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Tag Archives: Furtick

Why is controversial Mark Driscoll speaking at Hillsong Conference 2015 (Part 1)

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Nailed Truth in Associations

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

Brian Houston, celebrity pastor, Furtick, Hillsong, Hillsong Conference 2015, houston, Mark Driscoll, Rock star, Steven Furtick

Brian Houston announced that Mark Driscoll will be speaking at Hillsong Conference 2015. One has to wonder what on earth Brian Houston is thinking. The web is full of reports on the controversial conducts of men like Steven Furtick and Mark Driscoll. Notice how many of Brian’s friends conduct themselves in similar ways to Brian Houston as listed in this report.

1. They appear to have a, “[…] lack of transparency around [the pastor] and church funds.”

The media pressured Brian Houston to disclose the following – “My total personal income from Hillsong Church in its entirety is just on $150,000 including fringe benefits plus currently the use of a Holden Caprice, along with just over another $150,000 from Leadership Ministries which makes up my complete personal income.”). [Source]

2. They appear to have, “[…] non-disclosure agreements that […] pastors and staff members must sign when they depart”

3. They appear to lack anyone “[…] who holds [the pastor] accountable on money or any other issue.”

4. They appear to blur lines, “[…] between advancing the gospel and advancing the preacher.”

5. They appear to enjoy, “massive popularity”.

Frankly, the teachers joy should be seeing salvation and people growing into the fullness of Christ. Is it only because these preachers share the same totallatarian-like methods that they consider each-other valid teachers?

In the below article, we would like to point out that we do not endorse the New Age writer William Paul Young.

USA Today reports,

‘Rock star’ pastors lose luster: Column

It’s not easy being a celebrity pastor these days with that pesky Internet around.

Consider the struggles of Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Faced with mounting accusations circulating online — plagiarism, misusing church funds to prop book sales, silencing anyone in his church with the temerity to question him — Driscoll has urged his followers to stay off the Web. “It’s all shenanigans anyway,” he explains.

Steven Furtick, a megachurch pastor in North Carolina, and Dave Ramsey, an evangelical finance guru, have been taking hits, too, as have the wheeler-dealers on the Preachers of L.A. reality show. This, against a backdrop of culture shifts creating strong headwinds against the leader-and-follower model typified by today’s Christian superstars.

What are a megapastor and his followers to do? Remembering the biblicaladmonitions against idolatry would be a good start.

Some media outlets have dubbed Driscoll a “rock star” among pastors. He is hip, brash, very interested in sex and, for a reverend, unusually irreverent. He doesn’t throw televisions out of hotel windows in the manner of bad-boy rock musicians. But he comes close in the rhetorical sense, tossing out insults about gay people, women and his theological rivals.

Ongoing enterprise

Also true to his rock-star status, Driscoll enjoys massive popularity. His Mars Hill Church (including its 15 franchised satellite locations) attracts nearly 15,000 weekly. Driscoll’s podcast has 250,000 regular listeners worldwide, and his 2012 book, Real Marriage, topped a New York Times best-seller list.

Ah, that chart-topping book. Driscoll has admitted to using more than $200,000 in church funds to hire a consultant to game the system, boost sales and add that magical reference — No. 1 best-selling author — to his glittering résumé. This questionable allocation of church money is indicative of a wider problem that rankles those in Driscoll’s growing flock of critics: the lack of transparency around Driscoll and church funds.

His salary? Unknown. Who controls church funds? Good luck finding that out. And because of the non-disclosure agreements that Mars Hill pastors and staff members must sign when they depart, little is known about who holds Driscoll accountable on money or any other issue.

One of the problems with celebrity pastors is that it’s very difficult to draw a line between advancing the gospel and advancing the preacher. When a famous pastor grows his audience and fame, doesn’t this mean that more people are hearing his saving message about Christ?

Well, yes.

But as revealed by the long history of church authority and its periodic abuse, the dynamic also gives the preacher on the pedestal a too-easy justification for seemingly everything he wants to do. You don’t want to be against God’s will, do you?

