Tag Archives: C3

Why Pat Mesiti is still a Hillsong/C3 “Pastor” Pat Mesiti (sermon review included)

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Brian Houston's Beliefs, Hillsong Associations, News Headlines

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People have started asking the question: “Is Pat Mesiti is still a pastor at either Hillsong or C3?” (Due to his recent arrest after beating his wife.) Even though Pat Mesiti was exposed in a scandal that expelled him from his position at Hillsong, evidence shows he is STILL considered a pastor in the Hillsong and C3 movements.

The proof of this is the fact he is still able to travel between Hillsong & C3 churches AND apparently speak in a pastoral context from their pulpits, (remember, the official role of a church pastor is to teach/preach from the pulpit). AND we are yet to hear an official statement denying that Pat Mesiti is a Hillsong or C3 pastor.

As we’ve written earlier,

“Just like Phil Pringle and Brian Houston, Mesiti wanted to be seen as a motivational speaker. He talks about how Hillsong and C3 have helped make him into someone who wants to make him a better pastor and business man in “evangelism, crusades” and “business functions”. Another article also informed us how Brian Houston was also there to guide, counsel and support Pat Mesiti.”

HILLSONG “PASTOR” PAT MESITI

You can read our article here, covering Pat Mesiti preaching at Hillsong London in 2010.

Money-Making Mesiti ‘Ministering’ At Hillsong London In 2010…

We also know that Senior Pastor Joel A’Bell from Hillsong , as early as 2010, defended “Pastor” Pat Mesiti from critics.

 

On the 13th of October 2010, Joel A’Bell posted this tweet, which came through on his FaceBook wall,

A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. Matt 7:16 MSG.

proof_Twitter-JoelA'Bell-7-16MSG-MesitiSteveWestResponse_18-01-2016

In reality, the Message is NOT a valid translation of the bible. It’s a paraphrase that is filled with pagan and new age references. Nevertheless, Eugene Peterson did capture  the nature of today’s false teachers rather well –  they DO “exploit the wallet”. This particular scripture attracted Hillsong critic Steve West and others to protest the fact that Hillsong pastor Pat Mesiti DOES exploit Hillsong member’s emotions and their “pocketbook”.

Steve West was the first to respond,

And thus will likely not have offerings at every meeting, conference, cell group and college chapel service.

This led into questions as to why Hillsong’s disgraced pastor Pat Mesiti was acknowledged as a pastor at Hillsong London on Joel A’Bell’s wall. Many people, including Hillsong attendees, were surprised he was reinstated at all and protested other sins of Mesiti to Joel. By this stage, Mesiti was rapidly earning the reputation, world-wide, as an international con-artist from 2009 onwards, with his ongoing endorsement of men renowned for their dubious integrity.

The fact that Mesiti endorsed notorious con-artist “AussieRob” did not help strengthen his reputation as a con-artist. Read more here:

Aussie Rob – Lifestyle trader
LifestyleTrader.com.au (Aussie Rob) Review

This did not stop Joel A’Bell from defending AND endorsing the apparently restored Hillsong “Pastor” Pat Mesiti from speaking at Hillsong London.

Joel Abell Quote

So why was Hillsong allowing Pat Mesiti to speak at Hillsong London – in spite of critics pointing out how Mesiti fulfilled the scripture that Joel A’Bell put up on his FaceBook wall? In fact, this snippet of Pat Mesiti in 2009 was put up in the conversation on Joel Abell’s wall back in 2010:

Source: By speakercoach, Pat Mesiti Millionaire Mindset reveals the best tips on public speaking and presentation skills, YouTube, https://youtu.be/fldjYzfLUxw, Uploaded 16/04/2009. (Accessed 18/01/2016.)

proof_YouTube-Mesiti-EmotionOpensTheChequeBook_18-01-2016

In spite of the evidence put up by these critics, Senior Hillsong pastor, Joel A’Bell, defended Pat Mesiti speaking at Hillsong London in 2010 in his comment section:

“I knew Pat before, during and after his moral failure. Those who don’t know him should keep their comments in closer circles or to themselves. I find these public comments about Pat to be unloving. He is well on track in his restoration…”

“I said to keep it close (or) to your self. They could put their unrelated issues on their own wall. I wouldn’t use your wall to push my pet topics. Would make more sense if I had of posted something about Pat but this just screems of immaturity…”

Throughout this entire conversation, Joel A’Bell did NOT refute the assumption that Pat Mesiti was a Hillsong pastor. His continual defense of Pat Mesiti speaking at Hillsong London only confirmed the fact that Pat Mesiti was still a Hillsong Pastor (or affiliated with Hillsong’s leadership). Furthermore, he defended Pat Mesiti as one of their own.

It is clear that Hillsong, as an organization, was NOT acting in ignorance but validating and treating Pat Mesiti as a RESTORED pastor in their movement. Otherwise, why have him speak as a pastor at Hillsong London?

We note in 2014, Mesiti’s “loyal friend,” Brian Houston said:

“Literally, it didn’t only cost him his ministry, it cost him his marriage, it cost him his home, he lost his home, it cost him everything. The only thing he had was loyal friends and perhaps that’s the greatest thing we can have anyway, is loyal friends.

