Tag Archives: kong

What Do Phil Pringle, Steven Furtick and Kong Hee Have In Common?

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

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Answer: They’ve all been reviewed and validly critiqued by Chris Rosebrough on his program, ‘Fighting for the Faith’. They’ve also spoken together at Pringle’s C3 Presence in 2012.

Recently, Chris Rosebrough reviewed the false teachings of Kong Hee, Phil Pringle’s protege. In 2011, Steven Furtick stated that he sees Phil Pringle as a valid prophet of God and an inspirational friend and leader. Chris Rosebrough also in this episode reviews Steven Furtick’s response to the stories about Furtick’ new million dollar property. 

NOTE: The resent sermon that Kong Hee delivered is a rip off of a sermon he gave at the C3 Presence Conference back in 2011. You may like to compare the two sermons.

Prophet Cling Clang Kong

Visit Fighting for the Faith now or click the below link to download the radio episode.

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Majority Of Charismatic Manifestations Are Fake

Click Here to Download this episode

Program segments:

• Mike Bickle Says Majority of Charismatic Manifestations are Fake
• Kong Hee Butchers Genesis 15
• Steven Furtick’s Response to the News Story
• Sermon Review” YOLO: Renegade by Vince Antonucci

Source: Majority Of Charismatic Manifestations Are Fake, Fighting For The Faith, http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2013/10/majority-of-charismatic-manifestations-are-fake.html, 31/10/2013. (Accessed 06/11/2013.)

An Insightful Analysis To The CHC System (Part 4)

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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Kong Hee says about CHC, Phil Pringle and the C3 Church Movement,

“You can’t talk about City Harvest Church without talking about C3. Or Christian City Church. You know Pastor Phil has been there for me; praying with me; encouraging me; discipling me; telling me how to do the work of the ministry; taught me how to collect an offering; how to give an altar call; how to build a church; build a team. So Pastor Phil, from the depth of my heart, for Sun and myself, we wouldn’t be where we are today without you and Pastor Chris. Let’s give Pastor Phil and Pastor Chris a big clap.” – Kong Hee, Session 8: (00:24), Presence Conference 2010.

The above quote is something to think about while reading the below article by Marc Ronez. Before reading this fourth article, make sure you have read his earlier articles:

An Insightful Analysis To The CHC System (Part 1)
An Insightful Analysis To The CHC System (Part 2)
An Insightful Analysis To The CHC System (Part 3)

Here is Ronez’s fourth article analysing the CHC situation:

City Harvest Case part 4: Can you Rationalize a Crime to be Beneficial to Society?

Every week Pastor Kong Hee and Pastor Tan Ye Peng both preach eloquently about good ethical principles solidly grounded in the Bible. Through many sermons, they have warned repeatedly the faithful crowd convincingly about the deadly power of sin and how easy it is to be tempted and fall on the wrong side. How could the same men of God, as the COC Report and the prosecution claim, be doing the contrary of what they preach? And if so, how could so many of the smart people that follow them, have ended up closing one eye and sometimes even both eyes to avoid seeing all the wrong things supposedly being done?

First we need to keep in mind that after all, in the eyes of the faithful members of CHC, both Pastor Kong Hee and Pastor Tan have supposedly been anointed by God in their positions. They also have long track records of spiritual enlightenment and good deeds with many testimonies to speak for them. Hence it is understandably really hard to imagine that people with such high apparent moral standing could succumb to self-interest and greed. But… is it still possible?

Could Somebody Considered a “SAINT” Commit a SIN?

Let’s try to answer that question rationally, looking both at the secular and spiritual perspectives. Spoiler alert: the answer to the above mentioned question is unfortunately unequivocally YES from both perspectives.

From the secular perspective, according to psychologists, while people are not usually born with a criminal fraudster mindset, practically everybody could gradually become one as a consequence of a succession of inappropriate decisions and actions. So we should postulate that most people start out in life with reasonably good, solid value systems. However confronted with ethical dilemmas, some of them will make the wrong decisions and from then on will gradually slide to the “dark side”. It may not necessarily happen overnight, sometimes it will take many years of small steps to move further and further away from commonly accepted moral values and principles. Yet interestingly, no matter how far you end up to be from these values and principles, in order to be able to function in society, you will have to maintain the superficial appearance of righteousness. As by definition you cannot be a successful fraudster if it is “written on your forehead” that you are or have become a criminal. A fraudster must appear to be a highly trustworthy character to various key stakeholders in order to be able to pull out his fraudulent schemes. For example, Bernard Madoff was a highly respected figure before he was exposed as a fraudster for building a USD 50 billion ponzi scheme. Prior to that revelation, many investors would queue up to have their money invested in one of his apparently so reliable and profitable investment funds. While there had been negative rumors flying around about Madoff for years, his faithful investors had brushed them off, finding no reasons to question such respected person with a long successful track record to prove his achievements. Does this story sound familiar? We may wonder how many persons and leaders in this world who appear to be good and upright on the surface, really are that way in their hearts…

What about from a Christian spiritual perspective? Here the answer is also very clear as all of mankind has been corrupted by Sin through Adam’s disobedience to God’s command. While according to the Christian faith, Jesus Christ has, by his sacrifice, broken the power of sin and freed mankind from it, the power of the temptation of Sin is still very much present in this world. So unless you think that Pastor Kong Hee & Pastor Tan are sinless – and by doing so you would be committing a blasphemy- you have to admit that the possibility of unethical and even fraudulent behavior on theirs parts is by definition possible. You should also keep in mind that the Bible provide many examples of “fallen” leaders such as the most famous Kings of Israel i.e. Saul, David and Solomon. While they were anointed by God, they all eventually, to various degrees, succumbed to the temptation of sin and greed.

