Let me see if I have this straight. Charisma News does not consider the guy who led one of the largest worldwide ministries a celebrity pastor. The guy who wrote 16 books, including "You Need More Money"; was only focused on Jesus? The same guy who drove blackout drunk in the middle of his scandals for inappropriate contact with women, has a track record of approaching challenges as a leader? The guy who marketed Hillsong into an international brand that shames the most shameless hucksters is not into "brand building?" He does not seem to be building Hillsong 2.0? Based upon what? The first thing he did was beg for money so, spare me the prop-job on Houston. God is not doing a new thing through this disgraced charlatan. Instead of encouraging repentance in his personal life, Charisma is trying to get the money-maker back into the Charismaniacal, Purpose Driven Industrial Complex. Hopefully, people will not fall for the new scam. The second story linked above, deals with Pastor Ed Young.
'Texas-based Pastor Ed Young believes those who think megachurches are "just too big" are hypocrites. The founder and senior pastor of the multi-site Fellowship Church in Grapevine issued the bold statement in a video shared to his Facebook page. Young's church, for context, reported a weekly attendance of 24,000 in 2020. The preacher noted in his video many have told him his congregation "is just too big," but asserted it's unfair to criticize the sizes of churches in places with large populations. "'Your church is just too big,'" Young said, quoting what he's heard from critics of Fellowship Church. "I've heard people tell me that a lot: 'It's too big. It's a megachurch.' Well, that's got to be one of the most hypocritical statements someone can make, because the person making the statement goes to massive concerts. They would go to a game " a football game. They would go to a massive mall, and they never really say that about those entities."' - Charisma News
Do I really have to point out the lunacy of this comparison? Why in the world would an alleged pastor compare the church to carnal concerts or sporting events? They should be completely incompatible. The real criticism of a church with 24,000 people is that every single mega church ends up compromising the gospel in order to keep that many people. The bible says that narrow is the way and few are those who find it. There is a reason why 24,000 people show up to hear Ed Young and it is NOT because he preaches the gospel. Ed Young has abused people by ordering them to not come back to his church unless they tithe. He has berated believers who just want good theological teaching from their church. Understand however, that the issue is not the size of the mega church but what you have to do in order to get to those levels. Concerts and football games are not pretending to follow the bible. It is an interesting insight into how Ed Young views church however. Just another large business with a lot of clients.
"According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, a megachurch is a church averaging 2,000 or more weekly attenders. There were roughly 1,170 megachurches in the U.S. in 2023, a decrease from the 1,750 megachurches reported by the Hartford Institute in 2020. Young went on to boldly assert, "Hey, if you think the church is too big, then you're not going to like Heaven, because Heaven is going to be a big place. If a church is around a lot of people, it should be big in the context of being big." In 2020, a Lifeway Research study found the average church in the U.S. seats roughly 200 people, but the median weekly attendance is 65 worshipers. Megachurches, it should be noted, only make up about 0.5% of churches across the country, serving about 4 million weekly congregants." - Charisma News
It is not bold to declare things about heaven you do not know or understand. Also, how unseemly is it to compare the church you run, to heaven, which God runs? Beloved, I think we miss the mark when we focus on the size of the church. The issue is the heresies offered at that church that draw so many people. It is very difficult at best to preach the whole gospel and keep 24,000 people attending. This is the end result of the purpose driven church model. These cult of personality pastors have compromised so much over the years to draw the crowds they get. This story and the previous one about Brian Houston brilliantly display the real ulterior motives of Charisma News, which is always interested in protecting the brand at all costs. Ed Young and Brian Houston should be low hanging fruit to discern. As I have said, mark and avoid Charisma News beloved.
Reverend Anthony Wade - September 7, 2024
