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Where’s the Cross
Hillsong:Hillsong Church Australia, pastored by Brian and Bobbie Houston, is affiliated with the Assemblies of God World Fellowship. "Hillsong United," the church's music group, dominates the meetings, with a psychedelic, Christianized Rock 'n' Roll show. Using this method of "praise and worship,"Hillsong Church Australia has become a mega-church with many campuses throughout Australia.Their approach to “praise and worship” has proved highly effective in drawing crowds, church growth, and music sales. In Australia, over 30,000 people attend Hillsong services each week. Internationally, Hillsong offshoots are located in eleven countries. Hillsong music consistently tops Australian charts; its album sales have achieved gold and platinum sales status. Hillsong's ambitious goal is to plant their brand of "praise and worship" in every local church in the world. They are well on their way to accomplishing this goal as their methods, music, and psychedelic dancing light shows have spilled over into other denominations.______
The global ambition of Hillsong
From Hillsong’s website: "Hillsong Worship: Having always been committed to building the local church, we are convinced that part of our purpose is to champion passionate and genuine worship of our Lord Jesus Christ in local churches right across the globe. Looking to the future, we hope to do our part in resourcing local church worship teams across the many denominational faces of The Church, as we all learn from each other.Therefore what we’ve known as Hillsong LIVE from now on will be called Hillsong Worship.”
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About the author: The author of this website is the son of a Methodist mother and a Baptist father, who turned Assembly of God in 1918, only three years after the Assemblies of God was established as a Pentecostal denomination.
Born again myself in 1943 at the King's Corner Assembly of God in north Louisiana, USA,I am a 72-year member of that denomination. I have been privileged to know the Assemblies of God from its youth, its "full gospel" doctrinal correctness, its zeal and significant contribution to the Kingdom of God – all under its banner,
“Not by power, nor by might, but by my spirit saith the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6
And yes, this along with the human weakness and failures of us, its members. I have recently become more aware of its present condition.
It is not my intention to discourage any ministry in the presentation of the glorious gospel of Salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ, or the exercise of the gifts, ministries, and operations of the Holy Spirit in church meetings, when done "decently and in order." On the contrary, my most earnest desire is to be redemptive, encouraging, and yes corrective when the scripture will make such correction, considering myself “lest I also be tempted.”
I write this discourse with the utmost humility that I can muster, fully conscious that it is the pew speaking up to the pulpit. Therefore my solemn prayer over this page more than any other: Guide my thoughts dear Jesus, who loved The Church and gave yourself for it, so that this may be your word to your Church and not my own. So help me God, in Jesus name. Amen.
Acknowledgment: All materials referenced in this discourse is readily available on the internet.
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So the goal of Hillsong, is to install their concept of passionate and genuine worship throughout The Church, the Body of Christ, without national or denominational boundaries. This they propose to do by training "worship leaders" in local churches to use their psychedelic props, selling them their contemporary music, and in effect dominating the music, lyrics, and dramatic style (i.e., the "praise and worship service") in every church in the world. In a word, showing the world how its done. Actually they are swiftly succeeding in doing this very thing.
The question is, What are they doing and how are they doing it? Is it something we should all emulate, or is it not?
It has long been my understanding that praise and worship in the local assembly is to be directed locally by the Holy Spirit, meeting the many different spiritual needs of individuals assembled in Jesus name – this as the Holy Spirit simultaneously directs the assembled body as a whole in fulfilling our Heavenly Father’s desire for our corporate praise and worship.
What is praise and worship anyway? Or better asked, what is praise and what is worship?
Fully aware of my inadequacy in answering such a profound question, I launched into a scripture search thinking the task easier that it really is.
First of all we need to discern between our spirit, our soul, and our body, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within the spirit of born-again believers. This in itself is another deep subject for study.
Praise is relatively easy to define, detailed plainly in scripture and being primarily of body and soul, those parts of our being that we understand more clearly. But when questions about praise arise: Why, what, when, where, who, how to praise, and then the same questions about worship, the answers soon become more difficult to put into words.
This is Praise. Psalm 34:1-3
“I will bless (who) the Lord (when) at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (body)
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (a call to corporate praise.)
This is Praise. Psalm 150
Praise ye the Lord.
I had first written:
(The Lord Jesus Christ)
(Why praise the Lord Jesus Christ?)
I owed a debt I could not pay;
He paid a debt he did not owe;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now, I sing a brand new song, “Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.
I was soon proven to be wrong:
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:20
Perhaps when we direct our songs of praise to Jesus, he as our High Priest understands and passes it through to the Father.
Or is the Doxology the proper way to praise God?
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Great is the mystery of godliness.
