The Scandalous Downfall of Justin Bieber's Pastor & Hillsong Church | Carl Lentz Documentary

Carl Lentz was known as the rock star

pastor

of the

hillsong

global mega

church

, he was cool and hung out with celebrities and the Hollywood elite, he even became Justin Bieber's best friend and made the young pop star live with him .

carl

lentz

built a congregation of 10,000 a week that attracted celebrities like kevin durant chris pratt selena gomez kendall and kylie jenner and more every sunday there was a line that went around the block as if people were waiting for access to a nightclub Carl Lentz was one of America's most prominent

pastor

s until he wasn't when he told you he was married for 17 years and had three children.

Did you think I can't be with him? I can't date him or did you think I was okay with that? Like it's all good, I've been married before, but this story goes far beyond a simple lover and has enough scandal and drama to rival a fair gemstone. This is a story about literally hitting pastors' wives and it's a story about tithing money loaded into the debit. cards and spent on lavish lifestyles is a story about how a global religious institution and a famous pastor deceived everyone they claimed to serve this is the story of a mega

church

's fall from grace and how an ordinary guy with the right connections used

justin

bieber

and his congregation to get to the top this video is sponsored by adamandeve visit adamandeve.com and use code josie to get 50 off one item and free shipping in the US and Canada .

Some exclusions apply. It's so real and I'm so consumed that I am so incredible that if you give everything you have and take everything from me you will never be thirsty and you will never be hungry and you will never need anything else in your life but you can't have half of this that you need to have. all of this

carl

lentz

was raised in virginia by baptist parents the family was very involved with their church and carl was the youngest child and the only child carl's father worked as a television executive and lawyer and carl has always said that he had a good education Later in high school while studying criminal justice at North Carolina State University and playing on its basketball team, Carl said he partied too much and was out of the way and was his own god, but professed to have had no never a bottom moment, Carl said earlier.

When he left for college, his parents warned him that he would see many broken people who were not saved at his secular school, something he claimed to have witnessed. Carl left NCSU his sophomore year moved to Los Angeles and attended King's College and Seminary while working as a bouncer at gucci at rodeo drive carl then transferred to

hillsong

church hillsong international leadership college in sydney australia here It's where Carl would make one of the most valuable connections of his life when he befriended a classmate named Joel Houston Joel is the son of the now infamous Hillsong founder and global pastor, aka CEO, Brian Houston, but we'll talk about That later, Joe and Carl were inseparable, and while in Australia, Carl not only met his wife Laura, but through his close friendship with Joel Houston, Carl was able to see behind the scenes of what he was quickly becoming.

What we now call a mega church Hillsong is a Pentecostal church that was started in the 1980s by Brian and Bobby Houston in Sydney, Australia. In the early days, Hillsong met in a public school hall with only 150 attendees, but By 2000, Hillsong had several churches. around the world and still had more to do here is brian in 1990 leading a praise and worship service somehow people were attracted to this and in february 2022 hillsong reported 150,000 attendees worldwide in over 30 locations , this is not just a church, mega churches are an industry and hillsong is worth hundreds of millions of dollars tax-free in 2014, hillsong reported that it only made a hundred million dollars brian and bobby houston were christian royalty who knew how Marketing the Spiritual and Carl learned from the CEO himself When Carl began working for Brian while attending Hillsong University, Carl helped Brian with anything he needed, this included taking him to meetings and church after graduating from Hillsong Sydney.

Carl and Laura married in 2003 and settled in Carl's home state of Virginia. Three sons and Carl were ordained and worked as a youth pastor at Wave Church in Virginia Beach, where he preached to teenagers about purity, waiting until marriage, and keeping their faith strong. It has been reported that Carl was very involved in the love lives of the teenagers he wanted to know. who they were dating and when one day a call came from joel houston with an offer that carl couldn't pass up, joel's father brian wanted to launch a hillsong church in new york city and joel asked his best friend from college if he wanted to co- the pastor with him Joel would lead the worship team and Carl would do what he did best recruiting and preaching Carl said goodbye to his youth group and his wave church in 2010 Carl and Laura Lentz officially became senior pastors in the place where carl would have his greatest success most

scandalous

rise and fall east coast of hillsong also known as hillsong nyc through hillsong carl began to make other important connections one in particular known as judah smith judah is the pastor of a mega church called home church in seattle washington and los angeles california judah is well known in the christian world and has over 700,000 followers on instagram. the god squad all have some things in common they all evangelize the prosperity gospel only wear luxury designer clothing like gucci prada east st laurent and more, most of which cost thousands of dollars for God's squad uses private jets and their churches have VIP sections where the front rows are reserved for celebrities only within their churches.

They have cordoned off backstage areas leading to their green rooms where they relax between sermons and watch their favorite sports players in giants. The TVs have tables of delicious food and celebrity stylists waiting to make them look good. Only the inner circle of God's squad is allowed in these private backstage rooms. Members of God's squad have personal drivers, shopping assistants, house cleaners, babysitters, and dog walkers. Oh, and most of this. The work is done by volunteers from God Squad congregations In 1999, while working as a pastor in Seattle Judah got lucky and made one of the most important connections of his life when a woman named Patty drove 90 miles from her hometown of Toronto to attend a Christian meeting. conference where judo was preached patti liked what she heard and left the conference with some tapes of judah 11 years later and still a fan patty approached judah and said: i don't know if you've heard of my son, but he He needs some good influences in his life.

