Hillsong church, the large Australian congregation with satellite churches planted in many other countries is famous for its massively popular worship band.
They are often in the news for different reasons, they lean too much toward prosperity theology gospel despite the fact they are an Australian ministry rather than the US which gave us the “health and wealth” type message common in mega-churches and Christian television. Also more than a few people are unsure of their teaching and style of church is healthy, particularly as lead pastor Brian Houston said the God of islam was the same as the God of the bible. Lord forbid!! Or, it might be using Singapore pastor Joseph Prince as headliner for a high priced ticket event, which Mr Prince says we don’t need forgiveness after sin. (shudder)
I visited their congregation 2 years ago when I moved to London, visiting with my good friend Warren and two teenage brother and sister eastern European immigrants we got to know there.
I was listening to one of the their more well known tracks “Oceans” which has been played in a huge amount of churches I have seen.
Some Christians have said that Hillsong’s music has over-dominated Christian music and become tired of it. I can sort of understand this. I like to worship using contemporary and tradition songs myself.
If we take a fresh look at this song ‘Oceans’ a stellar track from when they were in the peak.
Something I noticed, if you look at the Youtube comments for this track, its hugely exciting and heartwarming to see messages from atheists, fallen away Christians and others saying how this song built them up. People not attending church in years are asking for prayer!!! This is massively heartwarming for me.
I don’t know of any other worship music group that can motivate such great responses like this. I ended up settling in a different church in the end, but today I was happy to see how a band could make such an impact particularly on hurting and lost people.
I will continue to follow and enjoy their worship music and pray they will plant more seeds in the hearts of the lost that are seeking Christ in a fallen and broken world.
Brit In Jerusalem 
I wouldn’t recommend Hillsong as a congregation either and frankly it concerns me that Brian Houston got invited to speak at King of Kings Jerusalem earlier this year. Apostasy is on the increase everywhere and it appears that most professed Christians have no clue whatsover that it is happening under their very noses.
I like some Hillsong music but not all of it. Again, I find that not all is consistent with Biblical truth. Lots of people these days say they believe in Jesus. The question is which one. As Paul said to the Galatians: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”
Just be careful not to form opinions on quick snippets of sermons where words can easily be twisted and taken out of context. Just as we read the Bible in full to understand its context we also need to listen to a full sermon to understand the message that is being conveyed. There are many wolves amongst the sheep always, but to jump to hasty conclusions without proper research is also not edifying the church.
Remember there were many writings that did not make the Bible due to the fact that in some parts, the doctrine was wrong. But by not endorsing the gospel of Thomas as the Word of God, should that stop us from acknowledging him as an apostle – of course not! Remember Church leaders are human and may at times say something that does not line up with the word of God but our responsibility is to pray for our leaders not criticise every small mistake.
“…. we also need to listen to a full sermon to understand the message that is being conveyed.”
– No we don’t. If numerous “quick snippets” from numerous sermons paint a consistent picture of false teaching from a wolf, then I will personally not waste my time trawling through an hour of rubbish just so I can find 2 minutes I agree with. That time would be far better spent listening to someone who has already demonstrated themselves to be honest and trustworthy, e.g. David Pawson. That doesn’t mean that he or anyone else like him is infallible but it does mean they make it clear that where the listener sees a conflict between what they say and the Word, the listener should hold to the Word. You can’t ask for more than that.
The greatest danger believers face today is false teaching, lukewarmness and apostasy, inspired and driven by an enemy wholly dedicated to stealing from us, killing us and destroying us. In view of that, I will live cautiously and will not allow the kind of stuff Jonathan has described here to infect me. I would recommend that all believers do likewise. This isn’t a game.
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