On the plus side, at least Phil Pringle and C3 church are making headlines.
At the bottom of this article, we would also like to show you the absurdity of the defensive claims made by pastors that defend the integrity of Kong Hee and Sun Ho.
The Washington Times reports,
Singapore megachurch founder Kong Hee on trial in religious freedom test case
A.R. Bernard among supporters of City Harvest Church pastor facing corruption charges
Religious freedom? Or misuse of church funds? Those are the questions surrounding the ongoing corruption trial of a megachurch founder in Singapore who has won support from international religious leaders such as Pastor A.R. Bernard.
“Change is taking place in the nation [of Singapore] that is part of a bigger picture,” Mr. Bernard, founder of the 30,000 member-plus Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, said of Singapore’s charges against Pastor Kong Hee.
“We don’t pick and choose history. History happens when social, political, economic and even spiritual forces come together and effect change,” said Mr. Bernard, a staunch supporter of Mr. Kong.
In 2012 Mr. Kong and five other church members were accused of financial misdeeds, and the high-profile criminal trial has kept the 20,000-member megachurch under a cloud.
Last week a former church member who acted as an investment manager testified about an estimated $19 million in church-building funds that were used to buy investment bonds for two church-related companies that promoted the music career of Ms. Ho, the church’s music pastor, and another $21 million that was used to show that the bonds had been redeemed.
Prosecutors, who started investigating the church around 2009, say the investment companies and bonds were “shams,” and church elders are guilty of a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust with the building funds.
The church says the investment bonds were legitimate and returned to the church in full with interest, and no money was lost in the transactions.
Initial charges against Ms. Ho have been dropped. The six accused elders face up to 20 years imprisonment.
Prosecutors with the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force and the Office of the Commissioner of Charities are conducting the trial before Presiding Judge of the State Court of Singapore See Kee Oon. The judge ruled in May that a “prima facie” case of misappropriation had been made.
Mr. Kong’s international supporters include Pentecostal Pastor Mary Hudson, co-founder of the Keith & Mary Hudson Ministries in Santa Barbara, California, and mother of pop star Katy Perry; Paul Scanlon, founder of LIFE Church, a large charismatic-based congregation in Bradford, England; and evangelist Phil Pringle, senior pastor of C3 Church in Sydney, Australia, and an advisory pastor of Mr. Kong’s City Harvest Church. Each of them has traveled to Singapore to uplift the spirits of Mr. Kong’s congregation.
Pastor Casey Treat, who leads the Christian Faith Center in Washington with his wife, Wendy, said Monday that “Pastor Kong has been a great leader of the church in Singapore and an influence throughout the world.”
“I have never seen a compromise or unbiblical behavior. He and his family have been a blessing to our church in Seattle,” Mr. Treat said in an email to The Washington Times.
Mr. Bernard, who spoke to the Singapore church last week before returning home early due to an untimely death in his family, said: “I talked to them about looking at the big picture — that essentially we are part of something much greater than ourselves.”
The bigger picture, he said, is that Singapore’s religious freedoms are not identical to those in the U.S. Accepted practices here, such as churches and charities using their own films and “crossover artists” who perform religious and secular music for evangelism, are “strange” in Singapore, he said.
So when the Singapore church leaders chose to use Ms. Ho’s music for evangelism — she performed especially well in Chinese markets — and took steps to promote her, those actions were misinterpreted, Mr. Bernard said.
Mr. Kong has “made a few mistakes in judgment,” Mr. Bernard said without elaborating, but he “never did anything illegal, never did anything to the inurement of his own pockets or that of his wife.”
“His case is really setting precedent. It’s a test case” about government controls, Mr. Bernard said, noting that recent news articles have discussed the emerging influence of Christian churches in Singapore — where a third of the people are Buddhist — and have called for the government to restructure itself to be “sensitive” to special interest groups.
Singapore’s blogosphere has followed the trial with keen interest, remarking on everything from Ms. Ho’s up-and-down music career to the ethics of “mixing” secular and religious practices.
