Kong Hee To Phil Pringle: “You created this mess! You’ve Got To Come And Help Us Fix It”

At Presence Conference 2013, Kong Hee again blames Phil Pringle about his current circumstances.

“I’ve learnt one thing about Pastor Phil: he’s a prophet of God. He’s very dangerous when he tells you that this building is created for you or built for you or developed for you. Because in 1995, he said the same thing to me. He said, “The SunTec Convention Center is- developed for you”.

And then, I just checked a video a few years- uh, just recently, Pastor Phil. In the year 2000 I think. Or 2001. You spoke to our entire congregation. And you said, “You know what? You guys are going to SunTec Convention Center”. And so we did. And all the troubles began.

So it’s all your fault, Pastor!” - Kong Hee, C3 Global Presence Conference, Day 1, Session 1, 2013.

Don’t you agree with Kong Hee? Would Kong Hee be in the mess he is facing today if Phil Pringle didn’t falsely prophesy over him?

If you would like proof that Phil Pringle is a false prophet, check out his false prophecies here:

Pringle’s Oracle Debacles

Church on trial for funding pop star’s career

Singapore’s fast-growing Christian community has been shaken by the trial of six evangelical church leaders accused of embezzling more than $S50 million ($40.5 million) to fund the career of US-based pop star Sun Ho.

Ms Ho accompanied her accused husband Kong Hee to the Subordinate Courts, but left before prosecutors alleged funds of the City Harvest Church were diverted into “sham” investments.

Based on Pentecostal teachings the church’s “prosperity gospel” encourages the material aspirations of mostly young members.  

Ms Ho, whose beautiful voice and daring dance moves propelled her to the top of US charts, is not on trial and early this week was reinstated by Singapore’s Commissioner of Charities as City Harvest’s executive director after a review found she had not contributed to mismanagement of the church which has affiliates in 48 countries, including Australia.

Singaporean pop music singer Ho Yeow Sun, popularly known as Sun Ho, gets in a car as she leaves the Subordinate Courts in Singapore in file photo from June 2012. Photo: AP

Pastor Kong, who married Ms Ho 20 years ago, is charged with conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust in a trial that began before a packed court on Wednesday.

Five other members of the church, three men and two women, also face charges that could carry prison sentences of up to 20 years.

None of the six are yet to say how they will plead and have not yet presented their defence.

The mega-church, one of Singapore’s richest and biggest that regularly attracts up to 30,000 worshippers, was co-founded in 1989 by Pastor Kong and Ms Ho, in her early 40s, whose real name is Ho Yeow Sun.

Based on Pentecostal teachings the church’s “prosperity gospel” encourages the material aspirations of mostly young members and uses music and drama for praise and worship. It often holds elaborate services resembling pop concerts.

Prosecutors said in an opening statement to the court they had evidence of a “deliberately planned” scheme by the accused to move millions of dollars earmarked for a church building fund to two companies as sham bond investments.

State media reported that $S24 million was allegedly channelled through the companies and another $S26 million was misappropriated to cover up the initial sum.

Lead prosecutor Mavis Chionh said it was “immaterial” whether the accused thought the promotion of Ms Ho’s music career would further the broader objectives of the church.

Singapore authorities made clear the charges filed last July were against individuals and the church remained free to continue its services and other activities.

Last weekend Pastor Kong rallied his congregation, telling them that by next year “everything should be over.”

“And yes, I do maintain my integrity,” he said as worshippers roared their approval.

Pastor Kong was given a standing ovation as he went on stage to deliver his sermon.

More than 50 church members queued overnight for a seat in court to show support for the accused.

Church members have told journalists they trust Pastor Kong to spend their money in any way he saw fit.

Ms Ho, a constant presence beside her husband in the church’s early days, resigned her duties in 2003 and started singing to broaden the church’s appeal, according to Singapore’s media.

Her career took off as she remained involved in fund raising for the church and charity work to help build schools in China.

She released several singles in the US including One With You and Without Love which topped the US Billboard Dance Chart and the UK Music Week Club Chart for weeks in 2007.

Her home is a mansion in Hollywood Hills, California.

The City Harvest Church Sydney was opened in 2005 by John Yun Suk Lee, a graduate of Melbourne University who earlier worked for the church in Singapore, the church’s website says. It holds services in North Sydney.

The trial is expected to be adjourned part heard on May 23 and verdicts are not expected until next year.

Read more: Lindsay Murdoch, Church on trial for funding pop star’s career, http://www.smh.com.au/world/church-on-trial-for-funding-pop-stars-career-20130516-2jnph.html#ixzz2TSbYIq98, May 16, 2013 – 2:15PM. (Accessed 16/05/2013.)

Singapore Pastor Kong Hee’s Trial Begins; Prosecution Rejects Evangelism Through Pop Music Argument

The long-awaited trial of Singapore’s popular pastor, Kong Hee of City Harvest Church, began on Wednesday, with a prosecutor stating that the church leader conspired with five others to misuse $41 million in church funds to help promote the career of his pop-star wife, Ho Yeow Sun.

