David Hughes, the “pastor” of Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, FL, has turned this “church” into nothing short of a circus. Instead of nourishing souls with the gospel, Hughes seems more concerned with putting on a show. When a church trades the pulpit for a stage and the Bible for theatrics, you know you’ve completely lost it in terms of what church should be.

Charles Spurgeon hit the nail on the head when he warned that the church would one day be full of clowns entertaining goats, rather than shepherds feeding sheep. This church made headlines when its pastor was invited to the 2020 Southern Baptist Convention, a meeting thankfully canceled due to the “COVID” “pandemic”. Known for being more a spectacle than a sanctuary, Church by the Glades hit a new low this weekend.

As a worship song this weekend, Church by the Glades performed a cover by Tim Bergling, a Swedish rave DJ who went by the stage name Avicii. On April 20, 2018, Bergling committed suicide after years of alcohol and opioid addiction. The song, titled The Nights, is an anthem about living life to the fullest and making the most out of one’s time on Earth. The song features lyrics like “One day, you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember,” indicating a focus on creating memorable experiences and living passionately.

The song is told through the lens of advice given by a father to his child, with lyrics like:

He said, One day, you’ll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember
My father told me when I was just a child
These are the nights that never die
My father told me…

Besides being completely inappropriate to co-opt secular music and call it “worship,” the song also carries a sense of irony and tragedy, especially considering Tim Bergling’s own life story.