Southern Baptist megachurch, First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida, is hosting Hillsong musicians and Hillsong pastor, Brian Houston. Pulpit & Pen has written about FBC Orlando before. Pastored by David Uth, the congregation hosted an ecumenical prayer event to embrace the LGBTQ community. At that homosexual affirmation event, the preacher (Larry G. Mills, in this instance) equated homosexuals with Jesus. The LGBTQ also had “hands laid” upon them at the event, affirming them in their sin. We also reported a Seventh Day Adventist cult member preaching at the church. Pastor David Uth insinuated that Christians who are unsupportive of homosexuality should be struck dead. We reported in detail on FBC Orlando in the four-part Goats in the Pulpit Series. Now, FBC Orlando has announced that it’s hosting the Word-Faith prosperity church music band, Hillsong, and its pastor, Brian Houston.
Houston is very affirming of homosexuality (at least tacitly), teaches Word-Faith theology and the Prosperity Gospel, and is heavily scandalized. We have repeatedly issued warnings about Hillsong music and the Arian Snare.
We wrote earlier at Pulpit & Pen:
Houston, we have a problem!
Brian Houston, that is. Arguably one of the most influential figures of today’s professing church, Houston, is currently the senior pastor of the worldwide multi-site megachurch known as Hillsong. The church, founded by Houston’s paedophile father, Frank Houston, dominates the contemporary worship music scene, with their songs being played in churches of every denomination around the entire world.
Popular songs like Oceans and Forever Reign with lyrics like “Spirit lead me, where my trust is without borders,” and “nothing compares to your embrace” fill the IMAG screens of Baptist churches, Methodist churches, Pentecostal churches, Catholic churches–churches of every kind during Sunday morning worship. From raging electric guitars, drums, and professional soloists to small choirs with nothing more than a keyboard and a few singers, the music is emotionally captivating, bringing many to tears and arms lifted high, as they sing out praises to God.
We continued, with a citation from Albert Mohler:
Hillsong Church does not exist to preach the Word of God, and to draw people to Christ, bringing glory to His holy name–it exists to draw people to their music, making them money, and giving them power, and giving glory to their man-centered, man-built pseudo-spiritual empire. Brian Houston clearly preaches a false gospel. Southern Baptist leader, Albert Mohler, stated,
[Hillsong is] a prosperity movement for the millennials, in which the polyester and middle-class associations of Oral Roberts have given way to ripped jeans and sophisticated rock music…What has made Hillsong distinctive is a minimization of the actual content of the Gospel, and a far more diffuse presentation of spirituality.
And more:
Hillsong, through it’s attractive music, that has a form of godliness but denies His power (2 Tim 3:5), creeps it’s way into solid churches, deceptively turning people on to their ideology, drawing people to their “vision”–Brian Houston’s “vision.” A wide-ranging variety of music, some that may seem very solid theologically on the surface (even Satan masquerades as an angel of light, 2 Cor 11:14), and some that’s blatantly shallow and even unbiblical, is the effective method of takeover. It’s deceptive, and it’s evil (Mark 13:22).
The substance and theology of the music is irrelevant to Hillsong. It’s the attractive nature of the music, not the theology, that draws people to it. Hillsong’s music program funds the entire church and every time your church sings one of their praises, you are lining Brian Houston’s pockets, and carrying out his “vision.” See Also: Hillsong: A Breeding Ground of False Converts – And Your Church Pays For It.
As we began to say years ago, the SBC is going downhill at breakneck speed…