The prosecution’s opening statement in May 2013 “ridiculed” the church leaders’ contention that “pop music was a tool of evangelism that would help spread God’s message,” according to The Associated Press.
The “reason you were trying to sweep the transactions with [artist management company] Xtron under the carpet is because that’s what you do if your house is dirty and a visitor might be turning up unexpectedly,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong said to Mr. Kong when he took the stand in September, according to The Christian Post.
The 50-year-old pastor replied that after certain bloggers developed “misconceptions” about what they were doing with their popular Crossover Project, which featured his wife, the church members took steps to clarify the ties between the church and Xtron.
At least one defendant — former member Chew Eng Han — has distanced himself from Mr. Kong’s statements, saying he did not overrule the pastor in financial decisions, and the goal was to promote Ms. Ho.
A final ruling in the trial could come this summer.
Source: By Cheryl Wetzstein, Singapore megachurch founder Kong Hee on trial in religious freedom test case, The Washington Times, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/8/kong-hee-singapore-megachurch-founder-on-trial-in-/; http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/8/kong-hee-singapore-megachurch-founder-on-trial-in-/?page=2, Published 08/03/2015. (Accessed 09/03/2015.)
One of the most disturbing things about the CHC/Kong Hee scandal, is how C3 leadership are refusing to educate their movement on the revelations emerging in Singaporean court proceedings. Instead of waiting to invite Kong Hee to speak at their churches after the trial proceedings (and Kong Hee has been vindicated), C3 instead are inviting Kong Hee to speak at their churches and being less than truthful about Kong Hee to their congregations.
In the screen shot below, advertising Kong Hee speaking at C3 Mt Annan, the leadership are guilty of:
1. Lying about Kong Hee’s status (“hosting one of our generations greatest leaders”).
There is nothing ‘great’ about this man if you look at the hard evidence revealed in court and admire his greatness as a serious fraud. The scheming that he has been involved in since 2002 has left the Singaporean public ashamed of this man.
2. Lying about Kong Hee’s influence (“is a highly sought after speaker worldwide”).
The only possible reason why Kong Hee could be “highly sought” is because:
a) His mentors, Phil Pringle, Casey Treat, AR Bernard, John Bevere and Yonggi Cho deliberately mislead their congregations about the circumstances of Kong Hee’s trial and continue to invite him to speak the way C3 Church Mt Annan has.
b) Church leaders are simply ignorant of this man’s schemes at CHC.
Thanks to Christian radio, blogs, websites, forums and media, many Christian churches are beginning to ask the right questions and are not willing to be associated with Kong Hee and his church.
3. Lying about church attendance figures of CHC, (Kong has grown City Harvest Church Singapore to more than 32,000 attendees in 20 years).
The word games on this do not make the grade. This ‘propaganda’ has been promoted for years. Phil Pringle has no problem misleading his C3 Church movement over this issue. Back in 2012 and 2013, C3 advertised that Kong Hee had “grown his congregation to over 28,000 members through passionate prayer and discipleship”.
And now we are lead to believe that the church has grown to 32,000 attendees/members?
Why are C3 leaders and members allowing this misinformation(propaganda) to continue being promoted by their C3 church leadership? Why are not more Christians trying to contact Phil Pringle and ask him to be honest about Kong Hee? Why is it so important for Phil Pringle to keep lying about the Kong Hee?
4. Lying about Kong Hee’s church reputation, (“his Church is viewed as one of the largest, most vibrant and influential congregations in Asia today).
This is one of the biggest scandals to hit Singapore and its citizens are not happy with how long the trial is going. The reputation of Kong Hee and CHC is so bad that Phil Pringle and the C3 movement have to publicly lie to their movement to keep members from leaving.
Members of C3 should be terribly ashamed of the conduct, not only of Kong Hee but also Phil Pringle and the C3 leadership. When people are lied to so brazenly, they feel insulted, they feel betrayed and their faith in God can be terribly shaken. If you are a member of C3 Church reading this, we pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you to be a voice in the C3 movement about the conduct of the C3 leadership surrounding the Kong Hee scandal.
