Pastor Phil Pringle of C3 Church Oxford Falls, is on the ‘Church Growth International’ (CGI) board with Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest Church. Alongside other CHC staff or members, Kong Hee is facing charges of mishandling church funds of up to S$50 million. The CGI was founded by David Yonggi Cho (of Yoido Full Gospel Church). David Yonggi Cho is under investigation for mishandling church funds of up to US$14.72 million. Also on this board is Pastor Alex Abraham of Bethany Church, Indonesia.
City News reported in 2010,
“To introduce Cho, Dr. Paul Kim, executive director of CGI, took to the stage to introduce the Korean pastors and disciples of Cho, calling them his spiritual children. He introduced the board members from CGI who were present, among them Phil Pringle, Prince Guneratnam, Richard Bernal and Ken Eldred. Kim also announced that Alex Abraham from Indonesia had been invited to join them as the newest board member.” – By Sharon Chew, Asia Conference, The Memory Of The Cross, City News, http://www.citynews.sg/2010/06/the-memory-of-the-cross/, Posted on 05/05/2010. (Accessed 06/05/2013.) (Emphasis ours.)
As a new member of CGI, it appears Phil Pringle decided to speak at Pastor Abraham Alex Tanuseputra’s church.
30th May 2010
Ps Phil speaking for Dr. Alex Abraham’s
Bethany Graha Nginden, Surabaya Indonesia
6.30am, 9.30am, 1.30pm, 5.00pmJl.Nginden Intan Timur I/29 Surabaya Jawa Timur Indonesia Ph: +62 31 5936880 www.bethanygraha.org
Pastor Abraham Alex Reported for Embezzling Rp 4.7 Trillion [~US$ 500 million]
Who could have guessed and predicted that a priest’s great name could be held as a guarantee for being free of financial problems? Pastor Abraham Alex Tanuseputra, who has recently been glorified as the founding father of Bethany Church, allegedly embezzled Rp 4.7 trillion from Bethany’s congregation. “I have consulted at the Indonesian National Police Headquarters level. From the data that I have already presented to the investigator, Pastor Abraham Alex is not only suspected of embezzling the church’s funds, but there is also a strong indication that he’s involved in money laundering,” expressed George Handiwiyanto, SE, SH, MH, to the Special Police Criminal Investigation Directorate for the East Java area.
George predicts that this criminal report against Pastor Abraham Alex will take the public by storm because that person is a pastor. “The congregation’s money is given to God and not for personal expenses or even distributed to family members,” expressed the lawyer who is also a Christian. He emphasizes that this criminal report is to remind all those who manage the finances for congregations of any religion to be trustful and to not use it for business or family purposes. Asked whether the evidence related to these embezzlement and money laundering allegations were already prepared, George replied emphatically, “I am a servant of the Lord who demands truth and justice. So I do not mess around. Moreover, in the judicial system, the evidence must be prepared completely and accurately. Insha Allah, I’ll officially submit it soon to the investigators,” added the man who is known to enjoy entertainment, sports and social activities.
According to George Handiwiyanto, the scandal regarding the mismanagement of Bethany Indonesian Church’s funds, which is located in the residential area of Nginden Intan Timur, Surabaya, has been going on for quite some time. “In 2007, there were some rumors about it but my clients wanted to settle it internally as it was related to the church and its congregation. Since there had been no good faith from Pastor Abraham Alex, therefore to seek justice and the truth, in the end my client who is also a pastor reported this to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. However, Pastor Abraham Alex was not present during the arbitration. So now I escalate this to both the criminal and civil courts so people can learn that one can’t hide the truth regardless of how smart a person is” added this middle-aged man.
Pastor Alex Abraham Joint Sermon with Benny Hinn in Bethany Church Nginden Surabaya:
Source: By Ted, Church Pastor Embezzles 4.7 Trillion from Church Offerings, Pastor Abraham Alex Reported for Embezzling Rp 4.7 Trillion [~US$ 500 million], http://www.indoboom.com/2013/stories/church-pastor-embezzles-4-7-trillion-from-church-offerings.html, Thursday, February 21, 2013. (Accessed 06/05/2013.)
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.
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.
The famous preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,
“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.”
