Thoughts, info, anything, on “hillsong” megachurch?
1 2018-09-02 by thoughtpixie
Hey guys!
I’m wondering if anyone has information or even just thoughts about the mega “hillsong” church.
After researching to the depths, about the whole nxivm cult, with the branding of women and the crazy Kieth Raniere guy, I found myself very fascinated with the whole cult psychology and how they manage to make what seems like a plot from a movie into real life.
I know it’s nothing new, “megachurches” and how they make Christianity entirely monetised.. and I know it’s not new at all for Christianity’s culture in general.
But when trying to find dents and whistleblowers on “hillsong”- you can’t find much- besides one Australian lady who wrote a book and one sex scandal in Sydney from a while ago.
Intuitively, I can imagine they can shut anyone up really fast with the kind of money they pull in. The amount of celebrity figures found hanging around the pastor, Carl Lentz, suggests calculated strategy and not just coincidence of public figures seeking spiritual Christian guidance.
I’m wondering if there’s some similar vocabulary they use and mechanisms in place- I could compare to Keith Raniere.
And Keith Raniere uses a lot of buzz words similar to Scientology.
I’m a bit spooked by the idea of so many young celebrities celebrating and being involved in this-
I suppose I was naive to think the newer generations would be more prone to finding their own spirituality, moral compass and guidances outside organised religion and it’s general propaganda.
Any direction, info, or feedback would be appreciated <3
26 comments
1 t3eny 2018-09-02
well, I never knew there was a conspiracy around it but my parents are super Christian and sometimes watch Hillsong so I'll give my thoughts on it. They make catchy music that can be played at most "modern" churches, like my parents new church only plays Hillsong music instead of old hymns, their sermons are relatively tame while still talking about salvation, as opposed to old fire and brimstone sermons, which aren't as popular anymore, and it's a more modern church. I don't really see this as a conspiracy, just a good marketing decision in a changing culture
1 thoughtpixie 2018-09-02
Interesting, thanks for replying :) I found some things about it being homophobic, that he had a tactic for making someone straight, of course not unusual for Christianity but doesn’t seem to fit the modern youth.
And also to be clear, I don’t think there’s a conspiracy already about it particularly, outside Christian conspiracies and megachurches in general -but just looks like bait for one to me. Well, I guess post malone publicly claimed it was a cult.
1 OMGCluck 2018-09-02
Hillsong is a little too involved with the upper management of the Salvation Army in Australia, found out from knowing a Salvos Store manager who had to put up with all that singing at a national convention.
1 dammitjenkins20cars 2018-09-02
They are also heavily entrenched in Australian politics, especially the right wing factions of the 'Liberal' party (that word capitalised has a different meaning here).
This includes the newly minted prime minister prime minister worshipping at a Hillsong church.
It has been described as a cult or cultlike, but I don't know how valid that is. I personally find all abrahamic religions to be essentially cults, so what would I know.
1 mkultra5512 2018-09-02
IIRC, Scott Morrison isn't a Hillsong member, but some other neo-modern, Pentecostal church.
Somewhere they all believe that poor people are sinners, and rich people are rich because they were blessed by god.
1 dammitjenkins20cars 2018-09-02
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6093385/Scott-Morrison-Hillsong-churchs-powerful-parishioner-Lara-Bingle-famous.html
Am I missing something?
1 mkultra5512 2018-09-02
Huh. Maybe I was wrong. Could've sworn it was some offshoot. Still a rort, whatever the case.
1 dammitjenkins20cars 2018-09-02
Indeed
1 jpschack 2018-09-02
One of my ex colleagues is a regular member of the hillsong church in australia. He is quite nice, very intelligent and friendly. Maybe a little weird too. He always tried to invite me to church events but I always gave an excuse. I don’t believe in god / the Bible.
1 Squirrelboy85 2018-09-02
https://www.google.com/amp/s/churchwatchcentral.com/2016/02/25/breaking-news-phoenix-church-victim-of-hillsong-take-over/amp/ Try reading this op.
1 thoughtpixie 2018-09-02
Thanks <3 Seems like the conspiracy is a political take over of the modern day church culture...
I don’t necessarily entirely believe they’re MK Ultra status mostly because that’s quite scary and calculated but don’t doubt the depths of the possibility.. given the huge list of young “a-list” celebrities they’ve managed to get on board- that’s the scary part to me..
Well actually it’s a bit spooky to me in any scenario that someone is fully dedicated to a religion- trusting it fully, as though it’s more trustworthy than you, yourself...
And you can imagine young ultra famous people are very vulnerable to this kind of manipulation because their life experience, full of money, privilege, and the complex of fame that the majority can’t relate to- gives them a lot of reason to desperately seek spiritual validation or guidance and it’s easy to turn that responsibility over to someone sucking up to you, telling you you’re one of gods chosen ones etc.
In my reality, makes a lot of sense to take good things from religion, understand the history and psychology of how it came to be how it is, and use what resonates with you in your life experience to develop your own spirituality but the moment when someone decides someone external to them should be fully trusted with guiding their moral compass over themselves... I mean that shit is scary!
I don’t think you can ever trust an organisation asking you to stop trusting yourself and trust their word over your own.
