When Hillsong Spin Doctors Contradict Each Other

Many readers would be aware of my pursuit of answers and accountability for some of the more disgraceful practices going on within the Fort Knox like environment of Hillsong church in Australia (and their many franchises throughout the world). The two major issues I took up with them last year revolved around their "Mighty to Save" CD and were as follows:

1. Their failure to preach repentance in their gospel presentation which was in direct conflict with their own doctrine statement. (http://myhillsong.com/what-we-believe)

2. The fact that they boldly displayed 2 Chronicles 7:14 on the back sleeve of the CD but deleted the line from the verse that says "and turn from their wicked ways".

In today's post I just want to focus on point 2 here regarding the "Hillsong adjusted Bible verse" and the conflicting excuses that have emanated from the Hillsong mothership because some more contradictory information has just come to light as you will read at the end of this post.

Here is what I said concerning this in my initial correspondence with Hillsong Church (you can read the entire post here):

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.

Robert Fergusson, who is Hillsong's theological top dog, wrote back but would not even give a reason for the deleted line from the Bible verse. He dealt with it by just ignoring that particular issue altogether. As an interesting aside, I was informed just last week by a former Hillsong volunteer worker that Robert Fergusson's academic credential is a degree in Zoology which probably explains a lot, including why Brian Houston deemed him the right man to oversee the theological soundness of the Hillsong empire (my correspondence with Robert Fergusson can be read here).

I then took up the issue of the "Hillsong adjusted Bible verse" with Joel A'Bell who is Hillsong's executive pastor in Sydney. This is what he had to say on the subject (pay particular attention to how alarmed he was by this revelation):

I'm sorry that certain sentences were left off some of the creative liners of that album. I can assure you it was not intentional as it is very obvious what we believe.

(My correspondence with Joel A'Bell can be read here).

Glen from New Zealand decided to write and got this response from Paul Aylett who is the customer service manager at Hillsong Music:

Thank you for your email to Hillsong Music.

We at Hillsong also honour the Word of God. Please see this excerpt from our Statement of Belief,

"We believe that the Bible is God's Word. It is accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives."

The intent was to represent the Scripture within the parameters provided. A close examination of the verse will reveal that the words ‘I will hear’ has also been removed to allow for the verse to meet the allocation available on the jacket.

Please understand our heart in this matter.

When Glen pressed the issue further due to the previous unsatisfactory answer he got this response:

Hi Glen,

Thank you for your reply.

At Hillsong we place the highest importance on Scripture as previously stated, and in no way are we devaluing Scripture.

Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Regards, Paul Aylett

Three questions/comments immediately spring to mind as I read this dialogue:

1. It is true that "The intent was to represent the Scripture within the parameters provided", if by that they mean that they were using an incomplete Bible verse for an incomplete gospel.

2. How exactly does editing Bible verses to meet the requirements of your own "parameters" reflect that "in no way are we devaluing Scripture"? Putting Scripture at the feet of your own agenda is Scripture devaluation of the highest order.

3. Is this correspondence evidence that repentance is not only absent from their gospel presentation, but also absent from the Hillsong culture?

Well, as I am currently visiting Australia, my good friend and open air preacher Josh Williamson informed me that he had also had some correspondence with Hillsong on this very issue after reading my blog. And lo and behold, he received a new excuse that contradicts the other ones thus far. Helen Tam, another customer service manager at Hillsong Music, had this to say:

In regards to the album Insert for Mighty To Save, at the time of print the purpose of the album insert was to emphasize that we need to call out to God, while it was read over and we spent a lot of time making sure details were covered, unfortunately this part was overlooked. The verse  should be complete, however due to this album been widespread it’s become an irreversible error.

So, are there any readers who would like to try and join the dots on this one? One thing I would appreciate is if more people would write to Hillsong and protest their disgraceful behavior.

Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 4)

Ed Young is a straightforward communicator who uniquely connects God's unchanging truth with a diverse culture through compelling and creative teaching methods. He is the founding and Senior Pastor of Fellowship Church. The church has its main campus just north of the DFW Airport and operates three satellite campuses in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area and one in Miami, Florida.

