![]() The difference for me between excluding a hymn written by someone who was allegedly accused of denying the divinity of Christ yet clearly stated the opposite before his death and excluding songs written by two specific contemporary bands whose churches’ theologies I view as in error at best, is that these two contemporary churches are highly influential. It would be ridiculous for me to not recognize their talent and capability as top notch rock musicians. In fact, many of their songs are lyrically sound. And the problem is not with the content of the song.Īlthough I do take issue with some lyrics from Jesus Culture and Hillsong, it’s typically not the content of their songs that gives me concern. But that is a purely hypothetical scenario since it seems he in fact recanted. So say perhaps he had denied the divinity of Christ and never recanted: I suppose perhaps that could change my decision whether or not I would sing the hymn. I don’t know everything there is to know about Robinson, but from what I have read, if he ever did “leave the God I love,” as his hymn said he felt his tendency to do, he apparently toward the end of his life unequivocally declared that Jesus is indeed God. Why do I specifically exclude these two churches and bands when there are countless theological differences with songwriters whose songs we do include in our liturgies?įor example, the hymn Come Thou Fount, written by Robert Robinson: apparently later in his life Robinson became a Unitarian and denied the divinity of Christ. Some think this is going too far but given the millions of songs available to choose from, excluding the songs written in churches such as these is a mere drop in the bucket. My guiding principle essentially says that if I wouldn’t quote their pastor or allow him to preach in our pulpit, then I won’t use the songs their bands write. With that in mind, I want to share why I have chosen to exclude the songs written by Jesus Culture and Hillsong from our repertoire. Selecting certain songs by its very nature means that there are other songs we don’t sing. as his guest to a White House state dinner, according to the AFR.As one of the chief musicians at New City Church, I’ve been given the privilege and responsibility of selecting biblically faithful songs for our gathered worship. Morrison holds the Hillsong higher-up in such high personal and professional esteem that he tried to bring Houston to Washington, D.C. When Morrison became Australia's prime minister in 2008, his inaugural address to Parliament mentioned Hillsong co-founder and pastor Brian Houston by name, according to The Big Smoke. "They were in our church as part of our congregation for years before he was prime minister." ![]() ![]() "We've known Scott and Jenny for about 15 years," Joel A'Bell said. All of this was revealed in a video intended for a conservative Christian audience, reported Crikey, made by Hillsong Church pastor Joel A'Bell and his spouse, Julia Bell. In the mid-2000s, Australian politician Scott Morrison, who identifies as a deeply religious person, said he felt a calling from a higher power to become prime minister of his country, and he was willing to move to a new city in order to win an open seat in parliament to get close to his goal. A few months later, with Lentz encouraging Irving to make whatever decision he thought best, Irving approved a trade. According to ESPN, the Cavaliers sent Irving to the Boston Celtics in exchange for three players and future draft picks. Irving was so tight with Lentz before the latter was dismissed from Hillsong in 2020 after admitting to adultery (per the New York Post) that the two were seen in public together, along with fellow Hillsong alum Justin Bieber, hanging out at a Dave and Buster's. Irving's decision reportedly came about after multiple, extensive, heart-to-heart conversations with his close associate and pastor, Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church, of which the player had been an active congregant for a while. In 2017, a season removed from winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to TMZ, superstar Kyrie Irving requested a trade to a team where he would be the most dominant player, no longer viewed as the second-best option after teammate LeBron James. ![]()
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