“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30
We here at ChurchWatch have followed, and documented the scandal Dr Yonggi Cho was involved in. It was not long ago that this man was found guilty of serious charges. On 20 February 2014, Cho was found guilty of tax evasion, sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended for five years, and fined the equivalent of almost $5 million. His oldest son Cho Hee-jun was sentenced to three years imprisonment. The charges arose from Cho’s church purchasing shares from his son’s church at above market value and fraudulently claiming tax relief.
To this day, Phil Pringle continues to lie by omission, praising Yonggi Cho but neglecting to tell his church of Cho’s crimes.
“Cho was charged with causing around 13.1 billion won in damages to his church and evading approximately 3.5 billion won in taxes in the process (embezzlement as defined in the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes). In addition, Pastor Cho’s oldest son Cho Hee-jun, 49, former chairman of the Yeongsan Christian Culture Center, was given a three-year prison sentence and taken into custody.”
It comes to our attention that Phil Pringle has invited this false prophet to speak at C3 Church this Thursday February 25. We leave it up to our readers to decide on the appropriateness of this invitation for Yonggi Cho to speak as a church “leader” rather than as a convicted felon, (a person convicted in a court of law of a felony crime).
David Yonggi Cho is not only a false (which disqualifies him from Christianity), he also has disqualified himself as a Christian pastor. These are the requirements of a pastor:
“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity.” 1 Timothy 3:3 (Emphasis ours.)
The things we highlighted in bold are areas he failed in relation to the financial scandal he was involved in and how he ruthlessly treated his elders. And because Cho is a swindler, why is Pringle inviting David Yonggi Cho to speak as though he is a figure of high integrity? Pringle is directly opposing Christ, His Word and His Church with this clear command in scripture:
“But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler– not even to eat with such a one.” 1 Corinthians 5:11
And yet C3 hypocritically state “we love Jesus and people”?
In his introduction to this particular Fighting For The Faith program, Chris Rosebrough gives a serious warning to those who twist God’s Word.
Chris begins:
“In my lecture I delivered in Norway on “sola scriptura”, my primary text was the Great Commission. Let me read what the Great Commission says …”
Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.“
That’s an important statement right there, and a lot of people, when they look at the Great Commission, they often ignore that. Ok, Jesus isn’t speaking his opinion, he’s speaking what he’s giving us to do now that all authority, yes all, there’s no authority in heaven or on earth that hasn’t been given to Christ. He is the head not the tail, if you know what I mean and He has willed for His church to do something very specific. Here’s what it says,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner. What are they to be learning? Well, Jesus answers, he says:
“…make disciples of all nations, baptising the in the name of the Father, Son and. Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.”
Yes, in other words, in the Great Commission, you actually hear the doctrine of Sola Scriptura writ large by Jesus himself because in His church, according to the authority that has been given to Him, Christ has said to go and make disciples. And what is it we’re supposed to be teaching them? All that Christ has commanded.
Now you’re thinking “well, where do I find that?” Yes, that’s a great question, I’m glad you asked. The only place I know of that you can go with any certainty and know that you are actually teaching the words of Christ, is all of the written word of God. And you’re thinking, “Woah, wait a second there Chris. You know Jesus is a New Testament guy, you know. He doesn’t even show up until, you know, the beginning of the Book of Matthew!”
And I would say, “if you think that, then you don’t know your bible.” Because Jesus is all over the Old Testament, all over it. He’s right there in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. He was the one who said: “Let there be light”. He was the one who said: “Let the earth produce vegetation and plant and seed bearing trees according to their kinds.” He is the one who spoke the universe into existence, that’s right, Jesus is the one. And so, he makes appearances all throughout the Old Testament. He’s all over the place and really the whole Old Testament is about him.
And so I know with certainty because Jesus says, Jesus himself. When he was doing his earthly ministry here, when he was incarnate in his humbled state, to come and to die on the cross for our sins and to obey God’s Law perfectly. Jesus himself makes it clear that the Old Testament as we have it, that would be the Pentateuch, you know, the first five books of the bible, the writings of the prophets. That this is the Word of God. He always refers to it as that and quotes it authoritatively. So I know the Old Testament, that the Word of God, those are words of Christ. And I also know that the writings of the Apostles we find in the New Testament, those are also authoritative . And they are the words that Christ would have us learn because Jesus Himself, He personally didn’t write any books. We don’t have a single book that Jesus wrote Himself during his earthly ministry. In fact, He left that up to the Apostles and He tasked them with the job of making disciples of all nations. And the disciples are discipling the nations even to this day, through the Apostolic records.
So yes, I’m sorry but if you believe that we’ve been commissioned to go make disciples, learners, of all nations, baptising, teaching all that Christ has commanded, well then that demands Sola Scriptura. Not only does it demand Sola Scriptura, it also demands that the one who gets up and speaks in Christ’s church, remember all authority has been given to Him, the one who gets up and dares to speak in Christ’s church had better only speak what Christ would have us speak.
And that is what He has revealed in His written Word, rightly understood and correctly taught. Otherwise that person, who is speaking his own words, his own doctrines, his own ideas and supplanting what Christ has commanded us, with their own ideas, oh, that it a wicked servant, that is the type of servant that is discussed well in John chapter 10, the hireling who jumps the fence and doesn’t come in by the gate. Yes those are the ones you need to beware of and over and again we show here at “Fighting For The Faith”, day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out, and now year and year and year – you know we’ve been on the air for almost ten years, I cannot believe we’re coming up on ten years but still have a little ways to go.
We’re not quite there yet but we demonstrate that so much of what passes for preaching today in Christ’s church, the one to whom all authority has been given in Heaven and on earth, it doesn’t actually square with what Jesus has told us to teach. It isn’t an historical biblical Christian orthodoxy, it’s not sound doctrine at all, it’s something completely different and that is dangerous and not only that, that is flat out rebellious.