“The evidence will show that the offenses were part of a deliberately planned, meticulously coordinated and carefully executed scheme,” said prosecutor Mavis Chionh, according to Bloomberg.com.

Many from the City Harvest congregation queued up outside the Singapore court house at the start of the trial, the Associated Press reported, showing their support for the troubled pastor. The church and its affiliates are said to have a membership of more than 30,000, making it one of the biggest and richest worship groups in the region.

Although Ho herself is not on trial, she apparently turned up on Wednesday to support her husband, who is being charged with conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust. The other five members of City Harvest, who are facing prison terms from 10 to 20 years if convicted, include Pastor Tan Ye Peng, members Chew Eng Han and Lam Leng Hung, and accountants Serina Wee Gek Yin and Sharon Tan Shao Yuen. All have pleaded not guilty.

Kong is arguing that he did not misuse the money, and that his wife’s pop career could be used as a tool of evangelism that could spread the Word of God. The prosecution insisted, however, that the secular music Ho performs, including the music video “China Wine” with rapper Wyclef Jean in 2007, is far from godly music and appeals to people “who would never choose to step foot into a church to listen to a preacher.”

Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department and Commissioner of Charities found that at least $18 million in funds had been misused and had helped finance the music career of the pastor’s wife.

Since a review found that the singer had not personally contributed to the mismanagement of church money, she was reinstated on Monday as executive director of City Harvest Church by the Commissioner of Charities.

“I am very thankful to Jesus that I can resume my executive duties at such a crucial time for City Harvest Church. I am truly glad that I have been fully vindicated. God’s grace abounds and His faithfulness truly never ends! I want to thank the members of CHC for always standing with our church and our leaders. Your unceasing prayers are moving mountains and are so important to us in the days to come,” Ho wrote after the decision.

Kong, 48, founded City Harvest Church in 1989 as a nonprofit nondenominational evangelical church. Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department announced in 2012 that it had conducted a two-year inquiry into allegations that Kong and other church members had used church funds to support Ho’s career. Despite the Commissioner of Charities requesting that the accused voluntarily leave their positions until the case is concluded, Kong has insisted that he will remain as pastor.

Earlier in May, before the start of the trial, COC again tried to force Kong to step down from City Harvest, but the pastor was granted an extension and the suspension has been delayed.

“On behalf of the CHC Board, I also want to thank each and every one of you for your steadfast prayers and positive confessions, and for your faith in God,” Executive Pastor of City Harvest the Rev. Aries Zulkarnain said in a statement.

“As the trial begins this Wednesday, I ask you to continue praying for the six and their families, and for our church to stand strong at this time, and be united.”

Source: By Stoyan Zaimov, Singapore Pastor Kong Hee’s Trial Begins; Prosecution Rejects Evangelism Through Pop Music Argument, http://m.global.christianpost.com/news/singapore-pastor-kong-hees-trial-begins-prosecution-rejects-evangelism-through-pop-music-argument–95931/, May 15, 2013 02:42 PM EDT. (Accessed 16/05/2013.)

We wish to urge our readers to please pray for members of City Harvest Church. Our heart does go out to the people who are heavily involved in CHC.

Below the youtube video was the following,

“About 50 staff and members of City Harvest Church have started lining up outside the Subordinate Courts before the crack of dawn on Wednesday for the first day of a highly anticipated trial against six leaders of the church charged with fraud.

Some arrived as early as 11pm on Tuesday night in the hopes of getting a seat in what is expected to be a packed courtroom.” - SPHRazorTV, Large crowds gather outside Subordinate Courts at 6.45am for CHC trial, Published on May 14, 2013. (Accessed 15/05/2013.)

There is no doubt that City Harvest Church is a Word of Faith cult. Not to mention it has been publicly condemned as a movement that is not Christian and labeled a scam.

Dr Paul Choo Warns People Against Kong Hee’s Ministry: “This is NOT Christianity. This is NOT the gospel. This is a SCAM.”

Because the world can see it and not the followers, heartless comments have been thrown against CHC members. While CHC members do need to be educated that they are involved in a Word of Faith cult, they do not need to belittled like this:

“As these group of dumb ass supporters of this evil church’s collaborators are just like Hitler’s children who were so willing to die with them after so many years of propaganda . The only difference between Hitler and Kong and Co is that one fought for war while the other schemed for money!” - lance lau, http://www.youtube.com/comment?lc=rK-FZ6XczVnqqxaJiTQFt36EwulRyejuz4iy4FzuzfM, 15/05/2013.

“Satan followers.

How dumb can human being get?” - pokemonyu, http://www.youtube.com/comment?lc=rK-FZ6XczVl2f1IqddImj3eDKQ-SGomARqC6D4ArJzY, 15/05/2013.