At least that is what the Ed Young Jr PR machine says about him. Ed is definitely an innovator at finding ways for middle aged men to look stupid to an audience that is half their age while promoting a Hillsong conference at the same time. And what better medium to convey this profound lame attempt at relevance than hip hop!



I have to say that this video certainly changed my perception of Hillsong's conference. Whereas I once considered it as an affront to true Christianity, I now see it as an affront to the general public as a whole. But the fake tattoo gives certainly Ed some "street cred" with bubble gum tattoo'd children worldwide. And the cavalcade of false teachers was certainly impressive in its diversity as well as the first public recognition of Joel Osteen's emerging mullet. Ed Young Jr is certainly hall of fame material in the "Lame Attempts at Relevance" archive!

Go On To Part 5
Go Back To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

Hillsong Update - Hillsong Explain Why They Edit Bible Verses

In the latter half of last year I had a running series on Hillsong (pastored by Brian Houston) in which I contended with them over their practice of deleting lines from Bible verses and presenting the gospel in a manner that clearly contradicted their faith statement regarding repentance. The two issues were interconnected because they deleted a line from 2 Chronicles 7:14 (turn from their wicked ways) that spoke of repentance. You can read a good summation of it here or click on the "Hillsong Saga" label under this post and scroll through all the previous posts. It does make for shocking/intriguing reading.

One of the standout features of the series and the correspondence that occurred between both Robert Fergusson (their chief theologian) and Joel A'Bell (executive pastor) was their constant refusal to even engage the issue of the altered Bible verse - they seemed to hope it would go away by ignoring it (which is a great way to demonstrate your theological credentials). Today, I am giving an update on this saga because one of my regular readers (Glen from New Zealand) took the initiative to write to them and ask the same questions - and much to my surprise he actually got an "explanation" from Paul Aylett who is the customer service manager for Hillsong Music Australia - and that is a big organization.

Here is the correspondence with Glen's words in bold and Paul Aylett's words in italics.

To whom it may concern,

It's been brought to my attention that the verse 2 Chronicles 7:14 has been incorrectly quoted on the insert of the Hillsong Live: Mighty to Save CD.

As quoted on the insert, the words (that seem to be most commonly translated to English as): "and turn from their wicked ways" have been removed from the verse. From what I can see, there is a slight gap between the first part of the verse and the second part where the missing words should be.

As a Christian, I take the Bible very seriously. And find the removal of these words grieving. I would like to quote Revelation 22:19 (NIV):

"And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."

I appreciate that mistakes can happen; but as Hillsong represents the church I would like, at the very least, to have this mistake acknowledged, and all future publishing of the insert to have the missing words added (true to the translation the verse was taken from).

Sincerely, Glen

Paul Aylett then wrote back:

Hi Glen,

Thank you for your email to Hillsong Music.

We at Hillsong also honour the Word of God. Please see this excerpt from our Statement of Belief,

"We believe that the Bible is God's Word. It is accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives."

The intent was to represent the Scripture within the parameters provided. A close examination of the verse will reveal that the words ‘I will hear’ has also been removed to allow for the verse to meet the allocation available on the jacket.

Please understand our heart in this matter.

Once again, thank you for contacting us, we appreciate your diligence and rigour with the Word of God.

Regards, Paul Aylett

Glen wasn't satisfied (of course) and had another try:

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I like the excerpt from the statement of belief you quoted. I agree.

Are you saying that the words were removed from the verse so it would fit on the CD jacket? Is the jacket allocation more important than quoting a Bible verse correctly? There is clearly enough room on the CD jacket for the whole verse.

I honestly don't understand Hillsong's heart in this matter. I don't understand why Hillsong would intentionally remove important words from a Bible verse.

Can you please explain?

Sincerely, Glen

Paul responded and If you read ever so carefully you might spot some hypocrisy - see if you can pick it up:

Hi Glen,

Thank you for your reply.

At Hillsong we place the highest importance on Scripture as previously stated, and in no way are we devaluing Scripture.

Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Regards, Paul Aylett

Three questions/comments immediately spring to mind as I read this dialogue:

1. It is true that "The intent was to represent the Scripture within the parameters provided", if by that they mean that they were using an incomplete Bible verse for an incomplete gospel.

2. How exactly does editing Bible verses to meet the requirements of your own "parameters" reflect that "in no way are we devaluing Scripture"? Putting Scripture at the feet of your own agenda is Scripture devaluation of the highest order.

3. Is this correspondence evidence that repentance is not only absent from their gospel presentation, but also absent from the Hillsong culture?

Please write to Hillsong and voice your protest at this disgraceful behavior - the most disgraceful of which is their refusal to even acknowledge that they have done something wrong . . .

Tom Hanks summed up the problems at Hillsong best when he said those famous words "Houston we have a problem!"

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 7)

Continuing from my earlier post where I closed with this comment to Joel A'Bell who is the executive pastor of Hillsong:

Joel, all I asked you for last time was to bring forward one audio file of a sound biblical presentation of the gospel that has been preached at Hillsong. It is a sincere question and I will be sincerely happy if you can show one to me. It shouldn't be difficult considering the many thousands of souls that get saved at Hillsong church.

Joel responded with these words:

Cameron, the offer still stands to meet with me over any of the gospel presentations I have delivered. And to all of you, as I have previously offered, I would be happy to sit with you over coffee.

For someone who lives in Denmark, Sydney would be a long commute so I asked Joel if we could speak over Skype. Joel then informed me that it was coffee or nothing. I don't know what this thing is about coffee?? Does he want to put something in my coffee? Anyway, I would like to extend the offer to my Aussie friends to take up Joel's offer to meet over coffee. He is not entirely unreasonable even if he has an unnatural aversion to Skype. Maybe you can plead with him over the Gospel preached at Hillsong. Wouldn't it be awesome if a preacher stood up in Hillsong and preached the biblical Gospel - now that would be a landmark day!

Go Back To Part 6
Go Back To Part 1

I Finally Got Sent A Hillsong Video That Proves They Preach The Gospel . . . NOT!!

To his credit Troy did take up my challenge that no one else has responded to. He went looking for a solid example of someone from Hillsong church preaching the Gospel. I had burdened Troy with the responsibility of substantiating his claim that:

I can assure you that I've been to Hillsong quite a few times and have heard the gospel accurately preached. Yes, including the mention of sin and the cross.

Most readers will be aware that I have a long list of grievances with Hillsong Church in Australia. Unlike the many grievances based on their financial practices, I have focussed on their understanding and proclamation of the Christian Gospel. Among my many grievances has been one that I didn't think even Hillsong defenders would argue with - the necessity to preach repentance (you know, turning away from sin). In fairness to Hillsong it is difficult to preach repentance when you never talk about sin. Why do I think that even Hillsong defenders would not argue against this particular grievance? Because they affirm the necessity of repentance on Hillsong's own doctrine statement which says:

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.

So let's take a look at the video Troy chose to support his claims and alleviate my fears. Pay close attention to Joel A'Bell's focus on repentance in this video:

The Journey [Discovering Christianity] from Hillsong Church on Vimeo.

Troy, I have to ask why you would use that video to argue against what I have been saying? It actually affirms almost everything I've said. So much missing information I don't know where to begin. Who is this God? Why do I need His forgiveness? What cross? Why did Jesus need to die that I can get this gift? Why do I need this gift? Why don't I deserve it? What is this gift? etc etc

On a purely logical level it creates many more questions than it answers. But once again I'll zero in on one point because it is a part of Hillsong's own doctrine statement. The necessity of repentance from sin in order to receive salvation. Where in this video did Joel speak of our need to repent or turn away from our sinful life. Of course it is difficult for Joel to do this when he never even defines sin.

Come on Troy, I am not being a nit picking monster, this is basic Christianity! Instead of arguing with me over this why don't you challenge the Hillsong leadership over this. The more this gets voiced the better the chance that they might repent and start preaching Christianity - which would be a wonderful blessing to their vast audience.