You call yourself a Christian? You call yourself a Christian and you twist and mangle God’s Word without any pangs of conscious? Beware, that is sin of the highest order, it’s treason in Christ’s church and it is a sin for which many will find themselves in the lake of fire. So repent. Don’t listen to the bible twisters. Christ doesn’t want you to listen to them. He only wants you to listen to those faithful shepherds who rightly handling His Word and proclaiming the Truth and proclaiming Christ and truly making disciples of Jesus by only teaching what He has commanded….something to think about.”
The particular sermon delivered and reviewed in this program is from Caley Korocz, a young woman who attends C3 Oxford Falls in Sydney, the same C3 led by Phil Pringle.
Chris asks us to,
“note the pattern of how God’s Word is twisted, very similar in each of our segments. [see program below] Not exactly sure how to describe what we are hearing but it’s a far from a correct handling of God’s Word. It’s like the exact opposite of what that would supposedly sound like. But then again, the C3 folks, you know, they’re not really into that “God’s Word” much thingy at all. No they twist it and and disobey it and ignore parts of it and all this kind of stuff including the part that actually forbids who it is you’re going to be hearing, from doing what it is that’s she doing.
Yes, Gods Word certainly forbids what it is we’re going to hear Caley do but apparently that has not stopped the folks over there at C3 church to give her the stage, the podium and let her preach a sermon and twist God’s Word, (which of course she will not be disciplined for, but I will be called a “hater” for pointing out that what’s she done is sinful and wrong).”
We here at ChurchWatch are saddened to see this young woman, (who is obviously a talented communicator), believe she is called of God to preach a false message that brings no hope. A false message that burdens its hearers with Law, Law, Law and no gospel. All this happening under the watch of Phil Pringle (and yes, he has told the church he watches online whenever possible). A hireling who, rather than take up the task of preaching faithfully through the sound text of scripture week by week as a faithful shepherd would do, allows the “summer Session” attendees be exposed to a message that brings “death”, not LIFE as found in Christ and His Word faithfully preached.
A hireling who draws disciples after himself.
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore be alert.” Acts 20:28-31
Dr. Paul Kretzmann in his Popular Commentary noted:
[Paul] knew that after his departure from them, in a future which was not greatly distant, there would enter into the flock from without grievous, ravening, ferocious wolves, false teachers that would have no mercy on the flock, but would use every means to disrupt the congregation, to murder the souls by trying to persuade them to accept false doctrine. And in addition there would be factionists from within, out of their own membership, men that would arise…with a doctrine full of perverse and antichristian matter, with the intention of drawing away those that were already Christians, the latter thereby becoming guilty of apostasy from the truth and from the true Church of Christ. These two dangers looming up before them, the elders of Ephesus should watch, be on their guard, exert constant vigilance.” [Source]
Click on the link below to listen to the FFTF Podcast, “What Noise Will you Make in 2016?”
What Noise Will You Make in 2016?
PROGRAM SEGMENTS:
00:12:14 – Lou Engle The Call Azusa Now
00:34:15 – Tammy Southerland Fire House Prayer and Revival Hub Launch
00:39:37 – Tim Philip Believing is Seeing
00:57:34 – Bobby Schuller Interviews Brian Houston
01:16:39 – Sermon Review: What Noise Will You Make in 2016? by Caley Korocz of C3 Sydney
“I’ve never found that God asks us to do something that is within our means or within our resources. And so the Vision that we have is always going to be bigger than we currently are. They always call for faith and that’s why it’s so exciting because God calls us to do things that are beyond our abilities. So we’re relying on him. and his power to make it happen.”
Source: Phil Pringle, C3 Church Culture Video, Vimeo, http://vimeo.com/61320694, 07/03/2013 at 10:56 PM.
If you are a C3 member and were told that your pastor, Phil Pringle, has been constantly lying to you about receiving direct visions and instructions from God just so he can manipulate you, what would you think? Would you shrug it off and keep attending C3? Would you feel disgusted that Phil Pringle abused your trust in him as a leader? Would you feel unclean that you are serving a man who is using your God to manipulate you for his own selfish ends?
God did not give Phil Pringle the 2020 Vision, nor did God give Phil Pringle and his leadership team a “strategy” to fulfill his 2020 Vision.
Christian Schwarz helped Pringle and his staff formulate the 2020 Vision and various strategies to see this come to pass. If C3 want to lay claim that God used the NCD to give Pringle the God-given 2020 Vision, then Pringle and C3 leadership still lied by omission. Why portray Phil Pringle in all their propaganda as a prophet receiving a timely vision from God to plant 1000 churches by the year 2020?
CHRISTAN A. SCHWARZ AND NATURAL CHURCH DEVELOPMENT?
The truth is that Christian Schwarz, the operations manager of the Natural Church Development Organization, helped Pringle and his staff formulate the 2020 Vision as well as the various strategies to see this Vision come to pass. A few years ago Schwarz interviewed Pringle’s close friend, Gordon Moore. Moore is the man who is speaking as a representative of the C3 Church movement in the video below. In this interview Gordon discloses where the 2020 Vision originally came from as well as the source of their church growth strategies. The proof that Pringle’s “God Given 2020 Vision,” as well as the strategies to carry it out, did not come from God is in the following statement from Gordon:
“We have formulated as a result of all of this [NCD workshops] our 2020 Vision which is to have a thousand churches with a average size of five hundred.”
So why hasn’t Phil Pringle and his leadership team told the truth about the fact that they were being led by the Natural Church Development strategies of Christian A Schwarz? Why lie? Might it be that Phil Pringle thought that if he convinced his congregation that it was God’s vision rather than his own that the people would support it? Who is Phil Pringle really trusting to lead his church?
