Firstly thanks heaps for sharing your opinion.
And for sharing yours sister.
I would definatly agree with you on this one Speaking in tounges is not the be all and end. Many people are baptized with the Holy Spirit but never speak in tounges.
Hillsong and Most other Pentecostal churches DO NOT belive that you HAVE to speak in tounges nor do they belive it's central to your slavation or that you are weird/strange if you don't.
I can accept what you've said there and from further reading I would say that Hillsong does not believe that speaking in tongues comes from water baptism or is a necessary requirement. I would also like to believe most pentecostal believe this. But I still feel even if it is a minority that believe other wise, it's still a fairly large minority. This is a very big pentecostal church I'm talking about in Brisbane. And there are others like it. Citipointe church anyone? I don't feel I need to hide their name anymore. I'm actually setting up meetings with their pastor from my aid organisation. It would be very interesting to see how that goes indeed.
Again something else i would have to agree with, Church is not about getting on a high the church is for two main reasons, For people of the same faith to come together and fellowship.
And the MOST IMPORTANT reason is for them to help and reach out to all in their community and the world.
I think this is a mjor misconception about Pentecostal churches. To me it sounds like you've experianced a very scary Pentecostal church one of those ones i would say boarders on being a cult.
Not to disagree with what you've said but to clarify what worship means in the NT. The word "worship" is never used in the NT to talk about a gathering of Christians like we do on a Sunday.
The words used in the NT translated as "worship"
SEBOMAI - used 7 times - indicates "wrong worship" obviously never used to describe Christian worship
PROSKUNEIN - used 59 times - "to bow down" to fall down before God in his presence.
LEITOURGEIN - used 15 times - "to serve God" to serve God in a leadership capacity - as priests etc
LATREUEIN - used 26 times - "to serve God " in general service that we should all offer God.
Again none of these words are used to describe a meeting of Christians to sing praises to God. If a Christian is worshipping just on a Sunday - then there worship is totally incorrect. As you said Sunday "worship" is for fellowship and to hear the word of God preached - to learn more about the word of God.
Worship is alot more free and it can appear that becuase people are jumping around and enjoying themselevs then they some how are getting on a high and thats the only reason they come to church.
This is not the point of worship at all the point is to worship God to come before him and praise him for all that He has done in your life and to give Him glory for all that He is.
If thats what was taught at the pentecostal church you attended i would have to agree that this is very wrong.
To be honest - I wasn't actually taught anything. I attended their bible study, but most of this again was singing and trying to speak in tongues. There was very little content and the only study I remember of it, it too was about justifying the gift of tongues. That leader of that group has since fallen away from the faith. Very sad to be honest. I'm sure though they taught other stuff - but I didn't attend very often, started attending my current Salvation Army studies.
I haven't seen Hillsong or any of the main stream Pentecostal movements Preach this at all. To them Worship is totally for Glorifying God.
See my comments on worship above - this is a genuine question - out of concern - how many pentecostals would know that is what worship means? Double takes. How many Christians would know that's what worship means? *shudders* I guess this is a general complaint of the church then.
This is is an other HUGE misconception of the pentecostal church.
You don't give to get back "Worldly Treasures".
Malachi 3:8-12 NIV
......"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
You give first and foremost because everything you have comes from God. God is simply asking to give back what is rightfully His. Then if you do this God will look after you, That DOESN'T mean you will get a big fat check in the mail or a whole stack of money in your bank account.
It means you will never hungry, you won't left out in the cold, If you first trust Him then He will provide for you.
It never ceases to amaze how mis-understood this simply practise is.
Its not about giving to get and it's not essentail to your salvation. Its about giving back to your God the creator of the universe who without you would not be here.
Nothing wrong with giving back to the church - what you said there is completely scriptural. However consider the amount of money a pastor at hillsong gets paid and compare that with a Salvation Army officer? I don't think Salvation Army officers get enough money to buy a house let alone to have a mansion and a few nice cars? It's the hypocrisy and where the giving goes as well as the misconception that is drawn from it. Whether they say it or not is irrelevant - don't pew sitters at Hillsong expect God to reward them for giving back to God? In the Army there's no need to preach it too often - we have self-denial campaigns each year and of course the soldiers go do Red Shield every year where we give our salaries and stuff to the work of the Army - giving back to God. It is expected to give - it is a blessing and a sign of faith that you can give. I doubt whether it's communicated or not, the pew sitter truly understands the idea behind giving. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and say Hillsong preaches correctly on tithing - that is still disproportionate to where the money goes though in my opinion.
Well again an other misconception, Having good equipment, lights, stage, instruments is NOT about showing off or being flashy.
Its about bring the first fruits to God. Its about in everything you do, Do it with excellence and not just give God the crumy left overs.
Having said that Only churches who can afford to have these things should have them. I don't belive in a church going into debit just so they can "keep up with the jones" so to speak.
I think it's disgusting and totally wrong that many churches do things half arsed becuase they belive God has called them to be poor.
I would again have to agree that we are blessed to be a blessing and if you went to a pentecostal church that wasn't interested in helping the homeless, the sick or the poor. Then that church was totally missing the point.
I agree completely, but I also disagree completely. The Christian gospel is a message for the poor and the oppressed, for the marginalized. There is no ifs, buts, it's the truth. Yes God calls us to give him the best. Depends now then on what you define the best now doesn't it? Does God really care about songs? Does God really give about a big church, with a damn good sound system, with smoke and his people have big houses and flashy cars. Does God really care about all those things - or are they simply idolatry and things of the world?
Where in the Bible does God want Earthly offerings and riches? Or does he demand our submission and offering of our hearts and lives? What happened when Solomon built his palace 4 times the size of the Lord's temple? He turned astray. Why is there so many places in the OT where "fat" was offered to God? Excess riches, things of the world there are beyond what is needed is given to God. No one, no church keeps any excess. God provides! People have already built massive temples laid with gold and silver before - yet he let people destroy them. How much more then does he despise pathetic church buildings and stages shows that are not only not as grand as the ones before, but are also glorify him less?
Amos 5:21-27 GNB The LORD says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! (22) When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. (23) Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. (24) Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry. (25) "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert. (26) But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those images (27) when I take you into exile in a land beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is Almighty God.
Where is justice and righteousness? How can there be justice and righteousness in owning a mansion and having massive amounts of money and business when half the world is starving to death? Some of these people in our own backyards. I'm sorry using the argument of saying that God demands the "best" from us in justifying large stageshows is completely wrong. The strongest Christian church has been suppressed, persecuted, killed, thousands, tens of thousands each day. It has no buildings, for sure, some of them don't even have bibles. That church is in China - everywhere else the Christian church is declining. This is not just an accusation God will throw at Hillsong. it's the same one God will throw at the Salvos, let alone any other church in Australia. If we want the best for God, perhaps we should be considering very carefully how much of a surrender we are offering and how far we are going to carry our crosses.
I think your problems with the pentecostal movement spring from the fact that you obviously attended a very off and strange pentecostal church. They however are not a true representation of the pentecostal movement.
I think my problems with the pentecostal movement is there are focused on themselves and what God can do for them, and for all their use of tongues and prophecy, can't seem to discern when they are been led astray!
thumbsup: to that): 
):
