In a stunning move, Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston and his wife Bobbie announced Sunday morning that they are transitioning away from their leadership role within the organization, in order to make way for a new vision going forward.
The multinational megachurch has 150,000 members spread across 123 churches in 24 different countries.
Speaking during the church’s annual Vision Sunday service, Houston explained that with the church growing and expanding so rapidly, it was “virtually impossible” and “unsustainable” for them to manage alone and to do all that they are doing. Consequently, they want to bring in younger leaders to lead chart a new path forward.
I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching and praying and thinking about the future and the way ahead, what life looks like for a church moving forward. For Bobbie and I, moving forward and I guess globally, we’ve grown so rapidly and it’s been really a time when what has become clear is we need to put a whole lot more structure into what we’re doing globally.
It’s really at a point where it’s virtually impossible, unsustainable for us to be able to lead everything that we’re leading right now, and so I want to look at ways that we can share that load and over these next couple of years heading up to that church being 40 here. I would like to really put in place younger leaders. Younger leaders here in Australia and younger leaders around the globe.
While they insist they’re not retiring, the Houstons, who are approaching their 70s, say they will be shifting their day to day involvement for a “new season.”
As such, they’re bringing in the lead pastors of Hillsong Church London, Gary and Cathy Clarke, to take over the global management of the church over the next two years, just in time for the Church’s 40th anniversary. Houston credits the Clarkes for their role in expanding Hillsong all across Europe, where they’ve been pastors for 21 years.
Houston also touched upon how the Hillsong churches in the US have been “hit hard” by a series of scandals. As a result, they introduced the new lead pastors who would be taking over from disgraced former pastor Carl Lentz. Chrishan and Danielle Jeyaratnam, currently pastors at the Hillsong campus in Perth, Australia, were announced as the new leaders and would be moving to New York with their 4 young kids to take over the job.
As evangelical leaders trip over each other in a mad dash to condemn Ravi Zacharias, the disappointment is palpable and the surprise at such an unexpected turn of events bleeds deep into every op-ed they write. There is shock, disgust, and dismay. Well-known Christian leaders from well-known Christian ministries are asking themselves one question, as they stand on the cultural battlefield in shellshocked disbelief – dazed at such a betrayal that they never saw coming: how on earth could this have happened?
They do this as they furiously condemn the indefensible, yet they were never there in the thick of the battle. If anything, they can be likened to the victorious soldiers walking the battlefield after a hard-fought war, taking their bayonets and sticking them into any wounded enemy lying in heaps on the ground, men and women who have already been crushed and exposed.
Rachael Denhollander, who will be helping the investigation and the setting right of RZIM, wrote about this phenomena on Twitter:
For every leader who has written a blog post, tweeted, commented on, the steps being taken by RZIM, how good they are, how important the truth is, or how to prevent this, please hear the grief you are compounding: You have written about how God and right these steps are, but not until they were already taken. Not until the facade was removed.
You did not lift your voice to cry for the truth you now applaud. That fell on the shoulders of the victims. The women. You applaud the independent investigation, but never pressed for it when it needed to be done.
When your voice was desperately needed in 2017 and all the years that followed, you were silent.
That’s true. But some of us weren’t.
We have been pursuing justice and rattling this cage before this was a blip on their radar, as Pulpit & Pen, and then later on as Protestia. We’ve been on Ravi Zacharias’ case for three years now, when in 2018 we published his emails showing that he threatened to kill himself if Lori Anne Thompson told her husband about their interactions, which Ravi claimed were innocent and pure as the driven snow. But even we didn’t get the information out of nowhere. The whole push to expose Ravi was led by Steve Baughman of RaviWatch, who was instrumental in any and all movement on this.
In fact, we were the first news organization to break the story of the abuse of the Spa workers, (with information from Baughman) which kick-started all this back on September 9th, nearly 3 weeks before Christianity Today or anyone else did their piece and gave it national attention.
We likewise wrote about Zacharias multiple times in 2019, and 2020, asking why no one else was covering this. We wrote the following three years ago:
What’s of more significance is that few Christian publications have written about the adultery of one of the most – if not the most – prominent Christian apologists in the world. When the Christian Press has covered the topic, they have done so only in the most shallow of ways, mostly refusing to publish the evidence and allowing Zacharias or his ministry to dismiss the concerns without any moderately tough questions asked.
Consequently, they crucified us for it. Here is a small sampling of the vitriol and anger that was sent our way.