These are serious questions considering the fact that people at C3 genuinely believe that Pringle is a prophet and gets direct visions, (like the 2020 Vision), from God. Trusting in, and following, false teachers and false prophets is one of the ways the devil keeps people from true faith and the true repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Moore also revealed his thoughts what would happen if C3 did not fulfill the Phil Pringle’s God-given 2020 Vision:
“However if we don’t, we’ll be pretty happy with the journey because we’re going to be healthy on the way through. But our feeling is that we’re probably going to do pretty well with our vision.”
There you have it folks. Gordon Moore does not care if Phil Pringle gets away with lying in the name of God to manipulate the tens of thousands throughout the C3 movement. If they fail the 2020 Vision, as long as people are “pretty happy with the journey”, why should Gordon Moore and Phil Pringle worry about desecrating the integrity and character of God? How can anyone in C3 feel “pretty happy” when these men boldly lie in the name of God to manipulate them?
If a prophet claims to speak and see on behalf of God and their claims do not come to pass, the bible in the Old Testament commanded that the false prophet be stoned. If these false prophets are found in the church, they are too be excommunicated and condemned for their lies and blasphemy. However, such action in C3 culture is considered to be “unloving”. As we have documented continually, C3 loves their false prophet to the point that they will demonise and slander those that question their prophets behaviours outside their church.
Our question to C3 members who wish to defend the blatant lies of Phil Pringle:
If Pringle comes to you and rips you off blind with his lies and false visions, why do you put up with it?
We will be looking more at the Natural Church Development organization as time progresses.
“Results of Natural Church Development in C3 Churches in Australia”
Christian: “We just spent a wonderful evening with Gordon Moore here in the restaurant in Brisbane. But he discussed and shared a lot about experiences that this church has made. Uh, Gordon, your representing the C3 Churches which is according to our research, the healthiest denomination that we are aware of. At the same time the denomination that applies the principles of NCD most consistently. Can you share about what roll National Church Development play in your overall strategy.”
Gordon Moore: “Uh, sure Christian. First of all I’d like to say thank you very much for coming to Australia. We’ve been really looking forward to sharing with you and hearing from you. Um. NCD has probably been the one of the greatest tools we have encountered. I guess first of all in our journey as a movement of churches we started out very organically. Uh, naturally with a move of God and just seeking to plant churches. We found that NCD helped us bring that empirical evidence of growth and health in the life of the church. So our movement has embraced NCD as our number one health analysis tool. We use it in oversight. We encourage all our churches to do this. But we go further than that. We actually take the results and the consultation that comes from your team and seek to apply that to the local church level and also the nation and to all our churches in the movement.
Christian: “Let’s us ask real quickly. Where do you expect your movement to be in the year 2020?”
Gordon Moore: “Funny you should say that Christian. We’ve formulated as a result of all of this our 2020 Vision which is to have a thousand churches with a average size of five hundred. The thousand churches is our quantitative vision that we look for growth, we look for the kingdom of God to grow in advance and also the five hundred average size is a quality measurement. Where after a “kind-of” church. A church that ranges somewhere between four hundred and eight hundred, that has a team that is viable, that has the resources to go out, plant churches and fulfill the commission of Christ.”
Christian: “And if we meet again in eight years from now, will you say, ‘We have arrived there’ or do you sense that you will be far away from that?”
Gordon Moore: “We’re on track to meet that. However if we don’t, we’ll be pretty happy with the journey because we’re going to be healthy on the way through. But our feeling is that we’re probably going to do pretty well with our vision. I mean if you aim at nothing you’re gonna hit it every time, right? So we believe that having a vision is important but the most important thing is that we are vitally connected to Christ and our lives our healthy. And that reflects in our churches as well. That our churches are healthy communities that are growing and manifesting Christ to a needy world.”
“Warren Bennis, as quoted in In Search of Excellence, calls the leader a “social architect.” When a leader is a God-person, a God-seeker, vision is planted deep inside. God often speaks in pictures to God-seekers, especially to leaders. Pictures are the visual language of the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s blueprints for what He wants to build.” – Phil Pringle, You The Leader, 2005, pg 34.
Keep the above in mind as you watch this 2020 Vision campaign video.
Sorry – this is the 2020 Vision campaign video.
Here is the transcript.
TRANSCRIPT
“In the beginning, God gives us vision. This vision is to build the church worldwide. Building the church is God’s top priority in this generation. You and I are called to bring people to Christ, to make disciples and to release those people into ministry within our churches and beyond. And by doing this, we will fulfill the heavenly vision.”
VISION BUILDS FAITH
“Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible. Just like Joshua knew he could take the land of Canaan, so we know that we can build the church around the world.”
FAITH BUILDS INTENTION
“Every vision is just a fantasy without a plan. God has given us a strategy and as we follow that pathway, we will find ourselves expanding right around the world. We will raise up thousands of leaders, connect group leaders, worship leaders, assistant leaders, leaders of churches. People who will work to build the house of God and fulfill this dream God has put in our hearts.”
INTENTION BRINGS ACTION
“Faith without action is dead. Just believing that this vision is going to happen wont make it happen. This vision calls for action. It calls for people to step out. It calls for sacrifice. It calls for stretching. It calls for raising ourselves up to a level we’ve never been before. This action has taken us from seventy one churches in the year two thousand to over three hundred today. It’s taken us from five nations to thirty five nations. And today, we have influence in two hundred cities around the world.
ACTION BRINGS MOMENTUM
This momentum turns a small snowball into a massive avalanche. It’s the power of compounding effort. You and I are involved in a gathering momentum of the great power of God.
AND THE MOMENTUM OF GOD
IS UNSTOPPABLE
Because of this momentum, we are seeing six hundred people around the globe come to Christ every week in C3 churches. Because of this momentum, we’re seeing nearly thirty thousand come to Christ every year. Because of this momentum, each week seventy five thousand people are gathering to worship God. God in heaven is with us. It’s his mighty plan to build his church on the earth.