And there were people who stuck with him, people who I know here in our congregation who stuck with him. I was talking with him yesterday on the phone, actually text messages, same thing these days, and ahhh he was telling me that after years of rebuilding his life, just constantly rebuilding his life that the house he lost that his sin, his shame had cost him, he is on the edge of perhaps buying back.” [Source]

Brian has made it clear. Mesiti is still alive and well as a “restored” Hillsong pastor, he still has close relations with Brian Houston. In fact, Brian Houston used Pat Mesiti an example in this sermon of how one can be restored. Restored into what?

C3 “PASTOR” PAT MESITI:

We’ve also covered how C3 “Pastor” Mesiti spoke at C3 RealMen’s Conference and had no problem speaking on C3’s Positive Hits:

C3 Continues To Endorse Money-Magnet Mesiti

But our main focus is to draw your attention to Pat Mesiti preaching at C3 Church in 2013:

Source: By c3churchtv, C3 Online – 20/10/2013 | Pat Mesiti – The Joseph Generation, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdgdrEMoAK0, Uploaded 21/10/2013. (Accessed 11/08/2014.)

proof_YouTube-PatMesitiC3_06-01-2016

In this specific sermon, not only is what Pat Mesiti saying blasphemous, he also refers to his involvement with Hillsong.

In the sermon above, Mesiti says,

“I said that at Hillsong London at the Freddie Mercury theatre.”

So something tells us Mesiti has not been broadcasting his other Hillsong “pastoral” engagements. Furthermore he states (present tense),

“I have a preacher on every single day… This year I’ve invited Bob Harrison and Pastor Phil Pringle to be our chaplains. This is where we raise the million dollars for missions… On here is Brian Houston. On here are my spiritual and business mentors.”

What is interesting about the sermon above, as Chris Rosebrough reviews it on his program ‘Fighting for the Faith‘, he clearly exposes the prosperity cult theology (and predatory nature) that Mesiti appears to have fine-tuned from his association with long term “pastoral” friends and mentors, Phil Pringle and Brian Houston.

It’s well worth listening to the sermon review to prove that this man is STILL used as an example to follow by Brian Houston. And because his life is a “success story”, one can assume that’s what qualifies people like Pat Mesiti to be pastors in the C3 and Hillsong prosperity cults.

Hee Haw

Download

PROGRAM SEGMENTS:

• Ed Young’s Hee Haw Sermon
• Bishop Tudor Bismark’s The Big Fish Anointing
• Jim Bakker’s Prophecy Fear Mongering For Dollars
• Sermon Review: The Joseph Generation by Pat Mesiti

Source: Chris Rosebrough, Hee Haw, Fighting for the Faith, http://www.piratechristian.com/fightingforthefaith/2015/5/hee-haw, Published 01/05/2015. (Accessed 06/01/2015.)

Clearly there is NOTHING regenerate or “restored” in Pat Mesiti’s life. The signs were there even before he was charged with assaulting his wife. So why on earth would Hillsong/C3 hold onto him? Why would Hillsong and C3 have him (unbiblically) re-instated as a pastor when there are so many others who could easily replace him?

There has to be more to this than meets the eye.

NOTE: SCREEN GRAB TAKEN ON 18/01/2016.

Another Hillsong paedophile scandal: Brian caught lying and trashing victim

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Brian Houston's Beliefs, Frank Houston, Hillsong Associations, Royal Commission Hearing

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If you are a member of Hillsong church going through extreme difficulties, know this: you might see the other side of Brian Houston when you reach out to him with a serious problem.

And if you are a victim of sexual abuse in Hillsong, know that the world has more compassion for you than Hillsong leadership.

Late last year, Kerri Ferguson was interviewed by Chris Rosebrough from Fighting for the Faith. She gave an horrific story detailing the poor behaviour of pastors Gary Dench, Ian Treacy, Phil Pringle and Brian Houston.

Continue reading →

Chris Rosebrough interviews Kerri Ferguson

13 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by in Hillsong Scandal

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Chris Rosebrough from Fighting for the Faith recently interviewed Kerri Ferguson on his radio program. If you are not familiar with who Kerri Ferguson is we encourage viewers to read what we have covered on the C3 Penrith scandal so far:

C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 1
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 2 – The cover-up Scandal that Pringle refused to deal with
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 3 – Sex, Money, Power
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 4 – C3 regards pastors gambling worse than pastors defending a pedophile
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 5 – Phil Pringle’s leadership: an unresolved mess
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 6 – C3 prophetically manipulating the abused into silence
C3 Parramatta Scandal Part 7 – Letter exposing Pringle covering up paedophilia refusing to help victim

This is footage we have had for a number of years, exposing the cover up of pedophilia in the Australian Christian City Church movement. To this day, NONE of the “pastors” Kerri Ferguson went to for help have EVER bothered checking up on her or apologized for how they refused to help her in her time of need. These “pastors” are Phil Pringle, Brian Houston, Ian Treacy, and Gary Dench.