Do you think that a C3, CHC or Hillsong Pastor comes across more like an entertaining clown rather than a faithful shepherd? Chris Rosebrough from Fighting For the Faith wrote an exceptional article what the role of the pastor should be. Sadly, we do not know any C3 pastors or Hillsong Pastors who reflect the role of a proper biblical Christian pastor.
When you call these pastors out on their antics their responses are predictable and consistent and usually go something like this:
Example 1
Church Attender: Hey pastor, why don’t you ever preach exegetical sermons? I feel like I’m not being fed here because your sermons usually only contain 3 or 4 verses taken out of context in order to teach some relevant life principle.
Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you.
Example 2
Church Attender: Hey pastor, why did you have the worship team begin our Easter service with AC/DC’s Highway to Hell rather than a song proclaiming Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the grave? AC/DC is worldly at best and satanic at worst and that blasphemous song should not be brought into God’s house.
Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you. Church isn’t for the already convinced its for the not yet convinced.
Example 3
Church Attender: Hey pastor, why are you preaching about movies rather than preaching God’s Word like 2 Tim 4:1-3 commands?
Pastor: Why are you so selfish? The church doesn’t exist for you. It’s not about you. Our church exists for people who are not yet believers.
Notice that each time the pastor answers using the standard seeker-driven talking point and doesn’t answer the question but makes a blanket claim that the church doesn’t exist for believers and therefore the person asking the question is guilty of selfishly believing that the church exists for them.
Anyone who’s been railroaded by these tactics knows that something is way off about these claims being made by seeker-driven pastors but don’t exactly know how to put their finger on the problem or know how to put it into words. This post will help you do that.
Notice that every time the word pastor has appeared, thus far, in this post that I’ve bolded it and underlined it. That is to help you spot the irony of the statements being made by seeker-driven pastorsand that irony will help you identify the underlying error in their tactics and methodologies.
Here’s the irony…No where in scripture does it say that the church exists for unbelievers. BUT, there are clear passages that state that pastors and elders are to serve the church. Therefore, it is ironic and foolish for a pastor, whose job is to serve the church to justify methods that don’t serve Christians by claiming that the church doesn’t exist for believers.
Here are the key passages that address this topic. We’ll begin by first looking at the passages that discuss spiritual gifts. The reason for this is that the ability to teach God’s word is a gift given by the Holy Spirit to certain people within the body of Christ.
The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts is to Build Up the Church Not The World
The Bible teaches that God, The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different believers for the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4–7). Teaching is one of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to pastors and this gift is to be used specifically for believers.
“(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”
In clear and unambiguous language God states that shepherds (pastors) and teachers in the church exist to equip the saints (not unbelievers) and to build up the body of Christ (not the world). This is clear and irrefutable.
Those Who Have the Gift To Teach Are Commanded to Feed Christ’s Sheep by Teaching the Word of God
The duties of shepherds and teachers within the church are governed by the instructions given by Jesus Christ.
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him,“Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15–17)
Notice that in this passage Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to entertain goats or dazzle the world. Instead, Christ soberly and firmly reinstates Peter after he’d denied Jesus three times. And Peter was reinstated into ministry and that ministry was to shepherd and feed Christ’s sheep. These commands by Jesus to Peter stuck with him his entire life. Peter himself would later exhort elders (pastors) with these words:
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1 Peter 5:1–4)
This shepherding language is also use by the Apostle Paul when he addresses the elders of the Church of Ephesus. Here are Paul’s words of exhortation:
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd 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 20:28–31)
It’s clear from these passages that pastors are not literal shepherds and that Christians are not literal sheep. All of these images are metaphors that help create a mental picture of the difficult and sacrificial work of pastors. So, when Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep” what was Jesus referring to? What does a Pastor/Shepherd feed Christ’s sheep with?
The answer is simple, the Word of God, and two passages will suffice in demonstrating this fact:
“[Jesus] answered, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 3:14–4:4)
No commentary is needed for these verses because they clearly teach that God’s Word is ‘sheep food’ and that pastors are to be feeding the scriptures to Christ’s sheep.
The Bottom Line
The next time you hear a seeker-driven pastor attempt justify his shallow sermons and entertainment driven stunts by claiming that “the church doesn’t exist for believers”, kindly inform him that regardless of who the church exists for, his job exists to serve believers and Christ’s sheep and that if he won’t do his job that he’s rebelling against Jesus Christ Himself.