And couldn’t ever get on board with someone trying to preach that, that is god’s will. I’d argue the opposite.
1 phillylotus 2018-09-02
I believe that in this MAJOR whistleblowing interview with Fiona Barnett on SGT REPORT, she calls out that church as part of the whole MKUKTRA hub in Australia. They're the church that puts out all that worship music, right? That's why it stuck out to me bc I was somewhat surprised (even tho at this point I shouldn't be). It's a great interview and def worth listening, even if you do it in parts when you have time! https://youtu.be/TNflcN_KJmc
1 erin136 2018-09-02
I would agree with this opinion. Music is huge part of MK ultra it often gets forgotten with all the other components however I think it’s one of the main components the more I see the garbage that is put out there. Additionally I don’t know if it’s as much a conspiracy theory as just a biblical observation but they appear to be in line with what Revelation calls the Laodicean Church which is the church that has fallen away and is neither hot nor cold. But that would be many churches now.
1 sackajahweeda 2018-09-02
It was founded by a pedophile wasnt it?
1 thoughtpixie 2018-09-02
This is the sex scandal I read about, and then the son taking over told the main victim it was his fault somehow but eventually resulted in giving the boy 6 grand... seems like a v small pay day
1 challigan 2018-09-02
I work with a lad that goes to the Hillsong Conference in London every year. Apparently he used to be a bit of a wild one, drink, drugs, gambling etc. He joined a church in an attempt to hook up with a girl, and ended up enjoying it and completely turning his life around! He’s an extremely nice likeable dude now.
1 thoughtpixie 2018-09-02
Well there’s a positive :)
1 OwnFootPrint 2018-09-02
Founder was a pedophile and predator. And the son refused to report the many crimes to police.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/brian-houston-speaks-out-on-dealing-with-hillsongs-nasty-secret/news-story/bb55a4cb18302fff871f52f1b92cba55
Theology: they believe that Jesus won’t return to earth until they take over the world and make it a perfect place. They have to infiltrate government, education, entertainment industry, financial and businesses sectors. The Bible teaches the opposite, that Christ returns like a thief in the night. And as the Wrath of the Lamb.
Also, they won’t suffer persecution for their faith, but rather they will be persecuting unbelievers. Bible teaches that the Church suffers great persecution.
They believe in a great consolidation. That is to say that they believe that the churches are becoming more unified in the truth and are consolidating thanks to the Catholic Church. Bible teaches that there is a horrible apostasy before Christ returns.
They make it up as they go along. They believe that God is still speaking audibly and that he is giving new teachings and new guidance. They do not believe that Scripture is finalized, sufficient, and authoritative.
It’s witchcraft and shamanism. It’s Zoroastrian shamanism that has been repackaged with Cristian terms like faith, hope, Spirit, Jesus, and resurrection. But the definitions are completely different from what you would find in Christian Scripture. And the focus is upon man and what you can get, your best life now. It’s just motivational speaking but not the Whole truth.
Also, they purposely disobey all Biblical prohibitions on fellowship with people who have aberrant theology.
Their bad theology is spread by the use of the Arian snare. Musically driven but completely devoid of truth. It’s a vain repetition of words and sounds. Also, the forced and perverted use of speaking gibberish is a form of MK-ultra conditioning. It turns off the brain and puts the young sex slaves into a fugue state.
1 maskdmirag 2018-09-02
Crazydaysandnights.net is a blind item site and they occasionally do items on a "church" many people believe some of these are geared towards Hillsong. Mostly recruiting women to sexually service some of their celebrity members, financial stuff. Not sure I personally believe any of them, but I am usually dubious of mega churches.
1 thoughtpixie 2018-09-02
This sort of thing would show lots of correlation with the cult nxivm’s structure
1 showmeurboobsplznthx 2018-09-02
They own property near oxidental California and Bohemia Grove, I think maybe point reyes. I think they own Windsong property too? Meet a few of their loonies when I was in my hitchhiking hippy days.
1 heej 2018-09-02
Nah just another church that's gotten big and tried to stay trendy and lost its soul in the process. They recently had a controversial music video that they put out with jarring imagery that they had to apologize for.
1 Arkfort 2018-09-02
I'm a minister and I both love and hate Hillsong.
I love the worship band (Hillsong United) for the worship songs they develop. Hillsong United is the universal contemporary worship standard right now, and most churches use their material.
That said, they are trying to conform every church to be like themselves. They suffer from a problem a lot of churches have; thinking they have perfected faith. They believe that their theology and church structure is the only way to do church, and they have convinced casual Christians that any model other than their own is not spiritual enough. They are churches of other theologies by simply making statements like "if you aren't doing X, your church is dying." They become self fulfilling prophecies, as people leave perfectly good churches because they aren't like Hillsong.
Hillsong has taken a corporate approach to worship to remove competition and control mainstream Christianity.
TL:DR- Hillsong is making an intentional effort to control Protestant Christianity because they believe they are the most righteous.
Also one of their leaders was a serial pedophile. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/hillsongs-brian-houston-my-father-the-child-sex-criminal/news-story/1152a3c988e76759170b908706ea7c02