“yea queuing for satan” - nickachiu, http://www.youtube.com/comment?lc=rK-FZ6XczVkkMqKEh5cW_jAIgZbzE_VrgWf0WOZX1DI, 15/05/2013.

We are aware that we get over 500 hits a day from our Singaporean readers. If you are involved with a more reformed or conservative bible-believing church, can we encourage you to be involved in CHC members lives and lead them out of the CHC cult? Have a meal or bible study with them and lead them into the truth through humility and prayer. May these videos on Kong Hee make your task easier. They can easily be refuted using ther scripture:

Kong Hee: A Word Of Faith Heretic (Part 1)

To Christians everywhere. Please pray for the churches in Singapore to be effective in ministering to CHC members in this time. CHC memebrs are vulnerable and exposed to unfair attack in these times. They are not the enemy. False teachers like Phil Pringle and Kong Hee are. The world now have an excuse to hate Christianity because of these false teachers. Pray for God’s sheep.

THE NEWS

The Straits Times reports,

“Prosecutors for the City Harvest trial said they had evidence of a “deliberately planned” scheme by church leaders aimed at moving millions of dollars.

In their opening statement, prosecutors said that the offences committed by church pastor Kong Hee and five other church staff were not “isolated technical breaches or inadvertent occasional missteps”.

Rather, they were part of a “deliberately planned, meticulously coordinated, and carefully executed scheme which stretched over a prolonged period of time and involved the movement of millions of dollars”.

The prosecution said they would prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused are guilty of all charges. Kong Hee, and five senior members – Tan Ye Peng, Sharon Tan, Chew Eng Han, Serina Wee and John Lam Leng Hung – were arrested and charged last year for allegedly funnelling $24 million into sham bond investments to further the career of Kong’s wife, pop-singer Ho Yeow Sun between 2007 and 2008.

The money used was from the church’s Building Fund which was earmarked to build a new church.

Another $26.6 million is said to have been misappropriated to cover up the sham investments in a procedure known as “round-tripping”. This was supposedly done to throw the church’s auditors’ off “the scent of the bogus bonds”, said the prosecution.

These were not the genuine commercial transactions the accused persons made them out to be.

It is immaterial whether the accused thought the promotion of Ms Ho’s music career would further the broader objectives of the church. Rather, the question is whether diverting money from the Building Fund under the guise of purported bond investments to fund her career was an authorised use of the money, said the prosecution.

The six face varying counts of criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts. The first offence is punishable with a life sentence, or up to 20 years in prison and a fine. The second carries a maximum of 10 years in jail, a fine or both.

The six accused have agreed to be jointly tried on all the charges against them.”

Source: Strait Times, Prosecution-City-Harvest-Church-Leaders-Had-Deliberately-Planned. (Credit to groupsects.wordpress.com for obtaining the article first.)

City New also reported the case,

Two Sides Of The Story

Posted on 15 May 2013
By The City News Team

Today Online also published their article on the case here:

http://www.todayonline.com/city-harvest-execs-schemed-move-money-prosecution

Kong Hee To Phil Pringle: “You created this mess! You’ve Got To Come And Help Us Fix It”

Not only is Kong Hee a disciple of Phil Pringle, he imitates Phil Pringle in many ways in teachings, conferences, service layouts, financial events and advertising, etc. As Kong Hee said,

“Many people come to City Harvest Church and they look at our church. Look at our pulpit. Our Rise and Build. And they say, “Hey! Why is it that in Australia they kinda copy after you?”

Well actually we came here and copied everything from Christian City Church. So we have our own Rise and Build and I just thought I show you this latest installment where we anounced to our church, SunTec City Convention Center.” - Kong hee, C3 Presence Conference, Session 4, Sydney, 2010.

‘Thinking Free And Fair’ offers their analysis of Kong Hee’s City Harvest Church,

An analysis into the wealth of City Harvest Church

I apologize upfront if the points raised give offense to loyal followers of City Harvest Church. Please regard this article as a business analysis of the factors that contribute to the wealth of City Harvest Church, not as an insinuation that the Church got rich through questionable means. The fact is that CHC is very rich and this makes for a fascinating academic exercise to examine its sources of wealth. Just treat it as a business case study. I have tried my best to stick to the facts. Please correct me if there are factual mistakes. However, if there are differences in opinions, please disagree with courtesy.

1. Clever packaging of Sunday services

The income of a church is dependent on the tithes collected (10% of income from church-members). Therefore, the earning power of a church is highly dependent on its ability to retain its existing church members and attract new ones. The larger the church membership, the greater its earnings.

2. Extra revenue in the form of advertisements, sales of CDs

3. Efficient collection of tithes

Church-members can pay their tithe online via credit card, eNets or even Giro!! Once members started donating using Giro, the earnings quality of the church improves. Donation collected via Giro tend to be more stable.