Because we were saying it three years before anyone else was, we were labeled “divisive.” We were declared to be one stirring up discord, attacking a paragon of saintliness and virtue. Commenters ripped us up and down, decrying us as mean-spirited and liars. Bloggers condemned us and said this is more of the same slander, that we’re always going after good people, even great people, for the smallest things.
“Ravi is a great man and apologist. How dare you attack his character. How unloving can you get? Don’t you have anything better to do? You’re wasting your time. Typical Pulpit & Pen – always taking shots at everyone,” and on and on.
We called it three years ago because we saw it three years ago when few people did and when no one was talking about it.
In the same vein, we’ve criticized rapper Lecrae before it was cool, seeing an obvious trajectory as he was being unfaithful and unfruitful in the little things. We raised our hand back in 2016 and all the years since then when he was still gladly frolicking in reformed circles and being given praise for his maturity, humility, and theological astuteness.
What a change 5 years brings. Nowadays, he’s giving fundraising concerts at the rallies of pro-abortion Democrat senators, helping to get out the vote and win them the election. He said the Democrats are on the “right side of history” and are actually the pro-life ones. A few months ago he was sputtering like a fool when asked whether homosexuality is a sin or not, unwilling to say it, all the while embracing woke ideologies.
He is fully compromised, a sell-out, and pretty much everyone sees it and will acknowledge it.
But being right in 2021 doesn’t help our reputation in 2017 when we were getting beat up for questioning Lecrae’s discernment and theological direction when he endorsed the anti-trinitarian and blasphemous book The Shack. Or in 2018 when we were being yelled at by fanboys for asking why he was praising and promoting pro-abortion Democrat Stacey Abrams. Or in 2019 when he was making racialist and Cultural Marxist comments about Kanye and Christianity. Or in 2020 when he made shocking comments on whether or not Christians ought to go to church.
And again with Carl Lentz and Hillsong NYC. We’ve been writing about them since 2015, and were called meddlesome lovers of quarrel and strife. All until he went and had several affairs. Vindicated in the end, but maligned in the interim.
How about SBC, TGC, ERLC, Lifeway, well-known preachers like JD Greear, Albert Mohler, Karen Swallow Prior, John Piper, Jen Hatmaker, Thabiti Anyabwile, Matt Chandler, or Tim Keller?
Pick your poison.
Who here believes the SBC is gaining credibility as they become more and more united in mission and purpose? Who doesn’t think the Gospel Coalition writers have sold the gospel out for pennies on the dollar?
Who believes that J. D. Greear has become more conservative and less susceptible to wokeness and the influence of BLM? That the SBC has become more complementarian and more intolerant towards women preachers?
That Tim Keller has become more coherent? That Piper has become less charismatic and less likely to partner up with charismatic whackadoodles at some busted Christine Caine-headlining conference?
We’ve been pointing out problems with these characters for years, explaining why they are deeply compromised and only becoming moreso, seeing it and saying it before anyone else did. More and more people are seeing it now, and many more will do likewise in the future. Until it reaches critical mass, however, we’re just a slander-factory needing to be blown up.
Pointing out the progressive trajectory got us tarred and feathered, all for the sin of calling a devil a devil while the rest of the world saw them as a saint.
So for some, our reputation is in the toilet. Some people hate us and will have nothing to do with us. We’ve been banned from several pages, such as the Reformed Pub, where any article linked there will get removed and the person who posted it kicked out. Or in the r/reformed and r/christianity subreddits, which have likewise banned anyone from quoting us or linking our article, even as we frequently break news stories and provide information no one else has.
There’s a lot of people who see the work we do and absolutely despise it and us, and make it their mission to bring us down. We can even write about something benign like the sins of transgenderism, and like clockwork they’ll report our posts, seeking us get us cancelled and off the internet. Even being associated with us can be toxic, whereby speaking approvingly of what we do will likely garner a cringe and a cold stare.
This pushback is one of the reasons we’re so grateful for our patrons and supporters. While many people hate us and wish we’d close up shop, they love us.
They understand the importance of the mission, that we are willing to name names and call them out before the well-known evangelical leaders will. We operate in a niche where we’re years ahead of everybody else, and we serve our local churches through this gifting. There’s almost nobody else who does this on the level that we do, and we praise God for their sacrifices that let us do it.
Furthermore, their support lets our website function as a repository and archive, reporting stories and highlighting compromises of note that no one else will, as a gift to other Christians wanting to know what to think about this person or that.
