From the you gotta be kidding me files...Brian Houston wants to start another church...

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What could possibly go wrong?

Amidst the recent debacle surrounding IHOP and Mike Bickle another sad story has managed to sneak under the radar. It appears the disgraced Brian Houston is now intending on opening a new church. As absurd as that notion should be to anyone with a sliver of discernment, the NAR Apostate Church Industrial Complex is lining up to praise and endorse the efforts. This is to be expected considering the fact that the complex protects the brand at all costs and Houston is a proven money maker of epic proportions. Do not lose the back story in the weeds like we see at IHOP. The defenders of heresy only try to refute the recent problems to avoid the twitchy subject of the grander picture. If none of the multiple women ever came forward to credibly accuse Mike Bickle of sexual and spiritual abuse, he still would be one of the worst heretics of our lifetime. IHOP theology still remains one of the worst cesspools of rotten theology. One of the few organizations that surpasses IHOP however is Hillsong. Brian Houston built his empire on the child sex abuse of his father, created a 100-million-dollar cabal based largely on poor worship music and the prosperity gospel. Houston even once famously wrote a book called "You Need More Money." Then there are the multiple issues through the years at Hillsong sites, all of which had Houston as the lead pastor. NYC Hillsong saw the grievous Carl Lentz drama where the pastor to the celebrities lured his children's babysitter into his wife's bed for multiple years, as well as other marital affairs. There was a similar issue at a New Jersey Hillsong. There was the Youth Pastor of NYC "dressing up" as the naked cowboy for a women's ministry conference. There was the sleazy silent night from Australia and the secular club hit "I Like to Move It, Move It" performed in worship at Hillsong London. These are only microcosms of a ridiculously carnal church system led by Houston for decades, propped up by their music industry that produces largely theologically unsound worship music. So let us reason once more through the above announcement from Charisma News, one of the most ardent Houston supporters. Note throughout the emphasis is always what is fair or best for Houston and not his victims, another parallel to the Bicklegate controversy.

"In a recent announcement on X (formerly known as Twitter), Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston, 69, revealed his plans to launch a new weekly online ministry and church in 2024. Houston, along with his wife Bobbie, expressed excitement about building a new community through this venture. The news comes almost two years after Houston resigned as global senior pastor of the Hillsong megachurch network, following allegations of misconduct by two women. The criminal charges against him, related to concealing sex abuse committed by his father, were dropped in August 2022. In January 2022, Houston stepped down from his role at the church's helm for the entire year. He maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, and the court ultimately found him not guilty." - Charisma News

What Charisma News does here is mix two different disqualifying stories together to avoid dealing with the one he actually stepped down for. While all the attention is paid to the sins of his father and what Brian knew, the real story is the allegations from two different women. Let us first deal with the Frank Houston case, where his son Brian was accused of not reporting the serious sexual abuse of congregant children, by his dad. The finding from the court was not that Houston was innocent of not reporting it but that he had a reasonable reason for not reporting it to authorities. That reason? Brian insisted that the victim did not want it reported. The problem is that the victim categorically denies this, but the larger spiritual question is if that is a truly good enough reason anyway? Not to mention that there ended up being a plethora of other victims. I am willing to table that because it was adjudicated and for whatever reason, he was acquitted.

The real reason he stepped down was after an internal investigation into two complaints from women were found to be disturbing enough to warrant his removal. The first was portrayed as a decade ago, as if that matters. We see a similar tactic used in the Bicklegate scandal. How long ago a Christian pastor was abusive is irrelevant to the abuse. The first complaint apparently involved a series of "inappropriate texts" from the married Houston to a female staffer who subsequently resigned after complaining to the Hillsong General Manager. Houston admitted to personally paying off this complainant at the time several month's salary. You know, like Jesus never did. Houston blamed this on taking too many sleeping pills, which he admitted he had an addiction to. Hillsong management insisted that Houston received treatment to resolve the addiction issue. So, making sexual passes at a woman while married and having a personal addiction to sleeping pills is apparently not grounds for pastoral removal at Hillsong. The second event was in 2019 after a conference where the Hillsong Pastor was apparently drinking while overdosing on anti-anxiety medication. He went into a female person's hotel room for forty minutes and no one really knows what happened, but leadership determined it was inappropriate enough and that the women should not have been placed in whatever the situation was by Houston. Brian agreed to take three months off and abstain from alcohol, which he proceeded to not do. Because Charisma muddied the two issues, you may mistakenly believe Houston has maintained his innocence regarding these allegations, but he has not. That was related to the covering up of his father's sins. So, we have the pastor of a multi-million-dollar church who has apparently had issues with alcohol, substance abuse and marital infidelity for over a decade allowed to continue to pretend he was a minister and now we are welcoming him opening a new church? Wow.

