Pastor Henneke’s sermon is rich in scripture, he used that to make his points and to confront many unbiblical teachers and their music, not only Bethel and Hillsong: And in a sense, this trend has hurt because these stories often mask deeper issues that directly affect congregants’ lives.I am reposting this sermon and including sermon highlight points for those who do not have 55 minutes to listen to the sermon from YouTube which is at the end of this post. Every time there’s the obligatory reference to Justin Bieber joining Hillsong or the oft-repeated falsehood that the former prime minister Scott Morrison was part of Hillsong (he went to its conference, as almost every Pentecostal does at some point, he was actually a member of Sydney’s Horizon church), Pentecostal Christians’ eyes roll so far back into their heads it’s a heavenly miracle they haven’t done permanent ocular damage. Aside from the multiple campuses dotting the globe, millions of people around the world sing their Grammy award-winning music each week.īut while there has been considerable media attention given to the rise and fall of celebrity pastors, these reports often feel distant from the experiences of everyday Christians, making it surprisingly easy to brush them off as attacks by “the enemy” – or worse – the “mainstream media”. Right under iron ore and Hemsworth brothers. Hillsong ranks as one of Australia’s most successful global exports. Privately, they acknowledge that they are receiving hurt former Hillsong members. There has been a surge in evangelical expansions and church plantings in Hillsong’s vicinity. Several evangelical churches across Australia, some of which have long lived in Hillsong’s shadow, appear to be positioning themselves to inherit the flock. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Īfter newsletter promotion Western Australia’s booming church Kingdomcity now has 30 global locations, from Bristol to Mozambique For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. The most pivotal question for me was this: God, why can’t I feel you? These questions accumulated but the answers did not. The speck of scepticism I had as a preteen gradually developed into a swarm of urgent questions: From the classics: Why does God allow bad things to happen? I graduated to Can we interpret the “made the universe in seven days” literally or as an allegory? Is there any room for flexibility in the “no sex before marriage” (asking for a friend)? Also, can I get direct confirmation that this zealous televangelist, who spews hellish rhetoric about queer people, is in fact a direct mouthpiece from God? Nonetheless, they exemplified the best of what Christianity can be.Īnd yet deep down, I knew something didn’t quite add up. I’m not entirely sure if these wonderful people knew the refuge they provided or if they were simply following what they felt Christ would do. While my parents’ marriage was slowly falling apart, I spent my last years of high school finding excuses to stay with other church families. To me, all of this seemed normal.Īs a teenager, I even chose my own church separate from my parents, and drove other kids to and from youth groups on Fridays. Looking back, I was probably the only kid at school who regularly witnessed demons being cast out in his living room. I recall sitting in my bedroom, listening to adults engaging in spiritual warfare outside, the hypnotic booming rhythm of adults speaking in tongues. Throughout the 90s we often had small Bible study or prayer groups in our home. No matter how hard I tried, I never felt it. Back then, it wasn’t called Hillsong but the less melodic Christian Life Centre, led by Frank Houston (later revealed to be a confessed paedophile). But our evangelical journey began with the “one”. We belted out Christian pop songs with lyrics projected on overhead projectors in various school halls, each with different levels of air conditioning. Growing up, my family attended numerous small churches, many of them located in suburban Returned Services League function rooms (the Jesus who drove out the money traders from the temple would have definitely gotten a kick from a church amid the poker machines). I was born into the Australian Pentecostal world. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads
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