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biblical discernment, Biblical truth, Brian Houston, Christian doctrine, Christianity, false doctrine, false gospel, false prophecy, false teachers, Hillsong Australia, Law of Attraction doctrine, new spirituality, prosperity gospel, Word of Faith heresy
But first, an introduction from The Narrowing Path…
This is the first article in a series written by Cameron Buettel of The Bottom Line blog back in 2010. These articles challenge the false teachings of Brian Houston’s ‘Hillsong Church’ in Sydney, Australia (now expanding around the world), and document Cameron’s efforts to address his concerns directly with Hillsong Church and its leadership.
The spiritually poisonous prosperity/word of faith/new age gospel, preached by Brian Houston and many of the illustrious pastors who speak at his Church and annual conferences, is spreading relentlessly throughout the world. The powerful influence of such churches on average, everyday churches and their pastors in Australia and abroad is often underestimated. There are countless churches whose pastors have modeled themselves and their preaching on Brian Houston (and for the ladies, Bobbie Houston).
Brian Houston, and the other church leaders he endorses, are leading many into a ‘spirituality’ that promotes unity at the expense of God’s truth. Regularly claiming direct revelation from God, such pastors also promote mystical and occult experiences and practices, humanistic self-development, ecumenical/interfaith activities including shared prayer and worship, and an ever increasing rejection of foundational Christian doctrines and biblical Christianity. The problems with Hillsong Church have nothing to do with a preferred worship style or favourite pulpit personality, but rather rest primarily on the continued presence of heretical teaching and deceiving spirits.
All articles in the series will be posted here in full (thanks Cameron!), however I also encourage you to go to The Bottom Line to read more excellent articles on issues facing the Body of Christ.
Blessings in Christ, Sherryn
The False Gospel Of Hillsong (Part 1) – Houston We Have A Problem
Hillsong church in Australia is one of the largest, if not the largest, distributor of “worship music” in the world and have multiple “worship conferences” each year with tens of thousands in attendance. Pastored by Brian Houston, their message is far reaching. And as I found by reading their message – it is no cause for celebration.
In my previous post, I discussed the content of the “CD liner notes” found in a Hillsong CD. As an Australian, I am sorry for the scale and scope of the gospel according to Hillsong – for it is a gospel with no saving power.
I have attempted to engage in a private dialogue with the “powers that be” in Hillsong church but to no avail. One of their main preachers did write back to me (you will hear more about that on Wednesday), but suffice to say that his e-mails were full of diplomacy and lacking in theology.
This post is not about grinding an axe or discussing the scandals of moral failures. Nor is it a discussion on the financial activities of Hillsong church, though there are those who contend that the economics are a by-product of a false gospel. What follows is my inititial correspondence with Hillsong in the attempt and hope that maybe we could engage in a productive discussion on the purity of the Gospel. So please read on with a heart for those who are lost and deceived, and a desire for the Gospel to thunder once more in pulpits around Australia.
To whom it may concern at Hillsong church,
I recently read through the CD liner notes of your “Hillsong Live – Mighty To Save” CD. In it I found an explanation on how to become a Christian.
Here is what it said:
Our prayer is that you would discover the Author of Love . . . Jesus. His life and death represent the greatest gift of love the world will ever see . . . a gift for you. All you need to do is accept it . . . a brand new start to a life lived in relationship with God. Meeting God is as simple as praying a prayer . . . asking Jesus to meet you right where you are. If you are not sure that you know God, and that you are going to heaven, then make this your prayer today . . .
Dear Lord Jesus
I need You . . . I need Your grace to forgive me and I need your love to change me. Thank You for your amazing love. Thank You for giving me life and eternity. But above all, thank you for dying on the cross for me.
I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I’m a Christian, which means You live in me.
I belong to You. I will live my life for You and I will love You forever . . . Amen.
Now I am concerned about several things lacking in this presentation including Who God is, defining what sin is, that we must all be judged, and why Christ needed to die on the cross. These all give me great cause for concern with the gospel you are proclaiming. But I want to zero in on one particular issue. On your website you have a statement of “what we believe” which says this:
We believe that in order to receive forgiveness and the ‘new birth’ we must repent of our sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and submit to His will for our lives. (http://myhillsong.com/what-we-believe)
Can you please explain to me why repentance is never mentioned in the gospel presentation in the CDs you sell but your website says that “in order to receive forgiveness and the ‘new birth’ we must repent of our sins”? Can you tell me which one version is the correct one?
Adding to this I noticed on the back cover of the CD liner notes a quotation of 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says:
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
By checking in my Bible I found this verse to be incomplete and is missing the words in bold print:
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Can you explain to me why you deleted the line from that verse that speaks specifically about repentance? I hope you agree that it is very serious indeed to add to or delete information from sacred Scripture.