Would you come to one of his concerts and meet him? paddy's son was 16

justin

bieber

never is oh, whether one is a fan of justin bieber or not, it's hard to ignore his super stardom justin is one of the best selling music artists of all time, having sold 150 million of records worldwide and earning eight Guinness World Records, including the title of first solo artist to have three number one albums in the US and UK before the age of 18. the person who held that title before justin won it in the 1970s and was a young donny osmond in 2010 justin became the youngest person to win an american music award he was 16 years old but the american music award is for justin bieber um I want to thank everyone my mom for giving up so much for me my family my dad um but you know I really had this opportunity uh really about a year and a half ago and I was actually hugged by a man named Usher Raymond um and no I know, but I feel like he's had an incredible career and it would be only right if I invited him here to share it with me.

Success came to Justin quickly and just two years later, when he turned 18, Justin was fully licensed to a bank account worth one hundred million. dollars waiting for him and then justin started making headlines for other reasons just a year later and a week after being accused of driving under the influence in miami pop star justin bieber is charged with assault this morning in canada he turned himself in to toronto police on wednesday night bieber is accused of hitting a limo driver in the head last month his lawyer says he is not guilty in both cases more than a hundred thousand people have signed a petition on the website the white house asking that bieber be deported to Canada by his own hand 2014 was a difficult year for Justin.

His neighbor sued him for laying eggs in his mansion and causing twenty thousand dollars worth of damage and then she had to pay his neighbor eighty thousand dollars. Justin was then arrested for driving under the influence and charged with resisting arrest. That smiling mug shot. in stark contrast to a nervous looking bieber biting his lip during his bail hearing the first case this afternoon is justin bieber according to people magazine bieber was seen crying after appearing before the judge after the hearing a source tells the people justin was crying eyes open when he returned to the detention center bail was set at $2,500 the standard for the three charges bieber faces this is the same year that justin would get close to carl lentz and become a regular member of hillsong nyc justin was introduced to his east coast pastor through his west coast pastor judah and both pastors have nicknames for his friend justin carl calls him buckaroo and judah calls him jb justin was now having scandal after scandal and There was a media frenzy justin bieber was born at 18 An elderly single mother in Canada named Patty Patty and Justin were close and Patty nurtured Justin's musical talents, but Justin would later admit that his relationship with his mother deteriorated significantly around 2014 when he harassed his neighbors and got arrested, but while one relationship deteriorated, another was blossoming.

Pastor Carl swooped in and offered to be a shoulder for Justin to lean on and Justin accepted that offer. Justin ended up moving into Carl and Laura's house for about six weeks, where he hung out with the family, played video games, and played basketball with Carl. He attended Hillsong New York and tried to blend in with the paparazzi, but not too much, as they were photographed during that time at a Knicks game along with Usher. Carl claimed that while Justin stayed at his house, the tabloids made up stories about Justin, things that Carl said he knew Justin was.

He didn't do it because he was staying with his family. However, Carl was not going unnoticed as he did an interview with the New York Post that same year and told them that he was now Justin's spiritual advisor. Carl also told GQ that this guy is 21 years old and he's in a terribly toxic world, he's trying to do everything he can to figure this out, he's never been anyone other than who he professed to be, which is a work in progress, fin From the quote, it had been four years since Carl became senior pastor of hillsong nyc and things had changed.

Carl now sported 10 tattoos, a slicked back mohawk, and attracted over 5,000 attendees to hillsong nyc each week, including celebrities. like chris pratt, selena gomez, kylie, kendall jenner and vanessa hudgins. Carl baptized NBA star Kevin Durant and dated Jay-Z and NFL player Russell Wilson. Carl was also beginning to make public appearances in mainstream media, being one of the first on the Katie Couric show. In 2014 during an interview with the New York Post that same year, Carl was asked if Justin's friends are a bad influence on the Canadian star. Carl scrunched up his face and responded, "I think the relationships in your life come and go, and I think what defines you is how you measure who needs to stay and who needs to go." End of date Later that year, Carl received a phone call at midnight. from his buckaroo justin justin wanted to be baptized and made over carl told him it was no problem and that they would make an appointment soon but justin said no he couldn't wait he needed to become that new person right away knowing the hotel where carl usually stayed If baptisms were taking place, they wouldn't have the pool open at that time and wanted a bathtub big enough, Carl called former New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who was seven feet tall, and asked if they could use his bathtub for the baptism of Justin.