Source:Chris Rosebrough, For Whom Do Pastors Exist?, http://www.letterofmarque.us/2012/10/who-do-pastors-exist-for.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=for-whom-do-pastors-exist, 19/10/2012. (Accessed 23/02/2013.)
In the below quote, Pringle narcigetes 2 Samuel 30:6 to justify, explain and warn his congregation on some peculiar things. It is clear in his use of the text he seems to somehow see himself as a ‘king’ over his church and within the offline or online communities. To clarify, the New Testament does NOT teach that a pastor is a king, nor is Phil Pringle Jesus or Moses. If you have been reading the various articles on Phil Pringle here, it should be pretty clear he is clearly a false teacher and a false prophet. It is this type of person Jesus warns us against in Matthew 7.
In this article, we reveal Pringle provides some interesting information in a sermon he gave in 2011.
Pringle teaches that people in his church may “get wounded” and experience “distress” and “grief”. If it was the world persecuting the church that is understandable. However, Pringle provides the context of his warning. He says Christians in his movement could experience with other Christians (in or outside his movement) traumatic experiences that may test their loyalty to him and his movement. If it’s gossip this is understandable. However, once again – the point of controversy within the framework of his teaching evolved around him. Which leads to our next point.
Pringle reveals he has been approached by people who have said that they will “go to the newspaper”. He emphasises that he has heard people say this “many times” to him. This tells us that people HAVE expressed their concerns to him and he has rejected them, their reports or corrections. The result being, people have seemingly stated to Pringle they will “go to the newspaper” because issues were not personally resolved with Pringle.
Pringle alerts us to the fact he is aware what people are saying on Facebook and blogging communities about him and his movement. In June 2011, MyC3ChurchReview (MC3CR) was established around the time C3ChurchWatch started up. It is possible that Pringle may have been referring to the manager of the MC3CR site who also started a twitter account with about three followers. In spite of what is being said online regarding his teaching or practices, he has shown that he would rather mock them or ‘stone them’. This only goes to show Pringle refuses to be corrected or deal with certain false doctrines, his false gospel, scandals within his movement, bad behaviour or false methodologies.
Here is the transcript:
“The leader who had transformed their lives, turned them into men (feared by the entire country side)- now they want to stone him because they are in such grief because the “soul of all the people was grieved. Every man for his sons and his daughters.”
When people are upset they want to blame somebody. And, “Isn’t he the guy who led us down to do this battle down there? Let’s just stone him!”
It happens. It’s not- not uncommon. Moses. “Isn’t he the guy? Let’s stone him!” Jesus. “Let’s stone Him!” You know. These guys had a- they we’re always addicted to getting stoned. [Audience laughs] It’s like, “Let’s just stone him! Let’s just throw stones! Let’s gossip! Let’s go to the- let’s go to the newspaper!”
Argh! Golly! How many times I heard that? “I’m gonna get all the press down there and yuhyuhgruhyuh!” You think it doesn’t happen? There may even be a day when you’re tempted to think that because something happened when you want out to battle and family members or friends or yourself- you get wounded and you’re in such distress, such grief- that’s the moment where there’s deep loyalty tests.
And you find those moments in life! Everybody does! “I’m gonna Facebook them! Obladyuhyuhyuh!!!” “You wont like any of this on my blog baby! Iya-blurdludludludludle!!! Blog away!” Everybody can have a shot of being heard! I’m gonna tell the whole world, “You’ve got three followers on Twitter!” – Phil Pringle, Ps Phil Pringle: Prayer 4 – I Like People, http://www2.myc3church.net/videos/ps-phil-pringle-prayer-4-i-people, 77:01, C3 Oxford Falls, Sunday Night Service, 25/09/2011.
There is one last thing to consider. Don’t you think it’s odd that Pringle implies that he’ll only listen to you depending on how big your following is on twitter? What other standard must a Christian uphold so that Phil Pringle might listen to their concerns and act on them?
We’ll end with Mark Dever talking addressing the faulty ‘church growth’ standard and application that ministers like Pringle adhere too.
