THIS Is Why I Don’t Listen To Hillsong Worship!

Fight For Truth

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Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to Fight For Truth, the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter.

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In today's video, we're going to be talking about Hillsong music. Now by this point, most of you know that I don't listen to Hillsong worship music myself, and I don't attend a church that uses their music in worship either.

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This is because I'm convinced that Hillsong is directly advancing false teaching. And more than this, they are using their music to broaden their reach.

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But in today's video, I wanted to present you with a sort of alternative argument. I read the lyrics of Hillsong's most recent album entitled, quote,

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These Same Skies. And what I found in the end was this. If you combine the lyrics of Hillsong with the actual context of their church's theology, the problem with their music becomes even more clear.

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Take for example their song entitled That's the Power. The song says this, quote, There's a name that levels mountains and carves out highways through the sea, and I've seen its power unravel battles right in front of me.

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Yeah, oh, there's a faith that stands defiant, sends Goliath to his knees. I've seen his praise unravel shackles right off my feet, end quote.

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At face value, this song simply seems to be saying that our God today is the same God who did tremendous things in the

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Old Testament, including parting the Red Sea, defeating armies, and slaying giants. And that by itself is not an issue at all.

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It's true that we worship the same God. The problem is that Hillsong Church can often be seen preaching about the

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Old Testament in an unbiblical way. This style of preaching is called narcissus, coming from the word narcissism and exegesis.

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This is where you write yourself into a Bible story, regardless of the actual context. A prime example of this is when preachers talk about David and Goliath in 1

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Samuel 17. And the story becomes, you are David, and Goliath is your personal problems, whichever one you pick.

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And therefore, God is going to help you defeat your problems and accomplish your dreams. Frankly, this is the exact kind of preaching that we see all the time at Hillsong Church.

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And it's not a stretch to say that the preaching of Hillsong has influenced the music of Hillsong.

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After all, how could it not? So this song ceases to be an innocent reference to a Bible story alone, and instead it becomes a guarantee that the

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Lord is going to help you accomplish your dreams. And again, this is when you combine the actual lyrics with the theology that Hillsong has been teaching for years.

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But this is not a guarantee given in Scripture, nor is it the contextual meaning of the passage that we're singing about.

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So the manipulation of God's Word being done at Hillsong's pulpit is being reflected in their worship band as well.

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And that should concern us as Christians. After all, God's Word is to be rightly divided, according to 2

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Timothy 2 .15. And we are supposed to worship God in spirit and in truth. But this is not the only example

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I found. Here's yet another one from the same song. It continues, saying, That's the power of your name.

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Just a mention makes a way. Giants fall and strongholds break, and there is healing.

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And that's the power that I claim. Now again, at face value, this song seems to just be about the power of Jesus' mighty name.

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And that is most definitely not a false narrative. Acts 4 .12, for example, says, There is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

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There is undoubtedly power in the name of Christ. But let's dig a little deeper here. The beginning of that lyric does talk about the power of the name of Jesus.

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But it specifically talks about the power to break strongholds and to heal people.

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And the final portion says, And that's the power that I claim. So Hillsong is directly claiming that they have the power to heal in the name of Jesus simply by declaring it.

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Now just to be clear, they are not saying that they can call on the name of Jesus and He will decide who gets healed in His sovereign will.

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No, that is a different point entirely. Instead, they are saying that they have the power to heal on command, simply by declaring it to be so in the name of Jesus.

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This is a Word of Faith practice known as decreeing and declaring, or positive confession.

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But there are two problems with this lyric when you put it into the context of this theological practice.

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First, decreeing and declaring is not biblical prayer. In Luke 22 .42, Jesus prayed to the

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Father, saying, Not my will, but your will, be done. And Philippians 4 .6

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tells us to pray by presenting our, Requests to God. More than this, the so -called proof texts for decreeing and declaring are constantly being taken out of context the grand majority of the time.

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This is at least partially demonstrated in an excellent article from one Pastor Akande, which

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I will link in the description. I will also link a video from Pastor Chris Roseborough entitled, quote,

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Why Decreeing and Declaring is Not Prayer. And secondly, there is no one at Hillsong who has actually proven that they have the power to heal on command whenever they wish to, simply by declaring it to be so.

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This kind of apostolic power should be easy to spot, if indeed it is actually taking place at Hillsong.

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But there is no one who has actually demonstrated that they have this power. And this brings us to another lyric from the same song, entitled,

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That's the Power. Here's what it says, quote, Your spirit breaking out, your kingdom moving in.

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End quote. Now, this is a rather simple lyric, and if we take it at face value, it merely says that the

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Spirit of God is having a powerful effect, and the Kingdom of God is advancing forward. Both of these statements are biblically true.