Tyson accepted and at 2 am. One night in 2014, Justin Bieber was baptized. Justin's 2 a.m. baptism became a marketing highlight for Carl, who not only talked about it in nearly all of his interviews from 2015 to 2019, but was also signed to United Talent Agency around the time he baptized Justin. Justin United Talent Agency. is based in Los Angeles and claims they help peoplemost inspiring people in the world to make the world a more inspiring place. In Carl's agency booking profile, he makes sure to mention the celebrities he has named, as well as the prices of their bookings. Carl is willing to speak at another church or event for a price of $25 to $40,000 per event thanks to his closeness to the young superstar the media couldn't get enough of the celebrity pastor Carl was interviewed on view good Morning America and Oprah Super Soul Sunday where he talked a little more about Justin and promoted his new book, seize the moment, so wait, you like being called the rock star preacher?

No, no, so I just defended you. Sorry, I'm not offended at all. I mean, it's just an honor. Someone cares about what we're doing, so you can call me whatever you want. Well, you actually have a disclaimer at the top of your book that addresses the church celebrity factor. Why did you need to address that? I think the word celebrity. it means one that is celebrated so when people say if you have celebrities and we always say well we think everyone deserves to be celebrated but in the context of New York City yes there are some people who are well known but I think that 99.9 of our church is made up of really faithful and incredible people who may not be well known, yes, how many people come to your church?

You said nineteen thousand in my brain, but I like that number? Okay, I don't know between eight. ten thousand, well, that's still pretty significant. Carl was also doing the rounds on YouTube, so our thing is when you start to define your life that's because you meet Jesus and you start to understand what the Bible is really about and sometimes we win because people have had so many bad experiences with the church. and religion that come into our church like, oh, this is the best thing ever and we. I'm sorry you feel that way because you're not, but it's like you got food poisoning in five restaurants and you'd be very hesitant to go to the sixth, but if you survived that sixth outing, you'd say that's the best restaurant in the world. the world is what we're dealing with so you're the cookie barrel of yes we're the applebee's like maybe we're the 7-eleven delhi wait why do you say that though what what why do I say what why why uh why lower the esteem of your church?

Well, it's not that it's going down, I guess I'm just trying to say it. I love our church. The thing is that sometimes we want to do spectacular things that are not. If you came to our church, you would say this is great, but it's not something spectacular because God uses ordinary people, but is this that you are incredibly humble? No no, I guess that's just me being real, I mean we work hard and we have something good that we produce when it comes to a service, but the real story of a church is the people that make it up from Monday to Saturday, those are Things that, like our church, get media coverage because there are famous people, yes. that's it, it's just because in some media circles they just can't believe that people who are famous also want to make sure their soul is intact, so we have like 99 of our church, they're not what you know, these people tremendously famous, but because we have some of them.

You're like this is a celebrity church, this is like this and it's like you know it's what it's whatever you want, you know, talk to get us in the room, we'll do it, is there any religion that you, you, you? I think you're completely stupid, you know, it gets me in trouble. uh, no, I think like Scientology, you're not like, hey, the minute someone a Christian says Scientology is crazy. I always say: do you know what you believe? Okay, you believe in a virgin birth. you believe a man walked on water you believe this guy cured lepers you believe he raised the dead so before you judge a scientologist make sure you check your own crazy beliefs so no because the same measure of judgment I use for them I have two pointing back at me, so I don't think anyone's religion is dumb.

I may not understand it, but I would like to know why you love, know dogs, and have crystals in your house. I want to know if you would be willing to say hello after being told. You, if they had a stupid answer, that worshiping your dogs and your crystals is stupid or if I knew them well enough that you knew them well enough that you let them do their thing most of the time. ready to learn okay but there are times when i will say hey man you're crazy this doesn't make sense logically as long as you know that it was during this time that carl and laura moved into a million dollar house in carl from new jersey was experiencing more success than ever and he seemed to love it, it seemed like hillsong loved it too, as shown in this rare interview from the 2017 hillsong conference.

Hey guys, welcome back, we're here at the conference from hillsong 2017. having a great time and I have some good friends of mine that have stopped by the couch we have chad justin and carl I love you hello thank you guys so much how are you guys enjoying the conference? carl uh, you're wearing a whole song called jacket you see these boots those are very it wasn't your turn these are off-white it wasn't your turn these are off-white so these aren't plaid it's good to see you scream virgil scream you scream outside virgil virgil you watch tv she's talking we saw your talk together it was very good talk very good so guys very quickly you have been everywhere carl how are you?

How are you enjoying trust? You know what we had the best day today, yeah, I just enjoy watching people worship praising God, I think it's always really wild and amazing to see kids so young with passion instead of praying, just really authentic, they absolutely know and So, closer topic, what does that mean to you? live a life that's closer to god than ever absolutely justin samzies i want to get closer just like that wisp is justice i want to get better that's why we all love people more i just want to love carl moore you're doing a good job with that, man Justin, this is your second time at the Sun conference and what's different about being here this time.

I just think my faith grows every day. So my faith is stronger than it was two years ago. Better stronger, wiser, kinder, I think anything you can. invest and there is a return, yes, so there are a lot of people investing in different things, we all choose to go and invest in this and our return has been something supernatural that you can't necessarily quantify, but my goodness, it changes your soul, so anyone who be thinking. On that note, I would just say look at what you invest in now, yes, and what the return is if you don't like it.

