I’m typically not drawn to contemporary Christian music for the very reasons that I’ve written about a dozen times. I simply do not view the industry as God-honoring, rather it is a self-promoting, man-pleasing industry designed to launch the careers of artists whose ultimate goal is to “make it big” in the secular world. Sure, there are some contemporary songs with theologically sound lyrics, but that’s part of the appeal. If they weren’t, their target audience wouldn’t buy their music or go to their concerts.

Yet, time and time again, we see these so-called Christian artists drop like flies. This trend was brought to the forefront several years ago when one of Hillsong’s most popular songwriters, Marty Sampson, announced he was no longer a Christian. But we’ve seen it with many, ranging from the deconstruction of popular “Christian hip hop” artist, Lecrae, to the complete apostasy to former DC Talk band member, Kevin Max coming out in full support of abortion to the highly popular former “Christian music” celebrity, Trey Pearson, who recently “married” his homosexual lover.

But not all apostasy includes completely renouncing the faith. In fact, most of it simply involves shifting your professed faith to a larger tent and embracing a wide range of aberrant movements and calling their followers “brothers.” That’s exactly what the popular worship band, Shane & Shane are doing.

This coming October, Shane & Shane will be joining a host of heretics at a Bethel Church event. Shane & Shane is a contemporary Christian music duo composed of Shane Barnard and Shane Everett that formed in Texas in 2001 and quickly gained a following due to their harmonious acoustic sound and seemingly deep lyrics. Known for their modern arrangements of some of the more traditional hymns, they also produce original songs. Their concerts often have an emotionally-charged atmosphere. By 2023, they have released multiple albums, with their music being popular in both Evangelical and mainstream music circles.

Bethel Church in Redding, CA is pastored by Bill Johnson who claims to be an Apostle — that is, he claims Apostolic authority just like the twelve men during Christ’s time on Earth. Bethel Redding, like all cults, is filled with aberrant, unbiblical teachings and doctrines of demons, including false manifestations of the Holy Spirit, grave sucking, and the Prosperity Gospel.

The Prosperity Gospel is a perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches that Jesus’ primary purpose for his life, death, burial, and resurrection wasn’t to atone for sins, but to make people who have enough “faith” healthy and wealthy. This false gospel carries with it several other false teachings such as positive confession, that is the ability to speak things into existence the way God does.

Bethel Redding is a hotbed of false apparitions, regularly blaspheming the Holy Spirit by attributing the works of men and demons to Him. One such notable occurrence which happens regularly is Bethel’s “glory clouds.” Glory clouds, they claim, are a manifestation of God during their worship, when, in fact, not only is it unbiblical, it has been thoroughly debunked. This is who Shane & Shane will be tacitly endorsing by sharing the stage with these false prophets and apostles. You really just can’t trust anyone.