Selena Gomez surprises crowd with a performance at Hillsong concert

Selena Gomez in concert. Photo: Ronald Woan/Flickr/Creative Commons

I sometimes get a bit gun-shy writing about the faith of celebrities because invariably something hits the media that can taint their testimony. But then I ask how any of us would fare if we were faced with media and others watching, listening, photographing and videoing everything you said and did, day and night.

So my tendency, right or wrong, is to give them the benefit of the doubt. If in this growing anti-Christian climate a person is willing to step up and profess their faith in Christ, I say God Bless.

Former Disney star Selena Gomez is latest to come out publicly about her faith in Jesus. Selena, 23, is a singer and actress who was the one-time girl friend of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.

She just released an album in October entitled “Revival.” It debuted as #1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to earn a Gold rating.

On February 25th, Selena surprised a Los Angeles crowd attending Hillsong Young & Free Revival concert, when she stepped on stage, and joined by the band, sang the song “Nobody” from her recent album.

No one knew in advance that Selena would be singing at the event held at LA’s Belasco Theatre.

Hillsong church, which started in Australia, is growing in popularity across the US. With congregations in many major cities, it is renowned for its praise and worship and is starting to draw in the Hollywood crowd.

Hillsong Young & Free comes out of the founding church in Sydney, Australia and the band is on tour promoting the release of its latest album “Youth Revival.”

According to E!, Selena told the audience:

“Tonight is more than a concert, it’s more than Hillsong, it’s more than me coming on stage, singing a song for you. It’s about a relationship that is greater than anything, guaranteed.”

Like Justin Bieber, Selena regularly attends Hillsong churches across the US. In fact, the two stars ended up at the same church one Sunday last year, leading to speculation they were getting back together. However, that proved just to be a coincidence.

Selena recently posted a comment on Facebook about Hillsong’s pastors stating, “Words can’t describe how incredible they are. So grateful.”

Last year in a Twitter question and answer a fan asked Selena who the song “Nobody” was about. Gomez answered that the song is about “God … Nobody is about Him.”

At the Hillsong concert, Gomez added, “I wrote this song about the one thing that holds it all together for me even when I can’t bear to do it myself.”

On a personal note, Selena’s mother was just 16 years old when she gave birth to her pop star daughter.

In an interview with Billboard last fall, Selena said she has been required to take hiatuses during her career because she is struggling with Lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacks a person’s body including organs.

Doctors prescribed chemotherapy for Selena’s Lupus. Typically used in cancer treatment, in low doses chemo can slow Lupus down and in some cases stop it completely. Selena was upset when people suggested she was taking time off because she was in rehab.

A number of people in attendance at the Hillsong concert videoed Selena’s performance. You can watch one of them below: