22 May 2014
Just a few days ago I posted the following article;
https://coercioncode.com/2014/05/16/new-christianity-for-we-are-neither-gay-nor-straight/
The article highlighted that a book “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships,” by Matthew Vines, who describes himself as a gay Christian, has been released by Convergent Books, an imprint of WaterBrook/Multnomah Publishing.
The argument is get with the times!
Vines, president of the Reformation Project, is a prominent gay rights activist. His group says its purpose is “to train Christians to support and affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.”
“Through building a deep grassroots movement, we strive to create an environment in which Christian leaders will have the freedom to take the next steps toward affirming and including LGBT people in all aspects of church life,” the group’s website states.
Using a blend of Christian and cultural terminology, the group’s tag line is “Advancing the Kingdom, Advancing Equality.”
The following comes from Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries;
Evangelicalism is set to pay a huge price for turning away from the proper Christian spirituality of Sola Scriptura (the bible is our sole source) and toward the subjective spirituality of personal mysticism. It’s only a matter of time before more and more people cave-in on homosexuality. Perhaps, we have one more example.
As you might imagine, Hillsong International Leadership College (HILC) is another one of the extensions of the highly influential Word Faith known as Hillsong Church in Australia, where pastor Brian Houston and pastrix Bobbie Houston are the “Senior Pastors.”
You can see below that the Houstons are also co-Presidents of HILC:
(source)
Under the subheading We believe in your God-given potential we’re told at the HILC website:
We invite you to prayerfully consider how investing one or more years here at Hillsong could prepare you for your God-given destiny. We passionately believe in the potential of all people, so we invite you to come to beautiful Australia to embark upon a life changing time of preparation.
We exist to champion the cause of the local church and see people reach their God-given potential, thus changing the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We look forward to having you join us for what will be an amazing journey. (source)
Editor: God-given potential could apply to anyone, what non sense!
This professed Christian perspective is significant as I inform you that the reference to homosexuality has now been removed from the HILC Student Handbook (SH). It’s also important to note that the SH makes it clear that:
Any behaviour that contravenes the Student Code of’ Conduct will result in disciplinary action (Ref: Student Behaviour and Course Progress Policy). Any behavior that compromises the welfare of other students will result in immediate termination of enrolment [sic].
So obviously, SH lays out what the student of HILC must adhere to in order to remain a student at the college. As we come to the Student Code of Conduct, on pg.13 of this HILC SH, it used to read (click to enlarge):
(source, and hard copy on file)
Now, this prior HILC Student Code of Conduct also informs us that:
One of the College’s most important goals is to facilitate the growth and development of Christian character in line with biblical principles. It is expected that College students live in such a manner that brings glory to Christ in their behavior and attitudes both in and outside of College settings. Therefore each student is expected to…
Nothing out of the ordinary, so far, in that these are the kinds of things we’d expect at a college whose goal “is to facilitate the growth and development of Christian character in line with biblical principles.” This would all be consistent with bringing “glory to Christ.”
Well, as of this writing, a check on pg. 13 of the HILC student handbook reveals that the word homosexuality has since been removed (click to enlarge): Clearly Brian is not only keeping up with the times, but is staying ahead of the game!
(source)
Curiously, in addition, the beginning section of the Student Code of Conduct has also now been expanded to include the following paragraph:
Since students are also being trained for Christian ministry, and are engaged in ministry as part of their course, it is expected that they will conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the moral, ethical and behavioural standards expected of Christian leaders and ministers, and the churches in which they are ministering and being trained. With these issues in mind, the College has developed a Student’ Code of Conduct, which reflects the leadership required by the Australian Christian Churches (Assemblies of God in Australia) and other similar denominations. (source)
With the omission of the word homosexuality from the Code itself, the closing section re. “behaviour that contravenes the Student Code of’ Conduct,” also contains this additional section:
Since it reflects the standards expected by churches of those in ministry, behaving and ministering consistently with the Student Code of Conduct is also a requirement for several assessments across the College’s courses, especially Practicum Passports.Breaching this Code will result in a student being assessed as Not Yet Competent for the relevant subjects / units. A student will subsequently need to provide verifiable evidence of meeting the requirements of the Code of Conduct for a reasonable period in order to achieve competence. (source)
Again, we would certainly expect this from a Christian college; only now, it would seem the practice of homosexuality isn’t included as something which would “result in a student being assessed as Not Yet Competent,” etc. The question becomes why HILC made this change.
You wouldn’t think that homosexual relations would be consistent with the admonition that HILC students “will conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the moral, ethical and behavioural standards expected of Christian leaders and ministers, and the churches” they are involved with.
In closing this, for now, it could be we find the reason for the change that’s been made is found in the article Hillsong: Pastor Brian Houston talks about the pink elephant in the room from just about a year ago by “a proud gay man,”1 and aggressive LGBT activist, Anthony Venn-Brown.