Pastor Nicholas Gervase Charmley and Chris Rosebrough weigh in on a bizarre sermon by Mark Kelsey. The sermon is titled, “The “I’m an Idiot” Revelation”.
In the past, Phil Pringle has stressed in leadership gatherings that he doesn’t want intellectual people in his movement. (He calls them “intellectual idiots”.)
Instead, Phil Pringle wants passionate people in his movement who can be shamed into worship, conform to his emotionally manipulated environments and groomed through crowd control methods. Read and watch the article below:
If you browse the articles on C3 Church Watch, you will be quick to discover how these emotionally controlled environments and dishonest giving sermons trick people into thinking they are giving money to God.
With the above information in mind, Mark Kelsey in the below sermon further convinces people that they should get the idiot revelation to keep them going to C3 church. You can hear Chris Rosebrough review this sermon by Mark Kelsey here:
NOVEMBER 16, 2012
CREFLO DOLLAR AND FACEBOOK CURSES
• Email
• Stylish Adult Baptism
• Creflo Dollar and Facebook Curses
• Franklin Graham Shocked by Cult Reference to Mormonism on BGEA Site
• Sermon Review The “I’m an Idiot” Revelation by Mark Kelsey, C3, Oxford Falls, Australia
Source: CREFLO DOLLAR AND FACEBOOK CURSES, Fighting For The Faith, http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2012/11/creflo-dollar-and-facebook-curses.html, 16/02/2012. (Accessed 02/02/2013.)
To show how absurd the theological teachings are of Mark Kelsey Mark said this:
“God’s aim for you and I is the glory of God. It’s not salvation. His aim for you is not salvation. Most Christians do not understand this. God’s aim for you is not salvation. Salvation is a means to an end. His aim for you is to restore you to His original intention, for you. He has an image of you that is so glorious. So His aim is that, ok. So there’s the aim: the glorious version of you. The ‘I’m no longer an idiot’ version of you.” – Mark Kelsey, Mark Kelsey – The I’m An Idiot! Revelation (Part 3 of 4), 3:15, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5-cHpfqTLQ, Uploaded by changefilm on Nov 28, 2008. (Accessed 16/11/2012.)
Gervase Charmley had this to say about Mark Kelsey’s comment:
“It has been said that “A difference that makes no difference is no difference at all”, and frankly it seems to me that is what is going on here. The problem seems to be that he has some idea of what “salvation” is that comes short of the fullness of it, and so he can say in effect “God’s aim for us as Christians is not salvation, but salvation”. Which makes no sense. It’s incoherent, that’s my thought on this.” – G.N. Charmley, 15/11/2012.
You can watch the original sermon here on youtube.
From ‘Fighting For the Faith’, Chris Rosebrough reviewed another sermon of Phil Pringle in late 2010. Tune in to the start of the review after the first hour in.
NOVEMBER 29, 2010
TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON EPISODE
• Granger says Healthy Churches Grow But….
• Patricia King’s Chia Pet Prophecy
• Melissa Fisher says God Believes in You
• 3rd Eagle Claims WWIII Has Begun
• Sermon Review by Phil Pringle, C3 Church, Sydney Australia
While ‘teaching’ in a C3 Leaders Meeting, Pringle shares a bit about his early church history. The corrector was probably annoyed that Pringle was making up his own mythological stories of the bible like we’ve previously documented here.
So how does Pringle deal with correction? He results to mockery. He chooses to ignore their correction and makes them look stupid in front of his leadership meetings. Clearly he hasn’t forgotten it. Pringle should still take the correctors advice while he still can rather than make people laugh at the corrector.
Whoever you are – thank you for trying to correct Phil Pringle. You’re not the first.
If you have also tried to correct Phil Pringle personally, please email C3churchwatch@hotmail.com. Please write to us your experience so we can publish it on C3ChurchWatch.
“If you are the Son of God, speak to these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:3
Jesus responded with the following.
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
Just like Satan, Pringle below is teaching the Body of Jesus Christ to speak to their difficulties to become mammon. In fact, we have written in the past how Pringle’s idea of faith is practically connected to the ‘faith’ of the occult.