With a globalised economy, people travel round the world a lot and may miss Sunday services. In the past, the churches will lose income when these members fail to turn up to pay their tithe. Now, with online payment, they can continue collecting the tithe even when the church-member is working overseas for an extended period of time. With Giro, the church can continue collecting tithes for a few more months even when the member leaves the church as people have a habit of forgetting what they pay on Giro.

4. 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on your church donations

This is where the genius of CHC lies and the secret to its superior earning power. In fact, I have yet to encounter any public-listed company on SGX, HKSE, NYSE, Nasdaq that demonstrates better potential.

The pastor preaches that God will give 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on your tithe. But, you have to be generous in your donations first so that you will receive in harvest proportions. I guess that is the origin of the name City Harvest. Please watch the video ”The 10 Laws Of The Harvest” yourself in its entirety and interpret for yourself.

It is a message that cleverly uses an astute understanding of human nature to maximize profits. If I were a CHC member, I will be tempted to increase my tithe as much as possible. Not mincing my words, I am doing it out of pure greed. I do not think I will be alone. It is perfectly fine if members of CHC strongly disagree and thinks that I am not representative for most of them. After all, I can only speak for myself.

5. Quality of customers

With the 100-fold return message, the kind of church members attracted will be most conducive to profit-making. Money-minded people will be attracted to the church. These money-minded people tend to be ambitious and have a great desire to make lots of money. Millionaire minds have a higher chance to become rich. Hence, the quality of customers that CHC attracts are of the highest quality. The richer the church-member, the higher is the church’s tithe per member.

Customer quality will be enhanced through the passage of time due to survivor bias. Suppose out of this pool of Millionaire-Mind Christians, 50% become satisfactorily rich and the remaining 50% still unsatisfactorily middle-class. The 50% who got rich will donate even more because they think their source of wealth comes from their donations. It is most unlikely they will cut back on their tithes  because they will be afraid God will punish them by cutting back the returns. If they are not afraid, the church will be there to warn them not to do so. The remaining 50% who did not get rich will be disillusioned and probably leave the church. The loss is of little significance to the church. These people are not rich and their tithes will not amount to much.

Many Christians will be disgusted with the concept of using tithes to get rich. These people will probably leave the church after attending a few Sunday services. Again, the loss is of little significance to CHC. These people will not be highly profitable to the church even if they are rich because they are not going to tithe as much as the others who believe their tithes is the way to wealth.

To the credit of the Pastor, I think he has devised a wonderful process of filtering out non-profitable customers and sucking in the lucrative ones. There is only so much physical space that a church can have to service its church-members. To maximize profits, the church has to ensure that each unit of space is used for servicing lucrative customers.

6. Kill off competition

CHC has tremendous economic moat that kills off competition. In the video “The 10 Laws of The Harvest”, the Pastor cited Law #5 “Your Seed must be planted in Good Ground” which is an effective weapon in killing off his competition – the smaller churches. Many Christians feel that they ought to donate to the needy, smaller churches rather than rich mega-churches like CHC. The Pastor’s argument is that you do not get good returns like 100-fold in the small churches. You have to donate to mega-churches to maximize returns on your tithe because they have a track record (rich church members). In other words, the seed is not planted in good ground when you donate to the small churches. In his own words, ”I don’t always give to the neediest but to the ground that will give the greatest yield”. To illustrate his point, he used an analogy on weak banks and strong banks. You do not deposit your money in a weak bank because it desperately needs fresh funds to survive. You deposit your money in a strong bank which invests your money wisely and yields good returns.

The church has an iron-grip on its members who believe its message. As illustrated previously, its customer base is of the highest quality. This is its track record. Existing church-members will definitely not move to another smaller, needier church with poorer track record.

It has a very strong economic moat as it is very hard for its competitors to get its customers to switch over.

8. Preach what people like to hear. 

As a teenager, I was discouraged when I read Bible verses like Matthew 19:23-24 “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” and Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

It seems like if I become rich, I will be condemned to hell.

In the video ”Rich God? Poor God?”, the Pastor preaches that it is absolutely ok to be rich. Some prophets of God were very rich. (Abraham, David, Solomon)

There is nothing more musical to a money-minded person than to hear that God is on your side in your pursuit of money. The church-members who are more money-minded will love this and donate even more.

9. God pays for the returns, not the church. 

The church collects the money, but God pays for the returns. The church does not need to pay a single cent for the 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on the donations.

This is as good as you do the work for me, but not only do I not pay you, I shall also collect your salary. You toil and sweat, but I shall eat your bread. God must surely be a miracle worker and people will pay handsomely for his service. I cannot think of a more advantageous economic position to be in to be able to collect money rendered by a miracle worker.

10. Social pressure to conform in church settings and ease of influence

If everyone around you donates, it is hard not to. When everyone else makes sacrifice, the one who does not will look like an outcast. There is tremendous pressure to conform in such a herd setting.