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But here's an important question. How do we know that the Spirit of God is present in a particular theological movement, and that that movement is aligned with the

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Word of the Spirit of God? And how do we know if the movement is a good representative of the Kingdom of God?

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Well, at least one test is the test of biblical orthodoxy. Do they teach sound doctrine?

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And Hillsong fails that test spectacularly. Their church has taught Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel doctrine from its very inception.

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More than this, they have invited notorious false teachers Joyce Meyer, T .D. Jakes, and Jensen Franklin, just to name a few, to speak at their church.

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All three of these people are Word of Faith and or Prosperity Gospel teachers outright who preach that believing the

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Gospel will lead to your material dreams coming true. Hillsong also appoints female pastors to teach and lead their congregation, contrary to 1

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Timothy 2 .12. I could go on. So why exactly does Hillsong think that they are a good exemplary demonstration of God's Spirit moving and His Kingdom advancing?

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Well, they don't have solid teaching. We've already covered that. But they do have tons and tons of hype and emotion.

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Every week, they can be seen singing their catchy music with passion and vigor. So when you combine these lyrics with the context of Hillsong's actual theology, you can see a clear emphasis on emotion over doctrine.

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And it's coming through in their music. It's just not being directly stated. The next song we'll look at is called

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Fresh Wind. And first, I want to give credit where it's due. Because surprisingly, this song actually directly mentions repentance and turning from sin.

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That's a good thing. And frankly, I wish Hillsong would do that much more often from their pulpit. Because they don't.

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But the song goes on, saying, Let all the redeemed prophesy and sing. We can hear the wind blowing, blowing, blowing.

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There are at least two issues with this. First, not all believers have the ability to prophesy.

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This is true regardless of whether or not you believe that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are active today.

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In 1 Corinthians 12 .29, Paul asks, Are all apostles? Are all prophets?

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Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? End quote. Many commentators and biblical scholars have noted that the

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Greek text here answers these questions with an emphatic no. It's implied. These are rhetorical questions.

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And one of which is meant to demonstrate that not all Christians are prophets. Not all Christians can prophesy.

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So it is notable, then, that Hillsong's music here says, Let all the redeemed prophesy and sing.

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But beyond that, there's a second potential issue. If this lyric was meant to tell us that Christians should prophesy by singing, quote,

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We can hear the wind blowing, blowing, blowing. That would be another big problem. Just to be clear,

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I'm not sure if that's what they were saying specifically. But regardless, I want to tell you that this is not biblical prophecy.

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There is no one predicting an unknown future event here using supernatural means. Merely saying that you can hear the spiritual wind blowing, blowing, blowing is not a prophecy by biblical standards.

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Not even close. Saying vaguely emotional and spiritual things does not make you a prophet.

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The fact is that prophecy is probably the most manipulated and misunderstood concept in the modern church.

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The grand majority of what is called prophecy in especially today's charismatic church is just vague emotional platitudes being repeated over and over again.

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And frankly, Hillsong is not the exception to this rule. They are proof of it. Thus, Hillsong worship seems to be advancing a view of prophecy that is confusing at best and unbiblical at worst.

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But the song goes on, saying, quote, Pour your spirit out, pour your spirit out, a holy anointing, end quote.

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So here's just a basic question. Have you actually surveyed the beliefs and practices of Hillsong Church?

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And have you compared them to the Bible? And if you have done that, would you agree with the statement that Hillsong Church is a place that exemplifies the outpouring of God's Spirit?

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And do you believe that they have a special anointing from God? Because that's what their music is implying here.

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It's suggesting that Hillsong is participating in some sort of holy anointing from God. If you don't agree with those statements, then

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I would encourage you to refrain from singing or promoting their music. Again, this is a church that has actively welcomed horrible false teachers to come speak from their pulpit.

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They are not a movement you can trust doctrinally as far as you can throw them. So this begs the question, why is the evangelical world so obsessed with singing

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Hillsong worship music? And why exactly, given the context of their theology, do we think that this is a good idea?

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So many young people have been sucked into this movement through the catchy, emotional, vague songs that they put out.

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In fact, that's clearly part of the point. They don't put out this music for no reason. They're trying to use it to accomplish something.

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The question is, do you want to be a part of what Hillsong is doing? It is for these reasons, and many others, that I do not personally sing

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Hillsong music or promote it. And I hope this video has demonstrated that to you in some practical way.

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I pray this has been a blessing to you. And please know this video isn't meant as a sinful attack, but rather as a biblical critique.

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Pray for this channel and for anyone discussed in the video. Many of you are looking for teaching resources or trying to find a new church.

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If so, check out the teaching ministries and church networks linked in the description. And by God's grace, let's move forward joyfully, holding to the truth of God's Word.

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