In this case, with thousands of articles written over the last decade, there aren’t many names that you can’t plug in and see whether or not they’ve been faithful of fraudulent, or where a Facebook status or a revealing tweet might otherwise be lost if we didn’t screenshot it and comment on it for posterity.
Charles Spurgeon said it best. “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
We see the “almost right,” and we tell the world why it’s wrong before they realize it.
Update #1. Voddie will be landing stateside in a few hours, around 8pm EST. The flight from Doha was over 16 hours and he was able to rest some.
Update #2. Another 100k since this morning. Funds raised are now at $850,000.
Funds keep pouring into Voddie Baucham’s GoFundMe page and frenetic prayers continue to be issued forth from the saints as the minister and his wife make way to the United States from Zambia after being diagnosed with heart failure.
Voddie recently wrote on his Facebook page and posted to social media:
On February 3, when Voddie went back home after a two-week preaching stint in the United States, it took him 40 hours to get home, going from Atlanta to Dallas, Dallas to Doha, Doha to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Lusaka, and Lusaka Airport to his home. The flight from Dallas to Doha alone is nearly 16 hours, with his whole trip including several layovers with a lot of time spent in between.
With Johannesburg being 7 hours ahead of EST, Baucham should be back in America late Monday evening. There is no word as to where he is going for treatment or what that will look like yet.
People have mentioned negotiating with the hospital given that he has no medical insurance, as the treatment would be very expensive. Tom Ascol, ministry partner and GoFundMe organizer, explained:
Baucham has raised $850,000 through his GoFundMe page, along with other funds through his ministry page.
Ascol updated the page and moved the goal of $750k to $1.25 million, explaining:
Over the last 24 hours I have consulted with people associated with the planned medical care for Voddie. They have told me that conservative estimates for his anticipated treatments is well over one million dollars. That is why I have raised the goal, in hopes that we can provide all that our brother will need and alleviate him of any financial concerns in seeking treatment. Thank you for your generosity in giving.
Right now Voddie’s greatest need is prayer. Please lift up this dear saint to the Lord today.
Televangelist Frederick K. C. Price, the well-known word-of-faith heretic and founder of the 28,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center (CCC) megachurch, has passed away from COVID-19 at the age of 89, according to a Facebook post by his family.
Price authored more than 50 books on divine healing, faith, prosperity, and the Holy Spirit. He founded the Fellowship of International Christian Word of Faith Ministries (FICWFM), Ever-Increasing Faith Ministries, and Apostle Price Ministry Training Center. He had an international audience, with his live stream services reaching around 15 million people each week.
A mainstay on TBN, he was well known as a word-of-faith/prosperity gospel preacher. In fact, he described himself as “the chief exponent of Name It and Claim It” and was the “OG” of the movement, along with Creflo Dollar, Paul and Jan Crouch, Benny Hinn, and Kenneth Copeland.
At the heart of the Word of Faith movement is the belief in the “force of faith.” It is believed words can be used to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health and wealth). Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God’s sovereign will and that God Himself is subject to these laws…it claims that God created human beings in His literal, physical image as little gods…and as a result, we have the ability to manipulate the faith-force and become prosperous in all areas of life. Illness, sin, and failure are the result of a lack of faith.
In short, it is a false gospel, “another gospel” as the Apostle Paul says, and is not compatible with biblical Christianity.
Naturally, the charismatics at Charisma News are beside themselves. They describe him as a “great man of God” who will be “remembered for his passionate, and often controversial, teachings.”
Former Charisma magazine editor Jennifer LeClaire, purveyor of the “sneaky squid spirit” that Dr. Michael Brown so vociferously defends, was effusive in her praise when describing the arch-heretic as a “giant in the faith” and “a general” who shaped her beliefs and influenced her, thanking him for his sacrifice.
Longtime friend Kenneth Copeland wrote on his own Facebook page three days before he passed and hearing the news that he was battling COVID-19:
What a man of God! What a man of faith and power! I don’t believe this disease can kill him. We as a family, and ministry, are standing strong for Apostle Frederick Price!”
He leaves behind Betty, his wife of 67 years, and 4 children.
(Daily Wire) Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) implied God is a woman during a Saturday interview on MSNBC about the recent impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
Speaking with host Nicole Wallace about Democrats’ decision not to subpoena witnesses, Swalwell said, “The choice was, do we chase those people, not knowing what they’re going to say, to the courts for years or do we go forward with the powerful, thundering case that we have? And also knowing that Mitch McConnell was already telling us that he believed the challenge was a jurisdictional one.”