This video reveals Pringle’s inept ability to handle scripture correctly to justify his pagan faith. Pringle reduces Jesus (the Word of God Himself),to a tool, wand, law and principle, to prophesy (to speak or confess) things into existence. It becomes evident that Pringle’s double speak reveals that his confession is “Jesus is law” not Lord. For someone who doesn’t “box God” or “limit God”, Pringle does a tremendous job of enslaving God to serve his lips and heart. (See more double-speak towards end of the article.)
To Pringle, Jesus is nothing but a pagan entity summoned to fulfill Pringle’s desires. D.R. McConnell and Hank Hanegraaf document how Word Of Faith heretics like Pringle deify man and reduce the sovereignty of Christ, their historical research linking these heretical teachings to the teaching one finds in the occult. As a result of Pringle’s occult teachings, Pringle’s mutilation of the biblical texts is horrendous.
Pringle’s use of John 1 is highly blasphemous. For a start we were never in the beginning with God. To allegorise John 1 to say our beginning is 2011 and we can have the laws of the Word to speak to our future is delusional at best. The use of these biblical passages are so rorted, it is hard to dispute rationally how Pringle is so inept. Nothing in John 1 supports Pringle’s claim that we are to speak to our new year beginnings to get the things we want in the future.
Pringle’s use of Mark 11:12-14; 20-25 is not teaching us to speak to our sickness and debts in ‘faith’. While Pringle also uses “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” (Proverbs 18:21), he treats this to be some kind of magic ritual to summon Jesus like a pagan God to do the things Pringle desires. But this passage simply talks about the influential power the tongue has over our lives and others so we can reap blessing or destruction.
Pringle also shamelessly Hebrews 10:23 here says, “Let us hold fast the confession” and then stops conveniently to continue shaping his loopy origami theology. What’s the context?
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:18-23
He is turned the church’s universal faith confession of Christ’s finished work into a money-grubby, confess-for-gain magic formula. He also unashamedly lies about what Jesus says in the bible. Jesus does not say, “You’re dried up from the roots.”
Different Spirit, Different Jesus, Different Message
Below is the transcript:
“This morning, I want to talk about creating a future. Not just trying to weather forecast what’s going to happen but actually making what’s going to happen, happen. You become partners with God in creating a future. And the greatest tool that I know for making that happen is prophesying.
One of the reasons the bible has- about one third of it’s statements are prophecies- or written by prophets, is because if they didn’t say it, it wouldn’t happen. God makes things happen through words. God created the universe through words. And at the beginning of a new year like 2012, in the beginning was the Word. Amen!
So I want us to be able to have in our lives . . . I believe in our lives we can have this Word. And we find this Word is God. That’s the amazing thing. When you speak the Word of God into a circumstance, you’re not just speaking words. You’re actually speaking God into a situation.
You can never afford to underestimate the power of your words. You have the power of life or death in your tongue. And one of the first things the devil will try and do in your world is destroy your confession or your profession, try and mangle your words or corrupt your speech so that you find yourself constantly complaining, declaring negative things about your life. “I’m to this, I’m too old, I’m too big, not skilled enough, that’ll never happen for me, this modemo [?] doesn’t work, my car’s so old, I never have enough money-“
People say that sort of stuff all day long and wonder why their lives are so awful You have got to change your mouth. You’ve got to let your tonguebe born again. I mean I know that the money issue is a big issue for some people but THIS is even bigger. I think it’s easy to convert my wallet than it is to convert my tongue. God is so specific about it all the way through scripture – ‘In the beginning’ of 2012, what are you going to prophesy about this year? What are you going to say? “Yeah I’ve tried that before but things went wrong.”
Did you keep on saying it? “No. I just agreed with the wrong things.” That’s called walking by sight not by faith. Cos you see the things that are going wrong and you’re saying, “All things are going wrong.”
You’re meant to walk by the Word Of God and speak what it’s saying, no matter how long it takes for that circumstance to conform to the reality you are speaking. Your reality is a higher reality then what’s surrounding you. It doesn’t negate it. I’m not talking about some denial or a Christian Science thinking where we don’t even acknowledge that there is evil. No there is evil. There’s things that go wrong. No denying that!
But you see, one law defeats another law in the worlds of God. Okay, their is a law of gravity. There’s a law of gravity. It’s very powerful law. It works all day long. It works as you get older in a very serious manner, amen.
