As a complement to our piece Scandal to End All Scandals: John MacArthur Owns a Nice Watch, we wanted to draw our readers’ attention to the Instagram Account Prophetsnwatches, which catalogs Pastors wearing both high-end luxury timepieces whose price is only “available upon request , all the way to 10$ Timex specials.
The website is essentially identical to Preachersnsneakers, except whereas the excesses on that one top out at around $3600, the accessories shown here are far more expensive.
It covers most of the players we routinely cover here Protestia, such as TD Jakes, Steven Furtick, Brian Houston, John Gray, Lecrae, Ed Young Jr, Judah Smith, Creflo Dollar, and others, all sporting stunning wrist candy. It also demonstrates some contrast, such as showing the new pastor of Hillsong N Chrishan Jeyaratnam wearing an $89 Casio, and then contrasted with the disgraced pastor he took over for, Carl Lentz, who is rocking a $38,000 Rolex
Justin Bieber recently granted a long-form interview to Zach Baron of GQ Magazine, spending nearly the whole thing talking about his faith and beliefs and the transition from the world’s biggest musical artist whose life was in shambles, to a stable, growing family man and husband. A few things worth highlighting.
On his marriage. How his wife is a “strong, consistent, stabilizing force in his life,” and how it has grounded him.
“The first year of marriage was really tough, because there was a lot, going back to the trauma stuff. There was just lack of trust. There was all these things that you don’t want to admit to the person that you’re with, because it’s scary. You don’t want to scare them off by saying, ‘I’m scared.’ ”
…[now] we’re just creating these moments for us as a couple, as a family, that we’re building these memories. And it’s beautiful that we have that to look forward to. Before, I didn’t have that to look forward to in my life. My home life was unstable. Like, my home life was not existing. I didn’t have a significant other. I didn’t have someone to love. I didn’t have someone to pour into. But now I have that.”
On how he relates to God, the call on his life, and how he talks to the Lord.
“He is grace. Every time we mess up, He’s picking us back up every single time. That’s how I view it. And so it’s like, ‘I made a mistake. I won’t dwell in it. I don’t sit in shame. But it actually makes me want to do better.’
…my goal isn’t to try and persuade anybody to believe in what I believe or condemn anybody for not believing what I believe. If it can help someone, great. If someone’s like, ‘Hey, I don’t believe that. I don’t think that’s true,’ by all means, that’s their prerogative.”
…I came to a place where I just was like, ‘God, if you’re real, I need you to help me, because I can’t do this on my own. Like, I’m struggling so hard. Every decision I make is out of my own selfish ego.’ So I’m just like, ‘What is it that you want from me? You put all these desires in my heart for me to sing and perform and to make music—where are these coming from? Why is this in my heart? What do you want me to do with it? What’s the point? What is the point of everything? What is the point of me being on this planet?’ ”
…I just kept trusting what He said and what He’s saying to me . And I just believe He speaks to me. It’s not audible. I don’t hear His audible voice. I don’t know if people do. I know people have said it, and in the Bible it talks about that, but I just never heard it. It’s more like nudges: Don’t do this. Or: Set these boundaries.”
On pastors who put themselves on pedestals and his attraction to new pastor Judah Smith, and why he trusts him.
“I think so many pastors put themselves on this pedestal. And it’s basically, church can be surrounded around the man, the pastor, the guy, and it’s like, ‘This guy has this ultimate relationship with God that we all want but we can’t get because we’re not this guy.’ That’s not the reality, though. The reality is, every human being has the same access to God.”
[Judah Smith] put our relationship first…[Bieber explains that he noticed Smith’s family seemed to care for one another] [That] was something I always dreamed of because my family was broken. My whole life, I had a broken family. And so I was just attracted to a family that eats dinners together, laughs together, talks together.”
Bieber is active on social media making consistent professions of faith, inviting a variety of pastors on to give the gospel. He will frequently talk about Jesus and his relationship with him, what parts of the bible he and his wife Hailey are reading, what he learned from a sermon, and will pray with his tens of millions of followers. He is a member of Hillsong Choir and has led worship at pal Judah’s Smith Churchome, as well as has preached from the pulpit.
Pastor Judah Smith lead Churchome, a hip-to-be-cool, celebrity-endorsed 10,000 member megachurch that recently cemented their theological obliviousness by bringing on Trinity-denying Modalist T. D. Jakes as a Board Member of their congregation.
The Seattle-based church, spread across its five locations in Washington State and California, joins other celebrity preachers like now-disgraced Carl Lentz and Elevation Church’s Steven Furtick in having very close ties with the “Jesus is a manifestation of God” Pentecostal Bishop.
By way of a brief profile, the Smiths are about as seeker-sensitive and biblically compromised as they come. They live in a multi-million dollar home and have a penchant for Gucci luxury clothes, where a single outfit can cost upwards of $ 5000$. They count Justin Bieber as one of their members and let him occasionally lead worship, with theoerotic songs like Reckless Love being a mainstay.
