How to be rich & holy - AMEN

[elephanto]

Got this from szezeng.blogspot.com, a theology student's blog.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Some manipulative methods used by some pastors to get rich


Li Sui highlighted on Facebook an interesting article posted on a website Cultwatch that exposes how some pastors manipulate the congregation to line their own pocket. The website considers itself as founded as a para-church organization. It even has a doctrinal statement.

These are the listed methods. I have added some relevant local examples:

• The Multilevel Marketing Pattern:
  "...they became rich by hyping dream-promoting books, tapes, DVDs, and conferences to their own private market of dream believers. [...] The dream is the prosperity gospel. Their captive market is their congregation. The products are, well you guessed it: books, tapes, DVDs, and conferences, and t-shirts, and most ominously spiritual rewards and the prevention of spiritual punishments."
  
  
• Books:
  "Let's be honest, many of these books are below par. Like bad business books they have one good idea, if that, and then are padded with motivational sayings and anecdotal stories of how the leader obeyed the dream and so God hosed him down with wealth. The theological content is basically non-existent."
  
  
• DVDs:
  "The same as for a hyped book."
  
  
• Hyped Conferences:
  "Each speaker is completely amazing. The next best thing to the second coming. [...] The spiritual reward for going is implied to be life changing. The conference fee is nothing, compared to the fire-fighting-bomber worth of blessings and wealth God will dump on your head from upon high."
  
  
• The Christian Speaking Circuit:
  "If you have a big market (congregation) and are willing to let others come and sell there, then your fellow pastors will invite you to come and sell into their markets (congregations) too. The bigger your own market, the larger the markets that will open their doors to you - as long as you are willing to reciprocate."
  
  
• Pastor Owned Businesses that Feed Off the Flock:
  "Another way bad pastors extract money from their captive market is to set up a business, and then get their congregation to patronize their business." (For example, the fashion brand 'Ed Hardy' in Singapore is distributed by City Harvest Church's founding pastor Kong Hee's wife. Most of the congregation, if not all, wear the expensive Ed Hardy apparels.)
  
  
• The Honor the Pastor Scam:
  "...the division of the church into exclusive rings: the all-powerful pastor perched at the center, the inner-ring of sycophants around him consisting of the pastor's lieutenants and the church's privileged class (the rich, the famous and the very pretty), and the outer-ring of the ordinary folk who would love to be in the inner-ring, but are not." (A somewhat similar local example is that practiced by New Creation Church's Joseph Prince).
  
  
• High Pressure Offerings:
  City Harvest Church has established herself with this impression.
  
  
• Cathedral Building Wars:
  "The most impressive churches require the most magnificent buildings, the most professional entertainment in their services, the best church programs, and the best conferences, the best websites, the best radio and TV programs, and the most members. All this costs a lot of money." (An example in Malaysia is the Calvary project.)
  
  
• Siphoning Cash into Property:
  "Some of these pastors are very clever in how they hide the money trail. But ultimately if church money is paying for an asset the pastor owns, except via his wages of course, then it is almost certainly wrong."
  
  
• Excessive Wages:
  "Openness regarding the pastor's stipend has been a practice of the Christian church for hundreds of years, and continues today. Only those pastors who have an excessive wage would be reluctant to let the amount become public knowledge." (New Creation Church revealed the large amount of money paid to their pastors but reluctant to mention names.)
  
  
• Perks:
  "Expensive leased cars, holidays, clothing allowances, spending money, restaurant meals, hotels, flights, and expense accounts, are some of the perks demanded by these luxury smitten pastors.[...] Some say that if they are preaching the "prosperity gospel", then they have to appear prosperous to "walk their talk"."
  
  
• Nepotism:
  "A good church will choose the very best people for the job, while a bad church will reward those closest to the pastor with the lucrative positions of power." Unless the closest people are also the best people.
  
  
• Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine:
  "This is such an important subject that Cultwatch has a special website TithingDebate.com dedicated to setting Christians free from this fake doctrine."
  
  
• The Carrot and the Stick:
  "In these pastor's prosperity teaching, obeying the pastor and giving money are the two pillars necessary for a successful Christian life."
  

This article shares many points with the anti-prosperity gospel statement
published by Lausanne late last year.

 

[elephanto]

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Partner with Joseph Prince Ministries


Interesting! You can join Joseph Prince's ministries as partners through a fixed monthly gift. It says on its website that, "You can help us preach the gospel of grace by partnering with us in any one of the following categories..."

Each category of partnership comes with different privileges and types of card. For eg. if you commit USD $500 or more each month, you will get a platinum card! That's an innovative way for ministries. Hmm.... I'm wondering where did they get this idea from? From the Holy Spirit perhaps.





Each categories have different privileges? I thought those who signed up for partnership are to help to preach the gospel of grace? And I remember grace is getting something you don't deserve, as one of the New Creation Church's leaders told me. Could then such partnering schemes defeat its own ethos?

 

[elephanto]

When church and non-Christian misunderstand each other


Last week, a non-Christian friend commented this on her Facebook (verbatim):

For all you City Fucking Harvesters out there... I got nothing against the rest of you guys. I have to admit, it's a nice tune but I'd still burn down your sodding church if I had a chance. Oh yah, and get someone to gang rape Ho Yeow Sun... Goddamn MOFOs... *flips middle finger*​

I asked her why. And she replied (verbatim):

I went to one of their mass a while back and they put up a skit and made fun of a monk! How wrong is that! God does not teach you to make fun of other religions... oh yah and they 'force' ppl to give donations so that Ho Yeow Sun can prance about clad in Gucci!

Everything is about money there. 20% of income goes to the church as pledge and ties, some Powerhouse thingy (not the club) where they pass the bucket, cell group meeting where they pass the envelope and not forgetting Sunday mass where they pass the bucket again... where do you think they got all that money to build that 2 million dollar frou frou place in Jurong they call a place of worship?

They have this thingy at the end of every mass where they ask people who wanna recieve God. My friend was nudged out and before he knew it, someone put an arm on his shoulder and he was led to the front. How can force people liddat???​

I think there are a lot of mutual misunderstanding here. On one hand, my friend might not understand what CHC people were doing. And on the other hand, the church might not have clarify what they were doing to those who do not belong to the church. There are learning opportunity from and for both sides.

 

[elephanto]

Big pay-check for church leaders


In New Creation Church's last financial year annual report, one church leader being paid between $500,001 and $550,000, while two others were paid between $150,001 and $200,000.

Though no names were given, their honorary secretary apologetically said that, "Senior Pastor Prince is the key man responsible for bringing in about 95 per cent of our church's income. I must concede that he has enriched the church and not the other way round."


He also revealed that Mr Prince had given $563,360 to the building project. Do we still need names?

Prince is a smart man. After the project completed, they will have larger space to get more people into the church. And that translates more 'church's income' in its honorary secretary's word.


Is NCC hiring? Appears that they are.

 

[Einfield]

WOW this is really a eye opener, everything is money.
Next on line to lim kopi.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Partner with Joseph Prince Ministries


Interesting! You can join Joseph Prince's ministries as partners through a fixed monthly gift. It says on its website that, "You can help us preach the gospel of grace by partnering with us in any one of the following categories..."

Each category of partnership comes with different privileges and types of card. For eg. if you commit USD $500 or more each month, you will get a platinum card! That's an innovative way for ministries. Hmm.... I'm wondering where did they get this idea from? From the Holy Spirit perhaps.





Each categories have different privileges? I thought those who signed up for partnership are to help to preach the gospel of grace? And I remember grace is getting something you don't deserve, as one of the New Creation Church's leaders told me. Could then such partnering schemes defeat its own ethos?