There’s this gravity that pulls- keeps us on earth! It’s good. But it makes things fall. But you know? There’s a law of aerodynamics. You can overcome the law of gravity. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means you found a law that overcomes another law. And if you push the thing forward with a certain winged structure, you lift off and gravity has no power over you. You’ve beaten it.
[5:19] And so when you have things going wrong in your life, there is a law by which you can actually transform that thing. And that’s by understanding that in the beginning of anything that God does, is the Word. At the beginning. It’s the seed of your future.
The beginning of this year, 2012, make sure the Word, the Word of God is in your lips. and the Word about this coming year. OK. Now we suddenly go to a new word here. He was in the beginning. When Jesus was on earth, He went about doing good in healing all who were oppressed by the devil. [6:02] The Word is Jesus. It’s not an ‘it’. It’s ‘He’ was in the beginning with God.
[6:10] As soon as you start speaking the bible, the scriptures, into your circumstance, Jesus leaps out of your mouth and starts walking into your circumstance, casting out demons, healing the sick, stilling the storm, walking on water supernaturally, making things happen that wouldn’t happen unless you did it.
[6:31]Here’s the thing guys. When I first discovered this, which was nearly forty years ago, I- I was nervous about sharing it with anybody. Cos I thought, ‘If they get a hold of this, there will be too much competition. This is really good! It works! Aw! I’m not going to tell anybody! It’s like I got a secret here that-‘
The Lord said, ‘Share it and I’ll give you more’.
‘Alright.’ So I shared it. But I didn’t need to worry. I don’t need to worry at all. Cos nobody does it. You see cos you’re sitting here going, ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah’ but you’re going to walk out of here. You gotta do this!”
It’s not agreeing with me going, “Yeah! Amen! Wow! That’s powerful!
[8:00] “I’m talking about a thing called the Word of God. And it is more enduring and powerful than anything you’ve got within your reach. And when you start to speak that, you’re putting something into your world, into your future that is undefeatable because it’s Jesus Himself. And they tried to crucify him once. It didn’t work. He’s a get-up-and-go kinda guy. And he just got up out of that grave. Death couldn’t hold him. Sickness couldn’t hold him. Killing him couldn’t hold him. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your circumstance, it can’t hold you down if you’ll put the Word of God into your circumstance. Resurrection comes into your finances, comes into your family, comes into your home, comes into your people, into your work, into every area of your life.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Oh- now you got me going. . .
[10:04] All things were made by Him. Not evolved. They were made complete and finished. They were complete. We’re going the other way guys! We’re not going up. We’re gonna- the earth is going to fold up and all be gone. I- and you know I’m just grieving. If it was anybody, I would save the tigers. But the fact is, is- the deal is that the bible says, “Oh! It’s decaying. It’s physical. It’s got a lifespan. It’s got a shelf-life.” He says, “I’m making you a new eternal home.” And he only took six days with this one. He’s taken two thousand years with the other one. The new one. Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like? This place is pretty amazing.
So here He is. All things are made by Him and without Him, nothing was made that was made. Everything’s beautiful in the world. Jesus is beautiful. Mountains, oceans, bananas, pelicans, you. It’s all beautiful! Mostly. Amen! No, you are!
Without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life. The life was the light of men. Light shines in the darkness and the darkness didn’t comprehend it. Or in other versions, ‘did not overcome it’. All right!
So, God’s spoke and said, ‘Let there be light’. That’s how He did it. What are you going to prophesy over your year ahead? What are you gonna say?
And once you’ve stated it, Hebrews 10:23 here says, “Let us hold fast the confession-” that word is also profession, which is a Greek word: homologia. And that means to speak the same thing. I’m writing in tongues.
Let us hold fast the profession- hold it fast cos it slips away. Your salvation is based on this: “He who believes with his heart and confesses with his mouth, Jesus Christ is Lord shall be saved.”
And so here’s the thing. Once you’ve got this profession in your life. This confession of hope or this confession of faith, without wavering, you’ll discover that God is able to bring to pass the words you are speaking. When you combine what you are wanting to happen with God’s Word, you’ll find faith comes on the inside of you to actually bring it to pass.
