The following sermon by pastor David Henneke addressed Bethel and Hillsong music and other unbiblical ministries.
Henneke had been pastor at the First Baptist Church in Kingsland, Texas for 7 months when he preached the sermon. He was moved to preach against the aforementioned false ministries after researching to answer a question asked by a congregant.
If your church is playing the music of those false ministries, then you may get some understanding about why it is unbiblical.
Also, in the second video below, pastor Henneke interviews with Doreen Virtue (who was a New Age guru, converted to Christianity) about how you might approach the music director or pastor of your church if your music is unbiblical.
On 9-27-20, I added two very short videos to the end of this post because so many people do not listen to the first two long videos. The short videos, by Dr. MacArthur and by pastor C. J. Mahaney, explain some very important things about “worship” and Christian music.
(Please see the CATEGORY, Christian Music, for many other posts about Christian music and worship.)
Henneke’s sermon:
Henneke’s thirty minute interview with Doreen Virtue:
Concluding thoughts:
The following type of music is certainly appropriate for churches to sing, it is edifying and 100% approved by God: the psalter; consider the following example, Psalm 40A:
Henneke focused on encouraging his sheep to abide in God’s word, saying that if they know the truth, they would more easily discern error. I personally know that to be true; in my life, it began with my first read through the Bible and has continued. I have posted testimonials in this blog wherein that has been the case for other new converts also. And I have learned that one must abide in God’s appointed means of grace to grow as a Christian: reading the word; prayer; the Lord’s Supper; hearing preaching; and fellowship around the Word, as in Bible studies and prayer meetings. These are the only channels via which God gives grace. That is, if you ask for grace, and ignore most of these means, then you will stifling your growth.
These basic things, abiding in the means of grace, are very difficult. Satan works overtime providing every kind of distraction (especially in this high tech age) to divert God’s children from His word and prayer.
Many churches wrongly think that the music ministry is the main ministry, it is not. That is part of the error with Hillsong and most Pentecostal prosperity churches.
The following 3 minute video by Dr. John MacArthur explains what true “worship” is; he explains that the music ministry is fruit, not root of worship:
NOTE: I had a video here by C J Mahaney, but a reader notified me two days ago that Mahaney had covered up abuse allegations at a church he headed; I checked into that and discovered the reader’s statements were accurate. So I removed the video that was in this post, about singing Christ-centered songs; and another post wherein he preached a message to tormented souls.
His statements about singing Christ-centered songs were accurate, but as a leader in the church, he is not worthy of following; and I do not want anything from him in this blog.
To read what Al Mohler said of him, in an article from Baptist News Global, click the following link:
https://baptistnews.com/article/al-mohler-says-he-was-wrong-about-c-j-mahaney/#.YfVpN-rMJEZ
In closing, I want to again repeat MacArthur, music is the fruit of true worship, which is knowing oneself and God as the Bible describes each; knowing the doctrines of the Bible.
There are protestant catechisms that identify and explain biblical doctrine for Bible students; one example is The Westminster Confession of Faith; another is the Heidelberg Catechism. I do not know the names of other catechisms, but there are others.
To learn more about the gospel, see Categories Gospel Message; explore categories for other interests.