The Dream Center houses close to 500 people who are being rehabililated for the glory of God. Over 30,000 people a week receive food, and many other services are offered to meet the spiritual needs of the local community.

Hillsong Conferences are huge, and encompass more than the famed dynamic worship events. They include electives which encourage Australian churches to engage the community through similar works to those supplied by Dream Centre.

Having said that, Aussie Pentecostal and charismatic churches tend to be very Aussie in their outlook and approach. In fact Hillsong, Paradise (Youth-Planetshakers) and CCC have led the way in contemporary worship music for years. Their conferences are amongst the most influencial worldwide, and far from being imitations, have set trends, hence their international reputation.

Australia is highly respected worldwide for its dynamic, contemporary Christian flavour, which explains why some of our more successful Pentecostal movements of the last 25 years are flourishing overseas, ie CCC, COC, Hillsong, etc., and, whilst there is inspiration from leaders in other nations, the influence is returned.

Andrew E, my wife would find your suggestion that I’m busy making money and being flashy very funny!

From Burt Prelutsky writer L A

Columns

The Jewish Grinch who stole Christmas
Dec 8, 2005
by Burt Prelutsky ( bio | archive | contact )

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I never thought I’d live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. You think it hasn’t? Then why is it that people are being prevented from saying it in polite society for fear that it will offend?
Schools are being forced to replace “Christmas vacationâ€Â? with “winter breakâ€Â? in their printed schedules. At Macy’s, the word is verboten even though they’ve made untold millions of dollars from their sympathetic portrayal in the Christmas classic, “Miracle on 34th Street.â€Â? Carols, even instrumental versions, are banned in certain places. A major postal delivery service has not only made their drivers doff their Santa caps, but ordered them not to decorate their trucks with Christmas wreaths.

How is it, one well might ask, that in a Christian nation this is happening? And in case you find that designation objectionable, would you deny that India is a Hindu country, that Pakistan is Muslim, that Poland is Catholic? That doesn’t mean those nations are theocracies. But when the overwhelming majority of a country’s population is of one religion, and roughly 90% of Americans happen to be one sort of Christian or another, only a damn fool would deny the obvious.

Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn’t, that people who came here from other places made every attempt to fit in. Assimilation wasn’t a threat to anyone; it was what the Statue of Liberty represented. E pluribus unum, one out of many, was our motto. The world’s melting pot was our nickname. It didn’t mean that any group of people had to check their customs, culture or cuisine, at the door. It did mean that they, and especially their children, learned English, and that they learned to live and let live.

That has changed, you may have noticed. And I blame my fellow Jews. When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian, agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists, and the ACLU, at the forefront.

Being Jewish, I should report, Christmas was never celebrated by my family. But what was there not to like about the holiday? To begin with, it provided a welcome two week break from school. The decorated trees were nice, the lights were beautiful, “It’s a Wonderful Lifeâ€Â? was a great movie, and some of the best Christmas songs were even written by Jews.

But the dirty little secret in America is that anti-Semitism is no longer a problem in society; it’s been replaced by a rampant anti-Christianity. For example, the hatred spewed towards George W. Bush has far less to do with his policies than it does with his religion. The Jews voice no concern when a Bill Clinton or a John Kerry makes a big production out of showing up at black Baptist churches or posing with Rev. Jesse Jackson because they understand that’s just politics. They only object to politicians attending church for religious reasons.

My fellow Jews, who often have the survival of Israel heading the list of their concerns when it comes to electing a president, only gave 26% of their vote to Bush, even though he is clearly the most pro-Israel president we’ve ever had in the Oval Office.

It is the ACLU, which is overwhelmingly Jewish in terms of membership and funding, that is leading the attack against Christianity in America. It is they who have conned far too many people into believing that the phrase “separation of church and stateâ€Â? actually exists somewhere in the Constitution.

You may have noticed, though, that the ACLU is highly selective when it comes to religious intolerance. The same group of self-righteous shysters who, at the drop of a “Merry Christmasâ€Â? will slap you with an injunction, will fight for the right of an American Indian to ingest peyote and a devout Islamic woman to be veiled on her driver’s license.

I happen to despise bullies and bigots. I hate them when they represent the majority, but no less when, like Jews in America, they represent an infinitesimal minority.

I am getting the idea that too many Jews won’t be happy until they pull off their own version of the Spanish Inquisition, forcing Christians to either deny their faith and convert to agnosticism or suffer the consequences.

I should point out that many of these people abhor Judaism every bit as much as they do Christianity. They’re the ones who behave as if atheism were a calling. They’re the nutcakes who go berserk if anyone even says, “In God we trustâ€Â? or mentions that the Declaration of Independence refers to a Creator with a capital “C.â€Â? By this time, I’m only surprised that they haven’t begun a campaign to do away with Sunday as a day of rest. After all, it’s only for religious reasons – Christian reasons – that Sunday, and not Tuesday or Wednesday, is so designated.