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 6)

OK, time for more dialogue today from my online discussion with Joel A'Bell who is the executive pastor at Hillsong Church in Sydney. But before I do I should tie up one lose end left over from an earlier post in this series. In Part 4 of this series I asked a question that I failed to answer in Part 5. I apologize for this oversight although I think the answer was pretty obvious from just a casual glance at the text from John 4. It would seem that playing fast and loose with the Word of God is becoming a very disturbing trend and theme in the Hillsong culture. The video excerpt used as a companion to Joel A'Bell's message is taken from a Jesus film which recounts Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well as found in John chapter 4. If you watch the video it is pretty much a word for word re-enactment of the Biblical text . . . except that they spliced out a part! Which part? You guessed it - the part where Jesus exposes the woman's adulterous practices. I will not point the finger directly at Joel A'Bell in this instance as he may well be unaware of the final video product (as it was done at a church that he was visiting). But this disturbing trend serves as a timely reminder that we are called to submit to the Scripture. The Scripture is never to be subservient to the agenda of the guy in the sheep-suit.

Anyway, let's pick up my conversation from where Joel responded to my comments regarding his request for a salvation prayer formula (read here if you want your memory refreshed). Before I post Joel's comments I would also like to give Pastor Joel A'Bell the credit for his willingness to respond to me - thank you very much Pastor Joel for extending me this courtesy. This is what Joel had to say:

Cameron, I agree with your list so I don't understand what the problem is. It should be noted that you couldn't merely say it was the next verse in Gal 1 which was my whole point. You had to study many Scripture to come up with your summary. I proclaim the same gospel you speak of but you say I don't. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all it's truth. Sometimes you have an hour to explain the gospel, other times, only minutes. What matters most is not specific words but people being saved by God's amazing grace.

If there is one thing that drives me nuts it is postmodernism. When you express something that is the polar opposite of what you are trying to refute and the postmodernist seems to think that the two opposing factions are saying the same thing "in different ways". The difficulty here is that instead of contending for his view Joel seems to be trying to blur the lines of distinction by assering that he agrees with me and preaches the same message. I wrote again:

Joel, if you agree with me on the Gospel then please bring me an audio file of a faithful Gospel presentation coming out of Hillsong. I have heard many sermons by Brian Houston and Hillsong conference guests over the years and I am yet to hear a Gospel presentation that is faithful to what I outlined (which you say you agree with). So send me the link or audio file and I will gladly stand corrected. But even if someone gets it right sometimes, that still does not excuse perverting the gospel on other occasions. For example, a failure to talk about sin and repentance is perverting the Gospel.

Joseph De Araujo (who appeared earlier in this series) chimed back into the conversation and said:

Cameron, I'm not sure what your expectation of the 'text book' altar call is. My view is that if someone is convicted by the spirit, comes forward and 'chooses Jesus' then he/she is then closer to salvation and is then also open to all education about the gospel in full. They can accept Jesus and assure their salvation and then choose to be baptised in water. I don't see how it's preaching a different gospel. Printing & publishing the gospel is one thing, that must be correct in full, but giving an altar call for people who want to have a relationship with Christ without giving the full salvation message?

Back to the altar call/salvation prayer formula again. It would seem that is the key they see in regenerating a lost individual who is "dead in sin" (Ephesians 2:1). Joel then got back into the ring to further defend himself:

I agree with gospel points (even though it was missing some) above and yet you continue to accuse. Just listen to any appeal for salvation that I give, which is most weekends. The gospel is preached in Hillsong Church and the thousands of new and longstanding Christians are testimony to that. If you are daring to question the validity of the salvation of thousands of people who came to Christ through the ministry of Hillsong then it is very clear what your intensions are.

Could someone please explain to me why it is that so many Hillsong defenders (as well as Rick Warren defenders and Rob Bell defenders etc. etc.) seem to think that they can prove that they preach the Gospel rightly by saying that they do. I thought we substantiate claims in the real world. I wrote again to Joel:

Joel, all I asked you for last time was to bring forward one audio file of a sound biblical presentation of the gospel that has been preached at Hillsong. It is a sincere question and I will be sincerely happy if you can show one to me. It shouldn't be difficult considering the many thousands of souls that get saved at Hillsong church.