In the CHC case, using the Fraud Triangle Risk Assessment model to guide this analysis, I have highlighted in my previous posts, “City Harvest Case part 2: If There is a Fraud What would be the Motives?“ and ”City Harvest Case Part 3 – The Opportunity Makes the Thief“, that the environment in CHC was very favorable for unethical/fraudulent behaviors.  Indeed a careful  examination of the factors leading to unethical and even fraudulent behaviors showed that the defendants had the incentive or felt the pressure to break the rules (Fraud Triangle Factor 1), and they also had the opportunity to do it and the ability to conceal their actions (Fraud Triangle Factor 2). Now, last but not the least, we will examine in this post the Fraud Triangle 3rd Factor i.e. RATIONALIZATION. This factor implies that the accused CHC leaders would need to find a way to somewhat justify (or RATIONALIZE) their behaviors to be able to break the rules. Why? Simply because almost nobody likes the very negative feeling of thinking about himself as being an unethical person or even worse a fraudster as this would create a painful cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance & Rationalization

Indeed the last issue to address in this analysis is the fact that people engaging in unethical and even fraudulent behavior (unless they have a criminal mind from the beginning) will usually be subjected to what can be termed as a strong cognitive dissonance. A dissonance is a state of internal disharmony that happens when a person faces a situation of conflict between moral values and/or when he acts in a way that is inconsistent with his beliefs or moral values. This dissonance can be a very disturbing, unpleasant and even painful psychological experience, usually leading to strong negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, frustration and anger. The stronger the potential dissonance, the less likely the person will engage in the unethical or fraudulent behaviors. So even when the pressures and incentives are strong (Fraud Triangle factor 1) and easy opportunities are available (Fraud Triangle factor 2), the person tempted to engage in unethical and even fraudulent behaviors will usually experience a painful psychological dissonance. Hence he will feel the intense need to remove the pain and restore internal harmony by somehow “reducing” the dissonance (Fraud Triangle factor 3).

How Can You Reduce The Dissonance?

The best is obviously that you make the decision not to engage in the behavior that create the dissonance in the first place. However if you are in a situation where you still feel compelled or even actually want to do it (because of the benefits you will get), you will need to RATIONALIZE your unethical or fraudulent behavior in a way that is congruent with commonly accepted values and principles. So that you will be able to alleviate the feeling that you are doing something really wrong or that the wrongdoing is somehow justified for example as a mean to achieve a much “greater good” like saving souls with the Crossover project.

Let’s take some examples from the CHC case to illustrate what Rationalization means. After a careful review of the case, a few “difficult issues” that could have created strong dissonances for the accused church leaders and members have been identified. I will list the “difficult issues” in the form of questions as follows:

Question 1: Why choose Sun Ho as the main focus and vehicle for the Crossover project?
Question 2: How does Sun Ho’s U.S. musical career fit with the objectives of the Crossover project?
Question 3: How does Sun Ho’s U.S. stage personae fit with the objectives of the Crossover project?
Question 4: How was the financing of the Crossover project arranged?
Question 5: What are the real fruits of the Crossover project?

Because each of the above questions are about important moral and spiritual issues that can create strong dissonances, there was a crucial need for the CHC leadership to rationalize the answers to those questions to justify their behaviors to make them at least acceptable by the church members and preferably even to win their support.

However, interestingly, it appears that for many years the church communication about Sun Ho’s Crossover had actually been quite limited, essentially consisting of victory announcements when one of Sun Ho’s singles reached the top of the U.S. dance charts or was invited to sing or attend some A-list events. There were also regular glowing reports about her achievements on the humanitarian fronts. Suddenly everything changed when the case broke out in 2010. After a few initial months of confusion and disarray, the church leadership started to communicate intensively about the Crossover project, particularly on the origins, method and fruits, through preaches, videos, information booklets and lastly through the recently launched CHC Crossover website early this year.

From a Crisis management perspective, this flurry of communications and the Crossover website in particular, appear to be a carefully planned and quite well-executed crisis communication strategy to provide the church members with the leadership’s answers to most of the above mentioned “difficult” questions 1 – 5. I can analyse the underlying key objectives of this crisis communication strategy as follows:

    1. To write (or rather rewrite) the narrative (story) of the case from the CHC leadership’s perspective to counter-balance the storyline that has been emerging from the COC & CAD investigations over the past 2 years.
    2. To focus first on CHC members, the objective is to take control of and frame the way CHC members will interpret the facts gradually unfolding to push them towards the narrative developed by the CHC leadership. The ultimate goal is preserve member’s loyalty and even build retroactive support for the new narrative.
    3. Finally to turn the tide in the “battle of mind” with the prosecution by changing the perception of other key stakeholders. How? By building a strong and offensive defense based on a now well-constructed narrative explaining the behavior of the CHC leaders in a positive light.

This communication strategy has already met some successes. A large majority of CHC members have so far, closed ranks rallying faithfully around their leaders with many church members even claiming that they implicitly approved of their leaders’ spending because they have supported the crossover project all along.

This makes this risk assessment analysis all the more interesting and I will now explore more in-depth each of the above mentioned difficult questions in my next few posts. My objective will be to find out 1) why these issues can create dissonances, 2) what are the ways they were “rationalised” by the CHC leadership and 3) to critically analyze them to highlight potential weaknesses (if any) in the argumentation used.

Source: Marc Ronez, City Harvest Case part 4: Can you Rationalize a Crime to be Beneficial to Society?, The Risk Management Paradoc, http://marcronez.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/city-harvest-case-part-4-can-you-rationalize-a-crime-to-be-beneficial-to-society/, 10/08/2014. Accessed 15/09/2013.)