C3 MOUNT ANNAN ADVERT
C3 Church Mt Annan write,
On Friday 13th Feb at 8pm we have the incredible privilege of hosting one of our generations greatest leaders, Pastor Kong Hee.
Ps. Kong is a highly sought after speaker worldwide. Ps. Kong has grown City Harvest Church Singapore to more than 32,000 attendees in 20 years and his Church is viewed as one of the largest, most vibrant and influential congregations in Asia today.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to listen to an incredible speaker here in our very own church!
Source: February 2015, C3 Church Mount Annan, http://www.c3churchma.com/events/february-2015/, Accessed 25/02/2015.)
EDIT 25/02/2015: Furthermore, Chew Eng Han made this accusation to AR Bernard in an open letter for exaggerating CHC church figures on television:
“One of my specific concerns which I brought to you was the falsified attendance figures, which was claimed to be 33,000 instead of the actual twelve to thirteen thousand.” [Source]
It only goes to show how flippant with the truth these leaders are.
HOW KONG HEE IS GAINING FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR HIS LEGAL DEFENSE
We find the City Harvest Church scandal perplexing. Why are Singaporean authorities allowing Kong Hee to leave Singapore to resume ‘pastoral’ duties? This article will be examining how both Kong Hee and his Advisory Pastor Phil Pringle have been using churches outside Singapore to financially support Kong Hee’s legal battles.
We have been analysing Phil Pringle’s Presence Conferences and what Phil Pringle has been teaching us about Kong Hee’s circumstances.
Thanks to Phil Pringle, we have learnt how Kong Hee is gaining financial support for his legal battles. Earlier this year, Phil Pringle said the following:
“I was in Singapore last week ah- folks with our good friends Kong and Sun Hee, although they are very rarely there when I am speaking because it gives them a chance to get out amongst the Asian community or various parts around the world and share in churches their burden ‘n what they’re facing and keep support happening and maintain a healthier relationship and communion with the wider body. And so that’s part of the reason why I am able to go there and uh- and they’ve just had ah- one really interesting breakthrough in this last week where the Commission of Charities (that’s the organisation overseeing charities in Singapore) has exonerated Sun from all ah- all charges against her so-“
Why is Kong Hee leaving CHC to “share in churches their burden”? Why does he go to other churches to “keep support happening”? Why is Kong Hee heavily involved with Phil Pringle’s Presence Conferences? The answer is very simple.
Back in his 2011 Presence Conference, Phil Pringle prophesied over Kong Hee and then encouraged all the churches gathered to financially support Kong Hee. Not once was it explained to those who attended why he was under investigation. While encouraging people to give, take note what Pringle says,
“Then, I think it was even more for him. I can’t remember the figures. But I know that for- they had to raise seven million dollars for members of staff and others to travel. That’s just that area. If you’ve ever been to Singapore, you know how expensive this place is. To fight the case he has had to employ a legal firm. And I know what the bills are. They are nearly a million dollars each time they come. Between half a million and a million dollars each time those bills come. His church is not allowed to pay one cent of his personal cost that he is incurring in this battle. He has to find it himself.
He’s sold his house. He has scratched together everything he can. One of the things that I’m doing is going there. I’ve made a commitment to be there once every two weeks. Normally it ends up being once every three weeks because of a variety of commitments that I’ve already got and doing things. But when I’m gone, he’s able to travel. And when I’m there, he’s able to travel and preach and find support amongst Asia and other churches.
Uh- I know that he was finding it hard to put some money together to get a cup of Starbucks at one stage. And uh- it’s a challenge. There’s been new legislation passed on the use of commercial spaces in Singapore since this case has come. So the religio- the restriction on his church is severe, ah, in that area [inaudible] after their purchase, go into co-ownership with ah, SunTec. And we’re in there. I will be speaking there in a couple days time. I will be on Friday to speak there happily.” – Phil Pringle, http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=uwNignarJCg, Presence Conference 2011.