11. Tremendous future earning power

Take a look at the congregation and you will notice the large number of young people. The income growth of young people is the fastest in the population. In the Pastor’s words, “You may be poor today, but you will not be poor all your life”. That is a long-term business plan in cultivating its customers.

Therefore, if CHC can be viewed as a growth stock, its prospects are very bright as its young customers will accelerate its earnings.

12. Stable earnings in times of depression

Besides being a growth stock, CHC can also be viewed as a defensive and safe stock. People pray hardest when they fall in hard times. Strangely, some people have an urge to tithe when they are in financial troubles.

In fact, in the video (The 10 Laws Of The Harvest), a couple came on stage. They talked about the dire straits they were in when they started out. Things change when God challenged them to GIVE themselves out of poverty (exact words from the speaker). Despite not having any money, they still pledged $250 to the building fund. In his own words again, “we often emptied our savings to give to the House of God knowing that this will be the answer to our financial problems”. Hence, not only will the church earnings be stable in times of depression, it may even grow.

13. Using Prosperity as a theme to appeal to customers

We have Pringle recorded denying that he preaches the prosperity gospel (which we know is a flat-out deceptive claim):

“And the deal – some people accuse that – just what I said then, saying, ‘Oah! That’s prosperity gospel’ or whetever. I’ve never preached a gospel other than about Jesus my whole life. That’s the gospel: Jesus Christ. Beginning and end. You know I got no other message then that one.” – Phil Pringle, Steven Furtick ‘Stay Behind The Guide’,http://www2.myc3church.net/videos/steven-furtick-%E2%80%98stay-behind-guide, C3 Church Oxford Falls, 15/04/2012.

However, we know personally that Kong Hee sees Phil Pringle in an infallible light as a personal master and mentor, pope and Prophet of God.

Kong Hee To Phil Pringle: “You created this mess! You’ve Got To Come And Help Us Fix It”

Not only is Kong Hee a disciple of Phil Pringle, he imitates Phil Pringle in many ways in teachings, conferences, service layouts, financial events and advertising, etc.

“Many people come to City Harvest Church and they look at our church. Look at our pulpit. Our Rise and Build. And they say, “Hey! Why is it that in Australia they kinda copy after you?”

Well actually we came here and copied everything from Christian City Church. So we have our own Rise and Build and I just thought I show you this latest installment where we anounced to our church, SunTec City Convention Center. It’s a twelve thousand seater hall. And ah- it’s amazing. And already, in one month after we signed the lease, we are already starting to earn dividends from all the profits, eh! So lets just watch the video right now.” - Kong hee, C3 Presence Conference, Session 4, Sydney, 2010.

Phil Pringle needs to face the facts. He is a Word of Faith heretic that peddles the same damnable prosperity gospel that his faithful student Kong Hee peddles (Galatians 1). No matter how much Phil Pringle tries to distance himself from being a Word of Faith Heretic, Pringle’s disciple Kong Hee keeps exposing his mentor’s true colours. In fact, Kong Hee happily boasted of being a Word of Faith preacher at Pringle’s Presence Conference 2012.

Kong Hee has done his best to truly copy “everything from [Phil Pringle's] Christian City Church”. Now keep this in the forefront of your mind: If Kong Hee’s church is critiqued, Phil Pringle’s church is critiqued.

Recently, Dr Paul Choo, (the founder of Goducate), gave a lecture titled “The Prosperity Gospel Message”. This lecture examined the pyramid scheme structure of CHC. Below the video are quotes from his lecture.

“So many people are brainwashed. Many of them.

“I go to support him [Kong Hee]! Don’t get confused! Don’t get discouraged and baffled-” because that’s how they think! Why don’t they leave the church? Why more go? You mean everybody’s brainwashed? Everybody’s like that?

Well let me tell you, many will not leave because this is the best scheme they’ve ever seen in their life.

You know you put money in a bank now, how many percentage do you get? Less then one percent right? Quarter percent I heard. Someone told me. … You put money in this scheme- prosperity gospel scheme, (backed by God you know). Not backed by bank. Not banked by US government. Not banked by Swiss government or Singapore. It’s backed by God you know. You know how powerful God is? If you can’t trust God, who can you trust?

Sometimes you buy scheme. Now you got to [inaudible] money. Just underline the highlighter the nice things to see. Then you say, “In this contract, how do I know if it’s real or not?” Let me tell you, this scheme, according to them, is backed not by God but also by the bible. “I show you. Like Malachi three verse ten. You don’t believe me? I show you!” WOAH! Alright.

So here we say, “How can they leave a scheme like this? It’s sooo attractive!” Quarter percent? This one gives you minimum three thousand percent. Thirty four. … Hundredfold? Ten thousand percent. Why do you want to take money out and put it in the bank? “Are you stupid or what? This is backed by God! Endorsed BY MEN OF GOD!”