Court News Update

07 Saturday Sep 2013

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The Straits Times reports,

Returns from ‘sham bonds’ paid for from City Harvest Church funds: Prosecution

The returns from what are allegedly sham bonds that City Harvest Church invested in was repaid with money from the church, the prosecution tried to prove in court on Thursday during the trial against founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies.

The prosecution produced emails between several of the accused to show the “flow of funds” between the church’s investment management firm AMAC Capital Partners and glassware manufacturer Firna, which had issued $11 million worth of bonds invested in by the church. AMAC is run by Chew Eng Han, one of the accused, and Firna is owned by long-time church member Wahju Hanafi.

In an email between Mr Hanafi and Chew and another accused Serina Wee, set out the timeline for money transfers from AMAC to Firna so Firna could repay the church’s bond investments. When asked on the witness stand whether the AMAC-Firna timeline was followed, Mr Hanafi replied “I think almost there” but he added that the plan had come from the accused and he had not asked why they needed it done.

Mr Hanafi also did not know where AMAC had received the money it gave to Firna. The prosecution has been trying to show that Firna, AMAC and another company, music production firm Xtron Productions, were all used to illegally channel church funds to Kong’ wife Ho Yeow Sun’s pop music career. The six accused were charged last year with misusing about $50 million in total to finance Ms Ho’s career and to cover this up.

Source: Feng Zengkun, Straits Times, Returns from ‘sham bonds’ paid for from City Harvest Church funds: Prosecution, http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/chc-funds-case/story/returns-sham-bonds-paid-city-harvest-church-funds-prosecution-201, 05/09/2013. (Accessed 07/09/2013.)

To Sun With Love?

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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If any of our readers attend C3 or are closely working with Phil Pringle, we would love to hear how he is reacting to the news coming out of the Singaporean courts.

The Straits Times reports,

Singer Ho Yeow Sun received over $500,000 in bonuses, advances
By Melody Zaccheus

Pop singer Ho Yeow Sun received more than half a million in bonuses and advances, including a $30,000 birthday cash gift and an $80,000 “special performance bonus for hits in the US or the United Kingdom” in 2006.

But to divert attention from some of these extra takings, leaders of City Harvest Church allegedly doctored documents to show that sponsors had given the money to her as “personal gifts”.

These details emerged on the first day of the second leg of the trial involving six church leaders accused of misusing millions of church funds. The high-profile trial had resumed after a three- month break.

Yesterday, prosecutors tried to show that Ms Ho’s former management company, Xtron Productions, was a puppet company controlled by the church’s leadership, including founder Kong Hee, who is her husband.

The State is accusing the six of using Xtron and another firm, Firna, to funnel $24 million of church funds into paying for Ms Ho’s secular pop music career, and then misappropriating another $26 million to cover that up.

Like at the first part of the trial in May, supporters started lining up outside the Subordinate Courts from as early as 4am for a spot in the 80-seater public gallery in Court 3.

A solemn Ms Ho showed up in court, hand-in-hand with her smiling husband for the first half of the day’s proceedings.

One of the accused, Chew Eng Han, a church stalwart and its investment manager who had quit in June, kept his distance from the rest. He did not speak to the other five in the dock, and stood aside from them during breaks.

The trial continues today and prosecution witness Choong Kar Weng, Xtron’s director and long- time church member, is expected to take the stand again.

Source:  Melody Zaccheus, Singer Ho Yeow Sun received over $500,000 in bonuses, advances, Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/chc-funds-case/story/singer-ho-yeow-sun-received-over-500000-bonuses-advances-20130827, 27/08/2013. (Accessed 27/08/2013.)

CHC Member Interviewed: “I’m Posting The Video… To Expose The Deception…”

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

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 The Breakfast Network recently reported the following:

BN Special: The man who posted the God-Kong Hee video speaks to Breakfast Network
The Youtube video clip that went viral showing City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee “speaking” to God was posted by a church member who said he did it to “expose Kong and his lies”.

In an exclusive interview with Breakfast Network, he said that the 3½-minute clip he uploaded was a recording of a sermon the senior church pastor had delivered during a religious conference in Australia in April last year. He said he had obtained the clip last year from C3 Church Watch, a group that monitors the activities of a Sydney-based church, whose founder Phil Pringle is currently an advisory pastor with City Harvest Church.

According to the member, who posted the clip on Youtube under the id “anointedforworship”, Kong had made the same remarks during a church service last year to City Harvest members as well. He said he decided to make it public only now because he wanted to “show the sublimal messages embedded in the sermon and delivered through the pulpit”.

The church member declined to be named as he is still currently worshiping at City Harvest Church. He told BN: “Just to be clear, I’m posting the video not to ‘destroy the church’ but to expose the deception within carried by certain individuals who go as far as to abuse the trust and authority given to them.

“I believe people need to be warned about deception, especially when it happens in church, to protect them.”

Since the clip was uploaded on Sunday, netizens have roundly condemned Kong’s remarks in which he compared his involvement in the ongoing court case to Jesus’ suffering. Along with five other church leaders, Kong is currently on trial for embezzling millions in church funds which he allegedly used to finance his wife’s singing career. The trial began in May and is expected to resume next month.

In the clip, which was recorded about two years after investigations into the alleged charges began in 2010, Kong also claimed that God spoke to him and apologized for putting him through the trial, and that it was necessary to “bring change to your generation”.

“For the first time in eight months, God, I heard Him cry. And he said ‘My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this’,” Kong told the unseen congregation.

“‘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 this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation.’”

So far, the clip has been viewed more than 69,000 times, with 54 Likes and nearly 2,000 viewers expressing their disapproval. A parody of the clip featuring pop group ABBA was posted by another Youtube user yesterday.

Netizens have slammed the recording as it was shared on Facebook and Twitter over the last two days. Youtube user “soulsessions” said of the clip: “What a load of bullshit”. Another user, “futurelady2k”, called it “Nonsense.”