If it costs Kong Hee and his team “nearly a million dollars each time they come” to speak at Presence Conference, can you imagine how much Kong Hee is receiving in love offerings? Remember that when Pringle preaches at CHC it allows Kong Hee “to travel and preach and find support amongst Asia and other churches”. So why does Kong Hee travel if it is so expensive? Why go speak at a church event like Phil Pringle’s conferences? What does Kong gain? Pringle answers this above when he says,
“There’s been new legislation passed on the use of commercial spaces in Singapore since this case has come. So the religio- the restriction on his church is severe, ah, in that area [inaudible] after their purchase, go into co-ownership with ah, SunTec.”
What is this new legislation? We can’t find any specific information on this. However Phil Pringle stated,
“His church is not allowed to pay one cent of his personal cost that he is incurring in this battle. He has to find it himself.”
Does it make sense now? If new Singaporean legislation has established that City Harvest Church cannot support Kong Hee’s legal battles, it explains why Phil Pringle is speaking in Singapore so often. It allows Kong Hee to gain financial support from different churches around the world. It explains why Kong Hee is invited back to speak at Phil Pringle’s Presence Conference.
And guess what? Kong can say whatever he wants to whoever he wants… and get away with it. How would Singapore know what his agenda is in other countries? Who would bother keeping him accountable to what he says around the world?
Well we have all the audio we need to prove that Phil Pringle has been allowing Kong Hee to use his C3 Presence Conference to financially support Kong Hee’s financial battles. To confirm that Kong Hee is in fact receiving financial support from Phil Pringle’s C3 Movement, Kong Hee prayed the following at Presence Conference 2012 on the first night (not the opening night):
“Father I just pray even right now from the front to the back, from the left to the right, that tonight you move in a great way. Lord you know that it’s been a tiring time for the last twenty three months. For every step of the way, you’ve been with me, you’ve been with us. And Lord for all that C3 has poured into City Harvest Church, I pray that you multiply back to them, every church –every leader, thirty fold, sixty fold, a hundred fold for your glory we pray. Amen.” – Kong Hee, Presence Conference 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIYljvQ0G0: 18:11, Day 1.
In this prayer, Kong Hee acknowledges that “C3 has poured into City Harvest Church”. By ‘poured’ he means ‘financially poured’. If you are not familiar with the term “thirty fold, sixty fold, a hundred fold”, it is Word of Faith jargon that means financial multiplication. The idea is that if you give financially, god will multiply your returns supernaturally. The weird thing about this prayer is that Kong Hee said C3 poured money into City Harvest Church. Why does CHC need the cash? Doesn’t Kong need the cash?
While it is debatable if the money above went to CHC or to Kong Hee, the prayer above informs us that Kong Hee IS getting money out of C3 conferences for possibly his benefit. It could be debatable that the money above went to CHC or to himself.
Because Phil Pringle asked people to give money specifically to Kong Hee’s legal battles back in 2011, it is of our opinion that Kong Hee here in 2012 was acknowledging that he received this financial support, using his church as a safeguard rather than saying he received the financial support personally.
Furthermore, in this same sermon we also hear a very one-sided and propaganda-like presentation of Kong Hee’s situation. So we are seeing what Pringle has said about Kong Hee to be true. Phil Pringle’s Presence Conference was a place Kong Hee felt safe enough to “share… their burden ‘n what they’re facing and keep support happening”.
This sermon not only had the above prayer. This sermon is the very sermon that has caused controversy in Singapore where Kong Hee claimed that God apologised to him. This is why we believe some people are outraged with the latest snippet – they know Kong Hee is distorting the severity of the case for his personal and financial gain. Read again what Kong Hee said on the first night of Presence Conference 2012:
“And [God the Father] said, ‘My son, I’m so sorry that you need to go through this alone. But you need to die and you need to go through this to be the Saviour of the world!’ And God the Father had broken and He wept as He turned His face, when His son took the sin of the whole world.