Together you and I are going to see this amazing thing come to pass. You are part of the history making group of people that are changing planet earth as we fulfill the 2020 Vision.”
CRITIQUE
It is of our opinion Pringle is purposely blurring the lines with the great commission and His 2020 Vision to get people to commit themselves to his movement and not to the true commission of Jesus Christ. If the 2020 Vision was the ‘vision’ that God gave Christians in Matthew 28 this is perfectly fine. Jesus can give us the faith to go out into the world and make disciples in His name. But is this what Pringle is reinforcing?
Not at all. Pringle opens up with the following claim: “In the beginning, God gives us vision”. Already we are off to a bad start. Where on earth does the bible teach this?
Pringle adds his own unbiblical theology into his New Age doctrine on vision: “Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible”.
Where on earth did he get this from? His liver shivers? Notice also his allusion to him being a ‘Joshua’ in this video when he says, “Just like Joshua knew he could take the land of Canaan, so we know that we can build the church around the world.””.
But who gave Joshua the strategy to “take the land of Canaan”? God.
So who supposedly gave Pringle the “strategy” to “build the church around the world”? God.
Is Phil Pringle your Joshua?
This is nothing but subliminal advertising again. While the C3 Media flash snippets of Pringle’s 2020 Vision (“1000 churches”, “500 members”), Pringle claims that “God has given us a strategy”. Wasn’t the biblical Great Commission strategy enough?
This indicates that God has given a vision to Pringle that surpasses that of Jesus’ great commission. Why can’t C3 simply follow Jesus’ commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”?
And what is this God-given strategy? Pringle says that if Christians are to “follow [the strategy’s] pathway, we will find ourselves expanding right around the world”. What a claim!
Whatever happens do not question the churches strategies. To do so is to challenge God. Not Pringle. Not C3 leadership. Not C3 church. But God.
Pringle then goes on to purposely misappropriate and reword the scripture in James 2 to his advantage. He reworded the scripture “faith without works is dead” to “faith without action is dead”. He then used this verse to convince his listeners to get on board with his 2020 Vision. A pastor should NOT use the scriptures for his gain like this. Pringle used this scripture to justify people to submit to his divine authority through the infallible 2020 vision God supposedly gave him.
For Pringle to claim God gave him a divine vision and strategy to fulfill but has the audacity to twist his God’s Word like this is satanic. This was not an accident. This was scripted. This was a deliberate tactic to con people to side with his vision.
Using Nazi ideas – the volk
Furthermore, God can’t fulfill His vision without your help! You must help God! Pringle says, “Just believing that this vision is going to happen wont make it happen. This vision calls for action. It calls for people to step out. It calls for sacrifice. It calls for stretching. It calls for raising ourselves up to a level we’ve never been to before.”
Behind all this vision talk is a very Hitler-esque push. Pringle is elevating and attributing a human ‘power’ or a ‘force’ to God. According to Pringle this, “momentum [that] turns a small snowball into a massive avalanche” is the “great power of God”. No. This is volkism. A Nazi philosophy. In Hitler’s work “Mein Kampf” (1923), he let us understand some key points what the ‘volk’ was and how the ‘volk’ worked. Here is a good summary of the volk:
In his book ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My Struggle’) published in 1923, Hitler set out quite clearly his political ideas. They can be summarised as follows:
… Mankind’s natural unit is the Volk, or people, of which the German Volk is the greatest.
The state only exists to serve the Volk, and both morality and truth are to be subservient to this principle.
The Volk must be headed by a Fuhrer, or leader, who must have absolute authority.
Hitler says about the leader of the volk,
“In that way an eternal ideal, which has everlasting significance as a guiding star to mankind, must be adapted to the exigencies of human frailty so that its practical effect may not be frustrated at the very outset through those shortcomings which are general to mankind. The exponent of truth must here go hand in hand with him who has a practical knowledge of the soul of the people, so that from the realm of eternal verities and ideals what is suited to the capacities of human nature may be selected and given practical form.”
So are we really seeing a move of God Pringle? Or are we seeing you behave like a “social architect”, to construct a volk for your own personal interests? Isn’t God communicating to you the “language of the Holy Spirit to reveal [His] blueprints for what He wants to build”? Or are you playing with peoples ideals to manipulate them to further your agendas? Jesus Christ said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
What then does Jesus tell us to do?
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
We are seeing the reverse with the 2020 vision. God supposedly has bent the knee to Pringle and given Phil the authority in heaven and earth through the “2020 Vision” to make people and churches join his volk (“the great power of God”).
Pringle is not saying the “power of God’ is emphasised through the preaching of the gospel which proclaims that Jesus is The Power and The Authority of God personified. Instead Pringle is pushing the idea that thy volk is truth and power, insisting that you be “part of the history making group of people that are changing planet earth as we fulfill the 2020 Vision”.
Can you see what is taking the focus now? Not Christ and his great commission. The focus is now on Pringle, his 2020 vision and those who bend the knee to it in his movement. Pringle’s battle cry is for you to be part of a history making crew that are changing the world because they are fulfilling the 2020 Vision.
So it should be established that Pringle is using clever marketing gimmicks and lies to deceive his congregation into accepting his fuhrer’s vision. This is man is making his own church with out God’s Spirit. Pringle is teaching the power of God is emphasised through the volk under his “god-given” vision and “god-given” strategy.
A Demonic Faith
The scriptures make it clear that it is God alone that gives us the faith to believe through Christ. Not so with Pringle. Pringle says,
VISION BUILDS FAITH
“Vision from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul. As soon as we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible.”