In a report posted today, Yahoo! News said it had contacted City Harvest Church for a response but had yet to receive one. Other church members interviewed said the clip may have been misinterpreted or taken out of context.

Source: By Yen Feng, BN Special: The man who posted the God-Kong Hee video speaks to Breakfast Network, http://www.breakfastnetwork.sg/?p=6564, 30/08/2013. (Accessed 06/08/2013.)

People Outraged Over Kong Hee’s Comments

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

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Yahoo! Singapore reports the following:

Video of City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee’s sermon ignites online outrage

[UPDATE on 30 July: Adding details about when Kong could have delivered his sermon]

City Harvest Church founder and senior pastor Kong Hee has found his way in controversy again — this time for a comment he made in what appeared to be a sermon at a church conference held in Australia last year.

In a video posted on YouTube by user anointedforworship on Sunday, Kong, who is accused of criminal breach of trust and misappropriating church building funds, claimed that God apologised to him for his struggles.

“‘Father, Father, why, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and thrown me to the dogs?'” he was recorded as saying, after relating the experience of Jesus Christ on the cross at his crucifixion and sharing that he identified with that kind of suffering.

“For the first time in eight months, God, I heard Him cry. 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 this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation,” Kong said.

Applause was heard from the congregation, and Kong continued, “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… and I know everything’s going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right.”

Watch the video here:

Kong seems to have delivered the sermon in question at the 2012 C3 Presence Conference, held in Sydney in April last year. This would have happened before the news that he and five other church leaders were being investigated for embezzlement broke in June last year, although it later emerged that investigations by the Commercial Affairs Division (CAD) began in 2010.

According to a blog post dated 7 August 2012 by megachurch watchdog C3 Church Watch, the same excerpt of Kong’s speech was quoted ad verbatim with a link to the official video of his full sermon.

Watch it here:

Reaction to the video was overwhelmingly negative. Since the video excerpt was first uploaded on Sunday, it was thumbed down 750 times, compared to less than 30 thumbs up, and received more than 230 comments, most of them scathing.

Raising particular ire was Kong’s seeming suggestion that God apologised to him for his having to endure the challenges of past months, during which court charges for misappropriation of funds were made against the six accused.

“I thought comparing himself to Jesus was presumptuous,” commented a 24-year-old student who declined to be named. “Saying that he heard God apologising to him for his legal troubles was completely shocking to me.”

“I don’t think there’s anywhere in the Bible that said God said sorry for crucifying His son,” added another Baptist Christian, who did not want to be named. “His (Kong’s) doctrine is all wrong.”

Some City Harvest churchgoers think Kong’s sharing might have been misinterpreted or taken out of context, however.

A 23-year-old worshipper, who attended the church in her younger days and only recently returned, told Yahoo! Singapore the sermon was about how God empathises with Kong’s plight and is reassuring him.

“From a spiritual point of view, and from my own relationship with God, the God that I know and have a relationship with is assuring Kong that He knows the struggles that Kong is going through,” she said. “God is coming from a position of love and assurance. He puts us through fire to purify and to strengthen us, so that we will come forth as gold.”
 
Tuition teacher Kellyn Low, who also attends the church, added that she hopes secular people don’t get the wrong idea from the video, even though she acknowledged there was cause for misunderstanding, noting that he could have expressed himself better.
 
“I don’t think that people should interpret it as God saying sorry to Pastor Kong. He just means that he has to go through tests like Jesus did to share his faith with the world,” she said.

Separately, Chew Eng Han, one of the six church leaders currently on trial, announced his exit from the church last month. Chew was a board member and fund manager for the church, who played the leading role in its $100 million investment into Suntec Singapore. He also channelled millions of dollars in church funds into Xtron Productions, the firm that backed Kong’s wife Sun Ho’s music career.

In a series of posts on a blog, Chew, who also withdrew all affiliations his company Business Breakthrough Group Limited had with the church, alluded to disagreements he had with the top brass of its ranks by referring to issues relating to the “manner of conduct of some of (City Harvest’s) pastors and senior leaders”.

Responding to Chew’s exit and accusations, however, the church’s management board said in a statement two days later that following “appropriate reviews” since the Commercial Affairs Division’s investigation, they had “satisfied” themselves that the church’s leadership is upright and honest.

“We wish to reiterate that… we have full trust in the integrity, honesty and spiritual standing of the pastoral leadership of City Harvest Church,” wrote Lee Kiam Hiong, secretary of the church’s management board.
 
Yahoo! Singapore has contacted City Harvest Church for comment in response to reaction to Kong’s video.

Additional reporting by Melissa Law and Elizabeth Soh

Source: Jeanette Tan, (Additional reporting by Melissa Law and Elizabeth Soh), Yahoo! Newsroom (Singapore), http://sg.news.yahoo.com/video-of-city-harvest-church-founder-kong-hee%E2%80%99s-sermon-ignites-online-outrage-174425261.html, 30/07/2013.  (Accessed 31/07/2013.)

We have written the transcript and analysed what Kong Hee said in the above article in an older article here.

How Can Kong Hee Say “I Do Maintain My Integrity”(Part 3)

Beyond Words… Pringle Sinks To New Depths At Global Presence Conference 2013

03 Monday Jun 2013

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At his Global Presence Conference 2013, Phil Pringle got thousands of Christians to financially support Kong Hee’s trial back in Singapore. Pringle did not inform those present what the allegations against Kong Hee and his staff were about.