[Click to download]

Click here to listen to the Fighting for the Faith Episode: Interview with Kerri Ferguson.

Interview with Kerri Ferguson 

Download

PROGRAM SEGMENTS:

• Interview with Kerri Ferguson

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

http://churchwatchcentral.com/2015/04/15/c3-penrith-scandal-part-2-the-cover-up-scandal-that-pringle-refused-to-deal-with/

Source: By Chris Rosebrough, Interview with Kerri Ferguson, Fighting for the Faith, http://www.piratechristian.com/fightingforthefaith/2015/11/interview-with-kerri-ferguson, Published 12/11/2015. (Accessed 12/11/2015.)

In Australia, some people consider paedophilia to be worse than murder. Don’t forget these “Pastors” faces that allowed these crimes to continue in the name of “Jesus.”

C3- Gary Dench Ian Treacy

03CWCPortrait_Phil Pringle

05CWCPortrait_Brian Houston

If they can get away with covering up paedophilia… then nothing can stop them. These men are before the Royal Commission. Yet Brian Houston and Phil Pringle are influencing our political leaders.

Hillsong grooming its members to embrace Queerstianity? (Part 3)

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Associations, Brian Houston's Beliefs

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Queerstianity: A group of people that supposedly push no political or religious agenda but “share” their philosophy of tolerance and love onto others.”
(Source: Urban Dictionary [slightly edited])

Brian Houston of Hillsong Church is slowly grooming his congregation to embrace the false “Gay Christianity” doctrine. To understand why this doctrine is such a blatant attack on the Christian faith please read our article below. We are aware how sensitive this Christian issue is and wish to deal with it mindfully.

Hillsong grooming its members to embrace Gay Christianity (Part 1)

To understand the below article, we would advise you to become familiar with Part 2.

Hillsong grooming its members to embrace Queerstianity (Part 2)

In Part 2, Ben Gresham taught us that when he met with Houston, Houston was committed to have “discussions with other pastors (such as Rob Buckingham of Bayside Church, Melbourne)” over sexual orientation. Who is Rob Buckingham of Bayside “Church”?

GroupSects reports,

Christian Sh*tty Church censors Pastor Rob Buckingham

Pastor Rob Buckingham

Andrew Strom blogs…

“It all started with a 2009 blog post by Rob Buckingham, pastor of a large Pentecostal megachurch called ‘Bayside’ in Melbourne, Australia. His blog post was entitled, “Is Jesus Anti-Gay?” and made the case for ‘acceptance’ being the true Christian attitude toward Homosexuals. Now bear in mind that this is not some “liberal” church or ‘liberal’ congregation here. This fellowship is part of the “C3″ (Christian City Church) denomination – one of the largest mainstream Pentecostal groups in Australia. That is why the Gay community was so delighted by it all.

In the ‘comments’ section after his article, Rob Buckingham made his views even clearer: “As a Christian, and pastor of a church, I sometimes find the attitudes of fellow Christians embarrassing. We have a number of gay men and women in our church and they are accepted just the way they are – just like everyone else is.” So you are no longer willing to preach what Jesus preached, Rob? “GO and SIN NO MORE.”

Rob Buckingham later went on to preach a message at Bayside that was entitled, “Real Christianity is Accepting”. (You can find it on Youtube). In it the pastor overturned the usual understanding of the ‘Sodom & Gomorrah’ story and advocated “Christian acceptance” of homosexuals. The Pentecostal congregation literally gave him a standing ovation at the end of his sermon.

This message was heralded by the Gay press as a huge leap forward inside the Pentecostal movement. One Gay activist called it, ‘The Bayside Breakthrough’. The Star Online trumpeted, “Church Advocates for Gay Acceptance… minister at Melbourne´s Pentecostal Bayside Church received a standing ovation earlier this month for preaching just that in a special sermon on how the church should embrace GLBT [Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender] people.”

The official Bayside website also published the following statement: “Bayside Church welcomes GLBT people to find God´s love and grace and to worship Him freely within our community.”

Even though this whole affair became very well-known, the leadership of the C3 (Christian City Church) movement apparently “declined to comment” on it – even though the C3 movement is led by Phil Pringle, a very well-known preacher in Australia. It seems Bayside is still welcome to be part of ‘C3′ and Rob Buckingham remains a high-profile pastor in the movement. All of his blog posts on this subject are still proudly featured on the church website. Which surely leads one to believe that Rob Buckingham’s views must not be too different from the overall church’s views on this subject. Isn’t that reasonable to assume, since they have said nothing to the contrary? I wonder if Australian Pentecostals are aware that this huge compromise is now taking place under their own banner?

And so, Homosexual Acceptance is free to enter into the Pentecostal movement by the back door, since leaders no longer dare to actually make a stand on the issue. Please write to Phil Pringle and the C3 movement if you would like to know why they have been so “silent” about this – even to their own members. Here is the email to write to-  info@myc3church.net

Isn’t it sad that “political correctness” is now overtaking even the Pentecostal churches worldwide? Perhaps the fruit of years of no real ‘Repentance’ being preached? And I have recently heard of large Baptist churches in Australia also starting to head in the same direction. Who will stand and defend the truth?”