“So we could have called God herself, and the Republicans weren’t going to be willing to convict, so we’re proud of the case we have put forward,” Swalwell…
Ravi Zacharias’ books and resources will no longer be offered by HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP), the religious publishing arm of HarperCollins that includes both Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, after it was revealed in an RZIM investigation that the late apologist spent decades as a serial sexual predator.
HCPP has published over 20 books that were either authored or co-authored by Zacharias over the last 25 years, including his most well-known work, Can Man Live Without God? which has been published in 21 languages. His latest book, Seeing Jesus From the East: A Fresh Look at History’s Most Influential Figure, co-authored with Abdu Murray (Zondervan), was released in April 2020. Zacharias has sold over 2 million books.
Casey Francis Harrell, vice president of corporate communication for HCCP, said in a statement about the decision to remove the books from print:
In September, when the most-recent sexual misconduct allegations against the late Ravi Zacharias surfaced, HarperCollins Christian Publishing immediately suspended all projects and shipments of his work.
Following the findings in the independent report, the company will immediately take all his publications out of print. We are deeply saddened, and we mourn for the victims.
This is not unexpected news, as there was been much discussion over the last 4 months over what to do with his books, with people even asking whether or not they should be burned, after the interim report revealed that the allegations of sexual impropriety were true. Steve Baughman revealed last month that Zacharias’ upcoming book Jesus for You, set for release in 2021, had been scrapped.
Lee Strobel, who prominently featured Ravi Zacharias in his book The Case for Christ, the international bestseller that had over 5 million copies in print as of 2016, announced that he and his publisher were likewise halting printings of their book, and would be revising it to remove mention of Zacharias and his interview.
When questioned about the decision, after being accused of engaging in “cancel culture,” Strobel pointed out, “The difference is Ravi never showed repentance. The book is for spiritual seekers and I don’t want his hypocrisy to be a stumbling block to them in considering the evidence for Christ.”
A GoFundMe campaign for Voddie Baucham has raised more than $400,000 in less than 12 hours, after the Zambia-based pastor announced that he had experienced a medical emergency and asked for prayer for his health and family, as well as any funds that could be incidentally given.
Initially sent to his supporters via a newsletter, Vodie recounted that after a recent stint in America (January 21-February 09) where he returns several times to preach on his Winter Tour, he felt unwell. He chalked this up to fatigue at such a busy tour, doing a whirlwind 17 dates in 18 days. He explained:
On the way home, there were stretches when I felt what I could only describe as being waterboarded every two or three minutes. That night, upon arriving in Lusaka, I contacted our family doctor. The next morning I was at a medical center doing a series of labs and tests that revealed the worst. I was experiencing full-blown heart failure.
As I write this update, Bridget and I are making arrangements to fly back to the USA, where I will undergo a series of labs, exams, and treatments. Some of those will be significant. Hence, the call to prayer and plea for help.
Well, the saints have responded. Not only did they donate likely tens of thousands to his ministry page, but a GoFundMe page was set up by Pastor Tom Ascol, a ministry partner of Voddie seeking to grant as direct and as quick access to the funds as possible. The campaign has raised an incredible $400,000 in less than 12 hours, over half their goal of $750,000, and likely will add another $100-200,000 within the next 24 hours.
The biggest donation was an anonymous gift of $10,000 and nearly 4000 people donated at the time of this article.
Pastor Ascol explains in the description of the campaign:
Voddie Baucham is a faithful servant of Christ. He has been a dear friend for nearly twenty years and serves with me as a board member of Founders Ministries and founding faculty member of the Institute of Public Theology. As his newsletter below indicates, he is facing a serious medical trial. Christians around the world are praying for him and his family. Many would also like to help out financially, realizing that as he, Bridget, and their family walk this path, they will face significant expenses.
In response to many requests to help out directly, I am setting up this fundraiser to assist the Bauchams as expenses mount. All gifts given will go directly to the Bauchams. As the President of Founders Ministries, and in behalf of our board I encourage you to give as you are able to help our brother.
Voddie Baucham, a dear brother who ministers in Zambia, announced on Facebook yesterday that was experiencing a health crisis and asked for prayers and support as he seeks to return to America for testing and treatment.