Below is the video and transcript. Here are some of our observations what Pringle said:

  • Although Pringle did not want to encourage Christians to financially support Kong Hee’s defense lawyers “under any compulsion or pressure” Phil Pringle laid the pressure on people to give.
  • He manipulated people into giving by censoring the central facts of Kong Hee’s trial and parading him as an innocent and righteous blood-stained martyr in a pagan world. He did this by comparing Kong Hee’s circumstances to John Bunyan’s and the early church Apostles circumstances.
  • Using cat-fight and division-like tactics, Pringle used defamatory commentary against Christians who are questioning the integrity of Kong Hee, Sun Ho and himself. After slagging off Christians as ‘enemies’, he called for the church to be unified again around Kong Hee and Sun Ho without explaining why they were being charged. (For someone who thinks that Christians “are getting a little numb” to criticisms now, Pringle makes sure to attack them publicly.)
  • Pringle twists the Apostle Paul’s words so Christians would close their eyes, ears and minds to the truth. When Pringle said, “Don’t be moved as by as a letter as though from us”, he was referring to 2 Thessalonians 2:2. This is why there IS division. Paul wanted the church to avoid men like Pringle that would twist his words.

The above is not an exhaustive analysis of what Pringle said. We encourage readers to examine and discuss the claims we have made above. We are looking at doing a thorough analysis of Pringle’s special offering message at another time. In the mean time, here is Phil Pringle’s message:

“Oh Jesus! Your Presence™ is heaven to us.

You know I- I want to do a couple more things tonight before we finish. If I can have the lights go up a bit.

Uh- I’m hesitant to do this but I just feel we should. And I don’t want you to feel under any compulsion or pressure or anything like this. And I’ve only ever done this once before in a Presence Conference as to add another offering but I know the costs that are involved in Kong Hee making his defense. It’s not small.

It’s not even six figures. It’s seven and it’s multiples of that for the legal defense and for seven people are charged. not just Kong himself. Happily, two weeks ago, Sun was completely exonerated from all charges against her. [Crowds Applause]

You can be seated. Thank you. Just for a second. I know it’s half past time but we’re cool. It’s ANZAC day.

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.

We do not face this kind of situation. It’s hard to even imagine it or feel it. But I’ve been on the front page of newspapers. And I’ve been on the six o’clock. And I’ve been on a Current Affair when Mr Hinch was around even then. And I was there. “Shame! Shame!”

And uh- and uh- and it’s- it’s a terrible, terrible feeling. But I- you gotta know that the reason we- this- this- none of this comes cheaply. And I’m not talking cash. Nothing of worth is achieved without some opposition. And you can tell the value of a thing you’re trying to achieve by the level of opposition that you’re getting.

And so- there’s a price for the anointing. There’s a price for the growth of the kingdom of God. And when we’re called to come up with that price- whatever it is- there’s not a disciple or an apostle that didn’t go through some immense contradiction in life. To achieve the things, the scriptures that we read, are penned in blood. There are martyrs all through the centuries and persecuted people. John Bunyan was thrown in prison. I think it was eleven times before he wrote ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’. Finally he wrote it.

He figured, “This is why I’m in here”. Hehe! I’m not sure if he ever went back in there but cos he was preaching so ferociously. They just kept throwing him in.

And I think it’s an awesome thing. If one member in the body has suffered. If other members bear the pain as well, a little- and so I would like to do this right now.

One of the things that’s happened- it’s one of the brightest pieces of light in the last three years in this situation- that recently Sun was exonerated because there was insufficient evidence, they said. So there was a public outcry, “Why then in the first place was there any suspension of her office?”

And that was one of the questions asked. And uh- it continues, you know. But that is th- that is a beginning. That is a bright piece of light for- and the press- the last press release I read was uh- halfway positive- and halfway negative. But it uh- it wasn’t as nearly as DAMNING as the others had been.

Let’s pray together and ask God to help us with our giving here to bless our brother. And if you are unable to, pray. If you can, do. Go ahead and let’s uh- be a blessing to Pastor Kong and Sun and the great City Harvest Church. One of the greatest churches in the world without any shadow of a doubt. A church that is changing the ratio of Christian populations in certain countries.

Heavenly father, help us stand with this man and woman you have chosen to serve you and have given you everything. Laid down their lives in so many ways. And Lord we pray as we stand with them here tonight for the blessing of God to rest on our giving, in Jesus name. And every body said, “Amen”. [Camera shot on Kong Hee and Sun Ho praying] Thank you very much. Hallelujah!

You know uh- I knew when we saw the 2014 line-up of speakers for next year, I thought uh, “Pastor Kong is not there. He’s here every year. So I need to ask him”.

[Kong Hee nods ‘yes’, stands up and salutes Pringle to receive applause] Will you at least do one session for us next year? Please! You know. You must do one session for us. [Crowd applauses.]

And I thought, “I want to do that before the end of the night” because exactly what Son said, “Next year when we are here”. That’s one of the greatest statements of faith you’ve heard in this conference. I don’t expect you to fully understand that but because they are facing two trials. One in may and one in August. In Singapore you will see lots of negative stuff. You will read lots of blogs by Christians as well that are terrible, negative, attacking, all kinds of things and we live in that kind of age.

But I think people are getting a little numb to it now. I saw on some comments on Facebook today about this conference. I’m thinking, “Oh! PLEASE! You know! Get over it in Jesus name! Amen! Get a life! Do something! Win some people to Jesus! You know like- our worst critics and enemies are within our own deal, for goodness sake. Can’t we get it together and discover the things that unite us are far more the things that divide us in Jesus name. Amen!

We’re here to build the church, not tear it down. I’m not gonna get into cat fights with anybody. Amen! I’ll just ignore it, move on. Thank you Jesus. “Try the other cheek!” Amen!

It’s all good. Don’t go out there and be moved by these things. Paul had it all the time. Don’t be moved as by as a letter as though from us. People would fake his signature and write letters about the resurrection being over and criticising him. Ridiculous! It’s always been around.