From http://www.revivalschool.com/pentecostals-accept-gays-it-begins-andrew-strom/

Andrew Storm further blogs…

“Just for the record, my big concern in this was that homosexuals were being welcomed right into actual Pentecostal ‘fellowship’ – with no sign that it was being called “sin” at all. In fact, complete “acceptance” of homosexuals ‘just as they are’. I personally have no problem with reaching out in love toward homosexual people for the sake of their salvation and cleansing through Jesus. I do believe in compassion for the sinner. But this is very different. This is total “acceptance” of Homosexuals into actual Pentecostal fellowship. Where is the repentance? Where is the stand on what God calls “SIN”? That was my big concern.

I am delighted to say that the overall C3 church has now issued a firm response concerning this issue. However, there are still real question marks, as we shall see. But first – their response. Here it is-

“Dear ********

Thank you for your email and expression of your concerns regarding this issue. We wanted you to know our position on this matter so there is no confusion regarding our beliefs. Below is a short statement that we trust will help clarify our stance.

C3 Churches hold to the historic Judeo-Christian view of sexual union being between a man and a woman in marriage. We do not recognise the practice of homosexuality as biblically valid for a follower of Christ, nor do we promote it. We do however promote and expect God’s great love and grace to be shown to all, regardless of their orientation.

Also we wanted you to know that Ps Buckingham has removed his blog at our request as it does not reflect our beliefs.

Kind Regards, C3 Church Global”

ANDREW AGAIN: An excellent response, and I am very happy that the C3 movement has been so clear about it. However, it is not actually true that Rob Buckingham has removed his blog post. In fact, the worst two are still up, including – “Is Jesus Anti-Gay?” and ‘The Acceptance Controversy’. And his comment is still there for all to see- “As a Christian, and pastor of a church, I sometimes find the attitudes of fellow Christians embarrassing. We have a number of gay men and women in our church and they are accepted just the way they are – just like everyone else is.”

Here is the link so you can see for yourself-http://www.baysidechurch.com.au/content/view/231/243/

The C3 statement said that Rob Buckingham had already removed the blog post concerned. But actually none of them have been removed yet at all. And Bayside’s Youtube video – “Real Christianity is Accepting” is also still up for all the world to see.

And anyway, even if they do take them down at some point, does that mean Rob Buckingham’s attitude has truly changed? He is the pastor of thousands of C3 people, after all.

If you want to clarify if and when any of this stuff will be removed, you can contact C3 –  info@myc3church.net

And in the meantime, I have received a great deal of confirmation that mainstream Baptist churches in both New Zealand and Australia are also preaching or practising “Homosexual Acceptance” and no longer treating it as ‘sin’. This is a crisis. The walls are down. Is it already too late?

-PLEASE COMMENT on this topic below-

Yours in Christ – Andrew Strom ( prophetic@revivalschool.com )”

From http://www.revivalschool.com/c3-churches-respond-gay-issue-by-a-strom/

Pastor Rob Buckingham’s blog post ‘Is Jesus anti-gay?’ as it appears today after being censored by Christian Shitty Church…

“You are not authorised to view this resource.
You need to login.”

From http://www.baysidechurch.com.au/content/view/231/243/

Through the magic of the internet archive, here is Pastor Rob Buckingham’s ‘Is Jesus anti-gay?’ blog post before it was censored by Christian Shitty Church…

Flashback

“So often Christianity is linked with being right wing, anti-gay, anti-Obama, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel.

Now I have strong views on all of these topics, but sometimes our strong views need to be kept to ourselves in order to be effective in reaching out to others. For example, sending out an anti-gay message does nothing to reach gay people for Jesus.  All it does is ostracize them from the church and force them to find refuge amongst their own community instead of finding love, acceptance and forgiveness in the community of Christ.

The apostle Paul discusses this in Romans 2 where he rebukes judgmental people and reminds them that it is God’s kindness, tolerance and patience, which ultimately leads people back to God.

WWJD?  What would Jesus do?  A simple look at the gospels reveals the answer to this question.  The only people Jesus judged were the rightwing, religious fundamentalists who thought they had it all together and were the sole bearers of religious truth (see Matthew 23). These people were harsh in their judgment of others; Jesus was harsh in His judgment of them.

But to others, the marginalized and disenfranchised, Jesus offered a gracious and loving view of God.  He said nothing about homosexuality (except some words in Matthew 19:11-12 that could be an insight into Jesus’ views of those with same-sex attractions).  He had plenty to say about a woman with a dubious past who let her hair down (literally) and anointed him with perfume. When criticized by the religious, Jesus defended her and established a memorial in her honor.

He saved a woman who was divorced and remarried five times and living in a defacto relationship with someone else’s husband.  He forgave a woman, caught in the act of adultery, that the religious fundamentalists wanted to stone to death. You get the picture. All these people had their lives (and behavior) changed by the gracious acceptance of Jesus, not His harsh criticism and condemnation.