You know something? One reason why this whole scheme has continued is because not of one man, but because this one man has been endorsed by may other people. Good men. Pastors who say, “Who are we to judge”. Pastors who keep quiet- Let me to tell you, when you keep quiet, when people ask you on a scheme like that, silence is consent. Do you know that?

“You as a Christian! What do you think of this?” [Inaudible] “Don’t want to think to much about these things.” You know what you’re saying? “It’s not bad.”

Let’s say you’re a financial guide and you know there is a scam that everybody’s using and scamming people. As a banker what must you do? You must tell people, “Hey please! Run from that! Have nothing to do with that”. But you and I as Christians most times, we keep quiet. And there are pastors of big churches that endorse this! It’s not about one man! It’s about a whole system that stinks! It’s about a whole system of men who keep quiet so that bad men can do scams. And I will not be apart of that. We must not be apart of it. We know the truth. We must speak the truth now!

I don’t like to do this. I’d rather preach the gospel. Good news is better than telling about scandals and bad things. Why should I go run down people? You think it’s a nice thing? As a Christian, we don’t like to do those things. I’d rather say, “God loves you! Jesus died for your sins! Jesus paid the price”. These are wonderful, wonderful things to talk about. Why do we talk about these things?

Because somebody has to say something. And I hope we will.”

[Condemns Sun Ho's music video] [48:48]

“… But there will come a time when God will say, “You’ve taken my name in vain and I will not hold you guiltless. You will pay”. Til that day, our job is to warn people, “This is NOT Christianity. This is NOT the gospel. This is a SCAM. PERIOD! Using the name of God is a financial scam.” Don’t mince your words when you have to explain that. Don’t try to win popularity like all those pastors th-, “Oh! He’s not that bad! Who are we to judge others?” We’re not here to win popularity. We’re here to tell the truth. If you go to church to be popular, you’re in the wrong place. We came here because there’s truth. Truth will set us free. So I hope today that you have the truth and you will speak the truth but speak it in love.” [55:05]

City News reported in 2010,

“To introduce Cho, Dr. Paul Kim, executive director of CGI, took to the stage to introduce the Korean pastors and disciples of Cho, calling them his spiritual children. He introduced the board members from CGI who were present, among them Phil Pringle, Prince Guneratnam, Richard Bernal and Ken Eldred. Kim also announced that Alex Abraham from Indonesia had been invited to join them as the newest board member.” - By Sharon Chew, Asia Conference, The Memory Of The Cross, City News, http://www.citynews.sg/2010/06/the-memory-of-the-cross/, Posted on 05/05/2010. (Accessed 06/05/2013.) (Emphasis ours.)

As a new member of CGI, it appears Phil Pringle decided to speak at Pastor Abraham Alex Tanuseputra’s church.

30^th May 2010
Ps Phil speaking for Dr. Alex Abraham’s
Bethany Graha Nginden, Surabaya Indonesia
6.30am, 9.30am, 1.30pm, 5.00pmJl.Nginden Intan Timur I/29
Surabaya Jawa Timur Indonesia
Ph: +62 31 5936880
www.bethanygraha.org

- My Itinerary, http://philpringle.wordpress.com/my-itinerary/, 2010. (Accessed 06/05/2013.)

So why are we looking at Pastor Abraham Alex Tanuseputra of Bethany Church?

Recently IndoBoom reported the following about Pastor Alex Abraham,

Edit (07/05/2013):

“Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest Church preached at Bethany on 27 January 2013. After the service, Pastor Kong Hee invited Pastor Abraham Alex to pray a prayer of blessing over him. In that prayer, Pastor Abraham Alex prophesied 2 things over Pastor Kong:

1) He will be delivered in September 2013
2) He will fully own (100%) Suntec, paid in full.” - REAL Truth Disclosed TLC, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=348358431936702&id=301569623279202, 24/02/2013. (Accessed 06/05/2013.) [Prophecy was referred to this now removed link at 1:54:00 onwards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_pflSzX780, ”Bethany Nginden 01 27 20…”]

We have noticed similar behaviour between Pastor Abraham Alex Tanuseputra and Phil Pringle. Both Pringle and Abraham prophesied over Kong Hee that he will completely own SunTec City and that he would be ‘delivered’ from his current circumstances.

Kong Hee To Phil Pringle: “You created this mess! You’ve Got To Come And Help Us Fix It”

Prophet Pringle Plundering People’s Pockets For Kong Hee’s Cause

Since Phil Pringle said he preaches at CHC so Kong Hee can travel to other churches to explain his circumstances and gain ‘support’, this should make Christians question if Kong Hee also gained financial support from Alex Abraham’s church.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” - Colossians 3:1-10

There are many controversial issues that surround the City Harvest Church scandal.    If you are not familiar with the charges that Kong Hee is facing, please read our articles on Kong Hee here:

C3 Scandals

In this article, we simply wish to focus on the ‘Pastoral’ conduct of Phil Pringle and Kong Hee.

