Justin Bieber has thanked a Pentecostal pastor for turning his life around as he attended a five-day church conference in Sydney, Australia.

The 21-year-old Canadian pop star praised Hillsong Church’s New York City pastor Carl Lentz, who has recruited several American celebrities and sports stars to the Sydney-headquartered church, as he mingled with thousands of Christians at a five-day church conference in the city.

According to Ten Network, Justin said: “I’m glad to know him. He’s changed my life,” as he interrupted an interview with the pastor at the Allphones Arena where 20,000 worshippers are attending the annual conference.

He also shared photos on Instagram, writing: “Back with the two best human beings on the planet they inspire me to be better, thank you for pouring your heart out to me so I can continue to pour into others.”

Carl said: “People come from across the world to Sydney each year to attend Hillsong Conference. Justin is here – like tens of thousands of others – as a delegate who is seeking to build stronger foundations into his life.”

The singer’s string of off-stage troubles includes reckless driving and a misdemeanour vandalism case for egging a neighbour’s house.

Justin – who features on Skillrex and Diplo’s new single Where Are U Now – and his friend Hailey Baldwin arrived by private jet on Monday (June 29) for the conference that runs through Friday (July 3).

Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston said the Never Say Never star has paid his own way to Australia.

“It was a last minute thing. I really admire him for it,” he told the network.

“I think a lot of things got the better of him, like happens with young kids. No doubt he’d probably be the first to say he lost his way in a whole lot of ways and, yeah, I think he realises that it’s now-or-never time to try to build better foundations into his life,” he added.