However, the writer of Hebrews doesn’t tell us to look to visions to build faith. Nor does the writer tell us that visions “from God always boosts faith from the inside of your soul”. Nor does the writer say that when “we hear the magnitude of what God is calling us to do, we find faith rising on the inside that this is possible”. Instead, we read this:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Whatever gave this vision and teaching to Phil Pringle is not of God. Phil Pringle has replaced God with himself, speaking his own CEO vision to condition people and control them for his own agenda. Let us be clear: when Phil Pringle is speaking the vision to his congregation, they are NOT hearing “the magnitude of what God is calling [them] to do”. They are not “faith rising on the inside”. Instead, scriptures CLEARLY say this:
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
This vision is nothing but a “weight” which members at C3 should “also lay aside”. Hopefully we have made it clear that this is Pringle’s vision – not God’s. This vision is nothing but a godly facade hiding the fact that:
Pringle is calling YOU to action.
Pringle is calling YOU to step out.
Pringle is calling YOU to sacrifice whatever it takes to accomplish his desires.
This is very different to what we see Luke observing in the early church.
” … the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” – Acts 2:47
As Paul said to the church in Galatians:
“Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”
Is your Jesus INCLUSIVE? Do angels fly on your prayers? Are your prayers so powerful that they activate the energy of angels? Does YOUR worship have the power to write the story of your life? Did you know that your worship is outworking YOUR salvation story?
Do your prayers open heaven? Do your works trigger god to make your dreams come true? Did you know that the Kingdom of God is open for business to fulfill your dreams? Can you bring a part of heaven to earth? What if every day you could find a secret place that unlocked the power of heaven in your own life and in your home? With a mighty brush and an outstretched arm, do you believe Pringle can force the Holy Spirit to invade Sydney and his Presence Conference?
Well if you somehow think this nonsense has anything to do with Christianity, then the Presence Conference 2014 is perfect for you.
Recently, we have analysed the C3 brochure for Presence Conference 2014. In this brochure, C3 and its speakers invite you to worship a convoluted new age deity that seems to be more obsessed over your selfish desires. (There does not seem to be an emphasis on the crucified and risen Jesus.)
With all the talk of “igniting personal revival that builds the Kingdom of God” you should be excited! When Phil Pringle states that “the entire experience has been created with you in mind”, he REALLY has you in mind! He wants to shame you into worshiping so he can get your cash.
With Kong Hee hanging out in the Singaporean courts to see if he will be convicted or not, Giglio caught in the crossfire for compromising Christianity in his home country, Houston bumbling on Allah and the Christian God being the same God, why go to Phil Pringle’s Presence Conference? You’ll only find Phil’s three spotlight speakers provide entertaining ‘stuff’ that you will probably forget about in a week or two.
Here is Phil Pringle’s Presence Conference 2014 brochure. Can you imagine the Apostles advertising a Christian event like this?
Here is side 1. Click the image to see a bigger version of the brochure. We will provide the information on the relevant pages even though you can access this same information from the PresenceConference website.
Page 3
THERE IS NOTHING THAT COMPARES TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
OUR HOPE for this conference is that you would experience an encounter with Jesus Christ and there would be an afterglow that remains long after the last session closes. A touch of Heaven that shines light into darkness, despair and discouragement. That Jesus would be lifted high and glorified and the message of inclusion, reconciliation and salvation – when love came down from Heaven with the gift of eternal life – brought to the ends of the earth.
OUR PRAYER is that we would worship together under an open Heaven and see things that we’ve always dreamed of but never believed could actually take place, and to people who never thought they could happen to them. And it will only happen when we join together and pray. God says “If you pray… I will hear in Heaven and heal the land… I will pour out my Spirit on all people”.
OUR INVITATION to you, is to do whatever you can to join us as we spend 4 nights and 3 days in the Presence of our magnificent God at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, igniting personal revival that builds the Kingdom of God. The entire experience has been created with you in mind and the schedule is specifically designed to give you time to breathe, with each session not starting till the afternoon so you can truly be refreshed! Also, our children and youth have their own tailored conferences – complete with praise, worship and international guest speakers – so while you encounter God so will they.
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Here is side 2. Click the image to see a bigger version of the brochure.
Page 1:
WORSHIP
CELEBRATION
LAUGHTER
FAMILY
UNITY
PROPHESY
CREATIVITY
INSPIRATION
TRUTH
REFRESHMENT
ENCOUNTER
MIRACLES
WONDER
Page 2:
Phil and Chris “The place of agreement is the place of power, the place of unity is the place of anointing, the place of fellowship is the place of salvation. Millions of angels are waiting for the Church to pray so they can fly in on the power of those prayers and through the spirit of worship activate their energy, raise their bows, bring forth swords, spread their wings and rescue people all over this city. Heaven meets earth.”
Louie Giglio
“I want you to know that today Heaven is open. Today God is alive. Today God is at work. Today God’s grace is enough and His reach is enough to take anybody from anywhere and bring them all the way to the place that He has always dreamed for them to be. There is enough mercy. There is enough power in God today – right now! Heaven is open people! And the Kingdom of God is open for business.”
Kong Hee
“Heaven – the dwelling place of God; the residence of God; a place where His PRESENCE can be found. This is none other than the house of God, the gateway into heaven! Heaven meeting earth is found in the Church, in the gathering of believers. Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them’.”
Rev Canon J. John
“The Lord taught us to pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven’ and we know in heaven there is no pain and sickness and it is filled with the sacredness of God. My wife Killy and I are pumped up with anticipation and expectation to soak in His presence and discover His healing.”
Brian Houston
“We worship a risen and reigning King, a powerful God and a personal Saviour. Salvation is God’s restorative work – and our worship is a partnership with God in that work. Worship has the power to write the story of your life. Just as your soul longs for God, so our worship is outworking our salvation story.”