Thanks to CHC’s Advisory Pastor Phil Pringle, this issue is further expanding across into other countries as ‘pastors’ lend their support and praise to Kong Hee and Sun Ho. Just recently, a video surfaced on YouTube that filmed Phil Pringle saying that he “got some pastors from around the world to bring” CHC ‘greetings’. Here is the video.

The pastors who endorse and praise Kong Hee and Sun Ho in this video are:

Jeffrey Rachmat from Jakarta Praise Community Church (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Mark Conner from City Life Church (Melbourne, Australia)

Paul Scanlon from LIFE Church (Bradford, UK)

Casey Treat from Christian Faith Center (Seattle, USA)

John Bevere from Messenger International (USA)

David Yonggi Cho from Yoido Full Gospel Church (Seoul, South Korea)

 The blurb below the video says,

“These are some great leaders from mega churches around the world who know Pastor Kong personally. They are encouraging and praying for Pastor Kong and City Harvest Church during this period of trial. Dr David Yonggi Cho is the founder and Pastor of the world largest church with an overall members of about a million and he is also Pastor and mentor of Pastor Kong.” - Some Pastors From Around the World Bring You Greeting, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkXtWO63C4Q, Published on Apr 14, 2013.

In response to the above YouTube clip, a new YouTube video emerged juxtaposing the pastors endorsements against Sun Ho’s music video clip ‘China Wine’. The contrast is stunning and disturbing.

(Warning: content of video may be considered highly inappropriate for Christian viewers.)

What this video did was highlight two things. It exposed the lies and hypocrisy of Kong Hee. With one hand, Kong distanced his wife’s immoral video clips from himself and CHC, claiming she was not a pastor and yet justifying her sinful clips using the scriptures. On the other hand, he would flaunt his wife as China Wine and allow her to speak on behalf of City Harvest Church. For more information on this, read here:

China Boy & China Wine

The second thing this video exposes how ‘Christian Pastors’ are promoting human depravity in the name, glory and Spirit of Jesus Christ. As the parody pits the pastors against the China Wine music video, one can’t help but wonder if Phil Pringle, Kong Hee or Sun Ho have been fully honest with their fellow pastors.

For instance, would John Bevere say that God put scriptures on ‘integrity’ in his heart if he saw Sun Ho dancing erotically in her music video clip China Wine? Would Mark Conner say that his church is “inspired” by Sun Ho and Kong Hee’s “life” if he saw Sun’s music video clip ‘Kill Bill’ that has her singing about murdering her boyfriend?

Finally, we’ve been observing how Phil Pringle has been informing his audiences that when he pastors CHC this gives Kong Hee and Sun Ho the opportunity to travel to “share in churches their burden ‘n what they’re facing and keep support happening”. [Source 1] [Source 2]

Now that Phil Pringle made the video, we should be asking ourselves if the churches of Yonggi Cho, John Bevere, Mark Conner, Jeffrey Rachmat, Paul Scanlon and Casey Treat have given Kong Hee a platform to receive ‘love offerings’ to financially support his case.

This scandal needs to be a prayer issue for Christians everywhere. Please pray that Christians have their eyes opened to the immoral conduct of these pastors. Pray that no more Christians are “snookered” by their own “idolatrous notions” regarding the behaviour of Kong Hee, Sun Ho, Phil Pringle and other ‘ministers’ who endorse the moral conduct of these ministries.

Pray that Christians everywhere have their eyes opened to the whole truth about the ongoing pastoral and legal issues involved around Kong Hee AND David Yonggi Cho.

“And so that’s part of the reason why I am able to go there and uh- and they’ve just had ah- one really interesting breakthrough in this last week where the Commission of Charities (that’s the organisation overseeing charities in Singapore) has exonerated Sun from [audience applauses] all ah- all charges against her so- There was a pretty interesting ah- ah- so ah- You know I’m  believing that we will ah- see continual victories like that-” [Read here]

The TR Emeritus reports,

COC proceeds to remove 8 CHC leaders from office

Kong Hee’s wife, Sun Ho, not removed for now

The Commissioner of Charities (COC) released a press statement yesterday (9 Apr) stating its intention to remove 8 suspended City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders from their respective offices at CHC.

COC last year, with the consent of the Attorney General, had suspended 9 CHC leaders, including Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun (better known as Sun Ho), from their duties as office bearers of CHC. This was done pending consideration of their removal later, under the Charity Act.

According to the Act, the suspension orders are valid for a period of not more than 12 months. Before the lapse of the 12-month suspension, COC said that it intends to proceed to the next stage of the process, which is to consider the removal of these individuals from their positions in CHC. This is to protect the charitable property of CHC. The individuals removed may, however, continue with their religious duties which are separate from the holding of any governance or management positions in CHC.