Lord willing, another time I’ll have more on Australian activist Venn-Brown, author of A Life of Unlearning, but for now I’ll just tell you his bio informs us that he’s a:
Former leader in the Assemblies of God and regular preacher in Australia’s mega churches. Anthony now lives as a proud gay man, committed to educating others about the issues of faith and sexuality. (source)
In 2011 the apostate Anthony Venn-Brown,2 who front as the Gay Ambassador, would launch something called Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBl). Returning now to Venn-Brown’s aforementioned article, he tells us:
Contrary to popular opinion, homosexuality is not a topic often mentioned from Hillsong pulpits; for or against. On Sunday 18 August 2013, Hillsong’s Senior Pastor, Brian Houston, preached a message that was broadcast to all Hillsong congregations around the world in over 100 services. What was significant about this sermon was that during the message he publicly began a conversation about the Hillsong churches need to come to grips with the ‘gay issue’. (source, bold his)
Venn Brown then goes on to tell us more about his personal agenda, which is the very same one that more and more LGBT activists in the United States also have in store for weak evangelical churches:
When working with churches, leaders and denominations I let them know about the 10 separate issues they will face in order to become not just a welcoming but also accepting and affirming church. This is not a once off meeting or workshop it is a journey that will take several years to complete. (source)
Sadly, because people won’t believe what Scripture says, this is all part of the coming same-sex storm within mainstream evangelicalism. And I find myself beginning to wonder if Brian Houston and Hillsong coming “to grips with” homosexuality means moving closer toward its acceptance…
Main source
HOMOSEXUALITY REMOVED FROM HILLSONG COLLEGE STUDENT HANDBOOK
Further reading
- THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIFFERENT
- JAY BAKKER CRITIQUES KEN SILVA AT RELIGION DISPATCHES
- JESUS ALREADY DEFINED MARRIAGE FOR HIS CREATION
Endnotes
- http://on.fb.me/RNQvEo, accessed 5/13/14. ↩
- By his own admission Venn-Brown has turned away from the historic orthodox Christian faith telling us that he once “was a leader in the Assemblies of God denomination (now Australian Christian Churches) and a high profile preacher in the largest Pentecostal churches of Australia and overseas,,, [H]e became a Christian at 18 believing that God would provide the answers he was looking for. In the church”…Venn-Brown offers more proof of his apostasy listing that he was formerly an:
- Ordained Assemblies of God minister; pioneered several churches
- Founded Youth Alive NSW and the Australian Evangelists Association
- Organised and led study tours to cutting edge churches in the USA
- Crossed denominational barriers and was the first Pentecostal appointed to the Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization Australian Board
- Founder and Director of Every Believer Evangelism involved in equipping individuals and churches in the areas of evangelism through training and crusades
- Evangelist, conference speaker and popular preacher in the mega churches of Australia as well as overseas
- Influenced paradigm shifts within the Assemblies of God that contributed to denominational growth: http://bit.ly/1srBbbw, accessed 5/13/14. ↩
Coercion Code - "Dark Times are upon us" 
If the church was acting like the church in the book of acts, gays would want nothing to do with it. You don’t read in scripture about gays fighting to get in the early church.
Went to the hillsong college site to confirm this story. And yes the word homosexuality is no longer in their handbook for their students. So either they have changed their views on it, or are trying to be politically correct,or want to show tolerance and acceptance.Which our God never told us to do in his Word. God is not tolerant and accepting of any sin. Forgiving yes, slow to anger yes, but never tolerant or accepting. He paid the highest price to deal with mankinds sin. So there is no way he is going to change his point of view on sin. Because if he did, there was no reason his Son had to die on the cross.These churches and Pastors will have to stand before God one day, and give an account of everything they have said and done, in his Name. Just like we all will. And they wont be able to deny any of it, because it’s all there on the comp for all to see and hear, including God himself. Guess so many christians are so full of pride, they will never believe they will be on the receiving end of that scripture “depart from me you , I never knew you. “And they will be the ones standing before him, boasting about all they have done in his name, because their facebooks, websites, twitters and churches are already full of such boasting.
Why make the change to the handbook? It’s one word! Yet it changes little….
Do they really think that by removing the reference to ‘homosexuality’ from their latest version of the document they will somehow make it less offensive? They are only fooling themselves! The whole counsel of God still shows clearly that the scripture speaks against the practice of this sin. Sin is sin. Adultery, Stealing, Homosexuality. They are ALL sin against God.
They are either trying to comply to civil law, or more to the point, they want to be in step with the current culture.
On the point. 15 years or more back, the churches started lowering their standards to build their congregation. Some of the things I have personally dealt with are wrong in any language. Which is why the language seems to be coming from politicians.