Hillsong’s Marty Sampson Says He’s Losing His Faith and He’s Not Bothered
“One of Hillsong United’s original band members, Marty Sampson, has announced he is no longer a Christian…. he mentions preachers falling, the dearth of miracles we see happen, the Bible being full of contradictions, and the seeming dissonance between an unconditionally loving God who sends people to eternal damnation.” - Church Leaders
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He says “nobody talks about” these things… that and other clues reflect that he has never had any real Christian training in even the basics of the faith. So many people talk about these things … in many cases, they’ve been talked about for centuries upon centuries!
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
If you preach through the bible, or actually read your Bible, you’ll deal with these issues. Just look at 1 Peter! Resources are more available than ever before on these issues.
You don’t even need the resources. Just read 1 Peter. Read Job. Read Lamentations. Read the psalms of lament, and the imprecatory psalms, too. These issues are there. Read and be introspective!
So sad.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
These are issues (like hell, supposed contradictions in the Bible) to resolve EARLY in one’s Christian life. Of course, when you are supposedly in a miracle-infested environment and don’t see real miracles, maybe the problem is that a lot of people are fooling themselves about some things.
Although the result is the same as Josh Harris’ decision, Harris is more disturbing in that he was not part of the emotionally intense environment Sampson was. I wonder how many “signs and wonders” people can keep their faith when they tie their faith to healings and miracles and then realize that many of them turn out not to be miracles.
Where the two converge is this: they find the God of the Bible (who sends people to hell) repulsive. This proves that there are “none who seek God,” that is, the God of the Bible. It is natural to believe in God, but it is not natural to believe in the God of the Bible. We love Him because He first loved us, but the Spirit of God has to draw us to the God of the Bible.
Hell might become the litmus stick. If you can follow a God Who sends people to hell, that is evidence of election. The elect are drawn to God, despite Who He is. The elect know that they, not God, have the problem.
Perhaps we have become so slick in our presentations, programs, and outreaches that we have succeeded in drawing many tares into our barns?
"The Midrash Detective"
Tip Of The Iceberg. More To Come.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
He also said he had a problem with this: “and the seeming dissonance between an unconditionally loving God who sends people to eternal damnation. “
The common refrain in CCM right now, and for many years in the past, is that God loves everyone. Many evangelical churches now proclaim this constantly. Look at the song “Reckless Love” for an example. The problem is, this only works in 2 cases. First, universalism. Second, if you moderate the love and intensity for God to save to the elect, then you have something. Otherwise, how can you tell someone that God is out there doing everything to bring in the lost and then He fails…
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
French with some perspective
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/another-pop-culture-christian-lo…
… adults fall away in the face of the pressures of the world, rationalizing their departure with words that ring true to everyone except Christians who know what the church is really like.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
[Ron Bean]Yes, the best response to Christian apostasy among the trendy I’ve seen yet… from a Christian metal singer, of all things. Meanwhile the greatest defender of orthodoxy against the “woke” crowd is an ex-lesbian, former English professor, Rosaria Butterfield.THIS is a good take from an interesting and unexpected source.
Strange times call for strange champions.
Great article, especially this quote:
We now have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern praise songs rather than from the teachings of the Word.
"The Midrash Detective"
Great article, especially this quote:
We now have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern praise songs rather than from the teachings of the Word.
“The Midrash Detective”
I assume it’s OK to quote a rock musician as a reliable source of an opinion here on SI. He professes to be a Christian and I don’t think he’s being influenced by demons. BIG SMILE AND WINK
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Very often, when people deny the faith, there is a moral issue at hand. They are having an affair, want to leave their spouse, go gay/lesbian, or sleep around. They have determined to to this. The issue is best summarized by the rebellious world leaders in Psalm 2:3
“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
They have a choice — continue to profess faith and take the role of the hated hypocrite, or adjust their beliefs to countenance their chosen behavior.
I’ve seen this often. A former elder gets involved with a woman who is into new age, for example. He divorces his Christian wife and is not a hypocrite because he now embraces the new age thinking. Or perhaps liberal Christianity, or atheism. This frequently happens with college students who want to be promiscuous or are attached to someone who wants to live with them but not marry.
The choice is either play the hypocrite (which is tabboo even in the world) or renounce the faith or the Biblical version of the faith.
"The Midrash Detective"
I have a brother-in-law who grew up in conservative fundamentalism. i.e Prairie Bible Institute 45 years ago. He graduated from a conservative college. According to him, he walked/strolled/drifted away from the faith because of the infighting, lack of love for brethren and others, and the “majoring on minors” that he encountered. He’s the first one to remind the rest of us when what he calls the “hate Billy Graham” attitude manifests itself. He’s a professional church organist and when confronted with the facts of the apostasy in his church, just smiles and says, “Well, at least we aren’t fighting with each other.”
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
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