COC said that its regulatory action is independent of the criminal proceedings faced by 6 of the 9 affected individuals (i.e. Kong Hee, Lam Leng Hung, Tan Ye Peng, Tan Shao Yuen Sharon, Chew Eng Han and Serina Wee Gek Yin).

However, in view of the concurrent criminal proceedings against those 6, COC on 28 Dec 2012 made a proposal to all the 9 suspended individuals that the COC would defer the next stage of any regulatory action (i.e. consideration to remove them) should they collectively agree to a voluntary extension of their suspension orders until 6 months after the conclusion of the criminal trial. COC said this was done purely on a goodwill basis so that the affected parties, especially the 6, could focus on the criminal proceedings. Also, it would allow them to have time later to make their case, should they want to, during the removal process, which COC planned to start after the criminal trial. In the meantime, with the extended suspension of these individuals, the property of CHC continues to be protected.

COC said that the deadline for the consent from the 9 was extended twice, and by 7 Feb 2013, 8 out of the 9 suspended individuals had agreed to COC’s proposal to voluntarily extend their suspension orders. COC, in fact, was prepared to consider deferring the next stage of regulatory action even though 1 of them had declined to give consent.

However, when the COC later asked the 8 individuals to confirm their agreement to voluntarily extend their suspension (notwithstanding the lack of consent by the 1 individual), only 5 out of the 8 were prepared to do so. 3 had rescinded their earlier agreement. So, in view of the lack of collective agreement among the individuals and the 12-month duration of the suspension orders (initiated last year) endng soon, the COC has no choice but to proceed with the next stage of the process so as to protect the assets of CHC. That is to say, COC will now initiate the removal process as stipulated by the Charity Act.

PROPOSAL TO REMOVE 8 CHC LEADERS FROM OFFICE

Based on their inquiry report (7 Feb 2011), COC said it intends to remove the following 8 individuals from their respective offices:

1. Kong Hee;
2. Lam Leng Hung;
3. Tan Ye Peng;
4. Kelvin Teo Meng How;
5. Tan Shao Yuen Sharon;
6. Tan Su Pheng Jacqueline;
7. Chew Eng Han; and
8. Serina Wee Gek Yin.

In respect of Kong Hee’s wife, Ho Yeow Sun, after reviewing the evidence against her, COC feel that at this point, there is insufficient evidence that she was responsible for or was privy to any misconduct and mismanagement that may have taken place in CHC. COC said should evidence surface to indicate that she was so involved, it will review her status again.

In the meantime, COC will proceed with the removal proceedings against the other 8 individuals.

INVITATION OF REPRESENTATIONS FROM PUBLIC

In relation to the removal proceedings, COC has to give notice to the 8 individuals to remove them. And according to the Act, a public notice of the proposal to remove a governing board member, trustee or key officer is also required. It is noted that any such removal of an individual as governing board member, trustee or key officer will mean that the person is prohibited from taking up such positions in any charity in future.

COC said it has already given notice to the following 4 individuals and invited them to make representations:

• Tan Shao Yuen Sharon (as employee),
• Serina Wee Gek Yin (as employee);
• Tan Su Pheng Jacqueline (as employee); and
• Chew Eng Han (as agent)

For the following 4 individuals, COC has also given notice and invited them to make representations. In addition, as provided for under the Act, COC invites representations from the public to be made to COC on its proposal to remove them:

• Kong Hee (as governing board member)
• Lam Leng Hung (as governing board member and trustee);
• Tan Ye Peng (as governing board member and trustee); and
• Kelvin Teo Meng How (as key officer)

The public can write to COC by email to mccy_charities@mccy.gov.sg or by post to the Office of the Commissioner of Charities at 140 Hill Street, #02-00 Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369, clearly stating “Representations on the COC’s Proposal following the Inquiry into the City Harvest Church”. All representations must be signed off with the full name, NRIC no. and contact details of the person making the representation. The deadline is 13 May 2013.

COC has assured that the worship services of CHC can continue as usual.

Source: Editorial, TR Emeritus, http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/04/10/coc-proceeds-to-remove-8-chc-leaders-from-office/, Published 10/04/2013. (Accessed 20/04/2013.)

If C3 Presence Conference is anything like the last few years, you will not be getting anything that resembles biblical Christianity. For this reason, we would like to provide our listeners with this fantastic resource so you can see through the lies of Phil Pringle, Chris Pringle, Steven Furtick and the notorious Kong Hee.

How to Not Be Deceived, Bamboozled or Snookered by Religious Hucksters, Snake Oil Con Men or Your Own Idolatrous Notions (Part 1)

Part 2 can be heard here:

APRIL 10, 2013

HOW TO NOT BE DECEIVED, BAMBOOZLED OR SNOOKERED – SESSION 2A

If you are planning to attend the C3 Presence Conference, hold on to your bible, your mind and your wallet at all cost.