Initially sent to his supporters via a newsletter, Vodie recounts that after a recent stint in America (January 21-February 09) where he returns several times to preach on his Winter Tour, he felt unwell. He chalked this up to fatigue at such a busy tour, doing a whirlwind 17 dates in 18 days. He explains:
On the way home, there were stretches when I felt what I could only describe as being waterboarded every two or three minutes. That night, upon arriving in Lusaka, I contacted our family doctor. The next morning I was at a medical center doing a series of labs and tests that revealed the worst. I was experiencing full-blown heart failure.
He continues:
As I write this update, Bridget and I are making arrangements to fly back to the USA, where I will undergo a series of labs, exams, and treatments. Some of those will be significant. Hence, the call to prayer and plea for help.
Vodie goes on to request prayer for traveling mercies, physical strength to survive a 36-hour trip back to the states with multiple modes of transport and lengthy layovers, physical healing, prayer for his wife and children, prayer for finances, given that “we are currently uninsured and will have to cover everything out-of-pocket,” and prayer for his witness as he endures this trial and so he can lead his family through this dark valley.
The message has been posted below in its entirety. If you have been blessed by Voddie’s ministry, as we have, please pray for all those things. Anyone wanting to donate to him can do so here at his website, with the caveat he provided in the first part of his post.
(Reuters ) Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt Jr., the self-described “smut peddler” who used his pornography empire and flair for the outrageous to push the limits of free speech and good taste, died on Wednesday at the age of 78, his publicist said.
Flynt, suffering from a variety of health problems since a 1978 assassination attempt that left him a paraplegic, died “from the recent onset of a sudden illness,” according to Minda Gowen, spokeswoman for Larry Flynt Publications, which runs the adult entertainment business he founded.
Flynt died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with his wife, Liz, and daughter, Theresa, at his bedside, Gowen said in a statement.
Celebrated by some as a free-speech provocateur and reviled by others as a profiteer of sexual exploitation and misogyny, Flynt was renowned for taunting critics with such outlandish stunts as appearing in court wearing a diaper made from an American flag.
In the most famous of numerous legal battles in which he was embroiled, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a landmark ruling in favor of Flynt in a libel lawsuit brought against him by evangelist Jerry Falwell…
9 in 10 Christian teens in the UK are concerned about climate change and their church’s lackluster or non-existent response to it, according to a survey by Tearfund and the Youthscape Centre for Research.
Christian young people are concerned about climate change, and so are their friends. They also care about racism and poverty. As Christians, they feel called to respond to these crises as a fundamental aspect of their faith.
However, many do not see this concern for social and environmental justice reflected in the wider church. While some churches are talking about these issues, young people expect more from their church leaders – and they want to be supported in making a difference.
The report states that 57 percent of the teens say they pray about climate change, and 84 percent are willing to do so when confronted by the imperative.
Gathering all the data and responses together, they boil it down to several summaries, explaining and then highlighting comments which encapsulated the general sentiment.
CLIMATE ACTIVISM IS FUNDAMENTAL TO OUR FAITH We are called to care for God’s creation, and we are called to act justly towards our neighbours. These are fundamental to our faith, and climate change cannot be separated as a “political” issue that does not concern the church. The church needs to teach this and pray about climate change.
“We are called to steward our planet and to love our neighbours, and those two things are absolutely interlinked and godly ways of living! Living out these commands can be a way to worship God. There is so much potential in this area for really exciting sermons!” “Pray for the healing of our home and the people on it – it’s urgent.” “If the Bible isn’t dead, then start applying teachings to current emergencies.”
THE CHURCH SHOULD BE LEADING THE WAY The church has a platform. It has power. It should be leading the way in responding to climate change and global injustice, but instead it risks falling behind. The church can set an example to the wider community.
“The church should absolutely be at the forefront of fighting climate change – because the world is God’s creation and we have a duty of care over it.” “You have been appointed by God to be in a position of power in your community, don’t let us down by refusing to acknowledge the biggest crisis we have ever faced.”
In response to the survey, Tearfund designed some “Climate Emergency Toolkits” designed to be used by church leaders and congregations so that they can “respond to the climate crisis.”
The kits show churches how they can declare their own climate emergency and then put their passion into action by cutting their carbon emissions and rallying their congregants to influence their own households, those around them at work, and even throughout the entire community.
At the end of the report, which ultimately is a thinly veiled attempt to advanced a radical agenda under the guise of a “survey” and “report,” they quote climate activist Greta Thunberg:
Everyone and everything needs to change. But the bigger your platform, the bigger your responsibility. What we are doing now can soon no longer be undone. The future, as well as what we have achieved in the past, is literally in your hands now. But, it is still not too late to act. It will take a far-reaching vision. It will take courage.