I was saying all this and I’m hearing myself behind the pulpit- and I froze. I could not utter another word. And I sobbed and I shook. Because those were my exact sentiments.
“Father, Father! Why? My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me and thrown me to the dogs?”
And for the first time in eight months, I heard the voice. It is not the voice of a strict angry judge that only want me to perform and build a big church and nothing I do is ever good enough for him. No. It’s not a voice of angry judge. It’s not the voice of a slave driver. That just wants to take and take and wring me dry. But it was a voice of a tender, loving, broken-hearted Father.
For the first time in eight months, God – I heard Him crying. And He said, “My son, Kong, thank you! Thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone so that you and City Harvest Church can be the man and the ministry I call it to be. I’m so sorry. But you need to go through with this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation”.
Oh come on! Give the Lord a big hand tonight!
I hear God saying for the first time in eight months, “I love you! I love you! I love you!” Waves upon waves of God’s love- the love of the Father, just, saturated me. All I could say was, “Abba! Abba!! AABBAAAA!!! Daddy! ABBA!!!” And I knew, everything was going to be, alright.
The absolute negligence of Pringle inviting Kong Hee to speak at Presence Conference from 2010 to 2012 was scandalous. He gave Kong Hee the floor to present his propaganda-like stories diguised as sermons. Furthermore, Kong encouraged people in the 2012 Presence Conference to empty their bank accounts so God can financially bless Christians. Not once did Phil Pringle or Kong Hee give an accurate account as to why he was under investigations or why he was facing charges. Why Kong Hee and Phil Pringle are not under severe scrutiny by government watchdogs in Australia, we do not know. Why are they not being scrutinised for misleading thousands of people at these events? Would they be giving Kong Hee financial support or emptying their bank accounts at Kong Hee’s command if they knew the severity of the investigations?
The negligence continued when Phil Pringle allowed Kong Hee to speak at Presence Conference 2013. Recently Pringle asked ignorant Christians attending to once again give sacrificially to financially support Kong Hee’s legal case.
Here Phil Pringle said,
“I would like you just to take a card, an envelope if you’ve got one nearby. And if you’d like to participate in this, I’d like you to consider doing that. Whatever you can do it would be helpful, I know, to them. This will all go completely to Pastor Kong to help with his- costs. He has to pay this week $680,000 I think it is, for his legal fees. He’s covering his whole team’s fees. They have to mount a vigorous defense over three years. Those numbers weigh heavily on- on a person and they have prohibited him from asking his own congregation for any help.
He can not use any of his own church funds. They’ve sold there- they sold the unit they were in. Others have moved to help them in other countries and I would like to think that we can be friends to these people in one of their darkest hours.” – Phil Pringle, http://www.youtube.com/watch? &v=2g-BB9BF7xk , Presence Conference 2013.
The picture again presented is that new Singapore legislation will not allow Kong Hee to use “any of his own church funds”. Instead, just like what was occurring in Phil Pringle’s C3 Presence Conferences, it appears that other churches “have moved to help them [Kong Hee and Sun Ho] in other countries”.
Since Phil Pringle made a video where a number of pastors decided to support Kong Hee, we are starting to see that deeper controversies are growing in this scandal and expanding across the globe. We also observed that Kong Hee spoke at Ed Young’s church in 2011.
Kong also spoke recently at Ed Young’es C3 2013 Conference.
Did Kong Hee get love offerings from these churches after spreading more propaganda about his plight against the Singaporean government? Why are pastors like John Bevere, Mark Conner, Casey Treat, David Yonggi Cho and many more supporting an alleged crook? Are these the churches that Pringle was alluding to when he said that “Others have moved to help them in other countries”?
Men like John Bevere, Yonggi Cho, Casey Treat and Ed Young have already been exposed as false Christian teachers. Is it any wonder they would support someone like Kong Hee? Are we seeing a banding of false teachers being only accountable to their pack rather than the greater body of Christ?
This scandal needs to be addressed by the universal body of Christ. How far must men like Phil Pringle and Kong Hee go before the church starts dealing with these impostors in the church?