Jesus did this . . . over in Mark 11 verse- when he’s speaking about a fig tree. It says, “Now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.” I mean, some of you got some stuff you needed dried up from the roots. But a- he says, “And Peter remembering him remembering him said, Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So Jesus answered him and said, Have faith in God. I say to you, Whosoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea; and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things that he says will come to pass; he shall have whatever he says.”
[13:28] The reason you need to hold fast the confessional profession of your faith, is because once you start speaking it, [it] doesn’t immediately appear to change anything. It’s not a Harry Potter magic wand thing. Woo! BAM!!! And it just changes.
When Jesus spoke to that fig tree nothing looked different. It looked exactly the same. The surprise was the disciples the next day saying, “Look! That fig tree’s now died!” It didn’t look dead yesterday the way- leaves are still waving in the wind. Your debts are hanging around in the wind. The sickness is still waving in the wind. Leaves are still there. The tree’s looking good. But Jesus said, “You’re dried up from the roots.” But it was still there. It still looked alive.
It took a day to take effect. If Jesus’ words take a day to effect, you should not be worried if something you’re saying is taking a year. Amen. He did live on a slightly different plain to the rest of us. So what you are saying with your mouth is forming your world. And if you are unhappy with your would as it is, the thing that changes is not to try to change your world but change the thing that’s making your world, which is your mouth. And you have complete control and government over that thing.
But you know, you know James says the tongue, is very hard to control. Slippery little sucker aint it and you know. Kay. It just comes out. And isn’t it awful when you something and you’re- and it’s gone out and you’re going, “I wish I didn’t say that.” And you want to pull it back. It’s a very powerful thing, your mouth. You don’t want to underestimate it and think, “I can say what I like. But God’s still bigger- He’s gonna make things happen. He’s given you laws to live by, principles to live by- and you can’t blame Him for stuff actually has comes out of our activities.
There’s no good- if you drive on the wrong side of the road and you have a smash, don’t go down to the Roads & Traffic Authorities saying, “Hey! I had a smash you guys!” They’ll say, “What side of the road were you driving on?”
“Well, I drove on that side. I just felt like I wanted to. You know. It’s my time to drive on the other side of the road.” Well that’s – you missed the point. We do it because it’s not our fault. We have got responsibility for saying, “You know what? I’ going to use my tongue as a powerful instrument for creating the future. In the beginning of 2012, I resolve inside my self, that I’m going to control this sucker. And I’m actually gonna bring about all kinds of beautiful things in my life because God has given me the power of creativity. I’m a child of a creator. [15:55] And in my life is the same genetic code that’s in His life. He created by speaking. I am- like a child of His, will create my world by speaking into it in Jesus name.” And every body said: Amen.”
Jesus is Pringle’s wand to get what he wants. His allusions to witch craft (Harry Potter) and Christian Science indicates he possibly knows what he is peddling. If he is dead honest in his confession that ‘God’ spoke to him about this ‘secret’ , then he has heard from a demon. Pringle’s faith is not taught in Christianity. But his teaching is promoted in the metaphysical cults and the occult. Ronda Byrne’s book, ‘The Secret’ reveals Pringle’s true spirituality. Read here.
If you follow this article, we record Pringle teaching people they are “involved with a person, not just a principle, living this Christian life is a whole lot different.” This is clearly double speak again.
Finally, to stress emphatically the source of this teaching, we would like to point out Pringle saying,
“When I first discovered this, which was nearly forty years ago, I- I was nervous about sharing it with anybody. Cos I thought, ‘If they get a hold of this, there will be too much competition. This is really good! It works! Aw! I’m not going to tell anybody! It’s like I got a secret here that-‘
The Lord said, ‘Share it and I’ll give you more’.”
Pringle indeed has “a secret”. Once you compare Pringle’s faith to New Age Rhonda Byrne’s ‘faith’ in her book ‘The Secret’ above, a plausible claim can be made that Pringle is receiving a demonic doctrine. Pringle has made a deal with a spirit that is not of God. This spirit is not the Holy Spirit. It is not God. Why? Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit,
“Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:7-12
The spirit Pringle got this ‘secret’ from simply reduced Jesus to a spiritual law, confined to a sinners lips. It glorifies the sinner and takes glory away from God. This spirit has convinced Pringle that he could be like Jesus and speak to his circumstantial stones to become mammon.