But things like Joey Bonofacio was saying this afternoon, God allows things to shake us. To shake the things that can be shaken so that we’ll lose them and so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain and get stronger. Amen!

That’s why you get shaken. [Crowds applause] Woah!

But be immovable. Be unshakable. Don’t be shaken in mind or troubled in heart by those sort of things. Stand strong. Know what’s right and do that in Jesus name. Amen!”

Kong Hee Uploads Phil Pringle Praying Over “Pastor Sun Ho”

31 Friday May 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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Four years ago, Kong Hee wrote an article titled “Wholesome Shallowness?“. In this article Kong Hee verbally bashed pastors who took issue with Sun Ho’s Music video, “China Wine”. He justified their behaviour by claiming that Sun Ho was not a pastor nor did she work for any religious organisation.

“In 2007, my wife Sun released a music video of the hit single, “China Wine,” . . . the video also raised quite a few eyebrows within the religious fraternity who felt it was inappropriate for a Christian to be featured in a dance video.

Although Sun is married to me, she herself was never formally ordained as a minister. She never felt gifted with a pulpit ministry. . . Yet, in spite of all her secular and creative achievements, many conservative pastors find it hard to accept Sun in any role outside of church ministry. But the reality is that she is no longer a church staff or a gospel singer. She doesn’t work for any religious organization.

As a professional artist, Sun has to take on many dramatic stage personas. This is what entertainers do. In the “China Wine” video, she happens to be acting in one such role. . . I think the struggle many pastors have is the difficulty to separate her association with me (as a pastor’ wife) and her career as a singer. I agree that if she is a “pastor” or “preacher,” perhaps the video would have been inappropriate. But Sun is not a pastor. She is an entertainer. All her music videos were not produced by the church but by her secular music label, the company that she is working for.”

We can now safely say this was not true. Kong Hee once again has let everyone know that Sun Ho is indeed a “Pastor”. We could have uploaded the footage we have of Phil Pringle praying over “Pastor” Sun Ho at Presence Conference 2013. Instead, we decided to record Kong Hee’s upload of Phil Pringle praying over “Pastor Sun Ho”.

The censorship and the deceit of Phil Pringle was staggering at Presence Conference. Phil Pringle simply presented that Kong Hee and CHC are being persecuted by the Singaporean authorities. To mislead thousands of Christians and pastors around the world without reporting the facts of Kong Hee’s charges and court case should cause a concern to Christians everywhere. The two-faced nature of this entire scandal is mindblowing.

If Christians at Presence Conference 2013 knew that Pastor Sun Ho performed her raunchy video China Wine, would they honestly be united in prayer over this issue? If they knew that Kong Hee was being charged for mishandling millions of dollars to finance her wife’s music career would they be opening up their hearts, minds and spirits to a very dodgy ministry?

Even local Singaporean news found it necessary to point out the fact that Sun Ho is no longer separating her lifestyle from her music activities. The Straits Time reported Sun Ho saying,

“I am very thankful to Jesus that I can resume my executive duties at such a crucial time for City Harvest Church”.

Kong And Sun In Paper

Executive duties? So… Is ‘da dutty China Wine’ now an executive pastor at City Harvest Church?

Do Christians and pastors honestly want to pray and support a worldly pastor that ‘evangelises’ the world as a chinese geisha (prostitute)? Do Christians want to support Kong Hee who belittles pastors and Christians who are upset with his wife? Do Christians want to honestly be in agreement with double-speaking Phil Pringle and Kong Hee?

CHC Confessions & More Disturbing Allegations

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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CHC Confessions is a Facebook Group that offers valuable insight to the culture and methodoligies of City Harvest Church cult. Their insider stories and experiences are revealing, sobering and disturbing. Visit the group here:

CHC Confessions

The group has caught the eye of ‘The Real Singapore’.

CHC CONFESSIONS: CHURCH FUNDS ALSO LIKELY TO HAVE PAID FOR KONG’S ENTOURAGE

A CHC member has revealed that Church funds could have been used to fund more than just Sun Ho’s Music Career. He alleges that funds were also likely to have been used for City College and O School, as well as paying for Kong Hee’s Entourage when he had international speaking engagements.

There have been a lot of concerns over the use of church funds by city harvest.

There has been much unhappiness over the abuse of church funds to buy a stake in suntec city. This is especially so when the money could be used to help the poor instead of enriching kong hee and his cronies. There have been many instances where ex-CHC have stepped forward to expose the church’s wrong doings.

Another courageous ex-CHC member has stepped forward to speak the truth.

I would like to invite all to discuss on the possible legal implications and social reprecussion of the abuse of church funds by Kong Hee and cronies. This is what the ex-CHC Member had to say:

1. Miss Ho Yeow Sun’s entourage includes two dancers. They can be seen dancing in Miss Ho’s recent music video, Fancy Free. These dancers are instructors of O School, which is funded by City College (that gets funds from City Harvest). These dance instructors are residing in the United States, residing in Miss Ho’s Los Angeles home. This brings to question if City Harvest is indirectly paying for Miss Ho’s dancers.

2. Xtron Productions have several employees who are board and executive members. Several on its payroll hold positions of leadership in the audio, lighting and media ministries. In November 2009, Rev. Kong Hee had a speaking engagement to Sacramento, California, several church employees (worship band, singers, and media personnel) were flown there with all expenses paid by the Church. In addition to that, Xtron employees were involved in the trip. If the speaking engagement was for the benefit of Rev. Kong, the question is, who pays for the cost to fly and accommodate his entourage?