More to come . . .

Go On To Part 7
Go Back To Part 5
Go Back To Part 1

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 4)

Troy wrote to me yesterday to tell me:

All these "Christian" blogs seem do is talk down about other Christians. Who would want to be a part of this (Christianity) if the people who are supposed to love and accept one another just bring each other down? Let's remember above everything else we're called to LOVE Jesus and LOVE others. And let's not forget John 13:35.

Well Troy, there was unfinished business in my previous series - particularly in regard to Hillsong's disgraceful practice of removing a part of a Bible verse (the repentance part). Can you honestly tell me that you don't have a problem with that? My correspondence with Joel A'Bell brings more light to this story.

Secondly, this blog is just one area of the sum of my labor. It is in this forum alone that I venture into polemic critiques and discussions. Furthermore, I like to think that this blog contains a good blend of a wide variety of subjects with both positive and negative stories.

Thirdly, there you go trying to play the love card. Scripture defines God's love in Romans 5:8 . . .

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So if you want to criticize about love then criticize Hillsong for their failure to preach God's love by never talking about sin or the cross (as is ably demonstrated in their CD gospel presentation and the video from my Sep 20 2010 post). Also Troy, if you love God and treasure His word then where is your outrage over Hillsong's willingness to mess with Scripture? I would contend that I am doing this out of love for the truth, a love for God's people who are being deceived, and a love for the true Gospel that God delivered.

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)

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. (Romans 16:17)

Troy wrote again after these comments:

I really do care about all those things you're talking about. And I can assure you that I've been to Hillsong quite a few times and have heard the gospel accurately preached. Yes, including the mention of sin and the cross.

I think that you are right to question the "tampering" or scripture. But at the same time, I think you keep harping on something that could very well have been an accident that was overlooked, as Robert Fergusson stated in your post. But for some reason you have chosen to believe that this was intentional. I believe that this was not intentional. Unless you have seen them consistently changing scripture, then I see no reason to believe that they do not preach "the true gospel". Especially when like I said above, I have heard it for myself.

Hillsong Church is doing many incredible things around the world in the name of Jesus and many lives are being changed. This is a fact.

Troy, for months now I have been waiting for one solitary example of a faithful Gospel presentation from anything at Hillsong (video, audio, or written). Nothing has been forthcoming - except for several people trying to reassure me that they do preach the Gospel. I do however have an abundance of examples of them preaching a false gospel so bad even their doctrine statement defines it as heretical. So Troy send me the one example of a faithful Gospel presentation that talks about God's holiness, man's sin, judgment, atonement and resurrection, repentance and faith. I am eagerly awaiting . . .

I welcome anyone willing to send me one example they can find and i promise I will give it a fair hearing. I'm waiting . . .

I did go looking for one of these Gospel presentations (of Joel A'Bell) myself in the last few days but did not find anything. But I did find this video featuring Joel A'Bell (and some other guy later on) which was interesting. Joel may not be responsible for the editing but the video excerpt follows the disturbing trend of deleting unsavory parts of the biblical text. Pay particular attention to the portion of video depicting the story of Jesus and the woman at the well (John 4). Watch that part and see if you can spot which part of the dialogue between Jesus and the woman ended up on the "cutting room floor" . . .



Go On To Part 5
Go Back To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 3)

There are two pictures that can be seen above. Can you tell the difference? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I think I can tell the difference. One is about preference and the other is perfect. One is defined by the consumer and the other defines the consumer. One changes daily according to the tastes of men and the other is the same "yesterday, today, and forever" according to the eternal sovereign decrees of God. One is a Buffet and the other is a Bible - can you see the difference?

No, I am not trying to insult the intelligence of the vast array of discerning readers who frequent this blog! But I am suggesting that there are some people high up in the Hillsong enterprise who definitely need their eyes checked. One of the most serious allegations I have levelled against "Hillsong" is their treatment of Scripture as something that they can pick and choose from to reinforce the theology that they have already invented as Brian Houston can ably demonstrate:



I won't comment on that video since Tom Hanks was able to sum it up so well . . .