"In a separate incident, Houston was arrested in February 2022 for driving under the influence of alcohol. He initially pled not guilty but later reversed his plea. The court sentenced him to three years probation, a $140 fine and other penalties. Despite these setbacks, Houston remains committed to starting a new chapter in his ministry. The details of the new online ministry and church are yet to be revealed. Meanwhile, Houston's daughter, Laura Toganivalu, and her husband, Peter, who resigned from their roles at Hillsong Young & Free earlier this year, have also announced the launch of a new church." - Charisma News

More distraction from Charisma. The fact that he originally pled not guilty is irrelevant. He was guilty. He admitted and pled as such. Not only that but Charisma conveniently left out that an additional enhanced charge was added when it was revealed that his blood alcohol content was at .20, known as "blackout drunk." Are we fully grasping this? The leader of Hillsong was driving while so drunk, he likely blacked out the entire incident. It is a miracle that he did not kill someone. This is not a "first incident" as it reveals and confirms the same pattern, we have now seen for over a decade. Remember these are only the incidents we are aware of. God only knows the depths of the depravity and non-pastoral behavior Mr. Houston has engaged in over the years that we have not heard about.

What is so tone-deaf is Charisma conveying these things as "setbacks." A setback is not getting your building permit approved to start the church. A setback is not driving while so drunk that you blackout. A setback is not abusing sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and alcohol. These are absolutely disqualifying problems. Brian Houston never was a real pastor, but he should not be welcomed to start this all over again. How many blaring warning sirens do we need? When is enough, enough? Are we waiting for the next time when he kills someone, or we find out the texts led to sexual abuse? This is the same nonchalance we see in Bicklegate. Oh, so what if he pretended God spoke to him in order to lure a 19-year-old sheep into his bed when he was a 42-year-old preacher? That was 20 years ago! The concern and deference is always in favor of the abuser and never with a shred of concern for the victims.

"As Christians, it is important to remember that redemption, forgiveness and mercy are central to our faith. The Bible teaches us that God is the forgiving God, and we are called to forgive others as He has forgiven us (Col. 3:13). We are also reminded that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Rom. 3:23), but through Christ, we can receive redemption and the promise of eternal life (Rom. 6:23). Moving forward in our faith, it is essential to extend mercy to those who have stumbled and to support them in their journey toward redemption. In doing so, we can create a stronger and more united Christian community that reflects the love and grace of Jesus Christ." - Charisma News

As pious sounding as this is it is also extremely irrelevant for this discussion. I have nothing to forgive Brian Houston of. What he has done is between him, his victims and God. This is confusion that the Charismaniacs such as Charisma News always engage in to try and get their fallen leaders back and fleecing the flock with as little down time as possible. Forgiveness has NOTHING to do with employment. Restoration is about our walk with God, not our employment as a pastor. We forfeit that when we step out of the qualifications God has set forth for people who bring His word. That is not "unforgiving" it simply being biblical and please stop misusing examples such as David. Yes, David was forgiven for his adultery and murder and God is always willing to forgive a contrite heart. He still however had worldly and spiritual consequences for his sin. David still lost his newborn child. He still had Absolom rebel against him. He still lost his kingdom. Mike Bickle thinks that after some undefined "season" he can return as long as his buddies say he has repented enough. Houston acts as if the worldly exoneration from the courts regarding his father means all is forgiven and forgotten regarding his years upon years of substance abuse and abuse towards women. Please remember this is all not even considering how awful his theology is!

When speaking about the Hillsong debacle, Steven Strang, CEO of Charisma said "Hillsong blessed believers with wonderful songs and stood as an example of service to its community. The church's theology was spot-on and no-compromise when many churches are going liberal or woke. Bad things happen to good people, and the Bible is full of examples of men and women of God who failed"yet God used them anyway." Except the majority of the songs were not wonderful. They were heretical. They remain so to this day. Hillsong was an example to its community? Is that the same community Brian Houston drove blackout drunk through just one year ago? Is that the same community that had a young woman accuse a Hillsong staffer of rape, who was then allowed to stay on? Their theology was spot on? Which one? Their embrace of the prosperity gospel? The teachings of word faith heresy? The utter carnality they preached each and every week? Hillsong is a church of no compromise? Are you serious? Compromise is their business model! Beware this false biblical comparison because the bible is filled more with people who failed and were not used by God again! People who were judged by God! Not being struck dead like Ananias and Sapphira does not mean God is approving of your return to the pulpit after you violated it. Strang finished his Brian Houston defense with this gem:

"Hillsong is not the worst scandal ever. If anything, it reminds us how the media loves to criticize Pentecostals and is an example of why we must face our problems, trust God and continue to be led by the Holy Spirit." - Steven Strang

Reporting what Brian Houston has pled guilty to in open court is not "criticism." Was Brian being led by the Holy Spirit when he so casually took the life of everyone he may have plowed over into his hands? Do you honestly think your defense of the indefensible here is being led by the Holy Spirit? Hillsong is not the worst scandal ever? So, the guy who built a 100 million dollar a year church by fleecing the flock, knew his pedophile father had sexually violated congregants and said nothing. He then has at least a ten-year period of abusing women, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication, and alcohol for which he is forced to step down. His pious response to this is to be arrested for driving blackout drunk where thankfully he did not kill someone, and a year later proudly announce he wants to start a new church. If this is not one of the worst scandals ever, I hate to see which ones would qualify.

Reverend Anthony Wade - December 20, 2023

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.