God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." - John 4:24 (ESV)
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. - Amos 5:23-24 (ESV)
Spirit-Filled Pastor Addresses Controversial Worship Music Trend -- Charisma News
Shane Idleman is known for his fierce NAR dominionism. He does take time though to weigh in on other church related matters but he is so far in with the NAR, Charisma News crowd that he often spends time excusing what he probably knows deep down he should not. Today's subject, linked above in Shane's latest article, is about worship music from dubious sources and whether the church should use such songs. I chose two key verse sets today to illustrate how easy this subject should be for discerning Christians. Those who truly seek to worship God can only do so in spirit and truth. The spirit part is simply that we must be born again. How can someone worship God without knowing Him? The truth part simply means that worship too must adhere to scripture, the truth. You cannot worship God in deception. Singing Friend of God for example does not make you a friend of God. The second scripture set shows clearly that God does not actually accept false worship or worship that is not aligned with His Spirit. Work on justice and righteousness first, then come tell me how much you want to worship Me! So let us reason together through some points Shane makes and see what God actually says about this crucial subject.
"1. How inconsistent should a group be before we completely discontinue their worship? Should we also eliminate songs from Elevation Worship, Hillsong and a few others because we disagree with some of what their pastors teach? Yes and no. It all depends on the severity of their error. Some people draw the line in the sand much more quickly in regard to removing their music, while others are not there yet. This is what is happening here--many are not prepared to draw that line yet. And a lot depends on the spiritual character of the worship leader. For example, what Sean Feucht and Kim Walker Smith tweet is much different than what I've seen Joel Houston (Hillsong) tweet. I know both Feucht and Walker Smith, and both are solid." - Shane Idleman
No Shane they are not. They cannot be solid because they were taught by Bill Johnson who they still swear by. That teaching comes through in their music. If they were solid, they would be convicted of the false theology and leave their heretical churches. The framing here is beyond problematic. We are not talking about "inconsistent" churches or worship outfits. What this does is set up excuses to keep using them in your own services or listening to them and thinking it is all right. Are there biblically sound worship songs by Hillsong and Jesus Culture? Of course! The enemy always mixes in just enough truth to make people blind to the lies they buy into. Everything a false teacher says is not false. The really difficult ones to discern are so because a great deal of what they preach is correct. Of course mixed into the sound songs are songs that are completely horrible. How He Loves Us is a self-adoring song that worships man instead of God and by the way is poorly written. Only a disgustingly self-absorbed generation cannot see the difference between How Great Thou Art and How Great Am I. So should you eliminate songs from Elevation Music and Hillsong? Yes! If you only disagree with "some" of what Steven Furtick and Brian Houston teaches than THAT is the problem you need to address first. Furtick is the king of narcigesis, making you the hero of every bible story. You are not David staring down your Goliath. Not only is that biblically absurd but it misses the entire point of the scriptures and ignores David as a type of Christ! Houston wrote a book called You Need More Money! Are you kidding me? How many horrible stories do we have to hear from throughout the Hillsong kingdom? Carl Lentz, the pastor in Jersey who sent pictures of his genitalia to congregants, the sleazy silent night, the youth pastor "dressing up" as the naked cowboy for a woman's conference, and on and on.
So why ban their music? The people in the congregation are called sheep by the Lord. They are there for spiritual leadership and guidance. When you sing a Hillsong tune they like and they google it, who did you just lead them to? If they see the credits for a song belong to Elevation worship and they then check out Furtick it is entirely your fault. Kim Walker-Smith tells of a waking visitation from Jesus Christ who whisked her away to the throne room where she met the Father face to face. She says she asked Him why He made her and that God replied by ripping out a piece of His own heart and molding a miniature Kim Walker-Smith to set in a jewelry box before Him. Now Shane, you know this could not be true because the bible says Kim Walker-Smith would be dead if she saw the Father which means she is either lying or cannot tell when being duped by demons masquerading as angels of light. Either way, Kim Walker-Smith is not "solid."