WWJD is a good question that we all need to ask.  The only problem is when some people ask themselves the question they come up with the wrong answer and become cruel critics instead of those who demonstrate the kindness, tolerance and patience of God.  One repels, the other attracts. WWYD? What will you do?”

From http://web.archive.org/web/20120324211254/http://www.baysidechurch.com.au/content/view/231/243/

Source: By Groupsects, Christian Sh*tty Church censors Pastor Rob Buckingham, Group Sects, 
http://groupsects.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/christian-shtty-church-censors-pastor-rob-buckingham/, Published 30/03/2013. (Accessed 02/10/2013.)

Wolves After Leather Pack Together

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Associations

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“Steven Furtick’s financial empire was built with BLOOD MONEY — money earned twisting God’s Word, preaching false doctrine & deceiving people IN THE NAME OF JESUS.” – Chris Rosebrough, 23/10/2013.

Could the same be said of Phil Pringle of C3 Church and Brian Houston of Hillsong Church?

In the last few months, people have been hassling or giving us links to report on the lavish lifestyle of Phil and Chris Pringle, Senior Pastors and Founders of the C3 Church Movement. The Pringle’s recently purchased a $3.5 million house and had no problem flaunting their lifestyle on twitter or instagram.

My! What Big Faith You Have!

My! What Big Stories You Have!

It’s been reported in the past that Brian Houston and his wife Bobbie have property deals of up to $1.4 million and that they are tenants of waterfront properties at Bondi Beach and the Hawkesbury River that they sold to LMI. Not to mention, it was reported that Houston said his total salary was “just over $300 000″.

My! What Big Faith You Have! (From Hillsong Church Watch)

Just recently, Steven Furtick (close associate of Phil Pringle and Brian Houston), has come under scrutiny over his $1.7 million house and his CEO approach to church ministry. Before looking at some news articles, we thought it would be good to provide an article and some links from the Pajama Pages blog on this issue. After reading the Pajama Pages articles, we have media articles reporting on Furtick’s mansion. We hope these articles help you understand the nature of how mega churches like C3 and Hillsong run.

Pajama Pages reports,

The problem with businessmenpastors. A reader’s contribution

A comment in the Walt White article is impressively on point that I think it deserves to be read by people who may not have made it to the end of that article. PP reader, Josh, posted the following this afternoon:

The problem with Furtick isn’t that he’s rich, or even that he’s a rich pastor. The problem is that he’s rich because he’s a pastor. If professing Christian Steven Furtick started a successful bakery, retail store or construction company in 2006 that was incredibly successful, so much so that he could buy a $3 million home, few would criticize him for enjoying his earnings. In fact, the world and people in the church generally look favorably on successful Christian businessmen. No one questions how Truett Cathy spends his Chick-fil-a money, for example.

The problem is that Furtick and others got their money by turning the church into a business. Pastors like Furtick are obsessed with business leadership because they fashion themselves as the CEO and identify more with celebrity CEOs like Steve Jobs than with non-celebrity pastors. Decisions are made by the CEO to build the brand, to create a larger customer base, to increase the giving margin, and to expand into new opportunities. Church personnel decisions are made in the same way. Is the youth pastor growing the youth brand? Is the worship pastor stylish enough? While such decisions are constrained at some point by biblical considerations…they aren’t going to hire a guy who publicly rejects the Bible…the biblical standards of Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 aren’t really considerations.

This creates two problems, though. One, churches aren’t businesses and aren’t supposed to be run as such. There is nothing wrong with Macy’s developing a non-fraudulent pricing and promotional strategy designed to extricate consumers with as many spending dollars as possible. Macy’s should offer products and services designed to produce high margin income. But churches aren’t businesses. The pastor shouldn’t spend time developing (or, more likely, purchasing from consultants) “offering talks,” or message series, or coaching services, or conferences with a goal of increasing the church’s income. The church shouldn’t be selling books and t-shirts and lattes and Bibles or anything else. God’s house is not a house of merchandise!

So when the Furticks of the Christian world stand up and talk about money (and they talk about money a lot!) it sounds a lot like Macy’s running television commercials for their two-day After-Thanksgiving sale. When they preach on tithing (a subject on which Bible-believing Christians can easily disagree), it sounds self-serving because it is self-serving. Is it Furtick the preacher of God’s Word talking, or Furtick the CEO of Elevation Church, Inc. talking? Nothing has changed in two thousand years. A pastor cannot serve two masters.

The second problem is the conflict of interest between the company (the church) and the CEO (the pastor.) Former GM CEO Charles Wilson reportedly once claimed that “What’s good for GM is good for the country.” (A misquote, but that’s not the point here.) Celebrity CEO pastors seem to believe that what’s good for the Lead Pastor is good for the church. That’s why they freely write and promote books on the church’s time and bring in other celebrity CEO pastors to “teach” (with undisclosed and sizable speaking fees). Does Furtick invite Craig Groeshel to teach for $____ because Groeshel brought in Furtick to teach at Lifechurhc for $_____? No one knows because it’s all a big, big secret. Is the five-week sermon series on “Sun Stand Still Prayers” for the edification of the church, or to promote the CEO’s new book, which is conveniently for sale in the church bookstore. Building the CEO’s profile will help him sell books, increase his demand as a guest speaker, and feed his ego. But does it benefit the church? None of your business.