Twisting Scripture is bad enough. But Hillsong took it to a whole new level on their "Mighty To Save" CD where they decided to indulge in editing God's sacred word! As Hillsong emblazoned 2 Chronicles 7:14 on the back cover of their liner notes, I noticed that the verse seemed somewhat abbreviated. It read:

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 following words in CAPITAL LETTERS:

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.

It would seem that Hillsong's aversion to the vital biblical subject of repentance extends a long way. Scripture itself has some interesting things to say about this practice of using liquid white-out for a Bible highlighter:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

"Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it." (Deuteronomy 12:32)

Do not add to His words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:6)

"Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word." (Jeremiah 26:2)

But what did the people at Hillsong have to say for themselves? Well, in my correspondence with Robert Fergusson (their main theological heavyweight), I brought the subject up several times. Fergusson used a very interesting apologetical approach - just ignore my question! Now I have read some books on Christian apologetics but I cannot recall ever hearing about the "pretend the guy never said anything" approach. Later on I experienced the same problem in my online correspondence with Joel A'Bell (Hillsong's Executive Pastor). After much perseverence I finally heard something on the subject. Not from Pastor Joel but from Joseph De Araujo (who seems to be one of Joel's preferred "Hillsong defenders"). Joseph wrote:

I don't think it is intentional though (leaving out parts of scripture), and this is something we need to understand too. But this must be addressed. If we are to communicate the whole message, sure we can change the language so that the modern reader can understand, but we can't cut bits out. I think in a real sense, this is about quality control, someone should have proof read that, and said, "Hey, there's a bit missing." Good quality control will get rid of any mistakes like this. The solution is simple, get more editors, proof readers - get more excellence in quality control.(emphasis mine)

So what do you think? Is this purely an accidental mistake that can be rectified through "more editors and proof readers" or is there a theological element to this subject? Love your feedback before I continue this series on Wednesday. This is a big deal and needs to be pursued . . .

Go On To Part 4
Go Back To Part 2
Go Back To Part 1

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 2)

Continued from my previous post . . .

Joel A'Bell, to his credit, published my critique and then responded to the objections I raised concerning Hillsong's attempts at Gospel proclamation:

Hi Cameron, everything you stated in your post comment is what we believe, although you didn't mention resurrection from the dead or eternal judgement, but we believe those too.
I'm sorry that certain sentences were left off some of the creative liners of that album. I can assure you it was not intentional as it is very obvious what we believe.

You mentioned Gal 1:8-9, the Apostle Paul and making sure we don't preach a different gospel but you didn't add the gospel presentation he was referring to??? Was it in the next verse?
You are making serious accusations here so you need to give me the acceptable salvation prayer you are talking about... Where is it?

Joel's closing comments here set off a big red flashing warning sign in my mind. He is after the "acceptable salvation prayer" formula - is this what he thinks saves people? I responded as follows:

Dear Joel, you asked for an acceptable salvation prayer. This is part of the problem - it is Christ Who saves, not the prayer you pray. And every Christian has responsibility to present the Gospel rightly. At the fundamental level, any Gospel presentation should include these five elements:
1. An explanation of The Holiness of God - His character and nature.
2. An explanation of man's depravity - define and explain sin.
3. The necessity of judgment - heaven and hell are real places where real people go - that God is bound by His character and nature to punish sin.
4. Christ's atoning work and resurrection - that Christ fulfilled the law that sinners break, and took God's wrath on the cross in the place of sinners and that the resurrection verifies God's satisfaction with Christ's payment.
5. The call on all men everywhere to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel.
I back this up biblically here (read from the bottom up)
http://onceuponacross.blogspot.com/search/label/Anatomy%20Of%20The%20Gospel

Yes I am levelling serious charges against the gospel according to Hillsong. Why shouldn't I if it is clearly not the Gospel of Scripture - the one Paul preached! That is one debate. But even your own doctrine statement pronounces heresy on the gospel presentation found in the "Mighty to Save" CD. And to edit a Bible verse as was done with 2 Chronicles 7:14 is outrageous. The subject of repentance was avoided in the gospel presentation (even though your faith statement says it is necessary to be saved) - why shouldn't I believe that the line "turn from their wicked ways" being deleted from 2 Chronicles 7:14 was for the exact same reason. Joel, I don't blame you for this, but it's quite shocking that you are downplaying it as something less than outrageous.