It is sad to see such a man applauded by a congregation who does not test his teachings against God’s Word. If you feel led, please pray for Phil Pringle and those in the C3 movement who are deceived by his false teachings.
Phil Pringle has often tried to dis-associate himself from the prosperity movement. Many people see Phil Pringle and his C3 Movement to be of the Word of Faith and Prosperity movement.
However, Pentecostalism and Word of Faith/Prosperity Movement are two different things. Many in the Pentecostal movement have embraced the teachings in the Prosperity Movement. Ph.D Professor of Bible and Theology John Wyckoff defines Pentecostalism as follows,
“… the twentieth-century Pentecostal movement has succeeded in restoring the experiential dimension of the Spirit’s dynamic presence to a significant segment of the church. Pentecostals believe that recovery of the doctrine and experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is comparable to the Reformation’s recovery of the doctrine of justification by faith.”1
With this in mind, this article points out Phil Pringle is a prosperity teacher and that his movement is part of the prosperity movement.
‘Prosperity doctrine’, ‘positive confession theology’, ‘faith-formula theology’. These are some of the terms used to describe a relatively new system of theology that has emerged from the Word of Faith movement, also called the Faith movement or the Word movement, that began in the nineteenth century and after its rise in the twentieth century has reached wide-spread influence within the Pentecostal movement and beyond. Prosperity theology is also strongly associated with the Divine Healing movement.
Current proponents of this movement in America include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps and Frederick Price. Prosperity doctrine is based upon a belief in the unified power of faith and the tongue. Faith is a confession; faith speaks (“I believed, therefore I have spoken.”) Also, words spoken in faith come to pass. According to this view, we create reality, whether good or bad, with the words of our mouths. Fear is negative faith. It is confidence in the certainty of a negative outcome. ‘What I confess, I possess’ is the view sometimes referred to as ‘now faith.’
Accordingly, there is available for the Christian supernatural blessing for their complete prosperity. ‘Prosperity’ is broad, encompassing all of life, including blessing mentally, physically, financially and socially. And it is immediately available for all Christians who follow the ‘laws of prosperity’ outlined in God’s Word, the Bible. This view also stems from a belief that a Christian’s inward and spiritual transformation will naturally result in an outward working that takes effect in every area of life. God’s blessing for Christians who lay hold of it is victory and overcoming in every sphere.
Generosity is encouraged as a key to financial prosperity, however such giving must be faith-filled to have a positive effect. The essential law of prosperity is the power that resides in the spoken word which will always precede from faith. Prosperity leaders and teachers would urge, ‘don’t pray the problem; speak the solution.’ ‘If you honour God, he will honour you’, in your business, your body, your exams. God’s goal for every Christian is success and abundance in all its forms.
The logical endpoint of this doctrine is what some Pentecostals insist: God’s ultimate goal for Christians is constant health, wealth and happiness. Where they fail to achieve this divine healing is a matter of expectation. However, God’s desire for Christians is that they do not suffer at all. This teaching insists that it is never God’s will for physical disorder or discomfort for any of his children, ever. For them, suffering occurs for Christians because of personal sin, even involving a simple lack of faith in God’s will to protect them from harm.
In Australia the growth of the prosperity movement, particularly within Pentecostalism, is largely attributed to the influence of the movement in America. Key leaders within Australian Pentecostalism have embraced the prosperity message in recent times, such as Brian Houston, who wrote You need more money (1999), urging readers to discover God’s “amazing financial plan” for their lives. Phil Pringle, another Pentecostal leader who is a key proponent of the prosperity gospel, wrote Keys to Financial Excellence, explaining how Christians could achieve financial success and freedom for themselves through the Biblical principles of prosperity.
What are the origins of the Prosperity doctrine? How far do the roots of Positive Confession theology go back and how has the Word of Faith movement developed over time to result in the current emphasis on abundant and prosperous living within Pentecostalism? This will be the topic of articles coming up.
[1] John W. Wyckoff (Ph.D., Professor of Bible and Theology, Chair, Church Ministries Division at Southwestern Assemblies of God College), Systematic Theology, Chapter 13 “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit”, Logion Press, 1995, p. 454.
C3 Church Watch 