Page 4:
PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY AGED KIDS ARE IN FOR AN OUT-OF-THIS WORLD EXPERIENCE AT PRESENCE KIDS THAT WILL BECOME ONE
OF THE MOST MEMORABLE WEEKS OF THEIR YEAR! THERE IS NOT ONLY LOADS OF FUN, GAMES, ACTIVITIES, SHOWS, RIDES AND
THE CHANCE TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS ALL UNDER THE BIG TOP, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND TIME WITH GOD IN POWERFUL
WORSHIP! THIS YEAR WE ARE DISCOVERING THE PLACE WHERE HEAVEN MEETS EARTH AND HOW IT ALL BEGINS IN THE LIVES OF
OUR KIDS! IT IS GOING TO BE SPECTACULAR AND WE ARE SO EXCITED TO EMBARK ON A MARVELLOUS ADVENTURE TOGETHER!
THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD, A PLACE WHERE FEAR, SICKNESS AND SADNESS ARE NON EXISTENT, IT IS CALLED HEAVEN.
IT IS OUR FUTURE AND OUR FINAL HOME.
BUT WHAT IF WE COULD BRING A PART OF HEAVEN TO EARTH?
WHAT IF EVERY DAY WE COULD FIND A SECRET PLACE THAT UNLOCKED THE POWER OF HEAVEN IN OUR
OWN LIVES, IN OUR HOMES AND IN OUR SCHOOLS?
WHAT IF WE COULD BE COURAGEOUS, AND NOT FEARFUL, JOYFUL, AND NOT SAD?
WHAT IF WE COULD EXPERIENCE HEALING AND MIRACLES?
WHEN WE HAVE FAITH WE CAN ACCESS THE POWER OF HEAVEN, THE EXPERIENCE OF HEAVEN STARTS HERE.
Page 5:
PRESENCE YOUTH IS FOR THOUSANDS OF YOUTH AGED GRADE 6 — 12 AND YOUTH PASTORS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE TO GATHER TOGETHER TO BE IGNITED IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW! THIS YEAR, WE ARE WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE AND TRANSFORMING THE VENUE INTO A PLACE OF ENCOUNTER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHERE ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CENTRESTAGE.
WITH RETURNING SPECIAL GUEST CHAD VEACH AND NEW VOICE LOUIE GIGLIO, PLUS THE PRESENCE YOUTH TEAM, OUR PRAYER IS THAT EACH YOUNG PERSON WOULD EXPERIENCE THE SIMPLICITY OF INTIMACY WITH GOD, THE DELIGHT OF BEING IMMERSED IN HIS PRESENCE AND THE EMPOWERMENT TO LEAVE THEIR MARK ON TODAY.
THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE WOULD BE EQUIPPED FOR THEIR FUTURE AND INSPIRED TO CARRY HIS POWER TO A WORLD IN NEED.
PRESENCE YOUTH REGISTRATION IS ONLY $69 AND THIS INCLUDES ENTRY INTO THE DEDICATED PRESENCE YOUTH SESSIONS AT OUR SECURE VENUE DURING THE DAY, SUPERVISION FROM OUR DEDICATED TEAM OF YOUTH LEADERS, WORSHIP, WORD, MINISTRY TIME, ACTIVITIES, GAMES, AS WELL AS ENTRY INTO THE PRESENCE NIGHT SESSIONS.
JOIN US AS WE SEE THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST GLORIFIED. WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!
JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND FOREVER. HEBREWS 13.8
Michael Horton (radio presenter of the White Horse Inn), offered this timely advice:
“This is another reason folks why you should not get your theological definitions from blogs. Go to the confessions. Not everybody has a confession. If you want to know what Lutherans believe go to the Book of Concord. If you want to know what reform Christians believe, go to the Three Forms of Unity or the Westminster Standards. If you want to go to what Calvinistic Baptists believe go to the Philadelphia Confession of faith.” – Michael Horton, WHI – 1104 | Antinomianism (Part 1), http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2012/06/03/whi-1104-antinomianism-part-1/, 03/06/2012.
Click below to read the different confessions of the Christian faith:
Being able to define what we believe is very important. It helps us understand our faith and be able to give an answer to questions … we get asked questions all the time, usually by people who have very little idea who Jesus is.
Mark Kelsey once preached about Jesus reading the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue (Luke 4). At some point in the sermon Kelsey had the following brainwave about Jesus being raised in the synagogue/church.
Kelsey raises a good point. Can you imagine a pastor raising up the Son of God in their synagogue? Wouldn’t Jesus be critical of the pastor preaching poorly? Wasn’t Jesus adamant against the blind teachers that did not see that the scriptures pointed to him?
In Luke 4, Jesus WAS critical of the congregation. He dared to criticize the people’s unbelief and rejection of his Messiahship. As a result of this, the people tried to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff.
According to Pringle, Jesus fails to live up to Pringle’s definition and standard of faith. If someone is critical of Pringle and his PMA posse of pastors, they are not tolerated. Consider how intolerant Pringle becomes when people criticise his pastors:
“DON’T you DARE criticize and pull down your pastor or anybody else around here! If you want to do that, just go now! We’re having too much fun to have the critics and the miserable people around! Just leave now!” – Phil Pringle, “God Creates With Words” // Dr. Phil Pringle // 02.12.12, Vimeo, http://vimeo.com/37288145, Uploaded by C3 Church San Diego, 22/02/2012.
To read more instances where C3 does not tolerate people like Jesus who have a lower Positive Mental Attitude than Pringle, read our article here:
Around the world for almost ten years, Phil Pringle has been promoting his 20/20 Vision. While we do not believe this vision is from God, we think it is necessary to see if Phil Pringle is indeed fulfilling the vision that ‘God’ gave him.
In this article we wish to document Pringle’s emphasis of PLANTING churches by the year 2020. We apologise to readers in advance if what is stressed in this article becomes monotonous. Hopefully, you’ll understand what we’re trying to establish in articles to come.
PLANTING 1000 CHURCHES BY THE YEAR 2020?