I have a five part youtube series presenting the Gospel in a biblically faithful way and I welcome your feedback. It can be viewed here (just scroll down):
http://onceuponacross.blogspot.com/2010/04/due-to-requests-today-i-am-posting...

I'm giving you plenty of information here and I am sure you are a very busy man. But I urge you to engage this matter because the Gospel is a matter of first importance - especially when the material you transmit and market finds its way into a lot of homes around the world.

Sincerely
Cameron

More to come . . .

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 1)

In my previous post I included a video of a female leader at Hillsong church in Australia making an absolute hash of presenting the Christian Gospel. To call it inadequate and full of falsehoods would be to put the best possible construction on it. Much to my surprise "Newtaste" then informed me that the woman is Julia A'Bell - and that name did ring a bell! I was immediately reminded of my online correspondence with her husband Joel several months ago.

Joel A'Bell with his wife Julia, is an Executive Pastor at Hillsong Church (I will set aside the glaring Scriptural problem of a female pastor for now - paging 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1) in Sydney Australia, where his primary responsibilities are to oversee the City Worship Centre. Joel has been a minister since 1993.

There seems to be a lot of interest in getting beneath the veneer of the Hillsong empire and I thought my correspondence with Joel may be of interest to many of the readers who have viewed my earlier series on the false gospel of Hillsong (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6).

On May 28 2010 Joel A'Bell wrote the following post on his blog (which Newtaste drew to my attention):

Critics are like bugs, they just make the same repetitive noise but when you draw near to them they go silent. I am so reminded by the caution Paul gave the people of Corinth: Love builds up but knowledge puffs up. In the words of Ps Brian (Houston), I would rather be a song writer, not a song critic; a church builder, not a church critic. Critics would have you join their band but there is no melody, no room for symphony, no tolerance for different instruments. Their noise is tuned to a repetitive theme with broken sticks and an emptiness of soul. Don't be drawn in by the loud abrupt tone that always reveals their intensions. Instead, open your eyes to the exuberant colour of God's kingdom of light and your ears to the vibrant sounds of His Heavenly majesty which is clearly displayed in all He is doing! People are amazing and broad in their differences. Let love prevail and His grace abound!

Joel's philosophical observations sound nice and even has a bit of a Bible verse thrown in for good measure. But does this thinking stand up to the whole scope of Scripture, and furthermore, is it a preacher's way of trying to immunize himself from biblical critique?

On June 5 2010 I posted this response on Joel's blog:

Dear Joel, you are right that the tone and motive of criticism matters. But Scripture also mandates biblical critique of teaching. Criticism based upon a love for the purity of the once for all delivered faith should be listened to. What follows is factual criticism that I raised with Hillsong church several months ago and to my disappointment never really went anywhere. Those concerned didn't even want to discuss (at a theological level) the very serious allegations I brought forward. What follows is the mail that I sent which outlines some serious problems with how the gospel is publicly proclaimed by Hillsong as a whole. Joel, these comments are not aimed specifically at you as you cannot know every facet of the inner workings of an organization as large as Hillsong. But I would appreciate if you took them seriously, and had the courage to post this letter in your comments section. This is not a witch hunt - this is an attempt at rectifying a serious flaw concerning God's means of saving sinners.
On Wednesday December 30th 2009 I wrote the following mail to Hillsong's prayer@hillsong.com address which is supposed to be for non-Christians with questions:

"To whom it may concern,

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 CD's 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 is the correct?

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 CAPITAL LETTERS:

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.

Sincerely
Cameron Buettel"

To his credit Joel did post my comment and also responded. The dialogue will continue on Friday . . .

Go On To Part 2