__________
Update 08/08/2013: Provided links and sources to Ed Young’s 2011 Conference. NOTE: ALL SCREEN GRABS TAKEN ON 08/08/2013.
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“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” – Colossians 3:1-10
There are many controversial issues that surround the City Harvest Church scandal. If you are not familiar with the charges that Kong Hee is facing, please read our articles on Kong Hee here:
In this article, we simply wish to focus on the ‘Pastoral’ conduct of Phil Pringle and Kong Hee.
Thanks to CHC’s Advisory Pastor Phil Pringle, this issue is further expanding across into other countries as ‘pastors’ lend their support and praise to Kong Hee and Sun Ho. Just recently, a video surfaced on YouTube that filmed Phil Pringle saying that he “got some pastors from around the world to bring” CHC ‘greetings’. Here is the video.
The pastors who endorse and praise Kong Hee and Sun Ho in this video are:
Jeffrey Rachmat from Jakarta Praise Community Church (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Mark Conner from City Life Church (Melbourne, Australia)
Paul Scanlon from LIFE Church (Bradford, UK)
Casey Treat from Christian Faith Center (Seattle, USA)
John Bevere from Messenger International (USA)
David Yonggi Cho from Yoido Full Gospel Church (Seoul, South Korea)
The blurb below the video says,
“These are some great leaders from mega churches around the world who know Pastor Kong personally. They are encouraging and praying for Pastor Kong and City Harvest Church during this period of trial. Dr David Yonggi Cho is the founder and Pastor of the world largest church with an overall members of about a million and he is also Pastor and mentor of Pastor Kong.” – Some Pastors From Around the World Bring You Greeting, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkXtWO63C4Q, Published on Apr 14, 2013.
In response to the above YouTube clip, a new YouTube video emerged juxtaposing the pastors endorsements against Sun Ho’s music video clip ‘China Wine’. The contrast is stunning and disturbing.
(Warning: content of video may be considered highly inappropriate for Christian viewers.)
What this video did was highlight two things. It exposed the lies and hypocrisy of Kong Hee. With one hand, Kong distanced his wife’s immoral video clips from himself and CHC, claiming she was not a pastor and yet justifying her sinful clips using the scriptures. On the other hand, he would flaunt his wife as China Wine and allow her to speak on behalf of City Harvest Church. For more information on this, read here:
The second thing this video exposes how ‘Christian Pastors’ are promoting human depravity in the name, glory and Spirit of Jesus Christ. As the parody pits the pastors against the China Wine music video, one can’t help but wonder if Phil Pringle, Kong Hee or Sun Ho have been fully honest with their fellow pastors.
For instance, would John Bevere say that God put scriptures on ‘integrity’ in his heart if he saw Sun Ho dancing erotically in her music video clip China Wine? Would Mark Conner say that his church is “inspired” by Sun Ho and Kong Hee’s “life” if he saw Sun’s music video clip ‘Kill Bill’ that has her singing about murdering her boyfriend?
Finally, we’ve been observing how Phil Pringle has been informing his audiences that when he pastors CHC this gives Kong Hee and Sun Ho the opportunity to travel to “share in churches their burden ‘n what they’re facing and keep support happening”. [Source 1] [Source 2]
Now that Phil Pringle made the video, we should be asking ourselves if the churches of Yonggi Cho, John Bevere, Mark Conner, Jeffrey Rachmat, Paul Scanlon and Casey Treat have given Kong Hee a platform to receive ‘love offerings’ to financially support his case.
This scandal needs to be a prayer issue for Christians everywhere. Please pray that Christians have their eyes opened to the immoral conduct of these pastors. Pray that no more Christians are “snookered” by their own “idolatrous notions” regarding the behaviour of Kong Hee, Sun Ho, Phil Pringle and other ‘ministers’ who endorse the moral conduct of these ministries.
Pray that Christians everywhere have their eyes opened to the whole truth about the ongoing pastoral and legal issues involved around Kong Hee AND David Yonggi Cho.
C3 Church Watch 