I'd say maybe take a look at investing. It doesn't have to be like that per se, but something that builds. your soul for us turns out to be this and we have room for anyone we have to go but we're all going to yell at our moms okay, okay let's get started, I'll go first, I'm down here kathy lentz um I love you, I miss you, thank you for being my mom, I think you're the best, probably tied for top three and four on this couch, but Kathy, I love you, we love you, she's great, I love you, Kathy Patty, my mom I love you so much, miss.

Um, I hope you're having an amazing tour with Close Hands, unavailable and Justin visited a bar in New Zealand and was photographed taking shots of tequila where Justin then took off his shirt. This was just a week after Justin performed in Melbourne, Australia, and the press he received there. It wasn't good, it was said that Justin gave a mediocre performance, he didn't seem to enjoy the concert and it was also in Melbourne when he refused to take a photo with a fan and told her: "Look at you, you make me sick." On that same trip to Melbourne, Justin was photographed partying with models on a yacht.

It was reported that Justin had three rules for female guests on board: number one, sign a confidentiality agreement, number two, hand over her phone, and number three, be a model. Some were beginning to speculate that Carl and Justin were too close and that Carl was negatively influencing Justin or vice versa, whether Justin was going through a difficult time or not, this speculation came to light when just four months after Carl and Justin were seen together in a bar. Justin abruptly canceled the rest of his world tour to get closer to God through his spiritual advisor Pastor Carl Letts Any messages to the fans Uh I love you guys I think you're amazing I'm sorry to anyone who's disappointed or betrayed, it's not my heart or something like that and have a blessed day, big gap in justin bieber's world where the people he works with and also among his fans because he decided not to complete the tour that only had 14 left dates, it would be a great good faith measure to find some way to compensate the crew and the people who depend on him for the rest.

That would be something Jesus would actually do. Mine. He is very rich. He's been with Carl Lentz for the last month. He has a partner. A little more shows and why not take Carl with you on a trip or why not take a pastor and do all these things that he has done in the past and Facebook. One of the most well-known celebrity names linked to you in your church is Justin Bieber. and in fact, yes, his name is justin bieber, have you heard of him? He said that he just wanted to love you more after announcing that he was canceling his tour.

Many people have asked you how much you are guiding Justin and his decisions. he has something to do with it well, he wasn't really talking about me, he was talking about God, he just wants to love God more, I don't think he likes me sometimes, Justin, uh, I guess we don't have a hand. In decisions like that, Justin is a grown man and he made a decision based on the well-being of his soul, which I think is incredible, and my role in his life is just to give him help and guidance when he needs it, but he doesn't need it.

You don't need to know that someone made decisions for him, he made his own when Carl and Justin approached. Many speculated about his influence on the young pop star. This was also the same year that the first accusations were made against Pastor Carl, accusations that Carl had cheated on him. his wife laura with two different women this was reported to hillsong by a former hillsong nyc group leader before november 2020 the global religious institution that is hillsong had no human resources department or code of ethics in place and this hillsong group nyc The leader who spoke anonymously to the press said that women came to us and said that Carl was sleeping with people who were members of the church.

End of quote. This leader then reported Carl's affairs to other Hillsong pastors only to be fired and told that he was spreading gossip. The source said they were later kicked out of Hillsong NYC after showing up to every interview. Carl promoted that his church was open and accepting, but behind the scenes at Hillsong NYC a different story was unfolding: a man named Josh Canfield was forced to resign. as director of the hillsong nyc choir after he and his partner appeared on the reality show survivor as the broadway boys i'm josh and this is my boyfriend reed we're broadway commercial show performers we're musical theater that's what we do uh but We are survivor fans at heart.

They are an interesting couple. They are a gay couple. Christians are saved. They are worshiped by their church. Not all of these elements normally go together but they do go together and you like them for that. I come from a. pretty conservative family that, um, my dad is a pastor, um, I grew up traveling all over the country, all my brothers are currently pastors except one, but I had a different idea of ​​what I felt, what the Lord was telling me to do, The survivors played a very important role. In the relationship of these Broadway kids, to begin with, I wasn't a fan, he was because he had never seen Survivor, we were hanging out and I said one night, I said, Why don't you come over?

We'll watch Survivor and I like it. He looked right at me and said, "That show is still on," and I said, "Yes, the show is still on." I thought, "You have to come right away, let's look at this, so it's something that's been part of our relationship as our relationship has developed, I think both guys share the same problem, how can I convince these guys to to keep me around when they know I can beat them in the end? So many castaways have come back and said I really can't explain this experience to my spouse or my sister or whoever, and it's like it's something we might not be having. exactly the same experience, but it's a community experience that we can talk about, share and move on.

Yes, great stories for the grandchildren, that's exactly it josh started attending hillsong london in 2008 and then moved to new york, where he made carl's church his home church and became its lead vocalist in an interview with churchclarity.org josh said a quote around 2011 i told one of the lead music pastors that i was gay with tears in my eyes and I thought they wouldn't let me singagain, he was actually extremely compassionate and I was still allowed to lead as one of the lead vocalists. end quote josh claims that the restrictions hillsong placed on him didn't start until after cbs survivor aired, an article appeared about hillsong having a gay christian worship leader who the god squad leader , Brian Houston, wrote a response saying that wasn't true unless that man didn't tell Hillsong leadership that Josh was gay.