This is a Christian nation, my friends. And all of us are fortunate it is one, and that so many Americans have seen fit to live up to the highest precepts of their religion. Speaking as a member of a minority group – and one of the smaller ones at that – I say it behooves those of us who don’t accept Jesus Christ as our savior to show some gratitude to those who do, and to start respecting the values and traditions of the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens, just as we keep insisting that they respect ours.

Merry Christmas.

Burt Prelutsky has been a humor columnist for the L.A. Times and a movie critic for Los Angeles magazine. He is the author of Conservatives are from Mars (Liberals are from San Francisco).

The gentleman’s name is Brian Houston, investigated by the tax dept!

Have you actually researched the social and community work done by (fundamentalist)Pentecostal churches in Australia? I think you’ll find that most have strong community service wings which give food, clothing and shelter to people, and are actively involved in the community in practical ways … Perhaps if Marion Maddox was actually based in Australia she’d have more credibility, and I think better research of her subject would help too!

You haven’t made the case that Maddox’s research was poor. While the links are not precise, it is true that Australian charismatic churches follow those of the US. Brian what’s-his-name from Hillsong says he goes to the US regularly and unashamedly copies what he sees there. I doubt whether his fellow-travellers differ greatly. It follows that US research into these issues has, or will have, significant parallels here.

It doesn’t have to be nice, it just has to be true.

And can someone tell me what is wrong with aspirational Christianity?

And can someone tell me FaceLift why you didn’t address the issues raised by Deborah, resorting instead to indignation and shrill generalities?

If you’re too busy making money and being flashy, chances are you’re not listening to the quiet clear voice that only comes through once you realise there’s more to life. The poor person who shares what little he/she has is far more godly than the richer person who ostentatiously tosses out a bit of spare change. Your voice doesn’t matter if you have nothing to say.

Have you actually researched the social and community work done by (fundamentalist)Pentecostal churches in Australia? I think you’ll find that most have strong community service wings which give food, clothing and shelter to people, and are actively involved in the community in practical ways.

And can someone tell me what is wrong with aspirational Christianity? Isn’t it every citizen’s right to prosper where possible, through hard work and contribution to the community, provided it’s not at the expense of others? Do you really think that godliness is synonimous with poverty? Or is it OK for a person with beliefs to do well and be a Christian at the same time? Very hard for Christians to help the poor by being in poverty themselves!

One complaint here is the depth of Christian commitment to political influence, which is surely a quest for social justice at an effective, lobbyist level. That’s the Church working fairly in a democratic environment to raise issues and pursue solutions, using the same devices at their disposal as all citizens and groups. What do you really want? A silent, inactive, inert Church? Or people with a social conscience, intelligence, a voice and a vote?

Perhaps if Marion Maddox was actually based in Australia she’d have more credibility, and I think better research of her subject would help too!

Religiously-committed politicians have always been in all parties. Liberals long assumed a quiet, establishment Anglicanism, or perhaps diligent, small-business-oriented Presbyterianism. The difference now is the kind of religion being embraced.

The trend has concrete policy implications. An example is the government’s preferential funding of low-fee, outer-suburban Christian schools. The Australian Associations of Christian Schools, an umbrella organisation covering over 250 such schools with 75 000 students, requires its 5 000 teachers to subscribe to the fundamentalist belief that the Bible is the ‘infallible and inerrant revelation to man, and the supreme standard by which all things are to be judged’.

Since biblical inerrancy is usually shorthand for creationism (rather than evolution) and ‘male headship’ (not gender equality), voters might wonder how much their government endorses. Both Hillsong and Christian City Church (the latter with on-site business school) promote a blessed-are-the-rich ‘prosperity gospel’ in which flashy cars and property empires become signs of God’s blessing. They emphasise personal holiness rather than social justice, and individual acts of charity over state welfare. Such theology is a neat fit for a government that stresses market capitalism and privatised economics over social welfare and collective responsibility for one another.

No wonder, then, that Howard, Costello and their colleagues have worked hard to either tame or sideline more traditional churches, which stress mutuality (rather than new-fangled ‘mutual obligation’) and equality (even if that means giving extra help to the disadvantaged). Such churches are told to stick to ‘spiritual’ concerns. Meanwhile, Howard and Costello welcome new fundamentalist and Pentecostalist colleagues, such as Louise Markus in Greenway and Michael Ferguson in Bass, and promote religion in modern Australian politics; it just happens to be a kind that works for a socially-conservative, business-oriented government.

http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetailmagazine.asp?ArticleID=438&CategoryID=43

Chloe Martin has made a series of clear, straightforward info sheets on the religio-political backgrounds of various Australian politicians. Gleaned entirely from the public record- that is, not at all defamatory- they are all available here, if you’re interested:
http://www.bewareofthegod.com/?cat=10