He frequently tweets stupid, unbiblical things like this, clearly having no knowledge of Acts 10:38, 2 Corinthians 5:10, John 5:22, 27, and other scriptures.
He is, by all accounts, emblematic of the skinny-jeans-wearing soyboy pastors that breed effemininity and are a blight on the church today.
As for where the couple stands on abortion and LGBT issues, more unbiblical, cagey, waffling garbage abounds. In a long-form article in Marie Claire that is worth the read, writer Jennifer Swann quickly zeroes in on the ethos of the couple, explaining they are as squishy as one can be.
We pray that Bieber leaves that church and find one where the scriptures and sound theology are actually taught.
Justin Bieber dropped a gospel album on Easter, surprising fans with the 6-song EP that is rife with prayers and, scriptural references, sermon clips, and themed around freedom because of the cross.
Bieber is active on social media making consistent professions of faith, inviting a variety of pastors on to give the gospel. He will frequently talk about Jesus and his relationship with him, what parts of the bible he and his wife Hailey are reading, what he learned from a sermon, and will pray with his tens of millions of followers. He is a member of Hillsong Choir and has led worship at pal Judah’s Smith Churchome, as well as has preached from the pulpit.
While he has been consistent in his earnestness for years, his understanding of biblical truth is unfortunately underdeveloped and is reminiscent of a newly converted 14-year-old trying to explain the Christian faith and gospel to his parents after just one weekend at bible camp, leaving one praying that the Master’s seminary gives him a scholarship, or that he starts listening to better preachers than his current squishy pastor.
He has one song that could easily pass for a worship song in most churches nowadays, in the “Where you go I follow“, albeit with a slightly different musical arrangement. In fact, it will likely be a bonafide worship hit, and will be played in churches all across America.
Verse 1: Where you go, I follow (Where you go, I follow) You’re with me every step of the way Here in the struggle (Here in the struggle) Your love’s enough to wash it all away
Pre-Chorus: On the third day, yeah, you rose up And you beat death once and for all (Once and for all) Once and for all (Once and for all)
Chorus: There’s nobody like you (Like you, like you) There’s nobody like you, Jesus (Jesus, Jesus) There’ll nеver be nobody like You (Likе you, like you) There’ll never be nobody like you, Jesus (Jesus, Jesus)
Here are a few more snippets from his album, including one song that has a few s-bombs thrown in.
From the song Freedom.
Big up to my brother Blessed sons and daughters We all lookin’ for the answers We in search of living water Too blind to see the Messiah Are you weary? Are you tired? Runnin’ on empty, feelin’ the fire Mm, the Devil is a liar The story’s already written Children, you are forgiven (Yeah) Ain’t nothin’ you could do for you to change that And everythin’ you did, He erased that Yeah, He took it all and threw it in the wasteland
The dead resurrected, the Devil tried test it, him lost Him lose again (Mm) Head bruise again (Mm, mm-mm) Sweat, blood, tears ‘pon the cross Did you know He paid the cost for you?
From All she wrote:
I got the keys to the kingdom, I’m ’bout my father business I came up straight from the bottom, I started from the finish You can’t undermine a mastermind I may be out of your mind, but I ain’t out of mine I’m co-crucified, bury, resurrected And perfected in the Son of God Just like water turn to wine, I’m a prophetic sign Ask your barber, I’ma headliner in New York Times My life verses, I am His, yeah, and He is mine The great “I Am’s”, the greatest Lamb of all time
We’re in this Together
I was livin’ in a mansion doin’ big things FBI raided my house and sh– was gettin’ dicey I was doin’ stupid sh– to get people to like me All that to say, I’m thankful that’s not who I am And I’m thankful God was with me when sh–hit the fan ‘Cause He’s the reason that I’m still standin’ And even in a pandemic, God is still plannin’ Plannin’ peace, plannin’ joy, plan another day Gave His life upon the cross to wash our sins away
As for pastor Judah Smith, he has an outro on two songs, both containing sermon samples where he talks about who Jesus is and the promises found in him.
Smith is the pastor Churchome, a hip-to-be-cool, celebrity-endorsed 10,000 member megachurch that recently brought on Trinity-denying Modalist TD Jakes to be a board member of their church, along with having some very heterodox beliefs.
Pastors Judah and Chelsea Smith of Churchome, a hip-to-be-cool, celebrity-endorsed 10,000 member megachurch, further cemented their theological obliviousness by bringing on Trinity-denying Modalist T. D. Jakes as a Board Member of their congregation, effective January 1, 2021.
The Seattle-based church, spread across its five locations in Washington State and California, joins other celebrity preachers like now-disgraced Carl Lentz and Elevation Church’s Steven Futick in having very close ties with the “Jesus is a manifestion of God” Pentecostal Bishop. They made the announcement on their website, writing:
Bishop TD Jakes has been in church leadership for more than 40 years, and is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House Church. He has been in relationship with Churchome since 2006.