The response to this was a quote: Unfortunately, Brian Houston forgot to check with the New York branch leadership who knew I was gay and in a committed relationship, Brian made me out to be a liar when in reality I had no idea. of my situation, that's when they took me off the platform ministry and told me I could be an off-stage vocal coach for the team. No one ever explained why they were doing something. Things just happened before Josh left Hillsong, New York, he said the senior pastor told him about homosexuality. it's a sin josh has now found a church without bigoted views or leadership, one where he says the church and its leaders actively talk about their support of the lgbtq community and is lgbtq affirming josh said quote i'm grateful for a refuge Surely within a church that is clear about their position on important issues, end of quote, no one who allows their star to be diminished.

Carl continued his media tour, even selling his merchandise at church. How many single people do we have here tonight? Okay, how many married people in total? Well, wow, all the single people like to do this at our church. I'll post it real quick once a week. We give a pick up line at church, so if you're here and watching online, try this. Maybe you grab your Bible at some point and try to sit next to someone you've been talking to in church for a while. Church stalking is where you just show up next to that random person at every service like, oh here we are again, hey and this is my classic maybe next time I come I'll bring something new but it's not necessary when this it's so good you want to look at someone you like at church you want to say hey my bible is incomplete because i'm in the book of numbers and yours isn't there in the interviews carl came up with a motto that his church would reach Everyone from the anonymous to the famous, we'll get to everyone here, we say from the faceless to the famous, but as Carl called it, it was the faceless who were being exploited behind the scenes with something Hillsong referred to as their system. honorary. honor is hillsong's word for volunteering honor could consist of volunteers arriving at church at 5 a.m.

Before the pastors helped prepare Sunday services with voluntary cleanups that sometimes ended around midnight, that's because Carl didn't just preach one Sunday service. Hillsong nyc could hold up to six services on a given Sunday and there was always a line around the block where people stood. waiting to enter hillsong nyc for hours, volunteers also chauffeured pastors and leaders to church appointments, salon visits, cleaned their homes, brought them snacks, and even fulfilled their honorary duties by being designated drivers. On another occasion it was reported that house cleaners and dog walkers were in the glasses homes. You're not supposed to look at or talk to Carl or any of the church leaders while you're at his house.

Former Hillsong NYC members remember that Carl was a very exclusive pastor, who is difficult to reach unless you are a celebrity or influencer in the VIP seats you were in. You didn't go backstage, you didn't get a front space reserved for you, and you didn't have any private meetings with the pastor as a member of the stage management team at Hillsong New York, Janus Legata told Business Insider that Carl was spoiled, pampered and pampered and had to have his coffee hot at all times Janice said that people would be running errands all day back and forth to Starbucks to make sure Carl had his coffee fresh.

Hillsong pastors also received debit cards that were loaded directly with tithing money. to buy designer handbags four-wheeled ATVs new iPhones and fancy dinners, while Carl didn't often have time for the anonymous members of his church, he wrote on his Instagram in February 2020 how his marriage goal for that year was to look more Carl's quote he wrote may seem simplistic, but after 16 years on this journey together, you realize that it takes more intention than you think, so we're off to a good start, from practical 10-minute walks together on a routine day to special getaways, when possible, like this one. weekend appointment, but later that same month a well-known contagion began to spread throughout the United States, something that would affect the entire world.

In March 2020, the United States went into lockdown. Hillsong New York only turned to online services and although he was safe at home with his family Carl felt alone in quarantine Carl no longer had assistance at his beck and call, he had no driver, there was no hot Starbucks in his cold little hands and there was no stage from which to preach while an audience of thousands cheered just three months after writing that Instagram caption about reaching out. to Laura and to walk together every day, Carl would go out for a walk alone where he would introduce himself to another woman and it would be the beginning of the end, that's crazy.

I'm sorry, Carl was feeling lonely and while he was sitting in the domino park in Brooklyn without his wedding ring, Carl saw a woman he couldn't take his eyes off. She was tall and beautiful with wavy hair and tanned skin covered in tattoos. and was looking for a place to sit his name was ronin at that time domino park had painted circles on the grass for people to sit to maintain social distancing orders carl invited ranine to sit in his circle where they engaged in deep conversation carl He asked her if she was from the Middle East and then told her that's where the most beautiful women come from.

Carl learned Ranine. He worked in New York as a jewelry designer. When Ranine asked him what Carl did for his job, he refused to say that Ranin He pressed a little more and Carl said something like: I work for celebrities, I manage them. Renin asked him what exactly he did for celebrities. to which Carl responded that he traveled with these celebrities and helped them as a sports agent, but Carl said that he didn't want to say anything else. When Ranine asked Carl his last name, she didn't even tell him that instead of asking him a question, Please don't Google me.