It is known that Rev. Kong is not a salaried employee of City Harvest church. He relies on speaking engagement fees, love gifts and the royalties of his sermons and bible study material. However, how does the church draw the line between his personal speaking engagements and his service on behalf of the church? Also, why the need for Xtron employees to be part of the trip if this was promoted to church members as a missions trip? For many of Rev. Kong’s international speaking engagement, there is an employee from Xtron present to take photographs and record videos. Is City Harvest Church paying for the services or is the Reverend absorbing the costs?

….

May those who have read my comments and felt there is validity in it share the burden I have. I have been very careful in my choice of words and tone by which I make my comments. I could have given the names of the owners of Xtron Produtions, who are board and executive members. Unfortunately, my position does not permit or grant me the liberty to be a whistle blower.

Please understand that I am caught between a rock and a hard place. In 2003, when Roland Poon pointed out the church’s support of Miss Ho’s singing career, I witness the ugliness of hate. However, at the same time, I saw the pain in the eyes of church members who were deeply affected by the media slaughter of the church.

Over the course of days, I question if this was the right time to disclose the information that I have given. Why? Because many of the employees of Xtron, City College, Citycare, Little Big, O School, and along with the staff of City Harvest Church are fully aware of what goes on behind the scenes. Many have families with young children and mortgages and car payments to worry about. There are a large number of individuals dependent on how this system works. Sadly, it is snowballing into something monstrous.

From my heart,
Soren

Editor’s Note: This is a post made on Sg Forums a while ago, before the depth of the misuse of funds was known clearly. The point this writer makes about the pain of church followers seeing their funds misused is a good point. Many church members gave generously from their heart in the past and it is clearly painful for them to see their funds going to places they did not know or expect. Maybe some of the members now are still fooling themselves, and hoping, perhaps for their own funds’ sake, that Pastor Kong + Co are not guilty.

Source: CHC CONFESSIONS: CHURCH FUNDS ALSO LIKELY TO HAVE PAID FOR KONG’S ENTOURAGE,  The Real Singapore, http://therealsingapore.com/content/chc-confessions-church-funds-also-likely-have-paid-kongs-entourage. Accessed 27/2005/2013.

City News Propaganda: Pringle Associates Poisonous Critics To Early Church Persecutors & Murderous Radical Extremists?

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations, Pringle's Behaviour, Pringle's Beliefs, Pringle's Doctrine/Gospel

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COMMENTARY OF CITY NEWS INTERVIEW WITH PRINGLE

City News has published an interesting interview with Phil Pringle. We would like viewers to compare the below interview with Pringle with an older article they wrote on Phil Pringle titled ‘Close Friend’ back in 2011.

In this article:

  • It appears Phil Pringle is attempting to distance himself from being Kong Hee’s oversight. We know for a fact that what Phil Pringle is saying below is not true. If you read the above article, Phil Pringle stated in 2011 that his prophetic office is part of the relationship he has with Kong Hee. It is clear that Pringle prides himself of being Kong Hee’s prophetic oversight.

“In the early years, I would have guided [Kong] and been something like a mentor to him, and I would still be that now, but only by his initiative, not mine.”

However, Phil Pringle may be wanting to distance himself now that the case is underway.

  • While promoting sex, money, power and murder in her music video clips, Sun Ho is seen by Phil Pringle as “essential to the core, the fabric and the culture of” of CHC. He also says Sun is “key to the future of City Harvest Church”. May we remind readers of Sun Ho’s legacy of raunchy entertainment. While Pringle says that Sun Ho is the “fabric” and the “culture” of City Harvest Church, she seems to lose her fabric and core Christian values to her secular music career.
  • Asking how Phil Pringle deals with his online critics, Phil Pringle stated that he doesn’t “even bother reading it”. Obviously, critics only give Pringle credibility in his own eyes since he says he’s “not sure [he’s] really being effective if [he hasn’t] got critics”. And how his response biblical in any way, shape or form? Isn’t Pringle demonstrating he lives in both denial and delusion?
  • On the same subject, Pringle associates critics to radical Arabic communities that murder Christians. Phil Pringle or Kong Hee’s critics could be either Christian or non-Christian. They could be local authority figures like parents, teachers, lawyers, judges or the average person who don’t want friends or family members to go to CHC. To associate these people with murderous, radical Muslim extremists is slanderous, unloving and divisive. 

Ask yourself this question: What is doing more damage to Christianity in the City Harvest Church scandal? Who is adding persecution to the church? False teachers like Phil Pringle and Kong Hee or ‘critics’?

Think about the news group Al Jazeera that spread the news about the Kong Hee scandal through the Arab World. Did ‘critics’ get a mention? Were ‘critics’ reported in the CHC scandal and linked to spreading corruption, persecution and murders in Sinapore? Or was Al Jazeera linking the CHC scandal to false teachers like Kong Hee or Phil Pringle?

CHC Scandal Reported To Arabic Communities Through Al Jazeera

If anything, wouldn’t Phil Pringle and Kong Hee be furthering the hatred, persecution and murder of Christians in Arabic countries due to Al Jazeera reporting the CHC scandal both ‘Pastors’ are involved in? We are stunned Phil Pringle would stoop so low to associate his critics with murderous radical extremists. Doesn’t this sound like cult-like propaganda to encourage City Harvest Church members to shun critics?

CITY NEWS PROPAGANDA

Here is the article from City News,

An Interview With Phil Pringle: CHC Has A Future Of Incredible Blessing

Updated on 22 May 2013 at 8:13 am
By Theresa Tan

City Harvest Church’s advisory pastor Phil Pringle talks about the secret power of giving thanks, his deep friendship with Kong Hee and the future of CHC.

An Interview With Phil Pringle: CHC Has A Future Of Incredible Blessing

CN PHOTOS: Michael Chan.

