Disturbing ‘Thriller’ Trend In Evangelical Churches - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) – A number of churches in recent years have taken to the course of being ‘relevant’, by offering alternatives to Halloween.  One congregation that has taken this to an extreme is Passion Church of Maple Grove, Minnesota by incorporating the evil-themed Michael Jackson video ‘THRILLER’ in its services.

In an interview with local TV station KSTP, church leader Jason Bailey says:

“Everyone loves Michael Jackson so it’s an easy invite.  As a church, we just want to take a strong stance to say that you can overcome your fear, regardless of what it is,” he said. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  As a church, we just have a strong belief that do not have to be anti-culture to be pro God.”

The church has made this an annual event, having performed the ‘THRILLER’ feature in previous years.  A number of other churches around the country have also tried to copy the ‘success’ of Passion Church’s performance, and have created Halloween activities featuring the video and dance routine.  A search on YouTube reveals more than a dozen congregations that have posted videos of their production using the Michael Jackson song, including Ignite Church in Winterville, North Carolina, The Potter’s House in Denver, Colorado, and Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas.

When Michael Jackson produced the ‘THRILLER’ video, his family’s long-time association with the Jehovah’s Witnesses brought him under fire, and he was excommunicated from the church because of the video’s overarching Satanic themes.  Jackon’s attempts to add a disclaimer to the video only served to ignite further controversy:

“Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult – Michael Jackson

The lyrics of the superstar’s song and video speak for themselves:

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’awl’s neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

Yet, in spite of this overtly Satanic message that the video promotes, followers of Passion Church testify to ‘many coming to Christ’, as revealed in the following post from Twitter:

Use of haunted house imagery, including skulls, tombstones, and zombies are prevelant not only in the performance, but also the sermon devlivered by Pastor Jonathan Brozozog.

 

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