B. Houston on the "naked cowboy" Event: "I'm Clueless About It-But It's No Big Deal Anyway"
/In an amazing example of not taking responsibility, Mega-Pastor NARpostle Brian Houston finally made a very brief blog post about what happened at his church. The basic summary could be this: "I have no idea how my staff (under my Apostolic authority) did such an inappropriate thing, but it doesn't matter anyway. And don't be so judgmental."
Here's what he said, in entirety (posted on the Hillsong blog June 1, 2016):
"So how did someone come on stage imitating Times Square’s famous Naked Cowboy, (during a fun moment involving lots of other people), at the Colour Conference in NYC? It’s a good question, I’ve been trying to work that out myself.
I do know that Bobbie – my wife – who was convener of the conference was clearly unaware that this was going to happen and was taken back by it. She was at the dress rehearsal and there was no sign of a naked cowboy lookalike there. Carl and Laura Lentz were also not part of the decision. I can only guess at this point, that some one thought it would be funny and sent him out there without thinking about the ramifications.
What I do know is that those who perpetuate the story, do so mainly with the help of a video, no context, and a good dose of what the bible describes as hearsay and rumour. He was wearing proper shorts, not underwear, and he had a flag draped over him.
What I also know is that talk of apostates etc., is nonsense. Some well-meaning person just made a silly decision. It is unlikely to happen again.
Brian"
Houston is (desperately) hoping that you don't know that his own Hillsong youth pastor was the guy who dressed up as the "naked cowboy" (actually, he didn't dress up-that's the whole problem). Brian Houston is the Head Apostle of the Hillsong Media Empire, and senior members of his staff were in charge of this event and were even on stage during the event... but none of them:
- Know how this happened
- Know who actually stripped down to their shorts (you know, the guy with his name tattooed across his chest: Diego Simila)
- Will take responsibility-including the Grand Master Apostle Himself, Brian Houston
Here's a screen shot from the Hillsong NYC website:
Even though Brian and Bobbie Houston are the senior pastors of this "church," they have no idea how this whole thing happened. After Brian Houston passes the buck, he then goes on to describe the real problem:
EVERYONE ELSE.
When you look at the videos and see Hillsong pastors/staff members cavorting with their fellow pastor, Diego Simila, a.k.a. "The Naked Cowboy/Youth Pastor" you are not to make any judgements! Just let them all have their fun and say nothing... because you can't possibly know what's really going on by watching the videos of what's going on... made by people who were right there watching what was going on. Got it? Obey NARpostle Brian Houston and move along-nothing to see here.
And then for the zinger at the end he writes: "What I also know is that talk of apostates etc., is nonsense. Some well-meaning person just made a silly decision. It is unlikely to happen again." This is the tactic of a cunning politician who knows how to divert attention away from serious problems that should be addressed.
Dear Brian Houston, "this talk of apostates" is not nonsense. It's true that this "naked cowboy" thing is actually a relatively minor issue when compared to all the false teaching, worldliness and scandalous cover-ups that are ongoing at Hillsong. This little incident is like a stupid college stunt (that was engineered by adults who should've known better). So let's move on; here's a lot of information about your heretical, apostate, messed up church: The Brian Houston & Hillsong Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Abuse, Obfuscation, & Money Generation
As soon as this Hillsong blog post went online, I made the following comment (nobody had made any other comments yet):
About 20 minutes after I made that comment, the comments were closed:
UPDATE! As of June 3rd, 2016, it appears that Diego Simila is being removed from the internet. It appears that someone is very busy covering up the fact that Diego Simila was portraying the "naked cowboy" character, and they want to pretend he's not actually a pastor at their church (for sure, Brian Houston has done this in his blog post). It's bad enough that Hillsong often causes their followers to blindly trust whatever false doctrine they'e being taught, but Hillsong goes so far as to manipulate the appearance of their organization on the internet! It's a not a real church-it's a giant corporate entity that uses marketing tricks, media manipulation and propaganda to create the illusion that "God is doing something great at Hillsong!"
For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Brian Houston (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.
If you're having a knee-jerk reaction and want to defend Brian Houston, check out: Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs.
Finally, here's an article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.