CHC’s propaganda paper, City News reports (emphasis ours):
C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches was founded by Phil Pringle.
Pringle and his wife, Christine, started C3 Church in 1980 in Sydney, Australia, today, one of the most exciting and influential churches in the Asia Pacific region. Pringle’s 2020 vision is to plant 1,000 churches in 15 regions by the year 2020. This has resulted in a global movement of vibrant churches, which have been birthed as a result of his leadership and vision. Today, Pringle maintains an uncompromised passion to see cities changed by a contemporary, relevant and anointed church.
In another article, the CHC propaganda agent reports that the 2020 Vision is “to see 1,000 churches planted by the year 2020”.
“From Aug. 23 to 26, 1,800 pastors, itinerant ministers and full-time church employees from 22 nations gathered at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the tri-annual C3 Church Global Conference.
Last held in Hawaii in 2005 with an attendance of 1,100 people, the conference is part of the C3 Church movement started by Phil and Christine Pringle, senior ministers at C3 Church Oxford Falls, in Sydney, Australia. Its vision, termed “Vision 2020” is to see 1,000 churches planted by the year 2020 with an average attendance of 500 members.
Through Vision 2020, the C3 movement has grown from 71 churches in 2000 to over 300 today; from five nations in 2000 to 35 nations today, riding on an escalating momentum of revival around the world.”
In 1980, a young couple from New Zealand arrived in Sydney with their family and the vision to start a church.
Ps. Phil and Chris Pringle held their first service with just 12 people attending, but by the mid 1980’s it had grown to over 500 people. They began to start other churches and soon independent churches also joined. As the number grew, the collection of churches became known as the Christian City Church movement (now called C3 Church).
Initially C3 began planting churches around Sydney but then expanded across Australia and then the world. Currently, C3 Church has over 230 churches worldwide – in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Region, Asia, Africa, Europe and North & South America.
The 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and C3 understands that to achieve this it must connect people to God, connect people to people and empower people for effective, joyful service.
Our History
C3 ChurchinRaleigh is a part of C3 Church International, a global movement of churches started by Ps. Phil and Christine Pringle, with a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches with an average membership of 500 by the year 2020.
We believe in faith, hope and love, a bright, colorful, positive and encouraging church atmosphere
a church that the unchurched are attracted to, filled with music, light, supernatural happenings,
vision, purpose, loving people, and great preaching.
We are irreverent, risky, fun, conservative, serious and holy.
We love people. We love each other. We really love God, and He loves us.
The above blurb helps us identify what C3 means by ‘plant’ when they say that Phil and Chris Pringle had “a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches”. The concept that is being articulated is similar to a seed. You plant a seed in the ground and it grows or builds up over time. Likewise, Pringle’s ‘vision’ gives people the idea that C3 plants a few people in a particular location and over time it grows or builds up to be a church. This concept is important for our readers to grasp.
Similar information is recorded on the C3 Winchcombe website:
“C3 Church Winchcombe is a part of C3 Church Global, an international movement of churches started by Ps. Phil and Christine Pringle, with a vision to build 1,000 vibrant local churches with an average membership of 500 by the year 2020.” – Let’s Introduce Ourselves, http://www.c3winchcombe.org.uk/about.html, Accessed 10/01/2012.
We can conclude that there is a template for other C3 churches to use on their websites, communicating that the Pringle’s want to plant and build 1,000 churches by the year 2020.
If we now go to the c3iglobal website we read the following,
“Our vision for C3 Church is to see 1000 Churches planted by the year 2020 with an average attendance of 500 members.” – 2020 Vision, C3 Church Global, http://c3churchglobal.com/cms/2020-vision. (Accessed 14/06/2013.)
Phil Pringle says in his personal bio on his very own C3 Church Oxford Falls website,
“My wife, Chris and I, with the kids and some good friends came to Sydney in 1980 to start a church. We had 13 people at our first service but the congregation grew rapidly and we moved buildings, bought land and built a school. We began planting churches around Sydney, then Australia, then the world; we now have close to 300 congregations in our movement. Our 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and we’re on target to meet this.” – About Phil & Chris Pringle, http://www2.myc3church.net/category/about-phil-chris-pringle, Accessed 30/07/2013. (Emphasis added.)
The C3ChurchGlobal website states:
“C3 Church is a place for life development. Our aim is to maximize people’s potential and help them live their best life.
Our vision is that the Church glows with the Glory of God, that men and women become disciples of Christ, and that they encounter the Presence of the Holy Spirit—they find LIFE!
This is an exciting time for C3 Church. We have a global view and perspective. We know who we are and where we’re going. Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The one Kingdom that will endure and has endured is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Our true north is the salvation of lost people.
We will continue to plant churches all over the world so God can be found and lives transformed for eternity. By the year 2020, we will see 1000 C3 Churches in cities all over the world.
This is our movement of awesome churches—C3 Church” – Our Story, About C3 Church, http://c3churchglobal.com/about-c3church, Accessed 30/07/2013. (Emphasis added.)
There is a lot of stuff that is wrong in the above statement which we will hopefully address in another article. However, it is emphasised again that Pringle wants to 1000 C3 Churches all over the world. His 2020 Vision is about PLANTING churches. Not rebranding churches, not converting a person who feels they have a church inside them.
Pringle has centered his C3 movement identity around the vision God gave him of ‘planting’ 1000 C3 Churches. If this is the vision God gave Pringle, you would expect Pringle to remain faithful to it right? Our next article will demonstrate that Pringle has been purposely deceptive about his 2020 Vision campaign.