The clear conflict of interest is exacerbated by an utter lack of accountability. Sure, if Furtick gets caught sleeping with his cute personal assistant (which has happened in at least two smaller CEO-style churches I’m aware of), he couldn’t salvage his position. But no one from inside his inner circle is going to question his business dealings, his use of church time to work on and promote his books, his purchase of his own and friends’ books by the church, his speaking fee at churches with mutual relationships, or his promotional choice of message series. Anyone from the inside who did ask such impertinent questions would suddenly find themselves on the outs, and in a personality-driven organization, loss of access to the leader is a dire sanction. Outsiders in the media or blog may ask questions, but they won’t get answers. And the rank and file members will stay on and keep giving…
…
Related Posts:

      1. Steven Furtick and the Walter White conundrum
      2. How Steven Furtick turns mediocre books into mansions
      3. In which I argue that Perry Noble and Steven Furtick are not…

Source: The problem with businessmen pastors. A reader’s contribution, Pajama Pages, http://www.pajamapages.com/the-problem-with-businessmen-pastors-a-readers-contribution/, 30/10/2013. (Accessed 01/11/2013.)

Here are some follow up articles on Steven Furtick you can read up on.

Articles from The Charlotte WCNC.com:

By STUART WATSON / NBC Charlotte:
NBC Charlotte obtains confidential Elevation report
Charlotte WCNC.com, http://www.wcnc.com/home/NBC-Charlotte-obtains-confidential-Elevation-Church-report-230557491.html, Posted on November 4, 2013 at 11:31 PM, Updated Tuesday, Nov 5 at 12:42 PM. (Accessed 10/11/2012.)

By STUART WATSON / NBC Charlotte:
I-Team: Pastor’s salary set by board, not congregation,
Charlotte WCNC.com, http://www.wcnc.com/news/iteam/I-Team-Pastors-salary-set-by-board-not-congregation-229010291.html, Posted on October 23, 2013 at 7:34 PM, Updated Thursday, Oct 24 at 10:21 AM. (Accessed 10/11/2012.)

Articles from The Charlotte Observer:

By Tim Funk and Maria David:
Elevation Church pastor building big home in Waxhaw,
Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/23/4407782/elevation-church-pastor-building.html#.Un9tVvnI2So#storylink=cpy
Posted: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. (Accessed 10/11/2012.)

By Stuart Watson:
Elevation Church pastor Steven Furtick responds to his critics,
Charlotte Observer
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/27/4419474/elevation-church-pastor-steven.html#.UnH0jvnI2Sq#storylink=cpy
Posted: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. (Accessed 10/11/2012.)

By Elisabeth Arriero:
Elevation Church pastor Steven Furtick: 16,000-square-foot house is gift from God
Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/27/4420172/elevation-church-pastor-responds.html#.Un9i9_nI2So#storylink=cpy, Posted: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. (Accessed 10/11/2012.)

Any more articles that are found on this issue, we will gladly add.

Do Hillsong & C3 Churches Know What The Role Of A Pastor Is? Do You?

01 Friday Mar 2013

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The famous preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,

“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.”

Do you think that a Hillsong or C3 Pastor comes across more like an entertaining clown rather than a faithful shepherd? Chris Rosebrough from Fighting For the Faith wrote an exceptional article what the role of the pastor should be. Sadly, we do not know any C3 pastors or Hillsong Pastors who reflect the role of a proper biblical Christian pastor.

For Whom Do Pastors Exist?

If I had ten dollars for every time I’ve heard a seeker-driven pastor justify the crazy antics that happen in their churches by claiming that “the church doesn’t exist for believers”, I’d be able to purchase James MacDonald’s home with cash. These seeker-driven antics include such things as playing AC/DC’s Highway to Hell to open their Easter service, refusing to preach the Bible with any depth or accuracy, performing Michael Jackson’s Thriller, recreating the famous kiss scene from the Spiderman movie and a whole host of other crazy worldly stunts.

When you call these pastors out on their antics their responses are predictable and consistent and usually go something like this:

Example 1

Church Attender: Hey pastor, why don’t you ever preach exegetical sermons? I feel like I’m not being fed here because your sermons usually only contain 3 or 4 verses taken out of context in order to teach some relevant life principle.

Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you.

Example 2

Church Attender: Hey pastor, why did you have the worship team begin our Easter service with AC/DC’s Highway to Hell rather than a song proclaiming Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the grave? AC/DC is worldly at best and satanic at worst and that blasphemous song should not be brought into God’s house.

Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you. Church isn’t for the already convinced its for the not yet convinced.

Example 3

Church Attender: Hey pastor, why are you preaching about movies rather than preaching God’s Word like 2 Tim 4:1-3 commands?

Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you. Our church exists for people who are not yet believers.

