My Online "Discussion" With Hillsong's Executive Pastor (Part 5)

There is more dialogue to come from my "online conversation" with Joel A'Bell who is the Executive Pastor at Hillsong church in Sydney. But while we have been pursuing the subject of Scripture's sacredness and the abominable practice of deleting parts of Bible verses, I had to post the observations of a sister from Canada concerning the Brian Houston "money" video that I posted last Monday. Whilst being dazzled by Brian Houston's vast arsenal of marketing techniques I failed to pay attention to his quotation of Scripture. Watch the following video again and pay particular attention to Brian Houston's Scripture quotation. Is there a problem with it????



Here are the observations that our Canadian friend made about the above video:

As the subtitles pointed out in the video of Brian Houston promoting his book “Money,” it is a major error when he says that the Bible says, “Let the poor say, ‘I am rich.’” Those words felt familiar so I went searching and found two choruses that say exactly that.

What the Lord Has Done in Me by Reuben Morgan / Hillsong Music Australia

Let the weak say, “I am strong.”
Let the poor say, “I am rich.”
Let the blind say, “I can see.”
It’s what the Lord has done for me.

Give Thanks by Henry Smith

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ His Son
And now let the weak say, “I am strong,”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us.”

Brian Houston says, “The Scriptures say, ‘Let the poor say “I am rich.”’” He is quoting an uninspired line from a chorus, saying it comes from the Bible, and using it to support his wealth and prosperity theology. He is building a house of straw on sand and unfortunately misleading many who assume he knows what the Bible says.

So it would seem that the only problem with Brian Houston's Bible verse is that it isn't in the Bible . . . . oh details, details. So deleting "unHillsong" parts of Scripture is not the only hermeneutical skill on display in the Hillsong empire. Perhaps adding new verses to Scripture is another part of the package. I wonder if Pastor Houston holds to inerrancy with regard to Hillsong choruses?

Am I being sarcastic - yes! Is this mock worthy - yes when it is a world renowned "Bible teacher"! Is there something constructive we can glean from this - yes, go to a church pastored by a man who labors in the text instead of inventing new text. And if you have a pastor who is a 2 Timothy 2:15 man, then thank him passionately for his faithful shepherding and the care of your soul.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Go On To Part 6
Go Back To Part 4
Go Back To Part 1