In the last day or two, I’ve experienced a complete turn around on my views on Hillsong Church. I have written a harsh “post conference” post here. You will see on the bottom of the post, I have made an edit in order to set the record straight.
Since I wrote the post, I’ve been copping a lot of feedback from the likes of my wife, to my Pastor to the convictions of the Spirit as He stirs my heart as I read into things deeper. As I check out the blogosphere, I see Christians at war with one another over what people believe in.
Sure, we are asked to contend for the faith and some people are worthy to be picked on. But the vast majority of the on-line war BETWEEN Christians is trivial in nature and serves no other purposes apart from inflating ego’s and giving an unbelieving world another reason to dismiss the message we proclaim as being irrelevant because we can’t even get along with each other.
Jesus prayed that we are unified in order that the world may believe that the Father sent the Son. It’s a sobering thought to think that at times I am actively violating the prayer of Jesus in my online attitudes. And for this I repent.
In this spirit, I wish to write my post Hillsong Conference 2007 post.
Now that I have recovered from my flu and have to actually interact with the world, I find my soul craving for more of what I experienced at Hillsong Conference. Being immersed in worship and teaching was a balm on my soul. I guess my initial struggle with it all was that it was quite different to anything I have experienced before.
In 1998, I traveled to Israel to participate in the Jubilee celebrations of the country. The ICEJ holds an annual conference from delegates all over the world during the Feast of Tabernacles and attracts about 5000 delegates from 105 countries. Hillsong Conference was close to 30,000 delegates and is the largest conference in Australia - period.
What fueled my initial negative response to Hillsong was the Pentacostal mindset. I was raised ultra conservative, then rebelled. I found Jesus in a conservative church and have since moved to a more missional, emerging church plant. I still am theologically conservative but culturally liberal. I love the depth and authority of the Word and long to see it played out in my modern cultural context.
So when I attend a 30,000 delegate conference and am bombarded by the Pentacostal mindset, I am somewhat blown away. What I experienced can be described as a “powerful emotionally driven zeal which lacks the theological convictions I so cherish.” Initially I responded in a negative way to all this.
I hold the Word of God with such a high degree of perfection and purity. I love its simplicity, depth, mystery and the never ending questions it raises in the human spirit and soul. And much of what I experienced at Hillsong washed over all of this in the “emotionally charged zeal” of the Pentacostal mindset.
But in the last couple of days, I have realised that it’s ok cause these guys are in the Kingdom also and we are on the same mission. Hillsong cops a lot of crap from all angles, but Jesus asks us to look at fruit to determine motives. And so I did my search on Hillsong. My conclusion? I wish all the churches had the kind of fruit Hillsong produces.
Hillsong often gets criticised for it’s emphasis on financial matters. But if the nay sayers knew what Hillsong does with these funds and the plans they have to expand their church and the Kingdom, they would be silenced - just like me.
Below are two sets of playlists. The first is the video blog of the Hillsong Conference 2007. This gives you a day by day take on the events at the 2007 Conference. The second playlist is the Hillsong 2007 Vision. I encourage you to watch all 4 clips if you have 40 minutes available. You want to know what Hillsong is all about apart from the music? Check out these video’s.
Hillsong Conference 2007 Video Blog
Hillsong Vision 2007
In conclusion, I am a blessed guy to have had the opportunity to attend the Hillsong 2007 Conference. I can now see more clearly why they do the things they do and how they do them. They may be foreign to me, but their reality is also foreign to mine.
I see clearly now how God worked in my struggles to give me a much clearer and greater revelation of what He is doing on earth through His church. And in conclusion, my hope is that the Christian blogosphere will realise the following words from Christ…
“John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:38-40
Tags: hillsong, hillsong conference, vision, brian housten, hillsong united
It is always good to be open to the Lord ripping our boxes open
Your wife and pastor did you well to challenge you in this area. 
Like the new blog look.
Interesting point. After 20+ years in a pentecostal church I find myself now drawn to a more consertive mindset.
Exposure to great teaching especially by John Macarthur has highlighted the lack of depth of teaching in our church. The fellowships, friends etc are great but sadly sitting in church I have a strong desire to purchase popcorn!! Much more to say but need to gather my thoughts before putting “pen to paper” (computer).
I enjoyed the main posting, and found Newports reply very familiar to my own experience.
I was saved in a pentacostal church (AOG) as a teenager, and remained their for many years. As a young christian, I received solid teaching in that church that helped me grow in my faith. I moved to Canada and was exposed to some deep teaching (also John MacArthur and others).
With these two backgrounds of solid theology (John MacArthur) and wonderful praise and worship (pentacostal), I now find myself struggling to find a church where both exist. I am now living in Sydney Australia, and my experience thus far has been that there are very few churches that have both.(I have yet to find one in my area.) I cannot see why they appear to be mutually exclusive.
Again, from my experience in Sydney, which I realise is not extensive, I have found strong theology in the Sydney Anglican’s, but they tend to shy away from praise and worship that may have any hint of passion. On the other hand, I loved the praise and worship at Hillsong, and found no fault with the teaching, other than it was not expositional in any way. In Sydney I have found these two camps more polarised than in North Amareica, where you can find churches that have both.