Notice that each time the pastor answers using the standard seeker-driven talking point and doesn’t answer the question but makes a blanket claim that the church doesn’t exist for believers and therefore the person asking the question is guilty of selfishly believing that the church exists for them.

Anyone who’s been railroaded by these tactics knows that something is way off about these claims being made by seeker-driven pastors but don’t exactly know how to put their finger on the problem or know how to put it into words. This post will help you do that.

Notice that every time the word pastor has appeared, thus far, in this post that I’ve bolded it and underlined it. That is to help you spot the irony of the statements being made by seeker-driven pastorsand that irony will help you identify the underlying error in their tactics and methodologies.

Here’s the irony…No where in scripture does it say that the church exists for unbelievers. BUT, there are clear passages that state that pastors and elders are to serve the church. Therefore, it is ironic and foolish for a pastor, whose job is to serve the church to justify methods that don’t serve Christians by claiming that the church doesn’t exist for believers.

Here are the key passages that address this topic. We’ll begin by first looking at the passages that discuss spiritual gifts. The reason for this is that the ability to teach God’s word is a gift given by the Holy Spirit to certain people within the body of Christ.

The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts is to Build Up the Church Not The World

The Bible teaches that God, The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different believers for the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4–7). Teaching is one of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to pastors and this gift is to be used specifically for believers.

Ephesians 4:8–13 states this very clearly:

“(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”

In clear and unambiguous language God states that shepherds (pastors) and teachers in the church exist to equip the saints (not unbelievers) and to build up the body of Christ (not the world). This is clear and irrefutable.

Those Who Have the Gift To Teach Are Commanded to Feed Christ’s Sheep by Teaching the Word of God

The duties of shepherds and teachers within the church are governed by the instructions given by Jesus Christ.

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him,“Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15–17)

Notice that in this passage Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to entertain goats or dazzle the world. Instead, Christ soberly and firmly reinstates Peter after he’d denied Jesus three times. And Peter was reinstated into ministry and that ministry was to shepherd and feed Christ’s sheep. These commands by Jesus to Peter stuck with him his entire life. Peter himself would later exhort elders (pastors) with these words:

“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)

This shepherding language is also use by the Apostle Paul when he addresses the elders of the Church of Ephesus. Here are Paul’s words of exhortation:

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28–31)

It’s clear from these passages that pastors are not literal shepherds and that Christians are not literal sheep. All of these images are metaphors that help create a mental picture of the difficult and sacrificial work of pastors. So, when Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep” what was Jesus referring to? What does a Pastor/Shepherd feed Christ’s sheep with?

The answer is simple, the Word of God, and two passages will suffice in demonstrating this fact:

“[Jesus] answered, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 3:14–4:4)

No commentary is needed for these verses because they clearly teach that God’s Word is ‘sheep food’ and that pastors are to be feeding the scriptures to Christ’s sheep.

The Bottom Line

The next time you hear a seeker-driven pastor attempt justify his shallow sermons and entertainment driven stunts by claiming that “the church doesn’t exist for believers”, kindly inform him that regardless of who the church exists for, his job exists to serve believers and Christ’s sheep and that if he won’t do his job that he’s rebelling against Jesus Christ Himself.

Source: Chris Rosebrough, For Whom Do Pastors Exist?, http://www.letterofmarque.us/2012/10/who-do-pastors-exist-for.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=for-whom-do-pastors-exist, 19/10/2012. (Accessed 23/02/2013.)

Guess Which “get-rich-quick” scheming Pastor This Journalist Is Warning Us Against?

26 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by in Associations, Books, Brian Houston's Beliefs, News Headlines

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Is this journalist warning us against ‘Pastor’ Brian Houston from Hillsong Church?

Is this journalist warning us against ‘Pastor’ Phil Pringle from C3 Church?

Is this journalist warning us against ‘Pastor’ Pat Mesiti who ministers at both C3 and Hillsong and is close friends with Pringle and Houston?

Houston Pringle Mesiti get rich quick scheme

Before reading the article below, please read how Phil Pringle of C3 Church mentored Pat Mesiti and restored him to be a ‘legitimate’ pastor again in 2006. It’s worth further noting that Pastor Brian Houston from Hillsong Church is close friends with Pat Mesiti and was also with him though this restoration process.

Phil Pringle ‘Restoring’ Pat Mesiti As A Church Pastor

Therefore, ask yourself these questions while reading the below article:

1. If this journalist is asking people to be wary of Pat Mesiti’s “get-rich-quick schemes,” don’t you think it is worth being concerned who restored this Hillsong/C3 pastor back into ministry?

2. If Brian Houston and Phil Pringle see themselves as motivational speakers like Pat Mesiti, use similar ‘money magnet’ language like Pat Mesiti, spread similar teaching like Pat Mesiti and still endorse Pat Mesiti, how are they any different?”

3. How are Brian Houston and Phil Pringle’s prosperity-driven churches any different to Pat Mesiti’s “get-rich-schemes” organisation?

4. Does slapping Christian language on Pat Mesiti’s work and getting people “handing their cash over taking a leap of faith,” make his content 100% authentic Christianity?

