What happens when God's Grace is withdrawn?

When growing up, we were privileged to come from a Christian household, this meant being exposed to Christian virtues earlier in life. This really determined the persons whom we have grown to become.

One thing I remember from our childhood is listening to and watching Ron Kenol's music every Sunday because our parents really loved his praise and worship music. There were also bits of Don Moen, Lenny Leblanc & Kirk Franklin courtesy of the vibrant teen Bible Club sessions at our local Church.

And so one thing I will forever remain grateful to our parents for is the fact that even though we were not rich, they ensured we got all we needed and exposed us to a life they believed was best for us - of course before we grew up and had to now make life decisions by ourselves.

For this, I will forever be grateful and thankful.

And as I grew out of my parents' wings - I got exposed to another layer of gospel music
-This layer of music was the likes of, Hillsongs, Motown worship, Gateway Worship, Elevation Worship, Livre', and of course Maverick City Music. 

Take note of Hillsongs, our talk on Grace is centered on them.

The Hillsongs.

I want to believe anyone who has taken a keen interest in gospel music for the last 10 years or more must have hymned to Hillsongs' powerful worship songs. Their music is exactly what you need when having those long drives all alone as you unwind. Their music is what you need when you want to have a ME session.

Who is Hillsong? They describe themselves as the contemporary Christian church on a mission to see God’s kingdom established across the earth.

The Church was founded by Brian and Bobbie Houston in 1983 in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Now Hillsong has churches in city centers in 30 countries around the world. The church has an average global attendance of 150,000 weekly.

Our focus will be the Hillsongs New York branch.

Pre-covid, Hillsongs New York took the world by storm. Thanks to their charismatic Pastor Carl Lentz a graduate of the world-famous Hillsongs International Leadership College in Sydney Australia.

This Church, had the best music concerts, beautiful interiors and all the musical instruments you can imagine. It was the typical modern 'freestyle church' It became home to a world of celebrities such as Justin Bieber.

The church began experiencing thousands and thousands of members. It is recorded as a church that had a weekly congregation of up to 10,000 members. The Lead Pastor, Carl became known as the celebrity Pastor hanging out with who is who in Hollywood, from Oprah Winfrey, NBA star, Kevin Durant, Selena Gomez to Jay Z  and to any global celebrity you would think of - this was the moment he grew bigger than what he had imagined of - the moment he walked out of Grace that had built the church and his brand.

The other day I had a chat with a good friend who was like, sometimes I believe when one grows bigger and bigger in the ministry of God, if they are not careful, they begin distancing themselves from God. Looking at Carl's story which has been documented all over, I tend to believe this.

When Carl grew to those high levels the distance between him and God grew and he fell down so heavily that it was documented everywhere. Carl began spotting tattoos all over his body, taking tequila shots in joints with Justin Bieber, and becoming more of Justin Bieber's Personal Pastor than his true calling.

Then accusations began being reported to Hillsongs HQ Australia, that Carl had been sleeping with young girls in church. However, no action was taken, but during the Covid pandemic, he got involved with a lady who went public after she knew who he was - he was fired.

After being fired, he fell down heavily, and with no income, he sought refuge at Justin Bieber's home before Justin Bieber decided to cut ties with him, obviously because the association was hurting his music brand.

Billionaire Producer, Tyler Perry came to his rescue and paid his rent for 6 months to help him find his footing. He hired a PR firm to clean his reputation to help him launch a faith-based reality show - the PR quit after more scandals about him emerged, scandals that he hadn't told them.

With the PR firm quitting, Carl's dream of launching his own faith-based reality show fell flat. This was the end of the celebrity Pastor Carl Lentz.

Hear this none of the so-called celebrity friends want to associate with him anymore.

This is precisely what happens when God’s Grace is pulled off you.