Renin agreed not to look up Carl's identity, but once she was alone in her New York apartment, she Googled Carl and saw that he was a married pastor. Ronin would later ask Carl if he was married, to whom she admitted was René. He wanted to know if there was something wrong with Carl's marriage for him to be with her, but Carl supposedly said no, it's okay. It's you. I know when I see someone and you have everything I want in a woman. Renin and Carl met on Friday and saw each other. again the next day and kissed by Sunday Renin had no problem with Carl being married, as she would later claim in a Good Morning America interview that date, I thought everything was fine, she was married before, I didn't want to judge him because I like meeting people and feeling like they are a blank canvas.

You get to know them and you let them paint their own colors. You don't go and put stickers on people and think they're going to be that and then. they are this and i didn't want to do that to him because i didn't want to judge him end of quote ah, but a married man with three kids is not a blank canvas and for the next five months carl would be great he did everything he could to hide all communication with renin, including saving his number in the notes app on his phone so his wife Laura wouldn't notice, Carl would tell his family he was going for a walk or checking in with a friend or church member and then sneak off with a backpack, he would make a stop at a liquor store, buy a bottle of tequila, hide it in his backpack and secretly head to Ronin's apartment.

Their drunken affair continued for five months and Ranine later told the Daily Telegraph that the couple spent their relationship drinking top-quality tequila and that she believed Carl was trying to escape his boring life date, Ranine would later say in an interview with Discovery Plus that she believes in signs and that it wasn't a coincidence that the relationship between her and Carl happened, I feel like it's important. To tell you that, according to my research, Renin Karim changed her story several times or the journalists she told her story to had errors in their reporting of her. For the sake of this video, I decided to primarily follow the story of the interviews Ranine gave immediately afterwards. her and carl's breakup, which would be the exclusive interviews she gave to vanity fair good morning america and the new york post, to name a few.

Carl had a life that many could only dream of and whether he found it boring or not, he was not able to escape this for long because one fall day in October 2020 everything would change when Carl was not paying attention and He left his laptop that was connected to the cloud open by accident at the church, Carl's wife, Laura, and other coworkers were in the same room when they saw texts and photos appear on Carl's computer photos of ranin kareem photos that a married pastor should not have they began to investigate and discovered more messages photos and videos between Carl and Renin it was at this moment Carl's life would change forever the ABC News exclusive the woman supposedly behind the affair that brought down Hillsong Church famous pastor carl lintz speaking out loud amy is here with more good morning amy that's true michael good morning was a huge fall from grace carl lentz's global following included justin bieber and a long list of celebrities and professional athletes now without working and trying to repair his marriage, his ex-lover tells us his version of what happened.

Did he tell you he loved you? I work for celebrities and I told him what exactly do you do and he keeps saying, um, I manage celebrities and travel with them, he didn't want to say what he does, did you think that was a red flag? He won't give you the last name, yeah, it was because I don't know, it was very strange. Kareem says he looked online and found out more about him. I realized he's the pastor of Hillsong and I thought, oh, he was at this church like six years ago. to Hillsong only once, she says she confronted him, I told him I know who you are and I'm not here to judge you, but I have a question.

I thought something was wrong with your marriage and you're sitting here. With me she said no, it's like it's you Kareem says she tried to break up the relationship several times but Lentz kept coming back to her until the end of October, when he says his wife Laura found out about his alleged affair, did he call you to tell you? It's just that what he made was a phone call, yeah, he called me at midnight and said my wife was in the hallway, you can hear she was in a hole, it's like my wife found out and I have to go, I have to go and I was like I was devastated the next month.

Hillsong fired him citing various reasons, including citing moral failings. Lentz later admitted online that he had been unfaithful in my marriage without saying who he had been with. Hillsong has now begun an investigation into the church's culture, but Kareem says. Lentz's growing celebrity may have contributed to his behavior when you give someone so much power that he becomes a god to people and I think people forgot the concept of religion and beliefs and I think people look at Carl as if he had. I know you've said that you've already received hate and people who are upset with your decisions, even for having an affair with Carl in the beginning, knowing that he was married.

Is there anything you would like her to know? Anything you would like to tell him? If she heard me, I feel bad for her, you know, woman to woman, I don't think she deserved to be hurt the way she was and I never wanted to hurt her now. We try to approach Carl Lentz to reply that he didn't make any comments about Renin Karim, she says that she just wants to move on with her life and says that she hopes that Carl can find her true self. Church leaders immediately reported what they saw to Hillsong executives in Sydney, Australia and on Wednesday, November 5, Brian Houston made a public statement said quote today Hillsong East Coast Church informed our congregation that we have terminated employment from pastor carl lentz this action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interest of everyone, including pastor carl the Reason Brian gave was a quote from ongoing discussions regarding issues of leadership and breaches of trust, as well as a recent revelation of moral failings.

End of quote. Laura, who was not involved in the matter, was also fired as a co-pastor with her husband. Ah, Brian and Bobby, veryinteresting. They hung out while Brian told the world about Carl's moral failures, it seems she forgot to talk about hers. Brian and Bobby Houston are no strangers to controversy. In 2008, Bobby came under fire from the Christian community after she taught and sold a series of teachings titled Women of the Kingdom. loving and valuing their sexuality, where she encouraged women to get plastic surgery regardless of the cost as they get older and to do whatever they had to do to keep their Christian husband happy, encouraged Christian women to stay fit and then used an insult when he claimed that if she gains weight it feels like a date, Bobby then ranted saying: How are you going to do something to surprise your man when you need a hydraulic lift just to turn you over in bed?