I am very concerned about this. I’m sure you would agree that the stakes are high and it is imperative that we get the Gospel right. Eternal destinies hang in the balance. The Apostle Paul said:
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9).
I would appreciate your response as to where Hillsong church actually stands on repentance, and that you would promptly ammend your website or the CD liner notes that you publish. I am writing to you first to give you opportunity to clarify your position before I discuss this publicly on my blog.
Sincerely
Cameron Buettel
They did write back, and so did I, and you’ll hear all about that on Wednesday in Part 2.
Related Articles:
The Gospel According to Hillsong
Should Brian Houston “Never Ever Be Allowed to Preach the Gospel Again”?
Fighting For The Faith Sermon Review: Brian Houston
Hillsong NYC: Cult of Celebrity
ABC’s Australian Story Interview with Bobbie Houston (transcript)
The Narrowing Path 
Houston, we have a major problem. Good post!
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Thanks Canada, indeed we do have rather a problem. Stay tuned for the next six instalments!
In light of Brian’s increasingly incoherent sermons, and his backpedalling this week after saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God, I thought it worth going back for some recent history on the whole Hillsong cult, before forging ahead to continue warning the brethren.
Here is a local website that reports on the antics of the Hillsong and it associates:
http://hillsongchurchwatch.com/
Also, are you familiar with the radio program/podcast called Fighting for The Faith? I linked to an early episode in which Chris Rosebrough reviews a Brian Houston sermon. From memory this was the first FFTF episode I ever listened to. I have found Chris’s format very helpful at times, and funny too. Occasionally painful. Also has brilliant sermons on Fridays. 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Shepherd/Guardian.
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Although the author of this post stayed away from Hillsong’s ‘history’, I cannot. As a young believer back in the late 1970’s, I came into possesion of an audio tape by the late Frank Houston. On that tape, Frank told his “testimony” about his conversion to the Salvation Army.
He stated that he used to talk with a young street evangelist, who witnessed to him regularly, about the Lord, and the he was sure that one day, Frank would replace him at that spot, doing the same work. Frank seemed incredulous at the time, but soon after his last encounter, the young evangelist was killed in an accident, and Frank said that he had felt some conviction, and eventually joined the Army.
Later on in the tape, Frank Houston said that he had left the Army, and had gone to mix in Pentecostal churches in New Zealand. He undertook some training, and eventually claimed to have received a ‘vision’ from the Lord, about moving to Australia, in order to found some churches. While opportunities were apparently lacking in Melbourne and Adelaide, Frank established a home group, which eventually grew into the Goulburn Street CLC in Darlinghurst.
While in Sydney for a training course, I attended this church on what was Missionary Sunday – the one day of the year when the (then AOG) missionaries had the chance to put forth their case in turn, for further support for the forthcoming year. I can vividly remember going up the stairwell, and into the main auditorium, where there were framed photos lining the walls of many of those who had served on the mission fields of Australia, PNG and the South Sea Islands. (Where are they now???)
At that particular meeting, part way during these proceedings, Frank Houston stood Brian and Bobbie up, along with some 30 to 40 people, and announced that they were going out to the Hills district (Baulkham Hills) to found what was to initially become Hills Christian Fellowship, but which would eventually become known as Hillsong.
You can imagine my shock, dismay and disappointment, when I was to discover years later, that Frank Houston had been dismissed from the AOG ministry for alleged acts of pedophilia, and that his whole life had (allegedly) been a lie! How could I trust any part of his “testimony” now? Worse still, how could I trust his so-called “vision” from God, about coming to Australia – at all?
And how could anybody who is associated with Hillsong and all of its recently manufactured derivitives, believe that anything to do with this man and his offspring could possibly be of God? Anything at all… I have always been an observer on the side, and do not have any personal axes to grind either (I’m over it….)
However, I do feel strongly, that the rest of the body of Christ needs to know, that the current incarnation of Hillsong, is in no way representative of their Pentecostal forebares, who held to time honoured, Bible based beliefs and practices, and that I have met many of these “old school” pastors, teachers, and evangelists in my travels. They are in no way of the same ilk. This is not that!
I would also like to state for the record, that I do not have issues with the Salvation Army in general, nor do I wish to impinge the nature and character of the current CLC church in Sydney, its ministry team or its congregants in whatever incarnation it may now exist – it’s not about them either…
Austin Hellier
“plenty more where that came from…”
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I believe that it is important to get out of Hillsong altogether. I think that if you are supporting a place that does those things to people you will be sharing in the responsibility before God- even if you didn’t do those things personally. Once you know – come out and don’t touch it with a ten foot pole
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Amen to that, sister.
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