Psalm 150 continued:
Praise God in his sanctuary: (in church)
praise him in the firmament of his power. (everywhere else)
Praise him for his mighty acts: (what he has done and is still doing)
praise him according to his excellent greatness. (who he is)
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: (musical instruments)
praise him with the psaltery and harp. (more musical instruments)
praise him with the timbrel and dance: (spontaneous, overwhelming, exuberant joy that moves the feet – never choreographed – not habitual dancing just because one loves to jig and jive to the beat of music.)
praise him with stringed instruments and organs. (more musical instruments)
Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
[Hello musicians: Turning up the volume a little is OK – loud for loud sake is not. (The Lord is not deaf, neither isthe congregation.) And remember: the Psalmist’s band did not have electric amplification.
Don’t allow the drums and electric bass guitar (if you must have them) to drown out everything else. No Rock ‘n’Roll bands please.
And please keep a volume balance between instruments and choir. We’d really like to hear the lyrics and be able to hear our own voice so that we can sing along. Thank you, musicians.]
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. (high pitched)
Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord.
(You can breathe, can you not? Then praise the Lord! This will not save you if you are not born again; but whoknows, the Holy Spirit might just lead you from praise to Salvation. To learn the way to Salvation, go back to the “Free Indeed” page, last part, to learn how to be born again.)
Praise ye the Lord! end of Psalm 150
A New Testament Praise Service – corporate praise by assembled believers:
…be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; (free of all mind-altering stimulants)
but be filled with the Spirit; (involves the Holy Spirit residing in the spirit of born- again
believers. Expect the Holy Spirit to join in and lift our praises to a higher level than our own.)
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (musical instruments allowed, but not required.)
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:18-20
(Praising “to yourself” any time, any place appropriate: If you can whistle, sing, or hum a gospel tune, do it. It will make melody in your heart to the Lord. And remember: An old preacher once said, “The Lord loves to hear thecrow sing as well as the mockingbird.”)
Praise is do-it-yourself, whether we feel like it or not; although much better and more acceptable to God with the help of the Holy Spirit. Praise involves primarily the body and the soul (or some would say the mind), both of which God has placed under control of our will.
Praising God is do-it-yourself, which everyone can and should do.
Worship is quite another matter.
Worship is built into the nature of man. Or to quote our four year old great granddaughter on another subject, “God made me that way.” Atheists and Humanists notwithstanding, every human being worships – something or someone, even Self.
But most certainly not everyone does, nor indeed can, worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You must be born again!
In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus essentially defines the principles of prayer in a few words:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Essentially in like manner Jesus defines worship:
The woman (of Samaria) said unto him (Jesus), Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. John 4:19-26
1. We worship God the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ his Son. Jesus never told anyone to worship him; although, Heaven knows, he is most worthy of our worship. Apparently if we name Jesus as our object of worship, he as our High Priest understands and passes our worship through to the Father. But then Jesus said to Phillip, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. Here we get into doctrines as unfathomable to our earthy minds as the Holy Trinity itself. As the Word instructs us, we’d best worship God the Father, in the name of God the Son, and allow God the Holy Spirit, these three in one, to sort it out from there.
2. Worship is not confined to a place. If we decide to name our church something else, perhaps it would be best to name it “Whatever Praise Center,” rather than “Worship Center.” Oh yes, the apostles went to the Temple – to pray.
But, on the other hand, worship is not only what we speak, but also what we do with our life, our total surrender to “Thy will be done.” Some of this, of course, is done down at the church house. Name your church whatever you will, but please don’t go there for a musical, praise, and dance session and call it a “praise and worship service.” This kind of session? Praise perhaps – worship not likely, at least not yet.
You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
1. Granted, it is a deep subject for the mind; yet we are justified in knowing all we can about praise and worship.
2. Anyway we “slice it” salvation is indeed of the Jews for which we gratefully bless God’s chosen people and Israel, their rightful homeland.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.
God the Father seeks his fallen children as he sought Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned and hid themselves from his presence. All God needs from us is our worship; but he longingly needs that from his prodigal sons. To deny our Creator this one request is unthinkable. This is too humbling for further comment here.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
There is no such thing as do-it-yourself worship in spirit and in truth. You must be born again!
True worship involves our whole being – spirit, soul, and body – primarily our spirit. The best bodily illustration of true worship is this:
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:10-11
The first essential step to true worship is emptying of Self. The “flesh” may allow praise; but it will resist worship. The Sin Nature that became Adam and Eve's when they disobeyed God caused them to hide from the presence of the holy God. That same Sin Nature which they passed down to all of us will cause us to hide from the presence of God. And God is present in worship of the Father in spirit and in truth.
This emptying of Self is at the Cross, where Jesus shed his precious blood to wash away our sin so that we might approach our Heavenly Father in the Most Holy Place.