One of the world’s most revered faith leaders, his passion to bring people together is evident over his decades of ministry. He is an inspiration in matters of reconciliation and racial diversity. The wisdom of his collective experience leading people to Jesus, and instinct to serve others in areas beyond the church brings invaluable leadership to the Churchome board.
It is not a supremely surprising move, given that both men have had close ties for years, speaking at conferences together and even at each other’s churches.
By way of a brief profile, the Smiths are about as seeker-sensitive and biblically compromised as they come. They live in a multi-million dollar home and have a penchant for Gucci luxury clothes, where a single outfit can cost upwards of $ 5000$. They count Justin Bieber as one of their members and let him occasionally lead worship, with theoerotic songs like Reckless Love being a mainstay.
He frequently tweets stupid, unbiblical things like this, clearly having no knowledge of Acts 10:38, 2 Corinthians 5:10, John 5:22, 27, and other scriptures.
He is, by all accounts, emblematic of the skinny-jeans-wearing soyboy pastors that breed effemininity and are a blight on the church today.
As for where the couple stands on abortion and LGBT issues, more unbiblical, cagey, waffling garbage abounds. In a long-form article in Marie Claire that is worth the read, writer Jennifer Swann quickly zeroes in on the ethos of the couple.
Regarding his 2005 comments on abortion, (where he preached against it) Judah says (through his publicist), ‘We have grown significantly in the past 15 years. I wouldn’t agree with my approach when I was a young pastor on many issues and understand that no life decision is easy. We hope to be a loving home for humanity, no matter what someone has experienced.’
When I ask Chelsea what she would say to a member of her congregation considering an abortion, she is quick to clarify that, unlike a priest, a pastor—at least at Churchome—isn’t meant to provide counsel. ‘We know what we’re good at, which is the Bible and Jesus and telling His story. And we know what we’re not good at. There are amazing trained professional psychologists and counselors [for that].’
That’s why, on the Churchome Global app, the Smiths titled a section of videos ‘Question and Response’ rather than ‘Question and Answer.’
Throughout the two days we spend together, Chelsea has few answers for me. So I call her up a few weeks later to ask more questions: What is Churchome’s position on LGBTQ members, for example? ‘Every individual is entitled to their own persuasion, and it’s not our job to persuade. It’s just our job to proclaim. They feel just as loved and welcome and a part of our community,’ Chelsea says.
Have Judah’s views on homosexuality changed since 2005? ‘We are a church who love and welcome people regardless of their beliefs or background,’ he says. Would Churchome be open to having a gay pastor? After a long pause, Chelsea says, ‘We are very much in the category of “We love everybody. God is for everybody. And God’s heart is for people.” So our hearts are for people, and that is where we land, absolutely.’
Having TD Jakes on their church board, as bad as that is, is clearly the least of their problems.
Unnamed sources are coming out of the woodwork claiming that Justin Bieber is studying to become a minister with Hillsong Church, with Daily Mail, Ok Magazine, and others reporting that he plans to become ordained in 2021.
Given that there are no names attached to the piece, only “sources close to the singer” alleging that “Justin has never felt happier or healthier, and he says he owes it to the church. [He] believes he can take a leadership position in restoring order,” referring to Hillsong NYC and the aftermath of disgraced Pastor Carl Lentz’s adulterous joyride taken right through the heart of the congregation, the whole thing is a non-starter.
The fact this is so believable is the real story, however. We can see Hillsong giving him the keys to the kingdom. Bieber is active on social media making consistent professions of faith, inviting a variety of pastors on to give the gospel, and talking a lot about Jesus and his relationship with him. He is a member of Hillsong Choir and has led worship at pal Judah’s Smith Churchome, as well as has preached from the pulpit.
Bieber explains a more recent message he gave:
My whole message at church the other day was, there’s power in your weakness. So when you feel weak — there’s so many people in this world who are struggling — there’s just power in that weakness. So, when you fight through that season you usually get to the other side, and it gets better.
Sounds terrible.
Here’s another spine-shuddering theological poison pill.
Again. What the heck.
While Bieber is anything if not completely unqualified to preach or become a minister, he is consistent in his earnestness, with his understanding of biblical truth being underdeveloped, and is reminiscent of a newly converted 14-year-old trying to explain the Christian faith and gospel to his parents after just one weekend at bible camp.
It’s not great, and you don’t want to see him sharing that with anyone, but you have to admire his willingness to put himself out there. It may be happening with a lot of scrunched up faces and raised eyebrows, but the gist of the internal change is communicated. These sources continue:
[He] doesn’t plan to give up his music career, but he feels there’s a bigger calling out there for him. He wants to be a full-fledged minister next year.
Someone tell The Master’s Seminary to give this kid a scholarship already!