We will end with what Phil Pringle says on his official Facebook page:
About
The official page for Phil Pringle.This page will not ask for any form of donation.If you receive a solicitation, pls contact rebekah.faith@myc3church.net
Biography
Phil Pringle is the Founder and President of C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches, and the Senior Minister of C3 Church in Sydney Australia. Phil and his wife, Christine, started C3 Church in 1980 and it is now one of the fastest growing, exciting and powerful churches in Australia. An entire global movement of vibrant churches has been birthed as a result of Phil’s lead…ership and vision as he maintains an uncompromised passion to see cities changed by a contemporary, relevant and anointed church. Phil’s dynamic and relevant preaching has made him a much sought after speaker in both Christian and secular contexts, particularly in the areas of faith, leadership, ministry of the Holy Spirit, church building and kingdom principles of finance and giving.
My wife, Chris and I, with the kids and some good friends came to Sydney from New Zealand in 1980 to start a church. We had 13 people at our first service but the congregation grew rapidly and we moved buildings, bought land and built a school. We began planting churches around Sydney, then Australia, then the world; we now have close to 300 congregations in our movement. Our 2020 Vision is to plant and grow 1000 churches and we’re on target to meet this!
We’ve started C3 College for Ministry, Creative Arts and Counselling, as well as a television program and Oxford Falls Grammar School, all on around 25 acres at Oxford Falls.
I’ve always been passionate about the arts playing a major role in church to make her contemporary and relevant to the current world. Our Creative Arts stream has developed and graduated thousands of musicians, worship leaders, song writers, graphic artists, dancers, actors and film makers. I myself paint and exhibit around the world. I also love to write, so I’ve mixed these two elements together in books like Inspired to Pray, But God and 24 Hours That Saved The World – The Gospel of John in Art. My other books include Faith, Moving in the Spirit, Leadership Excellence, Financial Excellence, Leadership Files and You the Leader.
My great love is the local church. I believe she is the hope of our world today. When she functions in the power of the Holy Spirit and lives on the Word she will thrive. See you in Church!
We originally were going to publish a long-winded response to all the misleading and deceptive comments Phil Pringle made in the below transcript. However, we wish to frame the below transcript with the motivations of Sun Ho and the Cross Over project.
Pastor Sun Ho said the following about her music album release which featured her song China Wine:
“I’m really excited about this album, because I feel like it really represents me even though it’s in English.” [Source]
“Wyclef was so amazing! He would pick up his guitar and we started just writing the song and we call it “China Wine… I want to work with the choreographer to come up with “China Wine” dance steps and stuff. Seriously, I can’t wait to grow in America and I can’t wait for people to see me…” [Source]
Here is Pastor Sun Ho’s music video clip China Wine. Ask yourself this question, can you see this video clip convicting people of their sins and as a result. repent and turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins?
Keep this information in mind.
On the 9th of June, Phil Pringle said the following (transcript below):
“Anyway – ah, when I’m in Singapore, generally Pastor Kong and Sun are not cos they are out, just ah, staying in the Asian Christian community preaching and – ah, making sure that everybody knows they’re still alive, ah- facing a lot of challenges, a lot of battles. A lot of people who um- you know have ah have ah – taking sides against them and- And ah- people just love to be critical. And you know, ah, there are times-ah with believers, I’m not sure if I care if they were right or wrong and- and in this case, this- this couple are the two of the most holy people I know. And I get convicted when I am around them. And I am a very holy person and ah – [audience laughs]. Anyway, I-I-I will ignore the fact that you laughed then. Amen! Ha ha ha!
So- ha ha hum! Uh- Just ask my wife how holy I- no don’t! And uh- yeah so- we um- anyway we were up there in ah- Singapore treading the wi- ONE OF THE THINGS- i- it’s a horrible if you are treading the wine press all on your own. And uh- to have some friends with you- even if, you know- uh- a- e- i- I like – I like the fact that Jesus stood with us even when we weren’t that great. I know most of you have- have been really great people all your life and done bad. But I’m glad he’s still with me anyway when I- met my moments of challenge and difficulty.
And even if you’re right, you know and ah- a- in- to- to be persecuted for that is a challenging thing.
Now this church is one of the greatest churches in the world. If I was to pick five great churches in the world, this would be one of them. In the whole world. This church is impacting nations, like taking the population ratio of Taiwan from two percent to ah- ten per cent oh- a- over a period of ten years. Ah- Astonishing results in many, many Christian- ah, in many, many ah- Asian nations in ah- Christian concerts that Sun was performing in, about a hundred and ah- ten concerts. In- In those she had about a hundred and forty thousand people come to Christ. So that was the purpose of um- them, as a church- ah- boosting that- ah – singing career. And ah- so anyway- ah- apart from all that fact, we are great friends of this church and are standing with them, seeing them ah- through this incredible challenge they are facing at present. And uh- they’ve had some good news in this last week, even though the pressure is still on- eh- eh- at an equal level. But I just wanted to play a little clip from last weekend when I was with him. Thanks guys!”
[Plays Video]
Amen! Well, the Pastor of that church is gonna be speakin’ at Presence Conference next week. Kong Hee. And the Advisory Pastor will also be speaking at that conference next week. Amen! So ah- it is going to be such an astonishing time. One of the reasons I show you that- just to get a visual of what this church is going to look like in a few years time amen! And ah- Presence will help us get to that place as we keep moving!
That’s one of seven services they have over a weekend. They also have Chinese and Indonesian services. Ah- but um- that one is actually the smaller of the two weekend services. Um- English speaking services. The night before is the Saturday night one which is the largest service during the week. And uh- that’s exciting though every time I get in amongst their great church and feel the power of their prayer life, their discipline and ah- and moving forward. And no wonder the- the devil has done everything he can to try and oppose them.
We’re gonna see revival around all the nations of the world, every tip where there’s a C3 Church- next week we are upgrading and going up a level, without any doubt at all.” – Phil Pringle, C3 Church Oxford Falls, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiKrMwtZGSk.
To understand what happened prior to this transcript, please read the following article:
C3 Church Watch 