5. If Pat Mesiti provides “no audit trails, no published success rates to prove it one way or the other,” then why is it also rare to hear these success stories in Hillsong and C3 Church?

6. What are the chances that Pat Mesiti got his prosperity theology from his ‘pastor’ friends Brian Houston and Phil Pringle?

Please keep these questions in mind as Fairfax NZ News reports the following:

Just who’s getting rich quick?

BY ROB STOCK

Books have always been used by salesmen to enhance their credibility, though a new series arriving in New Zealand takes that to a new pitch.

The nine books in the Millionaire Makers series ($14.99 each) tempt buyers with promises of “$100,000 in 100 days”, achieving “financial abundance for life”, or “Cracking the million dollar sales code”.

But these are really advertisements disguised as books, trying to drum up bums on seats for seminars in Auckland’s Aotea Centre in August, November and February at which the nine authors – some of the biggest names of the Australian wealth seminar scene – will attempt to sell mentoring schemes, high-risk options trading systems, boxed software programs and even franchise-style online marketing businesses to Kiwis who want to barely work at all and yet be fantastically rich.

Each book contains a “free” invitation to a seminar “worth $1994” (a very specific sum derived by comparison to the pricing of the seminars of US motivational speaker Tony Robbins).

In effect, punters who pick the books up from the natty black display stands in bookstores around the country are being asked to buy the advertisement for the seminar.

It’s brilliant marketing really, as befits the man behind the series, former evangelical pastor Pat Mesiti, now a preacher in the secular church of financial abundance.

Mesiti is a fascinating and charismatic man to meet, not least because of his colourful background as a preacher with the evangelical and highly commercial Hillsong church in Australia.

There’s no doubting the energy of the diminutive Mesiti (who is in great nick for a man whose brows now sport receding grey locks) nor his acute awareness that any journalist he meets is a single internet search away from learning about his past.

In fact, Yahoo’s new helpful habit of trying to anticipate your searching requirements suggested I add the word “scandal” to my search command even before I finished typing Mesiti’s name.

Consequently, it is he who brings up his public disgrace in 2001 when he was stood down as a preacher at Hillsong for visiting prostitutes, a scandal that led him to reinvent himself on the wealth-creation speaking circuit.

It’s still a sensitive point. As we talk the phone goes. A current affairs show producer calls as we talk, asking Mesiti to front for an interview. “Are they dirt-diggers?” he asks nervously, clearly weary of constantly revisiting his sexual sins.

Hillsong church and Mesiti still have much in common, including the message that God and Jesus want their believers to be rich, and, unusually, that Jesus was himself wealthy.

Mesiti sums it up for me. He doesn’t believe Jesus was broke. If Jesus was poor why did he have a treasurer? How could he have afforded to keep such a retinue of disciples? How else could he have afforded to take so much time off work?

Mesiti adheres to the school of thought among predominantly US preachers with a penchant for the good life that Jesus was wealthy, and what’s more, the mainstream churches know it, but are keeping the truth from people in order to amass riches for themselves (Mesiti points out that mainstream churches are among some of the biggest landowners in the world).

Mesiti’s stance is not far from Hillsong head man Brian Houston’s claim that true Christians are money magnets. “If you believe in Jesus, he will reward you here as well [as in heaven],” he once told a Sydney Morning Herald reporter.

Mesiti claims that despite having left Hillsong, he has a similar mission to the wealth- dispensing God. “I tell the people, their prosperity is my passion,” he says.

The nine authors of the Millionaire Makers series share that mission, Mesiti claims. That’s handy, because it is the only way to address the key paradox of the motivational speaker/ professional mentor: If they are so wealthy and successful, what are they doing on the speaking circuit flogging their books and mentoring systems?

“Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach,” is the old saw that comes to mind, particularly for a journalist who has met many financially successful people.

The standard response is that they have a mission to teach and to free humanity from the shackles of society/poor schooling/bad parenting, which all combine in a malign conspiracy to keep us from the secrets of wealth.

Of course, the way to break free from the shackles and achieve wealth quickly and painlessly, according to the Mesiti school of thought, is to buy the book/the mentoring scheme/the software. Such mentoring brings “wisdom without the wait”, he tells me.

For the record, this cynical journalist for one is deeply sceptical about get-rich-quick schemes. I have no doubt they work – the problem is, I think they work for those selling them, not those buying them.

There are no audit trails, no published success rates to prove it one way or the other.

That leaves those handing their cash over taking a leap of faith.

I wouldn’t dispute that speakers like Mesiti can be a powerful force to motivate people to get out there and improve their lot, but it’s hard not to see that as secondary to the sales pitch. Pick your gurus carefully.

Source: Rob Stock, Just who’s getting rich quick?, Fairfax NZ News, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/2548780/Just-whos-getting-rich-quick, Last Updated 29/06/2009. (Accessed 02/12/2012.)

proof_stuffNZ-Mesiti_02-12-12NOTE: SCREEN GRAB TAKEN ON THE 02/12/2012.