Phil Pringle, senior minister of C3 Church in Sydney, Australia and the president of the C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches, is in Singapore to conduct two weekend services back to back at CHC. He is here to support and encourage the church while CHC’s senior pastor Kong Hee and five other church leaders go through the first week of the trial against them for allegedly misusing church funds.

In this interview Pringle shares withCity News how his friendship with Kong Hee began, how giving thanks is a secret weapon, and he exhorts the congregation to see beyond the trials of the present as a purchase for a future that would be a blessing to the nations.

You taught us about giving thanks yesterday. But how do you give thanks when things are really hard, when you feel betrayed or when you feel someone’s done you a great wrong?

I think the sacrifice of praise—which the Bible calls thanksgiving, giving thanks under difficult circumstances—is the best antidote to a bad attitude, because you’re grateful to God not just in the circumstance but for the circumstance. And that’s a big difference.

Sometimes we like to say, we thank God in the circumstance even though I hate the circumstance, but the Bible is actually saying, thank God for the circumstance as well. The funny thing is as soon as you’re thankful for something or someone, you see them positively. So instead of hating or criticizing them, you now see the positive in them.

That’s why Paul thanked God for the people he was writing to, because it gave him a platform for every following comment. One of the best things a pastor can do is to thank God—for his congregation, his board, his wife and children. Even though some of those people might be frustrating him, if he thanks God for them, he’s gonna change his views and see things differently.

And once you see things differently, you actually see a strategy, a way forward. If I thank God for a problem, then I’ll find a way to deal with it because the positive mind always sees a way through. The negative mind accepts defeat and can’t find a way.

You’ve been a friend of CHC since 1992. That’s 21 years till now. What was your first meeting with Pastor Kong like?

The first time I remember meeting Pastor Kong was in a very large warehouse that he had rented, but he only had maybe 120 people. So he’s always had huge faith, stepping out in enormous ways.

The very next meeting I had with him was at our annual conference, now known as the Presence Conference. And he was on his honeymoon. He came to our conference on his honeymoon. So I was very impressed with that, and I gave him a gift so he was able to go out and buy some clothes for his wife as a present.

I think that was the beginning of the relationship, because I saw in him such a great faith, such a wonderful attitude, and I just felt that he was just going to do something incredible for God.

How would you say the relationship has developed over the years?

I think our relationship is a combination of several factors. In the early years, I would have guided him and been something like a mentor to him, and I would still be that now, but only by his initiative, not mine. But I would also treat him as a peer, a colleague, and someone that I would stand with in the faith.

There are not many people in the world I would feel that I am called to lay down my life for—and I’m not trying to be dramatic—but he would be one of them. I generally feel that over the years, my Christianity is expressed in helping people I can help, who may not necessarily be those whom others have access to, such as pastors. There are many pastors who are facing difficult times whom I feel I can be of a little help to.

But I would put Pastor Kong in a totally different category than just that because he’s a close friend. I think that we should lay down our lives for our friends. That’s what the Kingdom is. It’s a privilege for me too. It’s an honor. I’m blessed to being involved with City Harvest Church.

At Presence Conference last month, you had Pastor Kong come onstage. You really showed a lot of support for him, and after that there was a lot of negative talk on the Internet. How do you deal with that?   

I don’t—I don’t even bother reading it. You know, I’ll be worried if every comment about me was positive.

Why do you say that?

Well, I’m not sure you’re really being effective if you haven’t got critics. There’s not a person who’s achieving anything in the world today who hasn’t got critics. But we’ve taken criticism all our lives for following Christ, for taking steps of faith. I don’t really bother with it. Sometimes it comes across my path and I try to toughen up and not let it affect me.

You spoke about it during your sermon (last Sunday), about the “poison” that some emails or articles carry. What if a new member in church sees something that offends them? How would you advise them to step away from it?

For a young, new person, that’s such a hard thing. I think you’ve got to be upfront and tell people how you’re feeling. In the early church there was a lot of persecution, a lot more than there is now. There are churches in the Middle East where if people know they became Christians, they could be killed.

I know of a church which last year buried 150 of its members who were killed [for being Christians]. There’s a C3 church in that same country which can’t hold meetings on a regular basis because if the locals know when they’re having a meeting they will attack, so they have to constantly change the timings, and they can’t all gather at once; it’s very underground.

So the reality of Christ coming in to a person’s life has to be very real, [not] just going to church, being religious. Because when people discover Jesus, they will pay any price. I think that’s the surest way (to stay away from the poison). But I also think if they received Christ with eyes wide open, they will see that there is a price to following Christ.

What do you see in the future of City Harvest Church?

The price it’s paying today will be the purchase of a future of incredible blessing, of great abundance. I think it will affect the world in a lot of ways, especially in terms of cell groups, culture and reaching a lost world. I think CHC will have a huge impact in China; it’ll possibly be its most major calling, but it may also affect the whole of Asia.

CHC will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year. What should the members look towards, what should they focus on?

The next 25 years. If you extrapolate the last 25 years of growth, you’ll probably come out to half a million people, if we keep growing at the rate we’ve been growing at. So once you see an end result, you can develop a pathway to it, a strategy. That’s why God sees the end from the beginning. Every leader or person in management needs to see the end from the beginning.

You would have heard that Sun’s suspension has been lifted and that she is back as our executive director. What are your thoughts on this?

I think Sun is essential to the core, the fabric and the culture of the church, and her input should not be underestimated. Her concepts, her design, her input into the worship, the leadership and the people should not be undervalued in any way at all. I think she’s very key to the future of City Harvest Church.

Source: By Theresa Tan, City News, An Interview With Phil Pringle: CHC Has A Future Of Incredible Blessing, http://www.citynews.sg/2013/05/an-interview-with-phil-pringle-chc-has-a-future-of-incredible-blessing/, Updated on 22 May 2013. (Accessed 23/05/2013.)