She cites that Bobby would later apologize and change the title. but in 2008, Bobby wrote in the brilliantly titled e-book I'll Have What She's Got that women must submit to men and be magnificently available to Jesus' army. End of the date and Brian. There is a lot to say about Brian, but let's be brief. not to get into the dirty details when brian was young his dad frank had a church once brian was an adult and became a pastor he himself talks about religious and stuffy people sometimes god called us to be full of life and full of power and full of the holy spirit It turned out that, well, Brian's father, Frank, was a pervert who liked children and had done many horrible things over the years to minors in his church instead of reporting this to the Australian police and help the victims.

Brian covered up his father's crimes and tried to pay. one of the victims and Brian's father stepped down from the pulpit and then gave his congregation to his son, who merged it with what we know today as Hillsong, but the crimes of Brian and his father could not be hidden forever because only less than one year later. fire carl brian resigned from hellsong when the australian police charged him in august 2021 with one count of concealing a serious indictable offense by his father frank houston obviously i felt terribly sad for the victim because there is no doubt that my father father has done irreparable damage to his life what we didn't do was report him to the police I didn't see the police as an option we didn't cover it up we told the people immediately we had his credentials taken away he never preached again, what we didn't do was report it to the police and we haven't even covered the craziest part of the story, which includes Laura punching another woman in the face and more deranged information that was leaked to the press about carl and brian in march and april 2022 this is all covered in our last and final chapter but first let's get back to justin carl and tyler perry yes even mr medea himself plays a role in this story after carl's firing he packed a suitcase and stayed in the Justin's apartment for a while, Laura came to visit and the two were seen tense outside Justin's apartment, but Justin and Hayley Bieber would soon cut all ties with Carl and Laura Lentz, unfollowing them on Instagram and no longer attending Hillsong. .

Carl never contacted anyone. members of his congregation or co-workers after he was fired, he instead changed his phone number, packed up the family and moved to Los Angeles, California, where they signed a lease for sixteen thousand dollars a month, luxury property in manhattan beach, tyler perry, who was a fan of carl agreed to pay 96,000 to cover six months of rentFor Carl and his family, the beachside rental house is five thousand square feet with 5 bedrooms in the same month when the news of the matter became known. Carl sprang into action and hired the same PR firm used by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Megan, a firm.

Called Sunshine Sex Sunshine Sax Claims to Specialize in Corporate Image Programs Crisis Communication Reputation Management and More It was reported that Carl wanted to fix his public image and that he supposedly wanted to star in his own faith-based reality show in Los Angeles, but Hollywood didn't No She seemed interested in the

scandalous

pastor, and less than a month after Carl's firing, three more women claimed to have had affairs with Carl and came forward to share their stories anonymously with the press. An anonymous source reported that Carl's public relations firm was allegedly having a hard time improving their image because Carl continually lied to them about what he had done and less than two months after Carl's firing, Sunshine Sex confirmed to Vanity Fair that they and Carl had separated in March and April 2022, damning details emerged about Brian Houston. and carl lentz, let's start with carl after carl's affairs came to light, hillsong church hired a new york law firm to conduct an investigation into hillsong nyc.

This was supposed to remain private, but the report titled internal investigation report into Carl Lentz and other matters was leaked to the Christian Post. The report alleged that Carl and Laura in order to receive their severance package had to comply with investigators and be truthful in a statement to the Christian Post April 1 A spokesperson for Hillsong Church confirmed the authenticity of the report which was based on interviews with former and current staff members, as well as former and current volunteers, and Carl and Laura Lentz. Former church employees and volunteers had a lot to say, including Carl's driver, who said Carl would allegedly belittle him, intimidate him and complain about the driving or route he was taking.

Investigators noted that the driver said Carl he once yelled at him for breathing too hard while driving the driver said he was expected to be at carl's beck and call 24/7 and to never miss a call or text the driver said He sometimes had to sit outside a nightclub and wait for Carl for three to five hours and further claimed that he was removed from his position after he asked to pray for Carl during a car ride. Carl denies this and also denied that they took him to clubs. late at night, but he went on to say that sometimes he would take Bibles to his friend who was a DJ and distribute them.

Staff also complained that Carl demanded to be picked up at the airport by two people in two separate cars, one person to pick up Carl. and take him to where he needed to go and another to wait at the baggage claim area to pick up Carl's luggage and deliver it to his house when investigators asked him about this, Carl said yes, that happened and stated that this was a completely standard Hillsong quote when they interviewed him in December 2020 about his misconduct that allegedly involved special massages, three affairs, and exposing himself to his housekeeper. Investigators said Carl Quote appeared to be generally communicative and sincere about most.

