Sydney, Australia - Rapper Kanyon Grave's message is clear: if you're a Christian you've got the best excuse to party, because you're going to heaven.
Grave, also known as Kevin Goddard, 27, is one of a growing number of young Australians attracted by a more contemporary form of Christianity that says it's all right to turn your music up loud, enjoy a good party, and still love Jesus.
It's a positive message, but some social commentators warn it could also lead to increasingly conservative attitudes on social issues like abortion and gay marriage.
Grave and his hip hop and R&B collective the Bayca Boys -- Bayca stands for "believe and you can achieve" -- performed at the annual Big Exo event, where over 10,000 like-minded young Aussies enjoyed a day-long festival of Christian-inspired music ranging from hip hop to hardcore rock.
"Events like this show young people that being Christian isn't about falling asleep on wooden seats in the church; being Christian can be about living the most exciting life you can live," said Tay, 20, from Wollongong, just south of Sydney.
Event leader Phil Dooley agrees. Dooley is a youth pastor at Sydney-based Hillsong church and travels the world with a group of young musicians spreading the church's message.
"The message of Christianity doesn't change, but the way you present it has to change with each generation," said Dooley.
ROCKING GOD'S HOUSE
Church attendance has been in steady decline for over a decade.
Religious research body the National Church Life Survey says only 14 percent of young Australians aged 20-29 attend church at least monthly. But 21 percent of that age group have an interest in New Age or alternative religion.
Social commentators say Pentecostal Hillsong's success is founded on its ability to tap into the desire of young people to find new ways to express their spirituality.
"With traditional religions, it tends to be all about what you can't do and how you will be punished," said author Rebecca Huntley, whose book "The World According to Y" examines the generation born from the early 80s.
"Hillsong's message is that if you love God you can have fun, friends, and be attractive to the opposite sex," said Huntley.
The church says attendance at its youth-oriented Friday night services rose 15 percent in 2005. Two-thirds of its estimated 19,000-strong congregation is under 30.
Music forms a large part of Hillsong's attraction, and the Friday night services have been described as more like rock concerts than religious gatherings. Its CDs have topped Australian charts.
Huntley says Hillsong's success is also due to its willingness to embrace consumerism, with the message that the pursuit of wealth and happiness on Earth is compatible with the love of God.
Carole Cusack, a senior lecturer on religion studies at Sydney University, cautions that the significance of churches like Hillsong and other youth-oriented churches should not be over-emphasized, as growth in newer forms of Christianity has not compensated for the overall loss in the number of church goers.
"It is very important to realize that the majority of Australian young people are not religious," Cusack said.
POLITICAL POWER
Hillsong might be pushing the right buttons with young people, but critics like political activist Tim Brunero say it's underlying message is a dangerous one.
"They're incredibly right wing. Scratch the surface and their views on issues like homosexuality and sex before marriage are exceedingly conservative," said Brunero, a former contestant on the youth-oriented "Big Brother" reality TV show.
Brunero says he wouldn't criticize a young person who says his or her life has been turned around by churches like Hillsong. "What worries me is where they are now pointing."
Huntley says Hillsong's social conservatism and comfort with the pursuit of wealth make it an easy bedfellow of the conservative Liberal Party-led government -- Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello have both visited the church.
Hillsong has been criticized for its willingness to participate in the government's controversial welfare-to-work program which toughened rules on benefit entitlements for people with disabilities and single parents.
Brunero said issues like those demonstrate the growing influence of what he terms "the nutty religious right" that has become such a powerful force in the United States.
Still, Brunero and Huntley both believe Australians are too savvy and cynical as a nation to let the American brand of evangelical politics gain a big foothold.
"The people at Hillsong are smart enough to realize that Australians don't want that whole American evangelical part of politics to become too strong," said Huntley.
Hillsong's Dooley is adamant the church is apolitical.
"People seem to look for a deeper agenda, but if you come to the church you'll just find a whole bunch of normal people who want to develop their own faith and have a positive impact on their world."