-april-21-2015. (Accessed 23/04/2015.)
There is a lot to extract from this statement. Especially the plethora of fallacious arguments and lack of evidence to back up Hillsong’s claims. However, more people seem to be sharing their experiences or insights into the corruption of the Hillsong cult.
This an insightful comment from a former AOG pastors wife:
My mate Tanya Levin did a brilliant job on ACA this week. She’s speaking again about the revenue raising juggernaut that is Hillsong ahead of the release the mega-church’s new Hollywood movie.
In my former life I was for a time an AoG (ACC) pastor’s wife. Even 25 years ago, Brian Houston was recognised in the movement as the one to watch. I can tell you that pastors of churches all around Australia dreamed of being able to count on collections like the ones Brian garnered. Over time Brian’s formula for getting folks to empty their pockets – a complex and emotionally powerful mix of music and clever sales patter with lashings of Jesus – was replicated in hundreds of financially struggling churches around the country and, eventually, around the world. As Tanya so beautifully puts it in this clip, “From London to Cape Town to Copenhagen the message is the same – give, give, give, give, give.”
Although the ACA team was forbidden to film the plea for money, I can tell you that the section of the ‘service’ specifically designed to predispose you to giving generously, runs for about 15 minutes and is the culmination of a cleverly orchestrated, high-production value, highly emotionally manipulative stage show. Those of us in the AoG who despised Houston’s methods had a name for it: fleecing the folk. Nobody does it better than Brian. The report estimates in 2012 Hillsong ‘earned’ $72 million dollars in tax-free income, only a tiny fraction of which is spent on charity work. These guys are crooks, plain and simple, and the Australian public is paying for it. Glad to see Nick Xenophon is trying to increase public accountability of this secretive money printing organisation.
Source: Jane Douglas, FaceBook, https://www.facebook.com/jane.douglas.90/posts/805714359512544, Published 22/04/2015 at 13:03. (Accessed 23/04/2015.)
Her views are worth considering Hillsong states that they “operate like any other church financially and support people pastorally across the world.”
Really? Do you want to know why those people in the ACA Report give 20% at Hillsong?
Does your church put out giving envelopes to you that are like this? Would you feel comfortable putting your credit card number on the back of the envelope where everyone can see it?
* Tithing is an anti-Christian teaching that uses Malachi 3:8-11 to teach that if you do not tithe, God will curse you.
* This envelope was collected from Hillsong and given to us at the beginning of January 2015.
Hillsong: The multi-million dollar “crazy cult”
21 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
10%, 20%, a current affair, brainwashing, crowd control, cult, dangerous cult, money, prosperity cult, ten per cent, tithe, twenty per cent, word of faith cult
Tonight (the 21st of April, 2015), Australia’s ‘A Current Affair’ aired this report on Hillsong.
In spite of Hillsong’s continual lies, their facades of “relevancy” and their contemporary nonsensical gimmicks, the world still sees through it. The reality is this: the world is not being won over to Jesus Christ. In fact, Hillsong is giving the world an excuse to hate Christianity while Hillsong is militantly campaigning against biblical Christianity. Not only that, Hillsongis stealing Christians from other churches and taking over churches by force under the guise of “blessing” churches.
It is time the media, the Australian Government and more importantly church leaders, stop calling Hillsong a church. Cults have always declared war on Christianity. Hillsong for decades have proven again and again to be a word of faith and prosperity cult.
When will Christianity finally say enough is enough?
Hillsong Church Watch 