The report went on to say that Laura said she had hunches and vibes from the massages. Carl was getting a bit of a strange date. Investigators' review of Carl's text messages showed that massage therapists cited Carl for the cost of massages and other inappropriate acts, but it was unclear from the text messages whether Carl received only massages from these women or something else. It's pretty obvious that this story won't have a happy ending, but Carl sure will. The report went on to say that Carl proudly told investigators that he is a very good liar and that he deliberately took steps to cover up his indiscretions, which included boldly lying to his wife Laura about him.

When she caught Carl and his children's babysitter on a couch one night, the report describes how one night in 2016, while at the home of former NBA player Tyson Chandler, Laura told investigators she didn't know her babysitter was there and walked in and found her and carl together, but the two didn't notice, laura said she stood looking at them in silence for two minutes, then she burst into the room, pushed carl out of the way, clenched her fists and then Pastor's wife hit the babysitter three times in the face. It was the fight of her life until Carl grabbed Laura and she turned around and did the five-point explosive heart palm technique on Carl and when he fell to the ground, okay, no, it wasn't a scene of Kill Bill, however, the report does indicate. that Laura hit her babysitter three times in her face until Carl grabbed her.

Investigators said her husband and her babysitter later tricked Laura into believing she had not witnessed what she saw with her own eyes. Investigators said Laura said she began to feel. she was crazy and thought to herself if i saw something i don't know end of quote justin and hayley bieber have nothing to do with carl or laura lentz these days and a source told vanity fair that justin felt used and like carl was hijacking his entire lifestyle and According to his Instagram and uploaded videos, it appears that Judah Smith is Justin's main spiritual advisor in 2018. Judah became the chaplain for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team.

Justin even brought Judah on stage with him to preach at some of his concerts. Joel Houston, Brian and Carl's son. The former best friend with whom he founded a church continues to make music for Hillsong and now lives in California, although Carl never seemed to get that reality show he wanted his ex to do, as Ranine posted on her Instagram in March 2022 that she was chosen for the mtv show. reality show hillsong made a public statement on the hillsong website where they accused brian of two moral failings the hillsong board stated that brian houston was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a hillsong employee in which he told her he wanted to kiss and hug her This led the employee to resign and ask for the tithe money to be returned to the church.

The second incident occurred in 2019, a year before Carl was fired, when Brian entered another woman's hotel room where he spent 40 minutes after a Hillsong conference. Hillsong blamed this on Brian. anxiety medication mixed with alcohol, which confused him, that's how he landed in this woman's hotel room. I have to get over this. The Hillsong board continued to claim that Pastor Brian had violated Hillsong's pastor code of conduct after this was officially released. resigned from the megachurch his wife Bobby Houston founded, was fired from Hillsong just two weeks later, this angry Brian Houston took to Facebook to air his grievances with the Hillsong board and ended his rant with a quote: Our beautiful church He is losing his soul. quote Carl has not spoken publicly since the Instagram post he made after his firing, however, in March 2022 he was seen for the first time in over a year at the airport Carl and Laura left the 4 million California rental and They moved with their family to Florida.

Laura remained faithful to her man and started her own business as an interior designer at the time of this recording. Hillsong lost 9 of its 16 churches in the United States, as many pastors resigned or withdrew their churches from the Hillsong franchise or were forced to resign. after embezzling church funds or sending lewd photos and sometimes even worse, a Gallup poll reported that thousands of churches close each year as church attendance in the US continues to decline and the The number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has increased, and it's not just millennials and genziers who are moving away. Gallup data shows declines among all major subgroups of the American population beyond age.

People sometimes choose to leave their church for many different reasons. Dr. Marlene Winnell is a psychologist who offers information about the specific event. Dr. Winnell educates about the dangers of fundamentalism as she believes therapists often fail to understand that religion is not always benign or good for someone. Dr. Winnell claims that raising questions about toxic beliefs and harmful practices in religion seems to violate a taboo, but she claims that's the problem, as she says she cites. Sanitizes religion and makes it even more insidious when it is toxic Dr. Winnell has defined a disorder she calls religious trauma syndrome or RTS as religion that causes trauma when it is highly controlling and prevents people from thinking for themselves and trusting. their own feelings, groups demanding obedience and conformity produce fear, not love, and growth.

Dr. Winnell says religious trauma syndrome can be compared to a combination of post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. She can find more information about Dr. Winnell and rts at Journeyfree.org. Carl had been dating Ramin for approximately two months. when he appeared on the logan paul podcast and near the end of that episode while talking about the quarantine and how it could affect thelong term people, carl said quarantine is a big revealer, reveals what you need and what you don't need, end quote as carl searches for what he needs many former Hillsong members are also searching as they were hurt and betrayed by Hillsong pastors and leaders.

This has been a warning about what happens when the wrong people are placed in positions of power with little oversight for a deeper dive. about brian houston, the hillsong empire, and its

downfall

, including how hillsong college students are forced to sign confidentiality agreements, and more shocking testimonies from hillsong victims. I highly recommend the hillsong

documentary

, a mega church exposed in the discovery, also if you are a fan of learning about scams, cults and cautionary tales, be sure to like, subscribe and select the bell icon to recommend future content like this, Thanks for watching, my name is Josie and I hope to see you again on the next episode so you can