Scrutiny shared online

Now, however, there’s a wild card that older-school religious celebrities did not have to contend with. Thanks to the Internet, any disgruntled current or former follower can write a scathing blog post, add nasty comments to reader forums or, as creator of@FakeDriscoll does, voice a spoof Twitter account in the target’s name. This can take a toll — as demonstrated by Driscoll’s church, which has had to lay off staff due to declining attendance and giving.

Because of the Internet, “the audience is now at least as much of a celebrity as the pastor, if not more,” says Jim Henderson, a Christian author and producer in the Seattle area who is convinced that the era of the celebrity pastor as spiritual paragon is waning. Henderson produces a live show called Where’s God When … featuring a very different kind of “celebrity” Christian — William Paul Young, author of the megaselling faith-themed novel The Shack.

Young is, seemingly, everything the megapastors are not: small of stature and ego, quietly reflective, and open about his painful journey and struggles (including his being a sex-abuse victim).

Henderson might be right about this being the beginning of the end for celebrity megapastors. Until that process runs its course, however, fans of the Driscolls, Furticks and the rest have a big question to ask themselves. Who, ultimately, are they following? Jesus? Or their pastor?

Source: Tom Krattenmaker, ‘Rock star’ pastors lose luster: Column, USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/07/31/rock-star-pastors-church-celebrity-internet-column/13422869/, Published 4:16 p.m. EDT, 31/07/ 2014. (Accessed 01/08/2014.)

Brian Houston loves “Super Apostle” Steven Furtick.

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Nailed Truth in Associations, Brian Houston's Beliefs

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Brian Houston, Deceitful, deceitful workmen, false apostles, Furtick, Hillsong, hillsong conference, Hillsong Conference 2014, Judah Smith, No Other Name, No Other Name but Hillsong, Steven Furtick, super apostle, wicked

We have repeatedly used 2 Corinthians 11 to expose the false teachers that speak at C3 and Hillsong Church:

“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.”

“[…] And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” 2 Corinthians 11:2-6,12-15

Still, it seems the scriptures are ignored. And it appears false teachers like Steven Furtick know it.

Recently, Steven Furtick said he would like to be a “Super Apostle”.

“Second Corinthians from the Apostle Paul is an interesting book where his humanity is on full display. He is having a contest of sorts with a group of preachers called the Super Apostles which I think is the coolest designation. I would love for my title- it’s cool to be ‘Pastor’- but what if you could be ‘Super Apostle’? I think that’s my new title for Judah Smith. Super Apostle Smith.” – Steven Furtick, Hillsong Conference 2014, Session 1, 30/06/2014.

So be it. Spread the word. Start calling Steven Furtick a Super Apostle. He is definitely worthy of this title.

This is what Brian Houston said about this Super Apostle and his message where Furtick said the above:

“Can we give Steven Furtick a fantastic thank you for an amazing message. Bringing huge encouragement to many, many parents when we saw the reel video with the kids, that was cool! Hahaha!” – Brian Houston, Hillsong Conference 2014, Session 1, 30/06/2014.

That’s an endorsement to Furtick’s message alright.

Recently, Chris Rosebrough played the audio of Steven Furtick at Hillsong Conference and also refuted him,

Furtick Embraces Super-Apostle Title

Click Here to Download this episode

Program segments:

• ABC Report on Brazil’s Self-Anoited Miracle Workers
• Anne Graham Lotz’s Prophetic Assignments
• Furtick Embraces Super-Apostle Title
• Sermon Review: Puzzled by Sam Roberts of LifeChurch.tv

Source: Chris Rosebrough, Furtick Embraces Super-Apostle Title, Fighting for the Faith, http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2014/07/furtick-embraces-super-apostle-title.html, 07/07/2014.

Watch Furtick here:

Wolves After Leather Pack Together

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Nailed Truth in Associations

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Brian Houston, C3, Furtick, Hillsong, Hillsong Church, house, houston, money, phil pringle, pringle, wolf, wolves

“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.

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